Imperial Valley Press

Short Measure

BEER SOLD AS COUNCIL ACTS TEMPORARILY

Persons holding a license from the city to dispense soft drinks for consumption on the premises may sell the legalized 3.2 beer now in El Centro provided it is served with meals, and others who hold a license to sell these soft drinks in sealed containers may sell this beer in its original containers, subject to whatever reservations may be made by the city council at the earliest opportunity as to the further licensing and restricting of this traffic.

The above, in brief, is the conclusion arrived at during a special meeting of the city council held this morning to formulate some ordinance to cover the situation which has arisen since the action of congress has made this 3.2 beer legal for sale and consumption throughout the United States.

The El Centro city council has been considering this question for some time past and has held several special meetings to determine what course it should take but in every instance its actions have been restricted by the failure of the state legislature to enact some legislation upon which any local ordinance covering the matter might be based.

Another meeting of the council is scheduled to take place at 4 o'clock this afternoon at which time it is hoped that word from Sacramento may give the councilmen grounds upon which to base local legislation.

Purveyors to and satisfiers of the local thirst which has increased by leaps and bounds during the past week, were prepared for whatever action the council might determine to make and were well equipped with beers of several brands to put on the market as soon as this might be possible.

Several truckloads of the brew were brought into El Centro this morning from Los Angeles and other points and were immediately distributed to retailers throughout the city. While not based upon an actual checkup, it is understood that the new beer went like the proverbial hotcakes and one well-known distributor is reported to be wailing and weeping because of repeated calls being made for new supplies and he suddenly found himself unable to keep up with the demand.