T. E. D.
Answer.—The principal facts on which The Inter Ocean rests the estimate above quoted are re-stated below once for all. If they can be successfully refuted, let us have that refutation. The following estimate is based on observations made as to the patronage of six Chicago saloons, so long ago as 1877, by the founders of the Citizens’ League. The figures in the first column give the number of persons, male and female, seen to enter these places between 7 o’clock p. m. and midnight; the second column is our own computation of the money paid in, assuming that nothing but beer was called for, at 5 cents a glass, two-thirds of the customers drinking but one glass, and the rest of them averaging only two glasses each; and the third column indicates the probable actual receipts, adding for the ordinary consumption of drinks more costly than beer:
| Number | Receipts | Gross |
| entering. | if beer. | receipts. |
| 2,863 | $190 | $250 |
| 2,806 | 187 | 250 |
| 1,979 | 132 | 176 |
| 1,820 | 121 | 160 |
| 1,741 | 116 | 155 |
| 1,685 | 112 | 150 |
Observe that these are the receipts in saloons where lager beer was the chief drink; that the above figures cover only the five hours after 7 p. m., and that liquors in kegs, bottles, pitchers, and jugs ordered for home use are not taken into account. There are a few establishments dealing chiefly in whisky, brandy, wine, etc., whose receipts are at times nearly double the highest amount above given as the daily average.
To add assurance to the above calculation, one of the most thorough investigators and accurate reporters on The Inter Ocean local staff was detailed to ascertain, as nearly as may be, the actual receipts of Chicago saloons. He made the following report:
| Average | ||
| No. of | receipts | |
| Saloons | per | REMARKS. |
| day. | ||
| 10 | $150 | Chapin & Gore’s, Monroe st.; |
| or | Hannah & Hogg, Madison st.; | |
| $200 | Batchelder’s, Mahler & Gale. | |
| 50 | $75 | “Dutch” Henry, House of David, |
| or | Hansen’s, Dunhams, and | |
| $100 | Chapin & Gore’s branches, | |
| and dens on “the Levee.” | ||
| 100 | $50 | The ordinary down-town saloons |
| and very good saloons | ||
| in outlying districts. | ||
| 2,000 | $30 | Decent saloons in extreme |
| or | and | north, south, and west portions |
| over | $25 | of city, Rolling Mill and |
| Stock Yards districts; mostly | ||
| beer trade. | ||
| 1,000 | $15 | The same as the above, with |
| to | to | smaller trade, or houses in |
| 1,200 | $20 | hard neighborhoods, with no |
| legitimate trade, but which | ||
| wait for victims to be | ||
| “steered” into them. | ||
| 300 | $10 | Little German beer saloons in |
| to | sparsely settled districts, | |
| 500 | containing simply an ice-box | |
| and a keg of beer. Do a | ||
| “can” trade mostly. |
On the foregoing data a moderate estimate of the gross annual receipts of the 3,750 licensed saloons of Chicago figures as below:
| No. of | Average daily | Receipts |
| saloons. | receipts. | for year. |
| 10 | $175 | $838,750 |
| 50 | 85 | 1,551,250 |
| 100 | 50 | 1,825,000 |
| 1,000 | 30 | 10,950,000 |
| 1,000 | 25 | 9,125,000 |
| 1,090 | 15 | 5,967,750 |
| 500 | 10 | 1,825,000 |
| 3,750 | $32,082,750 |
This schedule does not cover unlicensed saloons, or other places where liquor is sold; the average daily receipts are taken at less rather than more than the probable truth, and yet it charges Chicago, which contains only about one-sixth of the population of the State, with an outlay of over $32,000,000 per annum for spirits, wines, and fermented drinks. It is not so easy to ascertain the number of saloons in the rest of the State and their average daily sales, but data are not wholly wanting. Take the following figures, compiled from a list of high-license towns, where in several instances the number of saloons has been reduced by more than half.
| Population. | No. of | License. | |
| saloons. | |||
| Anna | 1,500 | 9 | $500 |
| Aurora | 13,500 | 25 | 500 |
| Apple River | 650 | 2 | 300 |
| Bloomington | 23,000 | 32 | 600 |
| Cabery | 325 | 3 | 400 |
| Carmi | 2,500 | 12 | 300 |
| Charleston | 3,250 | 6 | 800 |
| Chandlerville | 700 | 3 | 500 |
| Chenoa | 1,100 | 5 | 300 |
| Dongola | 700 | 4 | 300 |
| Elmwood | 1,700 | 3 | 800 |
| Galesburg | 12,000 | 18 | 600 |
| Gillespie | 800 | 8 | 450 |
| Hillsboro | 2,000 | 3 | 800 |
| Joliet | 14,500 | 60 | 500 |
| Kenny | 600 | 2 | 500 |
| Lamoille | 500 | 1 | 300 |
| Minier | 650 | 3 | 300 |
| Mason City | 2,000 | 4 | 750 |
| Mattoon | 7,000 | 8 | 800 |
| Moline | 9,000 | 30 | 300 |
| Mount Morris | 900 | 1 | 500 |
| Noble | 400 | 1 | 300 |
| Odell | 1,000 | 2 | 750 |
| Ohio | 400 | 3 | 475 |
| Oswego | 700 | 2 | 300 |
| Paris | 5,500 | 8 | 800 |
| Rockford | 15,000 | 20 | 500 |
| Rochelle | 2,000 | 4 | 433 |
| Savanna | 1,500 | 10 | 500 |
| Strawn | 400 | 3 | 300 |
| Tiskilwa | 800 | 2 | 400 |
| Washburn | 500 | 3 | 300 |