304 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY
that one sees the families sitting together in groups. The main thoroughfare running through a suburban district is, so far as the saloon is concerned, a cross-section of the whole city, exhibit- ing the saloon in all its varying characters, both as to its moral tone and as to its social functions. The most delightful and apparently harmless feature of the saloon is the beer-garden. Here is an instance where the words "saloon" and "beer-gar- den " are so loaded down with conflicting meanings and pre- judices that they utterly fail to be of further service in conveying thought. To the German the word "beer-garden" carries with it no moral idea whatever ; indeed, among them it is a highly cred- itable feature of their social life. To the temperance enthusiast it stands for all that is base and low an equally erroneous con- viction. These gardens are numerous in the suburban districts.
The , a typical German beer-garden, though scarcely
comparable with the - ,* accommodates 4,700. During the
summer an average of 3,000 gather at the , on the north
side, every day, principally for the music. From a band-stand in the rear of the garden an orchestra renders exquisite music. This orchestra receives $125 per day for its services from 6 P. M. to II P. M. The waiters, most of them fine-appearing elderly gentlemen, dressed in black, serve beer, wines, and soft drinks to the people out in the open, while at tables beneath the roof dinners are being served. The garden is brilliantly lighted with Japanese lanterns hanging from the trees. The lights, the trees, the starry heavens above, the moon gliding now and then behind the clouds, soul-stirring music, now strong and full, now soft and sweet, make this a charming spot where lovers delight to come, where the business-man, returned from the crowded
'When Hyde Park became a local option district, the beer-garden, the
most magnificent in Chicago, was nourishing near Washington Park. After a period, during which only soft drinks were sold, its owners, the Brewing Co., deter- mined to turn this resort into a club, under the title .
About four thousand certificates of membership were scattered all over the district. After a short but decisive fight with the Hyde Park Protective Association, the resort again became a beer-garden, without any beer, but still retaining its name and other attractive features. Thus it is at present, of necessity, a most excellent substitute. [Later, by a subterfuge, it has obtained a liquor license, and is a popular resort. EDS.]
