Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1920-04-18
NAT(HFUL WA!T!NC
 M-H0UNDS' RULE l IN ALL CLUBS NOW
7ithout Drinks Some Mem. bers Find it Hard to Get Along

Get Along
 Neatly nestled in a nutshell, the
 rase "Watchful waiting" sums ur e attitude of the average clubman St now toward the question of al. holic drinks. At least that is the Union of member of several prom ent clubs in New York City who s carefully noted the demeanor and hversation of his fellow-members hce the Great Blow fell and every hb bar and grill room in the United btes became dry. In other words. e average member who enjoyed his cktail at the cocktail hour, and her drinks within the precincts of
 club whenever he felt like taking em, is bouyed up by hope; he feels ht somehow, some time, the ban
 alcohol will be lifted that beer J light wine, at least, will flow ce more with impunity. So, even
 he appears resigned to fate, his bignation has kick in it.
 Others, to be sure, declare that
 b members know that prohibition come to stay and are adapting emselves accordingly. Whichever
 w is right, a glance over the sit tion in New York's clubs show tle change superficially so far as
 social side of clubs is concerned.
 the financial side, however, pro- bition has created serious situa- n at all clubs. Some, in fact, have bnd themselves face to face with crisis and have had to resort to
 sorts of expedients to offset the ficlt in their receipts caused byI
 sudden wiping out eff that most bortant item, "bar receipts"
 Why Men Leave Home. The comparatively small change in
 attendance at clubs has been mewhat of a surprise to pessimists. Icy had been freely predicting that lbility to get hard drinks at clubs uld cause serious falling-off in
 numbers of members frequenting eh places. At meal hours and in
 late afternoon-those times of when formerly grillroom walters
 clubs had all they could de to ndle the orders for cocktails and
 hballs which poured in on them
 nm all directions-the average New rk City club is still well attended. | ere are those who explain this enomenon by asserting that most
 the members go to their clubs in
 hope of being invited by some | lend with a private stock to par e of cocktail with him, to get
 latest news of where booze may
 bought in bulk or with ones 3als, or to indulge in that favorite
 GOT game of 1920 which consists having one of the players produce lm an inside pocket a small piece
 paper and solemnly chant some hg beginning like this:
 Tone pound of raisins, two gallons
 Croton water, one"
 he other players gather about. Pcil and paper in hand, and copy gn the words with religious fervor, then this dialogue invariab bly turs:
 You say it has a kick in it ?"
 Like mule's."
 Good! Pencils and paper are n pocketed, look of fervorous Flcipation lights up the players es ana the game IS over. hat conversations like the above 1
 commonplaces in clubs Gas in +st other places) just now is be- pd dispute; also is it true that la ntatlons and "reminiscences of the pa old days when all you had to was to ring a bell and order Rt you pleased bulked large among subjects discussed by the groups { gather every day in New York's , bs. In spite of this, say men who (
 members of several clubs and ( ke point of going to them all {
 sizing up the situation, the ef- {
 Of boozelessness has not been rly so devastating to club life as (
 been gloomily predicted. | ,u, Force of Inertia. {Wnen a man is accustomed to I p Tn at his club with regularity" I
 a prominent clubman, Git will , much more than the. fact that ' cant get cocktail to break him q the habit. Even if he is mar V
 man, who used to go home as ( rule after one cocktail or two, he t
 ind it just as easy to take in t club on his way home as he did C |en he could get his little drink c Ire. The same is true of those I |o used to spend hours at their ! |Ds' lunch and dine there frequent t ana partake of several alcoholic | |hks Tn the course of each visit. Pugh they can't drink, they go to scene of their old-time revels A | the same. The drinks may be bK, but force of habit is strong Phe thing that becomes quite ap- Fent in analyzing the effect of Pnloltion on clubs is that the soft |nKs now served in bewildering Piuslon fail signally to supply the r |d caused by the absence of the [ ler, sop* Though the bars of all z cups in town display tempting : s,ay s of the drinks that have sudden i. into being as within the S !, 4, ana though they are put up in g ''les bearing labels colored like N rainbow and graced with names 0 .uiated to recall bygone bever- O ss With kick in them, the con- t liptlon of these substitutes does t { oompare With that of their alco- $ lc lc predecessors. Many thirsty r oman finds it easier to go without il nks altogether than to drink these a osts of the things of yesteryear. a me me clubs display barrels of sweet e ,er on their bars, which have been p .newhat more successful than their g ,ued conferees in geeting them a ten s;1, drunk 1ln up. but they, too, fail d 1 m the great void. t ohe reason for this is that the f. <. tes of the new soft drinks are il s, ,. aoout as high as those of the a la <. dflnks of the days before pro- il ,.lon' Bottles of the numerous p ms of almost-beers cost 25 cents rule, while glass of cider oft u eomes to 20 cents. "Whv pay DAe prices for boozeless drinks ?" n