“No,” was the reply, “I don’t think it’s a hotel. I think it is a coffee palace. Still, I heard the other day that its owners had bought out the right to sell liquors and so it may be a hotel after all.”
“But what is a coffee palace?” I asked.
“A coffee palace,” my acquaintance replied, “is where they keep everything that belongs to a proper hotel except the bar. A hotel is a place where liquors are sold; without the liquors it can’t be a hotel, and a coffee palace can’t sell liquor.”
“What do you mean by the owners buying out the right to sell liquor?”
“That is a part of our liquor-option law. Only so many places are licensed, and if a new place wants to start up it has to buy an old license or wait until one is given up. Liquors can be sold only at public houses, or hotels, providing board and lodging. However, it is true that many of the hotels have only one or two bedrooms to rent. They make their money from the bar.”
Notwithstanding these restrictions, and the absence of the American type of saloon, I find that bars are even more frequent here than they used to be at home. The man who wants a drink can get it in any block, and if he is an Australian the chances are, nine out of ten, that he wants it.
The race horse is one of the national idols of Australia. Every one, from preacher to porter, goes to the races, nearly all bet, and the attendance at the Melbourne Cup sometimes numbers 150,000 people.
The great white stone town hall contains a room with three thousand seats for public entertainments. The city employs musicians to give free concerts twice a week on its $35,000 organ.