Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-07-31

l
| for fun, you know, to hear the other
| protest.
] Some of the Americans make the
mistake of taking their good wives
| into the. beer taverns with them.
| While this may be done with perfect
| propriety in the larger hotels, it is not
done in the public drinking places,
and when a respectable woman enters
| common beer tavern with her hus-
| band she is subjected 20 such bar
| rage of curious stares that she
liable to spill her beer.
After registering at a hotel the
men, and sometimes they take their
wives along, but mostly the men by
themselves, make a bee line for the
nearest liquor store. am told that 1t
is common sight to see them thrust
the package under their coats on
leaving the place, and show some
alarm when the traffic policeman
toots his whistle. Habits of years are
not broken in a day. There is nothing,
however, so suggestive of law and
order as liquor store. There is
often a crowd at each of the several
wickets-but it's a crowd like that
which lines up in front of the receiv-
ing teller's window at home on the
day after pay day. There's no showing
about or jostling. Everything is con-
Quoted in an atmosphere of dignif1ed
decorum. / am told that on days be-
fore holidays and during the early
days of December there are lines
waiting at the windows that stretch
for blocks, and that one must some
times wait for hours before get
ting his bottle. On an ordinary day
however, the crowd dribbleS in and
out. There's usually one man i'll front
of you, maybe more.
Price Lists on Walls.
The price lists are displayed on the
walls. Cognac costs from 81 for a 10
ounce bottle to $3.50 for a 40.ounce
bottle: gin is about the same: rum
from 80 cents for 10 ounces to $3.50
for 40 ounces-this 40-ounce bottle be-
ing the largest quantity sold and cor
responding to something near the
imperial quart; rye WHISTLES are from
SLIGO for Is ounces to $40 quart;
Bourbon WHISTLES from $3.50 for 16
ounces to $500 For 80 ounces, Irish
WHISTLES and Scotch whistles having
about the same range. Brandy costs
around $4.75 liter for all kinds,
while bottled cocktails retail at $2.25
a quart. Ale and stout cost from 35
cents pint to IS cents a quart, and
Chinese liquors can be had for $3.50
a pint. Champagne costs about $3.50
quart, but of course goes higher,
some of the 1914 vintage of a famous
brand selling as high as SITS a, pint.
There are white wines, red wines, and
sparkling wines from Bordeaux, Bur-
gundy and Moselle from 1925 a pint
to S4.75 a quart-and up. The Quebec
Liquor Commission maintains an Of
nce in Paris for the purchase of Eu-
ropes best wines, and they are Sc
lected, it is said, with great care
Canadian wine can be had for as lit
tie as 40 cents quart, and mass
wines retail at 81 and SO a gallon.
While many of the American men
folk who come to Montreal for a day
or so celebrate their arrival by song
and story in the hotel corridors, one
sees little of that sort of thing. Most
of them are here with their families.
The purchase of liquor is mere In.
cldent in their tour, to be approached
In much the same manner that one
contemplates a sight seeing tour in a
rubberneck wagon. 1t is a common
slght, for instance, to see some dear
little grandmother who has accom-
panied the children on their automo.
bile trip sitting behind her glass of
beer in the hotel with that expression
plainly written on her face-"I'm
going to drink the rest of this stuff if
1t kills me, but gosh, how I hate it,
1t would be an even bet that many of
them never tasted a glass of real beer
before in their lives, and they prob.
ably go back to the United States
wondering what all this clamor about
beer can mean.
SOft-Pedal Liquor Talk.