THE ARMY CANTEEN.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 170, 20 July 1935, Page 15

THE ARMY CANTEEN.

A METAMORPHOSIS.

LIKE A SOFT DRINK PARLOUR

LONDON, June Id.

British soldiers drink so little beer ancl hard liquor these days that the Army authorities have decided to recondition all permanent canteens throughout the services. Army canteens will in the future take on the aspect of a soft drink parlour, where the troops will be able to purchase ices, lemonade, orangeade, tea and coffee. The long wooden tables and benches will be replaced by glass topped tables to scat three or four, and orderlies will be 011 duty in short white service jackets to carry drinks to the tables. The new canteens will be tastefully decorated, with rubber or composition floors, instead of bare boards with sand or sawdust as at present. Each canteen, however, will have a fully equipped bar complete with stools and footrails. From time to time music will be provided, to be paid for from canteen funds, and when an orchestra is not available gramophone records and wireless concerts will provide entertainment. The decision to change the canteens into soft drink parlours is duo to the fact that soft drinks have practically ousted liquor and for every bottle of beer seven bottles of soft drinks are sold. Drunkenness in the Ariny lias dwindled from 285 in 1925 to 27 in 1935. The most popular beverages among the troops in hot weather are orangeade and grapefruit. In cold weather tea is the most popular, milk comes second, and coffee third. Among hard liquors, curiously enough, brandy tops the list, with gin second and whisky third. Tons of chocolate are consumed every year, followed closely bv packets of fruit and nuts and packets of gumdrops. While cigarettes and tobacco hold their own, there is a definite trend toward smoking small cheap cigars, and there is a big increase in snuff taking.