Evening star., 1933-04-02

fascinating exceptions. They will pre-
sent no social problem. except the old
one Of accumulated and seasoned
wealth. But when we pass down the line
from these generals of the strange in
dustry to colonels and captains and pri-
Yates, we begin to find those possibilities
of trouble inherent in the liquidation Of
prohibition.
Beer first: That quarter-measure will
probably give us the first glimpse into
the situation we have to face. I am
writing at the moment when Congress
has just passed the 80 per cent bill, but
when the State has not yet settled the
details Of regulation. And the small and
medium sized fry Of the beer game who
gathered in the lobbies at the recent
Jeby-Dundee fight seemed most amaz-
ingly cheerful as they faced the imme-
diate future. Frankly, all except perhaps
the big violators saw prosperity and
opportunity in the new law. A year or
two hence, when the eighteenth amend
will be different. But this gentry is not
endowed with much foresight; for them,
q year is long time to think ahead.
To understand their attitude, one
must understand the present status of
beer manufacture on Manhattan Island.
It is no longer centralized. Modern in
vention has taken care of them. Ten
consumption or sale, was trade, not
a process. It required considerable tech
nical skill, and the product tended to be
cloudy in appearance and unsatisfactory
in taste. The first great advance came
when the breweries began to put out
"wurt," or malt extract, in cans. The
home brewer could buy it, without vio-
lating the law, in almost any chain store.
To make beer, he needed in addition only
a five-gallon crock, yeast cake, a
pound or two Of sugar and a box Of
bottle caps.
The resultant product was cloudy at
the bottom, but otherwise great i'm
provement on the old home brew. Many
small bootlegging restaurants, many
beer fats" made their own by this cheap
process. Then the brewers put out lex
tract"-another great advance. This Is
simply unfermented beer, sold usually in
f1ve-gallon cans. It contains no alcohol
whatever, so that dealer and purchaser
stand equally guiltless before the law.
You open the can, insert yeast cake,
wait three days, remove the scum and
bottle a clear, dregless liquor with
authority.
6emi-home brew made by this process
costs between three and four cents q
bottle. Each bottle yields two or three
drinks, which the speakeasy retails at
25 cents. This for the very small estab-
lishment. Those stage more important
and prosperous often have their own
small brewing and bottling plants In
their cellars. Steadily these pocket brew
cries have risen In efficiency and de-
scended in price. Certain modest estab-
Ishments do not care to brew their own,
but draw their supply from some neigh
Dor with convenient cellar.
\hiHERE, then, do the important Illicit
brewers come in-the "big shots"
who have divided Manhattan, the Bronx
and Brooklyn into recognized spheres of
influence? They serve the more i'm
portant speakeasies, housed not in small
flats and old brick houses of the down.
town quarter, but in million-doll
apartment or Office buildings. Pro-
prietors of such establishments cannot
maintain brewing machinery or even
ferment beer extract in the cellar. The
owners of the building would not permit
this; the commercial risk is too great.
They patronize the big shots at current
price of $3.50 for 31-gallon barrel.