Evening star., 1926-06-09
iL|QU0R, LIMITED,
| HAS BIG BACKING.
Correspondent Finds Mont
real Devoted to Mild Forms
in Moderation.
EY ROBERT r. SMALL.

EY ROBERT r. SMALL.
MONTREAL. Qdehec. June -.
after three or four days up here IN
The land Of Liquor limited, dozen
Interesting impressions are indenol!
slammed iiron Won. One is thaI hlnS
George Of England must be terrioie
1oner. There never has been an lp'i
smation of this sort in the nunhc
1,rirts before and we all know 'ha'
during the latter stages OF me W"t
the King hanished all liquors ana
vi,es from his table and household.
Yet here YOU Get the evidence. me
firS, hottte of Scotch YOU buy from lne
Quebec Liquor Commission bears upon
It's label the announcement that me
Gisiillers thereof have been appointed
Especial purveyors to MS maJesS
King George V" The next bottle
an entirely different brand. bears tne
announcement that its dlstlllers ans"
arc purvevors to II. NJ. the klns'
PRETTY soon, if you are persistent you
will discover that virtually All 'he
,jistil,ers in England claim to have an
especial appointment to the f"Sa!
Then YOU turn TO the champacnes.
and here again you find the same cor,
dition existing. The winners h
France all appear to nave pipe ny
,rhe only relief in the situation IS me
Anal discovery that both the hlhs
and the Queen are royal patrons OF
half a dozen different brands or tap.e
waters and ginger aleS.
Matter One Of Geography.
or course, the King doesn't drink
all the varieties of liquor Wnlch ate
"purveyed" to his majesty. put ne
ia,
liouors and wines at all Of his private
and nuhlic luncheons and dinners.
An of which goes to show that some
times morality appears to be matter
5of reocrap phy as we'll as STATE oi
mind, for no one could imagine a as
til,er in the United States claiming to
; he q, purveyor by especial appoint
.ment to the White House.
This question of morality IS anothe'
impression the traveller from ine
states gets in Montreal. Here 1t is
aeainst an old law. stoutly main
tanned, to issue a newspaper on sun
<dav or bearing a Sunday date. II
IS crime to issue a Sunday 6per.
+hut II is not a crime to sell or drink
wines and liquors.
] There was a striking illustrate OF
differing viewpoints during the wal
In England it was perfectly All rlSn'
for an officer to drink in uniform IN
= nuhlic place, but it was considered
the height of immortality and indie
cencv for him to dance in public" IN
the United States exactly the reverse
,yas true The American officer cou!h
dance and dance and dance, put ne
must not be caught taking a drink.
Montreal is only 10 hours from
broadway. Coming here direct from
New York one Is impressed ny tne
fact that in the public dining rooms
and cabarets there are no masks ano
no whisky drinking. Plenty OF COINS
are popping and lots of wine rs now
inr. hut no hard liquor The hotels
.nd restaurants are not allowed 10
sell ,t nor even a cocktail containing
anv ouantity of gin. All the liquor
b.ra must be bought at a commission
store and must be drunk IN the
Enrivacy of the home or the hotel
room. :.
I There is sporadic. drunkenness IN
Montreal. You may see man or
two Iurching along the streets on
Saturday nights. occaslondlN one
St,nnIes too much wine in restaurant.
mt the night life of Montreal is nuiet
and sober compared to that in New
York and other large American cities.
There is no feverish desire mere 10
drink everything up in one evening
Another interesting impression is
the amused tolerance with which the
Montreal people endure the inva-
sion of the Yankees in search of liquid
refreshments.
NO Explanation Necessary
NO explanation necessary" they
say when you start to tell now You
happened to be in town.
All is politeness. Even in the com
mission depots where YOU buy your
liquors there is a prominent sign
reading:
La plus grande politesse est recon
mandee AL personnel.
Although this is city Of twin
languages, there is no similar sign in
English. But the politeness is there
Just the same, and a cordial spirit of
helpful cooperation to all who are in
search of something new something
different from the bootleg stuff"
The fashionable grills where there
IS dancing present an odd assortment
of humans. For the most part the
dancers are modishly attired and bear
the earnarks of welltodo or wealthy
Americans. At one table. however.
sits a plainly clad young couple. who
must have just come over from the
chaste hills of Vermont. Perhaps they
are celebrating their second or third
marriage anniversary. Her clothes
were in the trousseau of at least two
years ago. Her nose is shiny. That's
a rare sight, these days. The man is
quiet and husky. What will they
drink, if anything? Pretty soon it
comes. 1t is champagne. They talk
together earnestly as they sip the
wine. The one bottle Is all. They
depart as quietly as they came.
Liquor, limited, in Montreal has
many strange devotees.