Evening star., 1933-04-08
DEMAND FOR BEER
SURPASSES SUPPLY.
BreWeries Exhaust Stocks
as Public CIamors to OBJ
tain Legal Brew.
By the Associated Press.


NEW YORK, April 8.-Enough beer
went down the hatch in the United
States yesterday to float a battleship.
If breweries had been able to sup
ply all demands-demands which con-
tinued to pour in today-they could
have sold enough to have f1oated two
battleships.
Estimates of the quantity Of 30 beer
sold during the first "a hours OF its
legality ran rom 100000 to 1,50O,00
barrels
Twenty-one States and the District
of Columbia participated in the pro-
duction and consumption of the new
brew. Roughly estimated, a population
Of 100000 people found beer avail
able to them.
But there was not enough. In St.
Louis, one of the worlds great brewery
centers, parched throats had to be
carried for blocks late in the day be-
fore finding a place where taps were
not yet dry.
Overtaxed Facilities.
Several New York breweries were
obliged to halt deliveries because of
shortages of barrels and bottles. They
said there was plenty of beer on hand
but that public clamor for 1t over
taxed facilities.
Revenue by the hundreds OF thou
sands of dollars accrued to various
governments-city, State and Federal
as the number OF dead soldiers"
sometimes referred to simply as empty
bottles, grew. Efforts to estimate 1t
today were futile, SO swift were the
sales.
Forty carloads of beer moved out of
the yards of one Milwaukee brewery,
alone; yet it reported being far behind its
orders. All brewerieS of the Wiscon-
sin city found their most energetic ef-
forts unequal to the demand.
The South was the only section of
the Nation where the alcoholic but
non-intoxicating beverage was only a
headline in the newspapers. Legis-
lation looking toward legalization OF
the sale of beer is under way in some
States. In others, the brew had been
thumbed down by the lawmakers.
Verdict Is Favorable.
The probability that initial enthusi-
asm to take aboard samples OF the
beverage which has been an outlaw
for 13 years would ebb after the novel;
ty wore of. was expressed in several
quarters. The public verdict on the
quality Of the brew, however, was
generally favorable.
With consumption heavy, an oppor-
tunity was given to observe whether the
beverage possessed the authority" of
pre-Volstead brew The observation
Of police officials was that despite the
attendant hilarity, there were no signs
OF intoxication attributable to 80 beer
In New York City for the first time
in months there was not one arrest in
the 24-hour period ending last mid
night on driving while drunk charge
A check Of police stations disclosed
no arrests from 80 intoXication.
With the first day of sales hardly
over, Joseph Dublin, editor of Brewing
Age, expressed the opinion that if con-
sumption continued at its present rate,
q national shortage Of beer would re-
suit in 10 days.
The bombing of the Prima Brewery
in Chicago, early today was the first
untoward event to interrupt the jolly
optimism that appeared-at least for
the first day-to be ready to go along
in double harness with the brewery's S
big horses. The damage was not great,
and the bombing was ascribed to dis
gruntled jobbers who had been disap-
pointed in their failure to get deliveries
on their orders
The sinister, unspoken threat of "re-
prlsals' by wildcat brewers gang con-
trolled to compel speakeasy operators
to continue buying beer from them in
preference to the legal 80, had not
translated itself into action today. The
speakeasy owners, in fact, were for the
most part glum in the New York area,
as they watched patrons pass up their
usual highballs to toss down legitimate
lager.
Some of the New York beer gardens,
especially in the Yorkville section, con-
tinued to do the same thriving business
they have enjoyed through the prohibi-
tion era. with the exception that the
beer now was legal. In some places
last night both bootleg and 80 beer
were being sold. The latter being
cheaper.
Accessories In Demand.
Nickel beer was not the usual thing.
but 1t was obtainable without much
trouble for those willing to hunt out
places where it was sold. Fruit Juice
stands on Broadway were leaders in
the nickel beer dispensing, using g.
ounce glasses. The general charge
throughout the country was 10 cents
for an 8-ounce she'll
In Indiana, cases of beer sold for as
high as 1925. In New York the aver
age price was 1925, with chain stores
selling three bottles for 25 cents.
Accessories" dealers were participat-
ing in the business, as citizens devel-
oped appetities for pretzels, cheeses,
pickles, balogna, salami and that sort
of victual. Store windows cleaned with
stems, glassware and every apperte-
nance to beer consumption. MANY
merchants told of an unexpectedly
large demand for pitchers and tumblers.
Trucking concerns were among the
numerous groups which benefited from
the legalization of beer. Brewers in
many cities found their own trucking
fleets inadequate to meet delivery de-
mands, and called upon trucking COM
panies for help.
Large quantities OF lager added to the
railway freight and express business.