The Press. THURSDAY, MAY 19, 1910. A MODEL PUBLICHOUSE.

Press, Volume LXVI, Issue 13737, 19 May 1910, Page 6

The Press. THURSDAY, MAY 19, 1910. A MODEL PUBLICHOUSE.

*. •In tho course of a series of articles which were published in "The Press" after the local option poll of I£OS, the writer urged that it would be greatly to the public advantage if the present bar system in hotels were abolished y and everything—tea and coffee and light refreshments as well as intoxicating liquors—were served at tables in large rooms. Such a plan, it-was asserted, would do away with much of the present reckless "-hcuting," and . -would tend to prevent exe_esive drinking and brawjing. It is interesting to read in London papers of an experiment being mado on almost exactly the lines Tcoommcnded by our contributor. Tho - hou_e is situated at Plutnstead, exactly opposite tho gatea of Woolwich Arsenal,

and it is declared that the interest of the British brewing world is centred

upon it, as. its success may revolutionise the liquor traffic at Home. The public bar-room _is large, while the bar itself is very much smaller than is customary, and there arc small tables all over the room, at which the customers aro served. On tlie other side of a partition i« the refreshment rocm, where meals of nil

sorts and every variety of non-intoxi-cating drink can he procured. Tlie writer of the report from which we quoto was served with excellent coffee at ten o'clock at night, and of the customers taking meals at the time, a number were drinking tea. Beer and spirits aro obtainable in that

room only i\s accompaniments to meals. Tho public-house draws many customers from tho Arsenal, and tho visitor was assured that so far from the working man viewing the radical change .with suspicion be welcomed it. Tho police were enthusiastic about it. for their services were very little in demand in connection with thc newhouse, and on the occasions when they had been called in it was not to deal with wses of drunkenness. "We arc satis- * fied/' said ono experienced official, "that such homes as this will mean '•' tho stamping out of drunkenness. ;< The difference between a man getting ''drunk and a man drinking mode- " rately is the difference between stand- " ing up and sitting down. A man "standing against a bar feels that he

" must have some reason for remain- " ing. He .must drink hurriedly because *'' ho is being hustled by people who "come u,p to tho bar for liquors, and " he must' either drink up and go, or "he must order a fresh supply. If '•' ho can sit down and take his time, "can rest and gossip, liquor has less

•' effect upon him. I wish "Woolwich '•'was full, of such houses as tho Sussex " Arms: wo should be. ablo to comply '•with tho one day's rest regulation '•' without enrolling now men."

Wo should like to see some enterprising member of ''the trade" make a similar experiment in Christchurch. Wo havo always argued that under propi-*;* management a man ought to bo Wile to go into an hotel and have .a glass of beer or whisky under the same orderly conditions and with the same pleasant surroundings as characterise tho conduct of an afternoon-tea shop, and an hotel in which the open bar was abolished nltogethor and customors wore served at tables, would go far, wo behove, to prove this; to be possible. -Provision ought al_o to be rcado so that a man could get a cup of tea or coffeo and light refreshments with as little difficulty as ho now experiences in getting a pint of beer. We tyresumc it would bo possible for anyone not staying in the houso to be served with tea or coffee in a Christchurch hotel, hut it would rot be very easy, we imagine, and the man who asked for such a thing would bo liable to be regarded as an'cccentric nuisance. Intoxicating drinks can be bought up to ten o'clock on six nights in the week in every hotel in Christchurch, but except on Saturday nights, there are lew,.if any, places whore tea or co_eo can be procured after eight o'clock at latest; If a man is thirsty after that hour, ho has either to take intoxicating liquor, to which he may object, or else some "soft drink," which, for other reasons, may bo no more to his taste. Thc publican would meet a genuine demand if he tnado it possible for.'his", customers, to get tea or coffee, if they preferred these to whiskey or beer. We- hear a good deal once ovcry three years about the intentions of "the trade" in regnrd to reform. It would be' well if their, zeal for so mending the liquor traffic that it will attract no unfavourable criticism wore more lasting, and if they went a little out of their way to meet the requirements of those who;' while net objecting to other, people haying intoxicating liquor, do not want it themselves, and havo yet as much right-to bo caterc-d for as anybody else.