Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1919-08-13
DRY new YORK
>HAS GASES FOR
THOSE THIRSTY
Even Some Of the Hotels in Gotham
are Not 0bedientIy 0beying
the Law.
BY FREDERIC ]. HASKIN.

New York, Aug. 13.-New York is
dry. but it has its GASES.
Five weeks of prohibition have
failed to stop the flow Of light
wines, more than 2.75 per cent beer,
and even of gin and whisky. OF
course. in order to procure the lat
ter you have to belong to the band
of the faithful, but in many places
your word is accepted as a guaran-
tee. Bartenders are apparently
gifted with some peculiar psychic
sense which enables them to deter
mine the innocent from those who
wear stars beneath their coats, for
very few mistakes are made.
1t is impossible to obtain whisky
in New York only if you lack
money. Drinks are just about three
times as expensive as they were be-
foEe July /, and they have also
Taanged their names. Sherry" is
NOW the principal password for
whisky, put ginger ale," car
bonic,"' and rhine wine and self
ger" are also apt to be secretly mis-
understood. One French table
d'hote in the fOrties is brazenly
serving very wet concoctiOn
which 1t has appropriately named
the I'm spite of all cocktail"
While most of the hotels are sup
posed to be unquestionably dry,
most of them are usually well &C
Quainted with certain nearby bars,
where thirsty guests are served.
These bars are doing such a tre-
mendous business that the owners
feel they can afford to take the
risk. It do not acknowledge the
right Of any government to stop me
selling hard stuff" declared one
proprietor of a prosperous bar the
other day. 81 intend to go right on
Ndoing it, until they come and get
Ne" Another explained that he
would also continue to run his bus
mess until revenue agents inter-
fered. Then I'll pay my flnes,' he
said, "and move to Europe"
Even Hotels Lax.
Even some of the hotels are not
absolutely strict in their obedience
of the law. The other night a party
of moving picture people went to
were commenting upon the cruel
ties Of a dry summer when one Of
the young women suddenly had ar
inspiration. She summoned L
waiter. 81 have a perfectly drea
full cold" she told him with telI b
in her eyes, "and I wonder If
couldn't get come brandy" The
waiter nodded approximately, and
said that he thought possibly she
could. A few minutes later, he re-
turned witbra coffee pot and a cup
for each member of the party.
Coffee" he explained significant
", but the aroma escaping from
1hs.-csHee- pot was anything but
confee-Iike. and the size of the. bill
was surprising.
On the other hand, there is a
large number OF hotels and restau-
rants which have ceased selling
anything more than 2.75 per cent,
even at q great loss of profit. Some
OF these are going out Of existence
rather than break the law. 1T is
all right for the smaller fellow
said the proprietor Of a large res
taurant which did a huge business
ipSsalcohol before July l, but it's
different with US. Our place is very
old, and it's known from coast to
coast. We can't afford to take the
chance. Our restaurant has always
been run more as 5tdeIine tina
anything else. We were able to sell
food practically at cost because we
made as much as so per cent on our
bar. Now that the bar is gone the
restaurant cannot survive. We're
losing between $500 and $500 a
day"
Another very ancient restaurant
down on Fourteenth street, which
was formerly famous for its high