The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1922-09-02
British People Fear Prohibit
ton, Says Ed McKeever.
Men and Women Drink and
Smoke Openly in England.
TOPEKAN MEETS OLD FRIEND
Once Worked for Crane & Co.
Now High British Official.
Jim ChaIIis of AtchisOn Found
Wandering Around PiccadilIy.

cially the English and Scotch-haIf so
much as the threat Of prohibition, ac-
cording to Ed McKeever, veteran To-
peka attorney, who has just returned
from a trip to Europe. The fear that
this branch of personal liberty NAV
be taken away from them has grown
almost into a hysterical condition, he
asserts.
Passing over the time-worn eco
Monies and finance questions which
occupy most of the newspaper space
in interviews with Americans who
have Travelled in Europe, McKeever
relates a world of sidelights on the
manners and customs of the Old Coun-
try which appeal more to human in
terest And perhaps the most notice.
able thing to an American coming
from dry Kansas is the tremendous
amount Of liquor imbibed in Great
Britain.
Tn the latter part of August" said
McKeever. I'VE went up to Edinburg.
The streets were crowded and the
hotels full, and many people were
sober. Undoubtedly there is more
liquor drank in Edinburg than in any
other city of its size in the world.
In the evening, in the hotels, both
men and women gather, drink and
smoke cigarets. In such places it is
not necessary to ask your lady COM
panion If she objects to smoke The
courteous thing to do is to strike
match and light her cigaret. This pre-
walls in England and Scotland to even
a greater extent than in France, but
not so much so in Ireland.
Saloons Bar Babies Only
There appears to have been
lowering of public morals in these
countries since the war. Women, in
What / would consider the most braZen
manner, puff at cigarets and surround
their heads with cmoke. Ninety per
cent of the women in public places,
between IS and 35 years old, smoke
openly. They also crowd into the
saloons and drink at the bars and
tables Where ever food is served,
liquor is also on the menu. About the
only persons who are barred from the
saloons are babies. Their mothers
must stand outside and have their
liquor brought out to them.
Now I do not mean by this that
all the women in Great Britain drink,
but 1 saw a tremendous lot of it.
There are certain classes, of course,
who do not drink in public, but re-
tire to the privacy of the hotels, or
their homes. And these women are
not rough or boisterous. They are
about the same class who we see go
into our soft drink parlors here and
order lemonade or ice cream, and
they think nothing more of it there
than we do of the soft drinks here.
Went Over on Carmania.
"All the liquor stores have bar
maids serving drinks. In England and
scotland there Is terrible rear Oh
prohibition and the people seem to
be worried more about that than any
thing else They apparently have no
conception of how prohibition works
here. but get their information con-
corning it from people who are OPP
posed to it, especially from New York
ers who take delight in telling them
that the Volstead act here is a failure"
Mr.. McKeeyer's party consisted of
his daughter. Florence, IL years old;
1afs hnr 1rno
herself British subject, and himself.
They left Topeka June and sailed
from New York June Is on the Gu
nard liner Carmania, the same ship
which in a battle off the east coast
OF South America during the war
killed a German admiral and resulted
in an English victory. A tablet COM
Inemorating the event is to be seen in
the smoking room. The voyage across
occupied eleven days.
"A cold rain fell almost constantly
during our whole trip thru Europe.
said Mr.. McKeever. There were only
four or five clear days and only one
or two warm ones. The crops over
there are excellent, except that they
are maturing slowly on account of the
backward weather A peculiar thing
is the absence of frosts, and weather
which would cause a frost here seems
TO have no effect there. The climate,
on the whole. is cooler.
Hotels Behind American.
1--WE landed in Liverpool and then
went to London, where we had very
good time. We found the English
people extremely hospitable and
Courteous and anxious to go out their
way to please us. This was true also
in Ireland and Scotland, and while
the French seem to like the Ameri-
cans they appear to have a much
greater love for American coin. The
English hotels are far behind ours
unless one is willing to pay SIS or $40
day. Prices are high all over Eu-
rope, except in Germany.
in the latter part of July we
crossed the English channel to Hol-
land, crossed Holland and Germany
and went down the Rhine to Munich
and then over to Ober-AmmergaD
where we saw the Passion Play,
which has been held every ten years
since the sixteenth century. They
were two years behind this time on
A account of the war. It was finer, from
an artistic standpoint, than we ex-
! pected.
"One of the things which appealed
: to me as the most beautiful on the trip
4 IS rural Great Britain. The houses
q are all surrounded with flower gar
dens and shrubbery and If Topekans
could go over there and take lessons
from those people they could make
this one of the most beautiful cities
. IN the world. The gardens are made
IN both the front and back Yards
There are the great estates, too, sur
rounded by stone walls covered with
vines, while inside are forests of trees
from 500 to 1000 years old. Some
estates are surrounded by hedge, haw-
thorne, holly and species of locust
Picked His Pockets.
''Picture shows are scattered thru
out all the cities of England and Scot
land. Practically all the films are
American. The English pictures lack
snap and also the art of presentation.
III haf, hof
= on in the theater and both smoke
cigarets. There are usually trays for
ashes and burnt matches. but if they
are lacking, the trash is thrown on
? the floor. There is usually place
nearby to get drink. They of course
3 haNn al the American actnrs and