Free lunch newspaper's estimate that the saloon keepers fed 60,000 people a day and that this represented a contribution of about $18,000 a week toward the relief of the destitute in Chicago. In 1896, the New York State legislature passed the Raines law which was intended to regulate liquor traffic. Among its many provisions, one forbade the sale of liquor unless accompanied by food; another outlawed the free lunch. In 1897, however, it was amended to allow free lunches again. Free lunch A free lunch is the providing of a meal at no cost, usually as a sales enticement to attract customers
1896 United States presidential election in New York average. Bryan, running on a platform of free silver, appealed strongly to Western miners and farmers in the 1896 election, but held little appeal in the Northeastern United States. Consequently, he performed especially weakly for a Democrat in New York, losing every county in the state except for Schoharie County upstate. This included New York City, where McKinley outpolled Bryan by about sixty thousand votes. McKinley would lose New York City to Bryan in their 1900 rematch four years later, and New York City would not vote Republican again until 1920. 1896 United States presidential election in New York The