Blue Hour Luncheonette

Frank Kerr operated the Blue Hour Luncheonette as a speakeasy during Prohibition in Camden.

Three Proprietors Assessed $100 Each! Two Disorderly Houses and Restaurant Hit

A weekend of raiding in which 59 men and women were arrested in two disorderly houses, and a restaurant dispensing beer enriched the coffers of the Camden city treasury yesterday by $1005. Proprietors of the three establishments were fined $100 each by Judge Garfield Pancoast on charges of violating the city disorderly act.

The raid on the Blue Hour Luncheonette, 1282 Liberty Street, early Sunday in which 43 were arrested is said to have been the largest of its type in the city in more than a year. Frank Kerr, 40, proprietor, pleaded guilty to charges of violating ordinance 422, while Parker McGonigal, of 1240 Morton street, facing similar charges, said he only worked in the establishment and received a suspended sentence. Security of $10 was returned to Florence Williams, 22, of 312 North Third Street; Teresa Kelly, 21, of 3013 Constitution Road, and Charles Mengalie, 24, of 314 Stevens Street, who proved that they had not been in the restaurant but were picked up on the street outside. Thirty-eight others required to post $10 for appearance as material witnesses forfeited their security.

The disorderly houses raided were located at 818 and 1219 Locust Street. Pearl Williams, an inmate of the establishment at 818 Locust Street, was sentenced to three months in jail, while Mary Young, proprietress, and Leona West, proprietress of the second establishment, were each fined $100.