THE NEW YEAR.

Press, Volume LXV, Issue 19508, 3 January 1929, Page 9

THE NEW YEAR.

A "WET" AMERICA. FEDERAL AGENTS DILIGENT. (TTKITED PBE33 ASSOCIATION —BY IXXCIBIC TELEOHAJ-H —COPYRIGHT.) NEW YORK, January 1The New Year celebration was noisy and "wet" until midnight, after which it became subdued because a police raiding squad, supplemented by a large force of Federal agents, entered approximately 80 night clubs and saloons within an hour. Some of these were the most popular Broadway resorts, and the result was that the streets were soon filled with revellers hurrying homevards, long before the expected time, despite the fact that bo me had paid as much as 100 dollars for reservations. However, up to midnight, it was probably the "wettest" New Year's Eve since Prohibition came into force. Theatres, night clubs, and hotels had been sold out for a week, and it is estimated that 100,000 persons from other cities came to New York for the festivities. Liquor was plentiful in other sections of the United States, but the combined forces of Federal, City, and State officials made the celebration one of the quietest in the history of the country. All public parties were abandoned before one o'clock in some southern centres by order of the authorities, due to the danger of spreading _ influenza.—Australian Press Association.