The BOWERY NEW YORK CITY A . SURVEY . OF . THAT . NOTORIOUS . DISTRICT . COMPARING . PRESENT . CONDITIONS . WITH THOSE . OF . PRE - PROHIBITION . DAYS Sk & COMPILED . BY . ROBERT E. CORRADINI, RESEARCH . SECRETARY . OF . THE . WORLD . LEAGUE . AGAINST . ALCOHOLISM PUBLISHED . BY . THE . WORLD . LEAGUE . AGAINST . ALCOHOLISM . WASHINGTON, D. C, . U. S. A. ON THE FIRST DAY of July, 1919, the traf- fic in alcoholic beverages became illegal within the borders and possessions of the United States. It was a war measure, proposed and en- acted chiefly to save food stuffs, means of transportation and man power dur- ing the world conflict. It became a per- manent policy, when, on Jan. 16, 1920, national prohibition by federal constitu- tional amendment superseded the war measure. More than three years have elapsed since constitutional prohibition became operative and on all sides the question is raised as to the real value and effect of prohibition. No exhaustive survey has yet been made to ascertain the merits and defect of this policy of the American Re- public. Undoubtedly it is early to draw final conclusions, but it is not too early to look over the field in or- der 10 ascertain in what direction we are moving and what we may expect from this policy. Prohibition was willed by the American people. It is the American way of dealing with and settling the liquor question which has troubled the oub "shine buddy" has a soda and "hot dog" where many a father in days gone by had his beer or whisky THE BOWERY IN 1886 The Boicery, the Bowery! They do such things and they say such things. On the Bowery, the Bowery! I'll never go there any more. world since the days of Noah. This is one of several short sketches covering a small area with peculiar problems, outlining what prohibition has accomplished, or in what way it has helped other forces which strive for the betterment of man- kind. In every city of considerable size, be- fore the days of prohibition, there was a district where visitors, whose fair opin- ion was desired, were never taken and about vvhich"officials never boasted. New York City, being as human as any other city, had such a spot. It was called "The Bowery." Here it was that one saw the finished products of the liquor traffic. Here it was that the saloon flourished in all its glory — or shame. Here, all life revolved around it, here, the bar was the hub of daily activities, the heart of all community life, indeed the very ration d'etre. How has prohibi- tion affected the Bowerv? Flotsam What was the Bowery life be- fore prohibition? This short thoroughfare on Manhattan Island is as well know throughout the World as Broadway or Fifth Avenue. It is less than a mile long, beginning at Chatham Square, STILLS ON THE BOWERY SOON AFTER PROHIBITION BECAME OPERATIVE IN NEW YORK ALL THE HARDWARE STORES ON THE BOWERY PUT IN A SUPPLY OB 1 UTENSILS FOR HOME BREWING. THE FIRST PHOTO SHOWS A STORE TAKEN IN 1920, THE SECOND PICTURE WAS TAKEN IN 1923. THE STILLS HAVE LARGELY DISAPPEARED. RADIQ SEEMS TO HAVE SUPPLANTED THE HOME STILL. only a short distance above the New York financial dis- trict, Newspaper Row, the City Hall and extending for twelve blocks to Cooper's Square. To the east of the Bowery is the New York Ghetto, a typical Jewish town. One block west of the Bowery, one enters "Little Italy," where a large Italian colony lives exactly as if it were in a section of Naples. The southernmost end of the Bowery forms the beginning of Chinatown. The whole is part of the lower East Side, where all tongues — even English sometimes — are spoken, all standards of living found, all creeds known and ig- nored. It is here where, within one square mile, half a million people exist. The Bowery catered to the masses of men whose families were far away — often beyond the seas ; to pleasure seekers far and near; it provided an outlet for the pent-up passions and thirst of the sailors navigating the "Seven Seas," when their drunk- BARNACLES THESE SALOONS ARE THE ONLY ONES LEFT OF THE 44 WHICH WERE IN BUSINESS IN 1916, OR OF THE 97 IN EXISTENCE IN 1880 ONE OF THE FEW SALOONS LEFT AFTER FOUR YEARS OF PROHIBITION enness was still proverbial ; here might have been found the soiled and faded roses tossed from Broadway. The Bowery was the last haven for derelicts ; here Bacchus and Gambrinus reigned supreme over helpless subjects. Here was Mike McGurk's suicide hall — of infamous repute and unsavory memory — where one heard across the bar the raucous squawks of its denizens, while in the rear of the saloon some unfortunate who had lost in the struggle lowered the curtain on her miserable existence. Borderin g on the Bow- ery was Nigger Mike's place, whose owner had the distinction of having com- mitted every crime in the calendar except treason and murder. Again, here once flourished the old Kelly saloon, where many a "schooner sailed across the bar" and business was in- terrupted now and then only long enough to spring the trapdoor in the base- ment and thus dispatch into the great beyond a hapless BOWERY AND BROOM STREET ONE OF THE LAST SALOONS ON THE BOWERY. THE BUILDING IS OWNED BY THE BREWERY WHICH ADVERTISES ITS BEER REAL ESTATE VALUE, 1916, $45,000 REAL ESTATE VALUE, 1922, $40,000 299 AND .301 BOWERY A TYPICAL SECTION OF THE BOWERY. TWO SALOONS ARE SHELTERED UNDER THE ROOFS OF THESE DILAPIDATED RAMS HACKLES VALUE OF REAL ESTATE IN 1916, $1 15,000 VALUE OF REAL ESTATE IN 1922, $105,000 Mil BOWERY 348 BOWERY THIS OLD SALOON GIVES A GOOD IDEA OF THE OLD BARROOM THE LAST SALOON ON THE LAST BLOCK NORTH. IN SPITE OF THE ON THE BOWERY FACT THAT IT HAS A VERY RICH MENU FOR ITS PATRONS, THE BAR IS NEVER CROWDED. THE DAYS WHEN MEN LINED UP FOUR AND FIVE DEEP ABE GONE FOREVER PAGE TWO TIIK SALOON HAS BEEN REPLACED BY A LUNCH BOOH AM) THE THE 01. D SHACK, HOUSING A SALOON, HAS BEEN TORN DOWN SINCE PROPERTY RENOVATED PROHIBITION WENT INTO EFFECT. A NEW BUILDING HAS BEEN ERECTED, HOUSING SEVERAL MANUFACTURING CONCERNS, AND NOT ONLY DO WE FIND THAT MANY LUNCH ROOMS HAVE REPLACED THE GROUND FLOOR INSTEAD OF HOUSING A BAR IS NOW USED SALOONS, BUT ON THE SIDE OF THESE BUILDINGS WHERE FORMERLY BY THE FOLLOWING STORES: THERE WERE WHISKY ADVERTISEMENTS THREE STORIES MICH. BARBER SHOP DRY GOODS SOFT DRINK STAND THERE ARE TODAY HUNDREDS OF SIGNS ADVERTISING AND EN- LUNCH STATIONERY DELICATESSEN COURAOINO THE DRINKING OF MILK THE OLD BUILDING WAS ASSESSED FOR $5,000, THE NEW ONE IS ASSESSED FOR $30,000, WHILE THE PROPERTY (LAND AND BUILD- ING) HAS INCREASED FROM $40,000 TO $08,000. FROM "STEIN" TO "PORCELAIN," FROM BEER MUGS TO CHINA WARE, FROM A THIRD CLASS SALOON TO A SECOND HAND BOOK STORE RUN IS THE DRY TALE OF THIS FORMER SALOON, AT 241 BOWERY BY A RUSSIAN JEW FOR "LITERARY INCLINED HOBOES" REAL ESTATE VALUE ( 1010) $25,000 OF THE BOWERY REAL ESTATE VALUE (1022) $26,000 THIS FORMER SALOON ON THE BOWERY ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF CHINA- A FORMER SALOON NOW SELLING FIXTURES FOR STORES AND OFFICES TOWN HAS BEEN REPLACED BY A MEN'S CLOTHING STORE REAL ESTATE VALUE (1916) $33,000 REAL ESTATE VALUE (1916) $42,000 REAL ESTATE VALUE (1922) $36,000 REAL ESTATE VALUE (1922) $100,000 PAGE THREE FORMER SALOON HAS BEEN SUBSTITUTED BY A RECTOR LUNCH ROOM THE FAMOUS ONE MILE HOUSE HAS BECOME ONE OF THE BUSIEST PREMISES HAVE BEEN RENOVATED LUNCH ROOMS ON THE BOWERY. PREMISES HAVE BEEN RENOVATED REAL ESTATE VALUE (1916) $25,000 REAL ESTATE VALUE (1922) $31,000 one who had outlived his or her usefulness. All declin- ing roads led to the Bowery. There were the haunts of the crooked politicians, the rendezvous of the underworld. Thither fled the fugitive from justice. There the weak, the outcast, were drawn into the swirling current of a deadly whirlpool. There human parasites preyed upon their fellowmen. There was the Mecca of the devotees of passion ; the cesspool of drugs, drink and immorality. There humanity forgot its sorrows in a mirage of happi- ness. The Bowery suhmerged all in the mire of passion gone mad. In the year 1886 there were 97 bar-rooms facing the Bowery. Some blocks had as many as 17 and the 24 blocks on the Bowery housed over 200 saloons. In 1896 the Excise law was passed and since then the number of saloons has been reduced. In 1914 there were on the Bowery 40 bars licensed to sell alcoholic beverages. In 1916 the number had in- creased to 44. This was the last full "wet" year. Just before prohibition went into effect the Bowery had changed considerably but there were still over forty sa- loons doing business. It is true that the most sordid fea- tures had been eliminated, but drunkenness was still the order of the day; immorality was commonplace; the dere- licts crowded the bread line and filled the rescue missions, and the pedestrian was stopped at every block for the "price of a cup of coffee." It was not uncommon to find five or six saloons on one block facing the Bowery. As to the characters one met — both men and women — they defy description. The old dilapidated, nauseating bar-rooms reeking with the stench of accumulated filth, and the cheap, unsanitary, but very lively lodging houses where for 10 cents or 15 cents one could get a bed for a night, were well described ns places where "In sudden stillness — mark the sound — some beast rasps his vermin-haunted hide." While the activities of the police and private citizens made it unprofitable and unsafe for some of the parasites to further maintain their haunts in the Bowery, little has been done with that class of unfortunates who lack either the training or the intelligence to make the proper social adjustments. These individuals have to a large degree supported the old order of things, and while immediately before prohibition went into effect conditions had very much improved, it still could be said at that time that so far as the Bowery was concerned it was even then a place "where there ain't no Ten Commandments and a man can drown a thirst." A vivid picture of the Bowery and the whole neighbor- hood is given in Joe's famous song: IN CHINATOWN (Joe's Famous Song) The world will judge you harsh and coldly, When you have fallen from God's grace, The friends you always loved so dearly, Will close their heart's door to your face. No love or mercy will they tender, No hand will lift you when you're down. They let you drift down to the Bowery, They let you land in Chinatown. Her days of bloom and youth are over, The Broadway belle has run her pace. Gone are the merry days of pleasure. And want has taken splendor's place. Alone she sits, the past bewailing, Her tears drop on the tattered gown, But who does care for faded roses, For drunken Nell in Chinatown ? The girl left prison just behind her. She's pleading at her neighbor's door, "Just one more chance if you will give me. I promise T will sin no more." The world refuses to receive her. No one will trust her while she's down. At last she landed on the Bowery, One white slave more in Chinatown. PAGE FOUB Forsaken and betrayed, she's roaming The dark and lonely streets at night. The weeping Magdalene is trying To hide her shame from human sight. "I'll mend my ways if you'll forgive me," She cries, but with an icy frown The world says, "No !" and she is driven To sell herself in Chinatown. Jetsam Prohibition did not come suddenly in New York. While the progress was not as slow as in other states where liquor was outlawed gradually from the towns, then the cities and finally from the state, yet certainly fair warning of the approach of prohibition had been given and there was plenty of time for all to become accustomed to the new order of things. Prohibition in New York City, like Topsy, "just growed." First came the war, which put prices up while the quality went down. Then when the Treasury Department had increased taxes on liquor until a glass of whisky cost twice as much for half as much and beer schooners shrank in size, there came what was equally significant for the Bowery element, the "Fight or Work" law. This was followed by a broadside from the Navy and a barrage from the Army when they went "dry." And after this, instead of the Deluge, came Prohibition! New York had a weaning period from spring 1917 to summer 1919. The Federal Government always watch- ful for the youth entrusted to the Army and Navy, saw to it that the law was enforced even in New York. This meant a real housecleaning for the Bowery. Many of the habitues went to fight and some even to work. Finding three good meals a day, good clothes and a sober and clean environment agreeable, and encouraged by the jingle of some change in their pockets, many turned their back on the Bowery for all time and faced a better world. A few, alas, drifted back, but even they found the change pleasing. Many of the old rummies still cling tenaciously to their beloved Bowery but no longer idle their evenings away at the bar — they may be found in a lunch room or at the movies, but very rarely in a saloon. Furthermore, there THE SALOON HAS GIVEN WAY TO A CIGAR STORE ON THE CORNER, THE OTHER PART OF THE STORE IS OCCUPIED BY A DRYGOODS STORE are no saloons on the Bowery to day worthy of the name. The Saloon Today in 1886 there were 97 saloons on the Bowery. Thir- ty years of agitation and legislation reduced the number to 44 by the end of the last "wet" year. Four years of prohibi- tion have reduced the 44 to an even six. It should be added that five of them are about as unattractive, filthy and dilapidated as barrooms can be. These six barnacles cling 10 the old order. Some of them are owned by brewers and some of them by barkeepers who are waiting for a good chance to sell. The objections to the effect that prohibition is not being well enforced, or cannot be enforced, that it is too soon to judge, that it is class legislation (against saloonkeepers, gamblers and houses of ill fame) and other criticisms, all emanating from the same general source can be answered by other surveys. This one on the Bowery shows beyond the peradventure of a doubt, that whereas thirty years of licensing reduced the bar-rooms by 54 per cent, four years of National prohibition, without the consent or approval of the Bowery, have eliminated 84 per cent of the gin mills on this particular street where the liquor traffic was most solidly entrenched. The remaining 16 per cent are on their best behavior, apparently, but conditions have changed so much that before long they too must give way to the new and better order of things. Some of them have added a menu to the list of soft drinks which they pretend to sell, but the youth of America becomes every year more par- ticular, even fussy and discriminating, and before long the man who prefers his sandwich in the suffused atmosphere of a gloomy barroom will be a back number. Substitutes W hat is taking the place of the saloons? None are for rent ! On the first day of May one saloon went out of business. As the old fixtures were being removed through the rear door, a truck in front was discharging the paraphernalia of a new paper concern which was to occupy the place. Thus they pass "unwept, unhonored and unsung." "Sic transit gloria mundi." FORMER SALOON NOW OCCUPIED BY A RESTAURANT OWNED BY A CHINESE REAL ESTATE VALUE (1916) $50,000 PREMISES RENOVATED REAL ESTATE VALUE (1922) $53,000 PAGE FIVE THE BEGINNING OF THE BOWERY FROM CHATHAM SQUARE, WHERE THE "ELEVATED RAIL ROAD" SUPERSTRUCTURE TURNS THE STREET INTO PERENNIAL NIGHT FORMERLY A THIRD GRADE SALOON, NOW RENOVATED AND ITS PREM- ISES OCCUPIED BY STORES SELLING FURS, LADIES' WEAR, MEN'S WEAR, ALSO, A SOFT DRINK STAND; BASEMENT— FORMERLY USED FOR BEER KEGS-NOW A LAUNDRY REAL ESTATE VALUE (1916) $87,000 PREMISES RENOVATED REAL ESTATE VALUE (1922) $110,000 Many became lunch rooms, as the old One Mile House or the once famous Pat Farley saloon. It was over that bar that one heard again and again how Tim Campbell asked Grover Cleveland, "Now, Mr. President what is the constitution between friends?" Instead of the old familiar voices of Tim Sullivan and his east side politicians the old Pat Farley saloon re- verberates today with the staccato of the short order cook and his "bus" boys touching such weighty mat- ters as "Ham and Eggs," "Hash — have it brown," and similar symphonies. The Bowery of today loves to eat and it eats to its heart's content. Since prohibition went into effect the bread line has discontinued in spite of the crisis of unemployment we went through. The former patrons of the bread line are today the neophytes of the lunch rooms, and how they do love to put out of sight the heaps of doughnuts and crullers moistened by a swallow of — Java coffee at three cents a cup ! THIS BUILDING, WHILE IT HAS NOT HOUSED A SALOON FOR SOME YEARS PAST, GIVES A GENERAL CONCEPTION OF THE OLD CONDI- TIONS WHEN THE LIQUOR TRAFFIC HELD FULL 8 WAY THE SALOON HAS BEEN REPLACED BY A FIRST CLASS DEPARTMENT STORE. THE PROPERTY HAS BEEN RENOVATED REAL ESTATE VALUE (1916) $112,000 REAL ESTATE VALUE (1922) $125,000 A SIMILAR TRANSFORMATION HAS TAKEN PLACE IN MANY INSTANCES The very sight of them should be a sure cure for dys- pepsia. Every night these lunch rooms are crowded. The patrons are orderly and disturbances are as much out of order as they would be in any restaurant on Fifth Avenue. The lunch room has substituted the bar-room. On the Bowery there are today more eat- ing places than there were saloons six years ago. Aside from the lunch rooms, the rescue missions, the Salvation Army hotel and the lodging houses have en- tirely supplanted the gin mills. Before prohibition many good people were worried about the disappearance of the "poor man's club" and certain labor leaders, with moist idiosyncrasies, pre- dicted all kinds of dire consequences. The problem took care of itself. Those qualities which made the bartender popular behind the mahogany bar are better appreciated and rewarded behind the lunch or ice cream counter. The assertion or belief that men really like to wallow in the mire of the barroom belongs to the days of "Sodom and Gomorrah." The belief that A HARDWARE STORE AND RESTAURANT WHICH HAVE TAKEN THE PLACE OF A FORMER SALOON P A E SIX A LUNCH ROOM WHICH HAS SUPPLANTED A FORMER SALOON these people, because they were reared in this environment or drifted thither on account of some upheaval with which they were unable to cope — the belief that any man really prefers this kind of limited semi-barbaric existence — is sheer nonsense. Witness the drunkard of yester- day — -adorned in white col- lar, multi-colored silk shirt, with stiff hat, brown shoes, a "nobby" suit and Tut- ankh-amen necktie, a trifle gaudy, somewhat loud — screaming if you please — but it heralds the awaken- ing of a man, just as the thrush and the violet be- token the coming of spring. Few things are so pa- thetic as the apologia of those who claimed a few years ago that the war was the beginning of a spiritual awakening such as had never been known in the history of man. The war came and passed and we drifted back from the high idealism and patriotism of 1917 and 1918. The only redeeming force has been prohibition. The Real Value of Prohibition The value of prohibition is evident on the Bowery. The war awakened the latent forces of the denizens of the lower East Side, but it was prohibition which eliminated the con- ditions which characterized the old order. What if after the war, and the period of high wages, our lads had returned to the cheap shows, dance and music halls of the Bowery? What if forty or fifty saloons had had to compete for their patronage? What would have become of the moral and spiritual gain these boys got during the war? As far as the Bowery is concerned it has demonstrated that the liquor traffic was the power of cohesion for all that was vile, vulgar and sordid, and prohibition has proven to be the disintegrating force of it all. The saloon was the hub around which all vice revolved. Prohibition blasted it into smithereens. When the boys returned they found a haber- IIOWEKY AND CANAL STREETS A NEW HANK IS DEI NO ERECTED ON THIS GROUND WHICH FORMERLY HOUSED A BARROOM dashery (it may have been a "hashery") in the place of the old bar, or it may have been a glass or crockery store. In spite of the high wages paid to men no new saloons opened during the war. Since July 1, 1919, the bars have just been "petering" out. Taxes were high and the patronage low. The saloons tried to circumvent the law but it became harder "every day in every way." Besides, bootleg prices jumped beyond the seventh sky and the quality descended below the grade of embalm- ing rluid. What the war started, prohibition finished. It cut off the supply of boys, and the few remaining bars are kept alive only by the old cronies. Mission Work On the Bowery there have been for a number of years some of the most famous rescue missions. There is the Hadley Hall holding forth on the premises of the old Kelley saloon. Brother John Callahan is still on the job and expects to stay for many years. For a quarter of a century he has been the friend of every- body on the Bowery and is known and beloved by all. He was there when almost every other store on his block was a bar, but today only two are left. The Had- ley Hall services are well attended and the crowds are always sober. Instead of being an adjunct to the bar and a sobering-up sta- tion, the mission today is doing the real work for which it was called into ex- istence. It tries not only to bring men nearer to God but makes it possible for them to "stay put." It helps the men to make their so- cial re-adjustments and to meet the exigencies of the world of today. Prohibi- tion has eliminated a lot of dirty work from the missions but they are doing today a most commendable work. The Bowery is still the haven of many unfortunates not blest with the mental equipment or moral stamina to meet the THIS TAILORING CONCERN HAS REPLACED ONE OF THE CORNER SALOONS P A (i E S E V E N SALOONS ON THE BOA THE BOWERS SOUTH) CHRISTIE STREET THIS SURVEY_SHOWS THE CONDITION ON THE BOWERY UP TO THE END OF MAY, 1923,1 The above chart of the Bowery, New York, indicates where the 97 saloons were located in 1886. The solid black triangles and squares were the saloons 37 years ago. The marks with a cross show where the few saloons, which have not as yet discontinued, are situated. The number of bar-rooms known to have been in business on this short street, less than one mile long, are as follows: In 1886, 97 under local regulation. In 1914, 40; in 1916, 44 under state excise law. In 1918, 36 under war-time re- strictions. In 1920, 28; in 1921, 17; in 1922; 9; in 1923, 6 under National Prohibi- tion by Consitutional Amendment* This chart would indicate that thirty years of legislation reduced the bar-rooms from 97 to 44, while National Prohibition reduced the 44 exacting demands of everyday life in such a cosmopoli- tan conglomeration as is in New York. Furthermore, we have just emerged from a booze epidemic and the disin- fecting process has just begun. The bowery Mission has eliminated the once famous bread line at one o'clock in the morning during the winter, although like Hadley Hall it still gives meals to those who are temporarily in want and out of work. Here, too, the crowds are sober and the meetings, instead of being taken up with invectives against the demon rum, have a religious or patriotic program and sometimes one may see a good picture or hear a physician instruct how to take care of the body. The Mission which before prohibition found work PAGE EIOIIT ERY THEN AND NOW \| 1886 (imr// DNS IN 1886=AorI; IN 1923=Aor A ROBERT E.CORRADINI. N.Y.C 1923 E THE STATE AND NATION CO-OPERATED TO ENFORCE THE EIGHTEENTH AMENDMENT. to 28 and with state cooperation they came down to 6 in less than four years. The Bowery ( Dutch name for farm), was originally a street which passed through the farm of Gover- nor Peter Stuyvesant. It extends from Chatham Square for twelve blocks to the beginning of Cooper Square. For years it has been pre-eminent in America as the street of cheap theaters, dance halls, drinking gardens and low saloons. West of the Bowery is an Italian colony, while east of the Bowery is the Ghetto of New York. The southern end is the beginning of Chinatown. The photographs in these pages contrast the Bowery as it was im- mediately before National Prohibi- tion and a few years after the advent of the Eighteenth Amendment. *In May 15, 1923 also under state enforcement. for only three to five thousand people every year, in the last two years has increased this service about ten times and now finds employment for forty to fifty thousand people every year. The Hoyer Street Mission located in the old Chinese theatre, conducts religious services where formerly some of the most degrading shows were staged. Here also the crowds of men who come in every night are orderly and sober. In the basement of this old Chinese theatre one can still see the secret passages, the old berths of the dope fiends, but all of these now are only for visitors and sight- seers. The Salvation Army is conducting a hotel on the PAGE NINE BEFORE AND AFTER THESE PHOTOGRAPHS, SOME OF WHICH WERE TAKEN BEFORE PROHIBITION IN 1919 AND RETAKEN DURING 1922, SHOW A CONTRAST OF THE BOWERY AS IT USED TO BE AND AS IT APPEARS TODAY THE PICTURE SHOWS THE OLD SALOON HOUSED IN A FRAME BUILDING. ALSO A SITTING ROOM WITH THE LADIES -ENTRANCE IN THE REAR. A NEW THREE-STORY BRICK BUILDING HAS TAKEN THE PLACE OF THIS OLD FRAME HOUSE. THE VALUE OF THE REAL ESTATE HAS INCREASED FROM $40,000 TO $50,000 . VMiUPtrtMST ' — - . -w RES TAURANT U < AttrSHv It? -JWBf CMIL WAGNER 9, NOTICE IN THE PICTURE THE PATRONS OF THE SALOON LYING AND RESTING IN FRONT OF THE BARROOM. ONE OF THE FORMER ALLIGATOR SALOONS ON THE BOWERY IS NOW A RESTAURANT BEFOBE PKOIIIIHTION AFTER PROHIBITION THE PURITAN HOTEL, A VERY WELL KNOWN SALOON. SINC E PROHIBITION THE WHOLE BUILDING HAS BEEN RENOVATED. THE UPPER STORIES ARE STILL USED AS A LODGING HOUSE WHILE IN THE PLACE OF THE SALOON THERE IS A FIRST CLASS CAFETERIA. THE PLACE FORMERLY USED AS A SITTING ROOM IS ONE OF THE MOST ELEGANT HABERDASHERIES IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD SELLING SILK SHIRTS AT $7 AND $8, SILK BATHROBES FROM $14 TO $16 AND GLOVES FROM $8 TO $10 THE REAL ESTATE VALUE IN 1916 $75,000 THE REAL ESTATE VALUE IN 1922 $95,000 PAGE T E N BEFOREHAND AFTER THE VALUE OF THE GROUND ON THE BOWERY HAS DEPRECIATED IN MANY CASES DUE TO ADDITIONAL TRANSPORTATIONS A GOOD MANY BUSINESS CONCERNS HAVE MOVED UPTOWN HOWEVER, WHILE THE LAND HAS DEPRECIATED, THE VALUE OF BUILDINGS HAS SO MUCH INCREASED AS TO OFFSET DECREASED LAND VALUES THE FORMER STAR HOTEL HAS YIELDED TO PROHIBITION. THE FORMER BARROOM HAS BEEN TURNED INTO TWO STORES SELLING SHOES AND HATS ANOTHER OF THE ALLIGATOR SALOONS-A MOST DISREPUTABLE PLACE-NOW IS ONE OF THE BEST CUTLERY CONCERNS IN THE DISTRICT THE PREMISES, AS IN EVERY OTHER CASE, HAS BEEN RENOVATED THE FORMER PAT FARLEY SALOON WHERE THE CHIEFTAINS OF TAMMANY HALL HAD THEIR "POW WOWS." THIS WAS AN UNOFFICIAL "ANNEX" TO TAMMANY HALL. IMPORTANT POLITICAL CONFERENCES WERE HELD IN THE REAR. TODAY IT IS A CAFETERIA THE VALUE OF THE PROPERTY HAS INCREASED FROM $29,000 TO $36,000 PAGE ELEVEN THE CORNER SALOON HAS BEEN REPLACED BY THE ABOVE STORE SELLING ELECTRICAL SUPPLIES. THE BASEMENT, FORMERLY USED FOR BEER KEGS, IS A BARBER SHOP NOTICE THE APPARENTLY' HIGH CLASS FIXTURES IN THE WINDOW OF THIS STORE IS SITUATED IN THE VERY HEART OF THE EAST SIDE, GENERALLY CONSIDERED THE POOREST SECTION OF OUR CITY A DRY GOODS STORE ON CHATHAM SQUARE ON THE BOWERY WHICH HAS SUPPLANTED A BARROOM IN THIS WINDOW THERE ARE SHIRTS FOR SALE AT $4, $5 AND $6 Bowery. There the men with very limited means may have most of the comforts of the average hotel. The rates are moderate and that hotel, with kindred institu- tions, is always well patronized. The lodging houses have increased their prices sever- al hundred per cent and they too are always crowded. The men of the Bowery have the price to pay but insist on better sanitary conditions ; they will not tolerate the dumps of yesterday. Of the thirty-eight saloons which went out of busi- ness since 1916, practically all have been renovated. In many cases the old dilapidated buildings have been torn down and brick buildings with all the latest improvements have taken their place. Twenty-nine properties which formerly housed sa- loons showed an assessed valuation of $1,035,000 in 1916 for the land alone. The value of land and build- ings was in the same year $1,269,500. The same prop- erties were assessed in 1922 for land $1,102,000 and for land and buildings, $1,501,500. This shows an increase in ilie value of land of $67,500 while the increase in land and buildings is $232,000. it should be remembered that the additional sub- ways in New York have tended to increase the value ot land uptown at the expense of properties downtown. We find, therefore, that the value of land on the Bowery decreased in many instances. Yet the total for these properties — former saloons — shows an increase. In part this is accounted for by the fact that many very valuable new buildings have been put up in the place of former saloons. The six saloons which are still in business show a de- crease in value, both for land, and for land and buildings. The valuation for these properties which in 1916 was $242,000 had declined to $211,000 in 1922. The value of th e land and buildings for these same properties was in 1916, $291,000 but had shrunk to $285,000 in 1922. This shows a decrease in the value of the land of $31,000 while the value of land and building has de- creased $6,000. THIS CORNER AND ADJOINING BUILDINGS WERE USED BY SALOONS TODAY A CIGAR STORE AND A CLOTHIER ARE DOING A LARGE BUSINESS FROM BEER MUGS TO FRENCH PLATE AND MIRRORS THE FORMER BARROOM EMPLOYED TWO PEOPLE, WHERE THIS NEW CONCERN HAS A DOZEN MEN ON THE PAY ROLL CONSTANTLY PAGE TWELVE BOWERY CROWDS THE BOWERY IS AS POPULAR AS EVER. THE CROWDS ARE ALWAYS THERE, BUT HOW DIFFERENT, SOBER— CLEAN— ORDERLY THERE IS ALWAYS A CROWD TO BE FOUND ON THE BOWERY. THE MEN ARE GENERALLY WELL DRESSED AND HAVE MONEY TO SPEND ON THE CANAL STREET TERRACE HUNDREDS OF MEN DURING THE NOON HOUR ARE SEEN TALKING BUSINESS AND POLITICS AND ARE ALL SOBER AND WELL DRESSED THESE PICTURES TAKEN IN THE HEART OF THE BOWERY DO NOT SEEM TO FIT IN WITH AIL THE WILD STORIES OK THE BOWERY OF FOUR OR FIVE YEARS AGO CREAGH, OF AUSTRALIA, VISITING HIS OLD HAUNT IT WAS IN THIS FORMER SALOON THAT MR. W. D. B. CREAGH FROM AUSTRALIA, A FORMER CHAMPION PRIZE FIGHTER, USED TO MAKE HIS HEADQUARTERS WHILE IN NEW YORK. ON HIS RECENT VISIT HE CALLED ON THE MANAGER, WHO GAVE HIM THIS STATEMENT: "BUSINESS SINCE THE BAR HAS GONE IS DIFFERENT. WE DEALT WITH ANIMALS FORMERLY. NOW WE DEAL WITH MEN" IILE WE CANNOT HAVE BEER THERE IS NO REASON WHY WE SHOULD NOT HAVE PRETZELS AT LEAST THAT IS THE OPINION OF THIS GENTLEMAN FROM THE JEWISH SETTLEMENT THIS BARROOM DISCONTINUED BUSINESS ON THE FIRST OF MAY, 1923 THE FIXTURES HAD NOT ALL BEEN REMOVED WHEN THE NEW CONCERN STARTED TO MOVE IN ON THE FIRST OF THE MONTH IN THIS CASE THE FIRST OF MAY WAS THE LAST OF AUGUST-THE BARKEEPER THE FIRST PHOTO SHOWS THE BAR IN 1919. THE SECOND SHOWS THE PASSING OF ANOTHER BARROOM PAGE THIRTEEN TABLE I VALUE OF LAND, ALSO LAND AND BUILDINGS, OF TWENTY-NINE PROPERTIES ON THE BOWERY, FORMERLY USED AS SALOONS* 1916 < 1922 TOTAL TOTAL LAND VALUE LAND VALUE 1. $ 76,000 $ 87,000 $ 100,000 $ 110,000 2. 20,000 25,000 20,000 27,000 3. 30,000 42.000 30,000 46,000 4. 32,000 38,000 28,000 34,000 5. 35,000 48,000 35,000 53,000 6. 30,000 42,000 65,000 100,000 7. 60,000 80,000 58,000 80,000 8. 75,000 95,000 75,000 100,000 9. 35,000 36,000 41,000 43,000 10. 82,000 112,000 80,000 125,000 11. 24,000 28,000 24,000 30,000 12. 42,000 50,000 44,000 58,000 13. 23,000 26,500 19,000 25,000 14. 31,000 33,000 31,000 36,000 15. 27,000 29,000 27,000 36,000 16. 65,000 80,000 72,000 95,000 17. 60,000 75,000 74,000 95,000 18. 28,000 31,000 21,000 26,000 19. 22,000 25,000 21,000 26,000 20. 31,000 37,000 28,000 35,000 21. 21,000 24,000 20,000 25,000 22. 21,000 26,000 20,000 27,000 23. 22,000 35,000 20,500 41,000 24. 35,000 40,000 56,000 86,000 25. 37,000 40,000 33,000 50,000 26. 11,000 13,000 9,000 11,500 27. 26,000 29,000 22,000 31,000 28. 21,000 25,000 18,000 28,000 29. 13,000 18,000 11,000 22,000 Total $1,035,000 $1,269,500 $1,102,000 $1,501,500 Increase- -Land Value $ 67,500 Increase- -Land and Buildings , 232,000 *Valuation assessed by city of New York. TABLE 2 VALUE OF LAND, ALSO LAND AND BUILDINGS, OF SIX PROPERTIES USED AS SALOONS ON THE BOWERY AND WHICH HAVE NOT CHANG- ED IN THEIR OUTWARD APPEARANCE* > 1916 » < 1922 » TOTAL TOTAL LAND VALUE LAND VALUE 1. $ 50,000 $ 65,000 $ 48.000 $ 70,000 2. 35,000 45,000 28,000 40,000 3. 25,000 31,000 23,000 31,000 4. 15,000 18,000 14,000 19,000 5 105,000 115,000 85,000 105,000 6. 12,000 17,000 13.000 20,000 Total . . . . $242,000 $291,000 $211,000 $285,000 Decrease- $31,000 Dec rease- —Land and Buildings . . . . 6,000 Valuation assessed by city of New York. TABLE 3 SHOWING ACTIVITIES OF THE BOWERY MISSION FREE MEALS DISTRIBUTED AND EMPLOYMENT FOUND BY THE MISSION ON THE BOWERY EMPLOY- BREAD LINE TOTAL MENT 1 A. M. ALL MEALS FOUND 1910 121,000 209,594 3,237 1911 144,000 299,213 3,346 1912 135,000 299,410 3,554 1913 116,000 271,485 5,414 1914 148,000 309,777 4,144 1915 132,000 303,916 3,700 1916 No data No data No data 1917 80,191 133,333 3,818 1918 Discontinued 59,408 2,176 1919 No data No data 1920 67,094 No data 1921 64,688 45,518 1922 67,773 47,906 Note decrease in charity needs as Bowery residents be- come more industrious. TABLE 4 SHOWING ACTIVITIES OF THE HADLEY HALL RESCUE MISSION ON THE BOWERY MEETINGS MEALS LODGINGS ATTENDANCE GIVEN GIVEN 1912 53,447 9,925 6,865 1913 52,153 25,890 7,186 1914 91,823 47,295 22,948 1915 108,896 126,181 54,469 1916 88,600 41,500 37,654 1917 75,665 24,806 34,267 1918 40,994 10,393 19,808 1919 62,726 19,225 38,430 1920 40,952 21,596 22,571 1921 73,982 21,238 53,359 1922 47,842 15.585 39,967 TABLE 5 RECORD OF THE REPLACING OF THE 36 BOWERY SALOONS 1921 1922 1923 Saloons, not discontinued 17 9 6 Saloons discontinued since 1918 19 27 30 Replaced as follows : Restaurants 6 11 11 Clothing 5 12 14 Candy 4 5 Grocer — Food 2 Cigars 2 2 3 Jewelry 2 3 1 Fixtures (electric and store) 2 2 5 Banks 1 1 . Shoes 1 3 2 Miscellaneous 5 14 21 Total 23 54 68 PAGE FOURTEEN I Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library Gift of Seymour B. Durst Old York Library PEELING PERFECTLY AT HOME ONE OF THE MOST FAMILIAR SCENES OF THE PAST HUMAN WRECKS OF ALL NATIONALITIES, CREEDS AND COLORS DRIFTED TOWARD THIS WHIRLPOOL SIMILAR SCENES COULD RE SEEN EVERY DAY ON THE BOWERY BEFORE PROHIBITION. NOW SUCH SCENES ARE ONLY A MEMORY THE AMERICAN ISSUE PUBLISHING COMPANY WESTER VI LLE. OHIO. USA <3$^^S> 485 OFFICIALS OF . THE WORLD LEAGUE AGAINST ALCOHOLISM JOINT PRESIDENTS Miss Anna A. Gordon, Evanston, III. Robert HeRCOD, Ph.D., Lausanne, Switzerland Right Hon. Leif Jones, Castle Howard, York, England Rev. Howard H. Russell, D.D., LL.D., Wcsterville, Ohio VICE PRESIDENTS Argentina — Miss Hardynia K. Norville. Australia — Rev. R. B. S. Hammond, D.D. Belgium — Hon. Emile Vandervelde. Canada — Judge Eugene La Fontaine. Denmark — Lars Larsen-Ledet. England — The Right Rev. Sir Donald MacLean. Finland — Hon. Santeri Alkio. France — M. Frederic Riemain. Ireland — Hamilton M'Cleery. Japan — H. Nagao. Mexico — Prof. Andres Osuna. Netherlands — J. R. Slotemaker de Bruine, Ph.D. Xew Zealand — Hon. George Fowi.ds. Norway — Avocat O. Solnordal. Scotland — Sir .Joseph McLay. Sweden — Senator Alexis B.iorkman. Switzerland — Prof. Hans Hunzicker. South Africa — William Chap- pki.l. United States — Rev. P. A. Baker, D.D. Uruguay — Dr. Joaquin de Salterain. GENERAL SECRETARY Ernest H. Cherrington. LL.D., Litt.D., Westerville, Ohio EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Canada — Rev. Ben H. Spence, George H. Lees. Denmark — Lars Larsen-Ledet. England — C. W. Saleeby, M.D., F.R.S.E., George B. Wilson, B.A., Rev. Henry Carter, Right Rev. J. H. B. Masterman, Bishop of Plymouth, Miss Agnes Slack. France — M. Jean Meteil. Ireland — Rev. John Gailey, B.A. Mexico — Rev. J. N. Pascoe. Scotland — Senator Alexis Bjorkman. United States — Bishop James Cannon, Jr., D.D., Wayne B. Wheeler, LL.D., Rev. P. A. Baker, D.D., William H. Anderson, LL.D., Arthur J. Davis, Miss Cora Frances Stoddard, B.A., Mrs. Ella A. Boole, Mrs. Deborah Knox Livingston, Mrs. Lenna Lowe Yost, Harry S. Warner. PAGE FIFTEEN