CHOPS & CHANCES

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume IX, Issue 439, 22 December 1898, Page 19

CHOPS & CHANCES

Sly-grog selling, like the poor, “is always with us.” Egyptian drink for Tommy Atkins returned from the Soudan —Sirdar and B. According to statistics, moderate drinkers make the best risks for life insurance companies, decided- that there is to be no bar in the Exhibition building, either for the sale of beef or wine. John Grey and Sons, mineral water manufacturers, have made an excellent display with fheir exhibit at the Exhibition. Mr Michaels should do a good trade at the Wynyard Arms Hotel while the Exhibition is in swing, especially now that it has been ultimately One of the barmen at the Royal Oak Hotel, Wellington, stated that £6 or £7 was stolen from the till while the fire was in progress. Captain Kclmsley, of the Wellington Fire Brigade, claims that all hotels should have flexible ladders for each room. Very few transfers of licenses during the last week or two; hotelkeepers do not like the idea of changing during the festive season. Burglars entered the Imperial Hotel, Wellington, broke open the safe, and stole £5O in cash and small articles worth about £5. The improvements at the Thistle Hotel are very nearly completed, and Mr Harry Ellison is to be congratulated on the present appearance of his hostelry. Big alterations are being made at Mr Alfred Kifid’s Commercial Hotel in Shortland Street. Full particulars of the improvements contemplated will appear in a future issue. At the quarterly meeting of the. Palmerston North Licensing Committee the police.reports on ..the various hotels in.the district, with one exception, were very favorable. There are 89 million gallons of Scotch whisky lying idle m bond owing, Mr Dewar says, to the difficulty of finding a sufficient supply of suitable water with which to mix the spirit. The NZ. Times, in referring to the Royal Oak Hotel fire, hints that an understanding exists between the Council and the Brigade to whitewash each other. Mr W. Mowbray reports that Mrs Dixon, formerly of the New Lynn Hotel, has taken over the Diggers’ Rest Hotel at Coromandel. This hotel has been for some time under the management of Mr Charles Wade. In speaking of the enormous amount of tea consumed in the colonies, the National says:— “People who swill strong black tea at every meal would be far better if they were drinking beer, provided it was light and of good quality.’. Mr S. 0. Caulton, of St. Helier’s Bay, is having / an excellent steamboat time-table card printed, .- with a picture of his hotel in the centre. It will prove very convenient for consultation to frequenters of the Bay. Mr Samuel Gilmer, licensee of the Royal Oak Hotel, Wellington, said at the inquest that he had never given the subject, of a possible fire five minutes consideration, so safe did he consider . the building. : ; Mr Andrew Usher, the great Edinburgh brewer, has died from an internal cancer. Three years ago he gave £lOO,OOO to the city of Edinburgh for ths erection of a music hall, but he has not lived to see the work entered upon. It is claimed that the Licensing Committee never under any circumstances or at any, time offered Mr M. Foley a conditional license for seven days, and that Mr Brabant was mistaken, when he stated that such was the case. The police appear to be keen on hunting down sly-grog shanties in the King Country. Two - cases are to come on for hearing at Te Awamutu before Captain Jacksom, S.M. Well, they had ? better be engaged in that work than persecuting respectable city publicans. Mr S. Charlton,-of the Criterion Hotel, Napier, has just returned to that city after having accomplished the feat of driving overland to Auckland and back in his own trap and with his provisions, tents, and other appliances necessary for camping. >.-■ Mr Clark, secretary of the Licensed Victuallers’ Association, has resigned his office, as he finds r ■ that he cannot devote his entire time to the work. Mr Clark has always taken a keen interest in the affairs of the Trade, and his resignation will be regretted by the members of the association. An informal meeting of the Licensed Victuallers’ Association was held in Mr Myer’s room on Friday afternoon at 4.15. There was not as good an attendance as was expected, as several of the members thought the meeting was to be held at the Coffee Palace. A number of alterations have been lately made at the Empire Hotel kept by Mr Stewart. The house has been papered and painted throughout, and some very attractive linoleum dadoes have been used in a number of the rooms, {Altogether, the Empire" in its new dress is well worth a visit. The municipal officers of Ballarat are a little more liberal as to the retailing of alcoholic refreshments than our Licensing Committee here is, judging from the- recent Exhibition bar struggle. In Ballarat a deputation waited on the Mayor, objecting to the sale of liquor on the cricket field i They were politely shown the door. A South African paper states that teetotal drinks are invented in order that doctors shall grow wealthy through the general dyspepsia of the public. There is more truth than poetry in this assertion, as colic seems to be the natural concomitant, of some of our New Zealand temperance drinks.

The Victorian excise duty on beer for November alone amounted to £14,473, The treasury of that colony, therefore, benefits to the extent of nearly £200,000 a year by this tax. The New Zealand Treasury benefits proportionately, and from a financial point of view it would be madness to sacrifice this income..

It is a peculiar coincidence that the present Lord Mayor of London is a large mineral water merchant, while his predecessor was in the whisky business in a large way. This is on the American or Scotch principle, whisky first and water afterwards. But as Londoners like to mix their whisky and water, it is a pity the two gentlemen couldn’t have held office at the same time.

The pictures and statuettes in the commercial and smoking-room of the Royal Mail Hotel have recently been undergoing a thorough regilding, and at present almost dazzle the visitor with their golden spendor. We believe that the work has been done by an English dilletante of artistic proclivities now’resident in the hotel, who thus amuses himself when time hangs heavy on his hands. The alterations which have been in progress at the St. Helier’s Bay Hotel (Mr S. C. Caulton) are very nearly completed, and it is expected that everything will be in apple-pie order by Christmas time. There has been considerable expense involved in bringing about the many improvements, and now this pleasurable summer resort will be even more attractive than of yore. In our last issue we neglected publishing the transfer of licenses granted by the Palmerston North Licensing Committee at their last quarterly meeting. They were as follows : — Princess Hotel, from Marion Clifford to Ready O’Leary ; Clarendon Hotel, from George Onimette to F. J. Tasker (Mr Henley) ; Empire Hotel, from W. M. Jamieson to Helena Mary Burnett; Masonic Hotel, Ashurst, from James Williams to James Vile (Mr Baker) ; Club Hotel, Percy A. Herman to William Smith; Commercial Hotel, Ashurst, from George Hannselle to J. McCarthy ; Royal Hotel, Bunnythorpe, from Symon Glogoski to James Dillon (Mr Innis).