The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1917-08-27
CABARETS
THE TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
IMPORTATION BUREAU
By Frederic J. H1skin. Director.
Washington, ID. C.

By Frederic J. H1skin. Director.
Washington, ID. c.
New York City, Aug. 27.-The cab
aret in America is now s.t the zenith
of its career. 1t is breal rig out like
a rash all over the cou1.' ry-in the
big cities the small towns, at the
beaches and >even in the country.
farm cabaret near here ertertains
hundreds every night. Moreover, it
has it's own particular she " people, as
distinct a class as those in vaudeville;
1t has its own stage mahagers and
song writer's and it mas Its own type
of patrons who, what eve-- else they
may be. are certainly among the most
profitable in the world!
All these cabarets are very much
alike, but for illustration take one of
the reputed bad ones WITH an Or
iental name in the t5roa way forties
section. The ceiling is lined with red
and yellow glass lanterns that throw
pale green and purple sha%Cws on the
faces of the guests scatter below. In
the middle of the floor a Jazz band
tumble of sounds in which no mel
ody can be deciphered-and a revue
of world-weary chorus girls in abbre-
revealed beneath a peculiarly hard
and uncompromising spotlight; and
around this section the walters, with
their black coats and determined faces,
fit about like high priests at an orgy.
All is a confusion of som d and col
or and smell. The jazz band, in a
frenzy OF action, is producing a wild
sort of c1amOr from its instruments;
fifty different solors mere and sep
arate as each act ruSheS on and off,
4 49,. l.,
"a compound of alcohol cigarette
smoke, Oriental perfume and rice
powder.
With this din in your -srs, you try
to concentrate your attention on the
menu in front of you, which is chiefly
a wine list, but contains Il number of
dishes priced at two dollars and over.
An ordinary one-deck club sandwich
is a dollar ard a nalf, but 4 is useless
to expect chicken for that. You are
lucky if t contains a Srrinkling of
veal and a couple of slices of soft to-
mato.
Cabarets and Prohibition.
1t is impossible to see how anybody
could enjoy this type of cabaret while
thoroly sober, and the fac1 of the mat
ter is he doesn't. Not lonr ago, pro-
hibition was established in a town
which was known for its riotous CO b.
arets. Three weeks after - went into
Z
doors, but one endeavored to lengthen
it's life by the sale of soft drinks. In
three nights it entertained just twelve
persons.
So prohibition seems ia al to cab
arets. Whether they will thrive on
the coming beer-and-wine regime re-
mains toll seen.
Meanwhile the cabarets multiply.
Broadway can no longer accommodate
a tenth of the New York industry
the Bronx and in Harlem. One old
German restaurant in Harlem that
has had a large trade for years on ac-
count of its famous cuisine has re-
Gently had to abandon its high stan
dards of food and install i cabaret in
order to keep up it's quota of custom
erS.
While food is what you think you
pay for when you go to a cafe. it soon
becomes obvious that you are mis-
taken. The salaries of the jazz-band-
ers, the performers, the walters, and
the charge for each dance, at fifty
cents a dance, are und Oubtedly tn-
cluded in the price of the dinner. Oc-
casionally, a roof garden Or road
house may be found which serves a
fair table d'hote dinner in connec-
ton with its cabaret, but the instances
charge for the cabaret is attached to
the food total.
Last winter, for instance, a party of
nine went to a New York winter gar
den about<8:3G p. m. for light sup
per. With the greatest OF courage,
they intended to tackle a Welsh rare
bit and some beer. AS they gave their
order, however. the waiter Informed
them that they would have to pay one
dollar a head extra for the privilege
of seeing the cabaret. Since the cab
aret did not begin until 1890 and
| TTT L.
rarebit and out of the place by then,
these people were not disposed to pay
nine dollars extra on their bill, SO they
got up and walked out.
How Holdups Are Conducted.
Usually, tho, this sort of a holdup
is conducted in a much more subtle
manner. /One cabaret restaurant this
summer, for example, is serving a
large dish of radishes. celery and
olives with each order, the waiter ex-
planning that they are out of the cafes
own garden. When the guest pays
his bill, he finds u charge of so cenfs
tackled on for these garden relishes.
If he has the tenn rity t protest, the
charge is deducted, but the average
cabaret patron pays it, unprotesting,
like the long-Suffering individual he
is. One guest did insist upon know
ing how they grew olives in their gar
den, and the waiter glibly answered
that the radishes and celery were
grown in the garden, but that the
olives were caught in the sound with
a net
Another scheme, which is engi-
neered by all road houses, is to ask
! the guest if he has chauffeur, and,
if so, what is his number Then the
waiter hunts up the chauffeur, serves
him a drink or two and puts it on
the bill of his employer, altho the idea
of treating his chauffeur to a drink
may have been far from that gen.
| tleman's mind
The road-houses, altho no better or
worse in band and cabaret, are by far
the most picturesque places. Moreover,
the road-houses are becoming far
more popular than the city cabaret>
now that the New York law requires
all houses closed by one o'clock. Tho
small towns around New York, espe-