MIDNIGHT FLOOD

Evening Post, Volume CXV, Issue 105, 6 May 1933, Page 15

MIDNIGHT FLOOD

RETURN OF BEER

THE LAND OF THE FREE

NATIONAL TOAST

(Fi-om "The Post's" Representative.) . " NEW. YOEK. April 7. The floodlighted features of Miss Liberty smiled convivially at insight last night ar the citizens of thisH^nd of the free prepared to sJtllco thSSj^ thirst, officially, for the first time m thirteen years, and to present a toast in beer, of 3.2 per cent, alcohol-con-tent, to their country:—. _ To the United States-, Bounded on the North by the Aurora Borealis, On the Sout hby the eternal procession of God's equinoxes, On the East by the rising sun, On the- West by Die Day of JudgBlOllt. President Roosevelt gave them becv —far too soon for many cities, whoso breweries had not got their plants sufficiently advanced to tuin out the brew 'that cheers. Hero in NewYork, where patriotic brewers feared for the results, deliveries were held off till breakfast time. But the celebiation, reminiscent of Armistice Night, went on just tho same, with the aid of synthetic luenbratioa provided by 33,000 speakeasies. Meantime, 60,000 soft drink fcarlours, drug stores, hotels, and restaurants awaited their orders, shortly after daylight. Chicago ,waa not so patriotic. Tho "Windy City has always boon famous for its beer, and there was no anxiety about breweries or supplies, i'o-i1 oldestablished firms, with famous names that have figured in the crime records during the d^y spell, had long since perfected their sales organisation. MILWAUKEE'S AMBER FLOOD. Milwaukee, "The City That Made Beer Famous," released an amber flood of 13,000,000 bottles as the last stroke of the local Big Ben chimed tho witching hour. Beer-conscious throughout the hiatus, the famous city of breweries broadcast the happy event over the radio throughout the nation, from the St. Lawrence to the Rio Grande, from Maine to the Golden Gate. New York was keenly disappointed. Society matrons had planned diligently for days to wind up New Beer's Eve with gay parties. Invitations had been sent out weeks ahead, and guests arrived on time. In tho absence of flic froth-tipped beverage, supplies oi' cocktails were hurriedly requisitioned from friendly bootleggers. Many Park Avenue mansions, glorified with- new tap-rooms and private beer gardens, drew their supplies from neighbouring States, where the authorities were not so fearful of the pent-up emotions of a dozen years' abstinence* In the south, Kentucky and Maryland were the only States in which brer could be officially sold. Old Alan Mississippi ia still bone dry, witli no prospect of a break in the drought. The Attdvney-Gencral of Arkansas said his State would remain "as dry as a camel's tonsils" until the law had properly been passed. Virginia', where women arc courted from the cradle to tho grave, permits only ono-half of 1 per 'cent, of alcohol content in beer. Georgia will neither have beer nor permit the manufacture of malt fluids. Florida, where millionaires spent tho winter, has not cnactod beer legislation. Millionaires do not drink beer. BEEK UP IN THE AIK. Beer will be served in passenger aeroplanes as they pass over Colorado, under the law of that State. The divorce colony of B«no had to depend on its night clubs, but tho dispatches tfhrouieled no serious shortage.,' Idaho,Utah, and Kansas forbid intoxicating liqnors, which will disturb the old legend of the train traveller who forgot his corkscrew; he had but tn walk along tho corridors until ho met a man 1 from Kansas, who never failed to carry one. I Somebody sent President Roosevelt aj ' case of beer. Ho gave orders that it bo re-Tontcd to the quarters of the representatives of the Press at midnight. Tho first casualty of tho wet era was a bnngman in a Newark brewery, found dead on his job. His task was to knock the bungs off barrels us they ■ passed on an electrically-operated belt. i It is surmised that he was struck on iho head by a passing barrel as he j stooped to pick up his ha miner. I Broadway advertised free beer for | patrops of shows after midnight. Stage stars and chorus girls acted as barmaids. "It's a long time between. drinks," announced a^ famous brewery in a full-page advertisement in the New York papers this morning, as freight cars, motor trueka, and wagons drawn by brewers' horses prepared to move 400,000 barrels on their way. One Now York paper carried 25 advertisements for midnight celebrations. Meantime, an ocean greyhound ploughed her way through the last few knots of the Atlantic, carrying Britain's contingent of the foaming fluid. In- the ballroom of tha Kitz-Carlton was a distinguished gathering of liinsi-' 'ciil composers, presided over by the composer of the old-time beer classic, "Down Where the Wurtzburgor Plows." Nearby were Harry Armstrong and Kicbard Gerard, who eoitiposed "Sweet Adeline." The oldest composer present was Theodore Metz, nged 86, who wrote, "There'll Be a ifot Time in the Old Town Tonight." Among the 300 that lined the festive board wore composers of "hiwect "RosieO'Grady," "Bedftlia," and "Handy Lee," and Milton Agcr, whose song, "Happy Days Are Hero Again," enjoyed two vogues. By contrast, among them was the youthful Annie Bonnoll, who composed "Rain on the Hoof." The gentlemen o£ tho Press assembled jn a big uptown brewery, and delivered their pronuueiamortto on tho quality of the new brew. Grey-haired sages from the great dailies and ambitious cubs round long tables, heaped high with pretzels and sandwiches, holding their steins aloft—to the "New Deal." THE GANGSTERS UNLOAD. '•' With beer at 5 cents, tho bottom.fell out of tho bootleg market, 'which has prospered on two-bit beer (25 cents). The price of all other liquors dropped 50 per cent. " 1 Liquor law offenders in penitentiaries hoped that some armistico might be grafted them, but the Federal At-torney-General said it would be impossible to determine those who wero convicted solely for beer violations. They ran put of licence forms'in this city, and printed forms of tho fire 'brigade- were used, by altering the words '"combustibles" and "firo department" to "beer" and'"health, department," with rubber stamps. The gangsters deserve a word, as they will have it beforo long of their own accord. They dumped thosuands of barrels of unordered beer on speakasy proprietors. "When the latter protested to the distributors, they were laconically informed, "We got an • order from you; Keep that beer. Pay for it, and liko it!" Before the eyes of the bewildered "speak." owners flashed a vision of the faces of Dutch Schultz, Tony Marino, and other leaders of the underworld. Will they accept the beer? It is anybody's guess. As the floodlights were switched from the figure of Miss Liberty, the -first tinge of dawn came across tho' Atlan^ tic. The roysterers prfeparod to go home, hiccoughing ever so slightly as they remarked, "Light but 0.X.," in judgment of "United ' States, Throe: Point-Two,''