MEN IN UNIFORM.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 22, 27 January 1937, Page 8

MEN IN UNIFORM.

BARRED AT CABARET. SAILORS FROM DUNEDIN. BAN SUBSEQUENTLY LIFTED.

Two sailors from H.M.S. Punedin, a petty officer ami an able seaman, wore refused admission last evening to the Peter Pan Cabaret. It was stated that tho only reason given by the commissionaire was that uniformed men were not admitted. A decision was made subsequently to remove the ban on bluejackets in uniform.

One of the sailors had been refused admission to the Majestic Cabaret in Wellington in November, when tho present manager and lessee of the Peter Pan, Mr. Frederick Carr, was in control. Indignation at the refusal for admission was expressed by the two men. The able seaman said lie had patronised the cabaret frequently in the past three years and this was the first time objection had been raided. It was also the lirst time he had visited the cabaret since its recent change of control. In Correct Uniform. ''We were wearing our No. 1 uniform, our official evening dress, and were quite respectable,'' he stated. "The. Commissionaire stopped us saying, 'Men in uniform are not allowed in here,' We asked for the manager, and the commissionaire, after returning from upstairs, said the manager was out."

The men pointed out that in England sailors in uniform were admitted to all the cabarets they were accustomed to frequent. Under the system in Wellington, and that which appeared to be the new policy of the Peter Pan, a boysteward might be admitted and a petty officer kept outside, because many ratings occupying a lower position wore the double-breasted jacket and peaked hat. which, to the uninitiated, might appear to be a sign of a superior rank, although in many cases it was not. Their uniform last evening corresponded with the civilian's evening dress, the ordinary uniform with gold badges prescribed for ceremonial occasions. Statement by Manager. Mr. Carr, in* a statement to the Press, said before he canr£ to Auckland the action that he should take here when bluejackets went to the Peter Pan had occasioned him much thought, because he felt that after his refusal to allow them into the Majestic Cabaret. Wellington, which he owned, he could not permit their entry in Auckland.

He had realised there was a distinct difference between the Majestic, which also catered for a large restaurant trade, and the Peter Pan, which war* essentially a cabaret. At no time had he any objection to sailors, but their presence in uniform had been found to discourage the attetidance of other types of patron. He had nothing to say against them personally, but felt in Wellington that in the interests of the Majestic they should be refused entry. He had not been in the Peter Pan when the two men were turned away last night, and in future they would be allowed in. Position at Civic. The manager of the Civic Cabaret, Mr. A. Healy, (stated this morning that no naval ratings had ever been excluded from the cabaret, and the experience of the management had been that they were among the best behaved of patrons. No exception could ever be taken to their presence.