WHISKY AND WHISKY.

Evening Post, Volume LXXII, Issue 66, 15 September 1906, Page 5

WHISKY AND WHISKY.

A QUESTION^ OF BRANDS. The charge against Margaret, Blyth, licensee of the Royal Tiger Hotel, of having committed offences against the Licensing Act nnd the Patents, Designs, and Trade-marks Act, respectively, in that she sold bottles containing whisky other than that designated by tho labels on the bottles, was continued beforo Mr. Riddcll, S.M., yesterday afternoon. Mr. Myers appeared for tho police, and Mr. Campbell, with him. Mr. Blair, was for the defence. Dr. James S. M'Laurin, Government/ Analyst, deposed that he analysed certain camples of whisky handed to him by the police. The whisky contained jin a Crawford's bottle was not the same as a wholesale sample submitted to him. The bottles differed throughout in all respects, but more particularly in re gard to pioof spirits and extracts. The wholesale bottle had 84.02 per cent, of proof spirit against the 77.42 of the retail ; and in respect to extract tho respective figures were .106 and ,332. The whisky in the. retail bottles wa» not nearly so strong as that in the* wholesale bottle. In regard to Walker's whisky, a similar discrepancy was apparent — namely, wholesale 82.35 and .114; retail 77.96 and .327. It was of interest to say that the fluid in each of tho retail bottled was practically the same, and had probably come from tho same source. For the defence, Mr. Campbell contended that there was no attempt to lepresent the bottles purchased by the constables as full' bottles. The whisky was kept in the bottles for sale in "nips" i over the counter, and the Act had no application to them ; it only referred ' to the salo of full bottles. The defence raised by Mr. Blair was- that if Mm. Blyth had done anything, she had been guilty of a breach of a trado mark. But she was charged under the wrong section, in that the information alleged she had made a false trade description. It was just as reasonable, he 6aid, to say that a person obtaining 6d worth of beer in a gin bottle committed an offence, as to say that tho defendant committed an offence. His Worship reserved his decision. Similar cases against T.hos. Wm. Clapham and Edward Fitzgerald wero adjourned till next Friday. The law in. ! all thei>e cases was «iid to be the same, but the evidence different. i i