302 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY
the wails ; German orchestras, playing with exquisite taste, fill the air with music. Soft drinks are sold, and many an hour is spent in these places by those who may not know the taste of beer. In this connection it may be noted that soft drinks are expensive, because, as one manager said, "we are not here to sell soft drinks, and hope to force everyone to take beer or wine ; there is more profit in them."
Not only are these used for business appointments, but sepa- rate rooms are sometimes furnished for the use of committees and small meetings of various character, no charge for their use being attached. There are in the city other places than the saloon for such appointments, but because of their scarcity and inadequacy need hardly be taken into account. Many business transactions take place in these saloons. The head of a depart- ment in one of Chicago's large wholesale houses assures me that certain of their best salesmen sell a large portion of their goods "over a glass of beer" in a neighboring saloon. The glass of beer in a business transaction has a function similar to that of the cigarette in diplomacy. Certain saloons, whose only distin- guishing feature is their oddity and the novelities they present, owe their existense to a custom of long standing among wholesale merchants and others who take their "country cousins" to "see the sights." The music in some of these places is worthy of special mention. Orchestras, led by well-known musicians, attract people from all parts of city, people who come and spend the evening listening to the music. To the - and -
young people come in great numbers, and when the theaters close these places usually fill rapidly. Clubs and fraternities here banquet their new members. Neither rowdyism nor anything other than good manners is public here.
The most distinguishing feature of the down-town saloon is the business lunch. But very few of the thousands who spend the day down town in offices or behind counters, live within several miles of their work. This means that it is both cheaper and more convenient, if not necessary, to get their lunch near their place of business. The liquor dealers have found it highly profitable to run restaurants in connection with their
