Los Angeles herald., 1910-01-18
AVIATION AND BOOZE

n CCUPANTS of the grandstand at
~ Aviation park have been surprised
and shocked by the unblushing
ana vociferous assiduity with which
perambulating bartenders. CARRYING
thelr stock of bottles and glassware
IN baskets, have piled their vocation
IN the midst of the gathering of re-
spectacle men and women, who with
their children, are assembling daily by
thousands to see the greatest and most
thrilling outdoor spectacle of modern
times. Apparently Mr.. Zeehandelaar.
the holder of the restaurant license
under which the bartending stunt" is
being performed, is Iaboring under the
delusion the task of watching avia-
tion feats is both debilitating and
thirst-provoking, for there is on sale
a generous supply of stimulants as
well as thirst quenchers. Some of the
beer offered is warranted by a printed
card to contain very little alcohol"
but those who have sampled it declare
the difference between aviation beer
and the ordinary brew dispensed over
the city bars consists only in the price,
which at Aviation park rivals the con-
testants in reaching a record break
ing altitude.
The whisky is served in half pint and
pint TASKS, which when emptied are
scattered carelessly about the grounds,
to the danger Of automobile tires. and
one would think, aeroplane runners.
There is no attempt to make believe
the spiritus frumenti is anv less
spiritus because it is adding tang to
scientific event. The whisky labels
are bold as brass. and the bawling boy
with the big basket carefully turns
the labels outward, especially when
the wind is searching and the shivering
citizen thinks he might follow the ex-
ample of the government at San Pedro.
and strengthen his fortihcations.
1t is pleasant. too, for the genial
one who moves with trail of women
in his wake to be able to arouse their
tittering admiration by administering
prescriptions ranging from "drappies"
to doses Of the stuff which makes
them, with enthusiasm based on per-
sonal experience, unite with the dis
tant brass band in chorusing Comm
Thro' the Rye"
The license under which malt, vi
nous and spirituous liquors are being
basket-peddled on the grandstand and
dispensed on the field is a restaurant
license; but to transform q picnic bas-
ket into a restaurant IS certainly a
bold flight of fancy.
Under the ordinance which is evil
IDENTIFY being lodged at Aviation park,
a restaurant is defined to be a place
where certain meals are served at ta-
bles in a dining room in which there
is no bar; and the serving of spir-
ituous, vinous or malt liquors with
crackers and cheese or cold lunches or
other SUBTERFUGES shall not con-
stitute a restaurant and is not author
ized by a restaurant license and will be
considered as violation of this or
dinance.
1t is regrettable to have to call at
tention to a flaw in an otherwise most
remarkable occasion, but we speak for
thousands of good citizens who are Of
Tended by the liquor dispensing prac-
ticed at Aviation park when we ask
the district attorney, the sheriff and
the chief, of the county detectives
whether they are aware violation of
the restaurant ordinance is being COM
mitted openly, unblushingly and impu-
IDENTIFY, with an effrontery that would
seem to indicate complete absence of
fear of official interference2