The American issue. [volume] (Westerville, Ohio) 1912-19??, 1917-08-31
Spend One to Four Minutes
in Each Boston Cafe
NO Time TO WALK
Reform Organization Guides Get
"Cod Shoulder"
T0MAN FOOLED OR AFRAID?

That the Chicago Commission did
not get all the truth about the liq-
uor traffic in Boston is statement
made by ]. Frank Chase of the New
England Watch and Ward Society oil
Boston. In letter to the Rev. Ern.
est A. Bell, of Chicago, Mr.. Chase
explained how the Boston Licensing
Board evidently did not permit the
Chicago visitors to see Boston sa-
looms and cafes in their true light
In an address before the commission
Mr.. Chase told of the true conditions
in connection with Boston saloons
and cafes. To prove the truth of his
statements, he offered TO conduct
members of the committee about the
town in order that they might per-
sonally observe conditions as they
really are.
How his offer was accepted and
then disregarded is told by Mr.. Chase
in his letter to Rev Bell, as follows
Walking VS.. Riding
when the hearing was over. Mr..
Brushingham asked me to have my
men take groups of the committee
around to see the things about which
had spoken in my speech. The
chairman, Mr.. Toman, agreed to it.
Mr.. Anderson, an estimable colored
gentleman, and several other mem
bers. thought that it was a fine idea.
Our purpose was simply to show them
the real situation, so that they would
not be deceived or have material
with which to deceive the people OF
Chicago, | assigned three of my
best men to the task and they re-
ported to Mr.. Toman at the Copley
Plaza at 8 O'Clock last night TO make
the tour. Somehow, in the meantime,
the Licensing Board of this city got
wind of my purpose, and when my
men appeared, equipped for the task,
with lists which | personally had Sc
lccted for each of the three parties,
to show them the highest, the medium
and the lowest classes of places in
the city and to have each member OF
the commission see an example OF
each of these classes of places, |
found that the Licensing Board had
its secretary there equipped with au-
tomobiles, luxury which we could
not afford, and the secretary of the
Licensing Board took away from us
the party and themselves showed
them the city in such a way as to ad-
vance their own purpose"
From the speed with which the
commission made its tour and the time
of the evening, it is very apparent
that the Boston Licensing Board and
the Chicago commission were not par
ticularly anxious to discover anything
Objectionable in connection with the
liquor traffic The letter continues:
A High Speed Tour
Concerning the actual visiting OF
the Boston cafes on the night when
the committee as a whole did its field
work, starting from the Copley Plaza,
my men report to me. that the COM
mittee was taken, first, at GAS to
Jones' cafe on Hanover street They
stayed there until o:46; second, to the
Golden Grill on Hanover street, en-
tering at o:4S and leaving at o:49;
third, to the Venice Hotel, entering
at $50, out at 9:52; fourth, Mahoney's
cafe on Atlantic avenue, in at 9:55 and
out at 9;57; fifth, the Florence cafe,
entered at o:58, out at 1902; sixth,
the Heidelberg cafe, in at 1904, out at
1906; seventh, Bonzagni's cafe, in at
1000, out at 1910; eighth, the Revere
Pergola, entered at 1916, out at 1920.
Five out of these eight places were
really bad places where a careful visit
would have revealed the immoral
character of the business conducted
there, Dut my men reported TO me
that the places were not of their usual
disorderly character at the time the
committee visited them, but were sus-
piciously different than on other occa-
sions. They overheard remarks on
the part of the ordinary looking Gus
toner such as What is the matter
with this place tonight3' i never saw
it this way before The explanation
that one gave to the other was There
is a gang from Chi here. Don't you
see them over there?
Chairman Lacked Courage
Now, of course. don't know
whether these places were notified of
the coming of your committee or