LONDON'S NIGHT CLUBS.

Auckland Star, Volume LVIII, Issue 78, 2 April 1927, Page 36

LONDON'S NIGHT CLUBS.

CASE FOR INQUIRY. '•'A DANGEROUS OCCUPATION." (I'.y HORACE WYXDIL\.M, Author of "Nights in London/' etc.) Running a night club ought to be officially scheduled a '"dangerous occupation."' Also, attending one. In fact, the latter activity is perhaps the more risky. This is because, while the proprietor can (and generally does) make a profit, the •■freipuenlor"' who is found on the premises when they are raided merely gets mulcted the next morning l»v an unsympathetic, magistrate. Altogether, where he (or she) is concerned, an expensive evening. It is rumoured, however, (lint one can insure against this sad happening. Still, if the-e is a Lloyd's pi-liey, it is certain to be a heavy one. Human nature being what it is, the real lure of a night club seems to be its suggestion of '"naughtiness." lint it is seldom much more than a mere suggestion. Alter ail it is to the interest of tin , management to avoid police attentions. As they are given a large allowance of rope, it is their own fault when they find themselves at odds with the law. The reason is nearly always the same, i.e., selling drink o non-numbers, and selling it after lixod hours. Speaking generally there are two sorts of night clubs, (1) 'the badly conducted, and u , ) the very badly conducted. The Inst are in the majority. Xoi e the less, these establishments do at lea-t offer their patrons some return for the cash they extract from them. To begin with, they usually have imposing premises, with a good dancing lloor, a highly paid (if not particularly accomplished) orchestra, a kitchen ami cellar up to the average hotel standard, and some cabaret "turns." Other amenities are an abundance of glitter and stucco and gilding, a decorative scheme suggestive of eailv Tottenham Court Road grafted on to lite Selfridge, a blaze ol" light everywhere, plush-breached • llunkevs by the dozen, and n pos=e of obsequious attendants of alien origin. "All Sorta and Conditions of Men." A typicai crowd at one night club is much the same as one at another of the same class. All sorts and conditions. Thus, actors and artists; bankrupts and bootleggers; cinema stars and companypromoters; flappers and froth-blowers; jockeys and journalists ;> mannequins and musicians; peers and profiteers; stock brokers nnd subalterns; theatrical producers and theatrical non-producers; undergraduates and undergraduettes; Throgmorton Avenue and West Kensington. The City and Suburbia, so to speak. Gentlemen may prefer blondes, but there ia no lack of brunettes among the assembly in these haunts, binglcd and shingled nnd Kton-cropped, and bobbed and de-bobbed. Lipsticks and powderpufTs are very much in evidence; and, after every dance, running repairs are openlv carried out on the premises, or at any rate at the supper tables.

Dancing is not the only attraction (alleged) of the average night cluh in London. The majority cif thorn add a "cabaret." Somewhere about 11.30 p.m. Terpsichore gives place to half a dozen "turns" consisting of vocalists, comedian-:., acrobats, "cross-talk" experts, and even ventriloquists. Some of them arc distinctly clever; others, merely fair to middling. The rule, "one good turn deserves another," is seldom followed bv those who draw up cabaret programmes. Still, the prospect of a "close-Up ,, of somebody one. may have seen at an adjoining music Lall an hour earlier seems to be regarded as a lure. The psychology of a night club audinrc is curious. In Bond Street and the llaymarket people will go into raptures over something they would heartilv boo anv where else.

All night clubs make a great parade of their "rules." Admirable rule*, ' ><>, from a theoretical standpoint. Chapter niul verse for every imaginable lin,>l'""ing, from the hours of opening ;md closing to the deportment of members on ana oil' the premises. At one, evening dress is "indispensable"; :it others, it is "optional." One such haunt even stipu lates that "the committee, may *i> t use admission to any lady they think proper." There is, however, no record of uhem ever having gone to such lengths. Every night club, too, is very particular about "names of guests being entered in the visitors' book." They are less particular, however, as to what these names may be. This is why those of "'Lord Tomnoddy," "Comrade. Cookski," and the "Countess of Clapham*' appear therein with such frequency. Weeding Out the Thrifty. Most night clubs have what is, on the face of .„, one very sound rule. This is that membership expires automatically a the end of ach twelve months, ml application has then to be made for its renewal. There is, however, more in than meets the eye. What happens is that, at the beginning of the "Hnanc ai j'ear,"' the "committee' , (i.e., the registered proprietor and his understrapper) go through the list very carefully, and see who has spent money in the club and who hasn't. The latter then receive an ollicial intimation that their room is preferred to taeir company. Of course, it is not put quite so crudely. Still, that is the gist of the secretarial letter. However-, the offence may be purged :n champagne. At some night clubs, where "satety first" is a fundamental rule, it >s explicitly laid down that all applications for membership must be accompanied by a cheque for twelve months' subscription Once this cheque has been well and truly cashed (generally a 9 soon as the hank cm which it is drawn is open), there it. seldom much difficulty about securing ! election. Even light-hearted individuals who declare themselves on the form 'o bo "Old Borstalians," or "professional brass-finishers," are given the glad-hand. Xor is it uncommon for a would-be member to be proposed and seconded by two others on the same list.

Night clubs of the inferior description seem to spring up all over London, like Jonah's gourds; nnd the majority vl the- last about as long. Such fis these are apt to Iμ uin in the neighbourhood of Shaftcsbury Avenue, nnd to <.i\ri in the flock *at Marlborough Street. Liguor first; liquidation afterwards. Still, the la\j on the subject is so ,»ld that merely striking them off the register is not enough to suppress them, and they nearly always manage to I »b up afresh under another name. Thus, the Happy Bow-Wows can be shut lown on Monday, but it can (nnd frequently does) reopen as the Joy birds on Tuesday. The only effective method of checking this activity is for the magistrate to make an order that the premises shall not he used again for such a purpose, lint magistrates seem rather averse from adopting such an ob\ iou> precaution. Even in the latest rase, concerning a well-known Ilaymurket establishment, the closure ie only to last three months.

For some undivulgcd reason, secoudrate night clubs almost always display a whimsical fondness for having iiu-ir premises in either a parrot or a ceiJjir. Tho theory, apparently, is that tl is imparts a "Bohemian" atmosphere, \\ell, there is certainly "atmosphere" ;ibojt these establishments; but it is of lie sort t re ;lers the wearing of a as mask a desirable precaution. Other familiar features are noise, jazz Oaiuts. alien waiters, wine lists that open automatically at a page headed "cl:ampagnc," touts and tip-hunters.

Vi.-iting night clubs, wherever tlicy be situated, is not quite the cheapest form ol amusement. Entrance fees and subscriptions, apart from incidental;, or" apt to b,- still. One sucli establishment in Old I'.ond street (the accepted haunt of the iincsse. doree of either sc\ i demands a twenty guineas entrance fee. on top of an eight guineas subscript on. In respect of tins latter, live guiii'-as ia wry axcrage charge. Still, for ii:ioutlay, one certainly gets decent surroundings and some approach to remit, rt. if not luxury. In the purlieu* of ;V.m. where the second nnd third-rate have their premises, price* are much iiore moderate. They go down, indeed, to n> little as a guinea. Of course, no < .-■ pltished and be-powdered flunkeys, ven little gilt and glitter, and an absence -i any kind of orchestra beyond a coil] le of noise-producing saxophones ~n,l a drum. I'nrcasonable t'> expect it. perhaps.

What do night club habitues get lor their money.' The possibility of ru!ibi;ig shoulders with people whnse names appear in he "gossip" columns of ll.e "picture papers"; u little dancing on a crowded lloor; a few cabaret ■'turn'" 'lurili. tin intervals: food ami drink served at an extortionate tariff; aid noise and glitter nnd glare. Il does n<.t sound over over thr gor hectic, i"-i. no real e: u-e for serious complaint. After all, the p't c has its remedy im .'.< own hands. Any way, there is no lav. (as yet) compelling one to go to a dub!