The British Workman Public House Co.

Southland Times, Issue 9544, 14 June 1887, Page 3

The British Workman Public House Co.

In Glasgow it bag a capital of £2<>,000, It has opened eight large shops, where tea, coff°e, cocoa, lemonade, gingerbeer, bread, rolls, mutton pies, meat sandwiches, cheeae, &c, are supplied at remarkably low prices, The houses are elegantly furnished and abundantly lighted by large plate glass windows during the day, and numerous gas chandeliers at night. In several cases the house comprises the first floor of the tenement in addition to the shop below. The latter is reserved as the refreshment room, while on the flat above; which is reached by an inside stair, there are smoking and reading-rooms, and a hall Sited up with bagatelle, draught, and | domino tables. Scrupulous cleanliness is everywhere apparent, and one can go into them aay hour of the day knowing that he will hare, without the slightest delay, a tidy table, clean dishes; and a comfortable and attractive room. In the room where the stores are kept and the food prepared the same strict regard to cleanliness is paid. Kach house has a double set of copper boilers Bnd counter urns, each set being used on alternate days. The urns are of tin or copper outside and are so constructed that their contents are kept hot with water underneath, whick io its turn is hoated with gas. Thope for tea and cocoa are fitted v:> with stoneware inside, The success of the movement ia found to depend much on the quality of the tea, coffee, and cocoa, and more than ordinary care is taken in the mixing in order to produce the requisite strength and flavor ; and very properly tbe manager of each houseis required to do the mixing himself, and is held responsible for the result Coffer is ground fresh every time it is made, and due precaution is taken to keep the quantity in ;he urn of uniform sweetness. Coffee "and cocoa are sold at a penny per imperial pirt, I and a halfpenny per half pint, tea being double that price. The prices of theedibi.s are equally low, but customers are made quite welcome to take their own meals with them and eat them in the house, provided they buy ei'her tea, coffee, or cocoa. During four weeki there was gold of theee beverageß in the seven public houses then open a quantity equal to 88,326 halfpenny jugfuls in add'tion to a large quantity of lemonade ani g ngerbeer. The houses are open from five in the morning till eleven at night, and after six in the evening a payment of a halfpenny admits without the necessity of buying any refreshmpnt, admiti to the reading-room, which is well supplied with newspiper*, magazines, and other periodicals. Between eixand eleven o'clock at night, during the four weeks already mentioned, the reading-rooms were visited by upwards of 100,000 persons, An out -door trade is also being cultivated among families and workshops, which are supplied with any quantity they may require at the same low rates that are charged in the Bhops. While the houses were primarily started with the intention of benefiting the working man, special pains are being taken to make it olear that both «exeß aad all classes are oordially invit d. It is extremely encouraging to know that experience has proved that cocoa and coffee are more nutritious, and do more gooi than malt liquors, and at a great deal less cost, The large number that patronise the Bhops in the early morning demonstrate the wisdom of opecing at five o'clock. The bouses are well attended at all times of the day, between rive and seven in the morning, at breakfast, dinner, and tea time, and in the evening are generally fairly crowded. The drawings of a branch which was opened a fortnight ago were on the Jast day of the first week ii^e times the amount taken on the first day. The company has, since it eoimnenecii operations, opened houses at the rate of one per month. At the larger places lectures and instructive entertainments are given occasionally in the eveningi, Many of the men who have become regular customers often contrast the comforts and cleanliness of the British Workman House with the squalor and misery with which they were formerly oniy too familiar, thank the directors of the company, that instead of being as they used to be— -wretchedly cl&d and ill-fed — they and their families are now decently and warmly clothed, and feel themselves stronger, fresher, happier, and younger than when their health was shattered and their money squwndered by indulgence in alcohol. The company, whicu was started from philanthropic motives, baa proved s, financial success.*