National Affairs: Booze Palace

According to a report, displayed as the most noteworthy news of the day by The New York Herald-Tribune, the oft-heralded floating bar has at last appeared on the Atlantic Coast. The report declares that it is a ship of 17,000 tons, nameless, flying the English flag, carrying the silver and linens of the former German liner Friedrich der Grosse. The location of the ship was 15 miles off Fire Island, a long narrow strip of land protecting the southern shore of Long Island.

Launches plying to the vessel charge about $70 per person for the round trip. The fee to go on board is $5. A Negro jazz orchestra, a ballroom, a dining room, a bar for both sexes, movies after midnight, staterooms for spending the night and a miniature reproduction of the Statue of Liberty are provided. With the exception of the ballroom and the Statue of Liberty, the use of everything costs extra. The prices for drinks include: Scotch highball, $1 Dry gin rickey, $1.50 Silver fizz, $1.50 Holland gin drinks, $2 Sloe gin buck, $2 Champagne, $15 a qt. Sparkling Burgundy, $20 a qt. Rye highball, $2 Mint julep, $2

An evening on board costs about $150 or $200, according to one's taste and capacity. The reporter who wrote the account declared that there were about 50 "guests", with double that number over weekends. But he got the impression that the ship was losing money.