The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-05-14
B1RROOM IN A SUG4RHOUsE.
Beer Sold by the Pound to n Limited Num-
Der of Customers mt III Cents n Glass.

Beer SOId ny the round to n Limited Num-
Der of Customers Mt III Cents n Glass.
Jersey City has a curious barroom. conducted
by the American Sugar Refining Company in
its sugarhouse. on the tract bounded by
ESSEX. Warren and Washington streets and
The Gap. 1t is not accessible to the c~onvivial
stranger. and although it has existed for
twenty years very little about it is known to
Jersey City or the world at large.
How the American Sugar Refining Company
came to embark in the saloon business Is a
story soon told. The suGarhouso was former-
ly conducted by Matthcissen & Wicchers. The
senior member Of the firm discovered that his
workmcn. most Of whom were Germans. would
drink beer during working hours, and that
many OF them contended that n lack OF their
national beverage seriously impaired their USE
fulncss. Owing to the intense heat maintained
in the. Sugarhuusc the men wear the least
possible. clothing while at work. When they
wanted beer they had to dress themselves for
the street, This. Of course. took time. and as
there are aboutHOOmcn employed in the house
IN" aggrcgnt" time expended in dressing and
%running out Tor beer meant "a loss to. the firm:
So Mr.. Matthiessen concluded that instead OF
seeking t. suppress his employees fondness
for beer. the wiser plan would he to 'ontrOl 1t.
Therefore a room in the corner Of the building
was 7rt anart ior, q barroom, to which the men
could 90 Just as they worked.
There is only sufficient space for tho accom-
mediation Of an icchox for the storage of the
t HGn~ i 'R beer rG Is 1"ii b BY " the fsT ro %mSiG instead a. "a
hy the pint or amar,r. md Is furnished 70
,nH a wIfr r r 1ba at r r%Tt, isS No o beer nj is cs s9Ld to he
rrptod in the harrOom. Tho men buy beer
tickets at tn, rcompanv's Office, where they
are sold for 81, and each ticket entities the
two and n half glasses OF beer as served in
regular Jersey tity barroons, Their beer thus.
half n glass. which means, that they get sixty-
~" glasses for 81. instead Gf only twenty. as in
the outside saloons. Needless TO remark, this
bqrroom from IN" beginning, 49,
The beer Department is opcn from 8 to
from. =, to > in the afternoon. In every
way Is I'll" law G%yrrnTinEG o H." sale q intoxi:
open on sundays; and the place is licensed.
paying Jersey. city $500 n year. The day
appears the sign. Henry Swart2. owner
p!oycc who leaves a." hqildinr. in working
summary discharged hut 50 far no infringe-
mont Of the rul" has occurred The workmen
WW vi MI It f i" t." he b" l'na "' for '' a cent y" and i 'GEooiff' F TSRree
sale o. beer ~ III" sugarholse ,harroom
varies greatly. In winter ten barrels, is, tho
maximum. When ia" mercury scars highest
in summer from eighteen - twenty barrels Il
beer j. often required TO aprCaS' tho thirst OF
thc!WO consumers. whoar" all"wcd I" drink as
mlcl! rs they please, provided they TO not get
drunk.
Tn" career of m" beer department has not
been an unevcntful one. and its termination
was threatened last year by opposition from
without. when IN" Waterman deposited h'}
$3.50 on July !. lS,S aud applied for a renewal
Of hi license. il was not banded ont 10 him az
promptly rs usual. III the vicinity ofthr sugars
hous" were about ilfty public harrnomS whcsS
rroprietors considered il n bowling outrage
that nearly LOCO mon should Toe buying heer
at \ cent Hnda half aglas- whom their mission
IN life was to supply h"cr at five cents a glass.
Sotho fifty saloon keepers pooled their forces
and "ndeuvOrud to hold M thc SugarhOuse lie
censc. TIL" liccnS" WAS finally granted.