TRADE TOPICS.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume XVIII, Issue 1046, 24 March 1910, Page 20

TRADE TOPICS.

An important meeting of the Executive of the New Zealand Licensed Victuallers’ Association is to be held in Auckland on April 13th. * • * * A London cable message states that the House of Lords has decided that the goodwill of the Chartreuse liqueur factory has not passed to the French judicial liquidator, and, therefore, the monks are entitled to the English trademarks. The French Government’s liqueur must be marked distinctively. ♦ * * • Having practically extinguished the walking “beer shops” which have been doing business on Sundays, the Wellington police are now turning special attention to alleged Sunday tradingin hotels proper. - * * * A novel sight was witnessed in front of an hotel in Gisborne the other day, when a horse was seen drinking from a bottle of ale held in his mouth. The

horse was evidently quite used to the beverage, for he was not by any means as perturbed over the operation as the crowd that quickly gathered.

At the quarterly meeting of the Rangitikei Licensing Committee held in Hunterville, the application of Mrs. Shields to carry on the business of the Ohingafti Hotel until the annual meeting in June was granted. An extension of time to manage the Gretna Hotel, Taihape, was granted to Mrs Gibbons.

The late Mr. Charles Henry Williams, whose death was recorded by the Wellington papers last week, was lessee of Barrett’s Hotel, and well known as a resident bf Karori and Wellington of many years standing Mr. Williams had been ill for some eight weeks past, and succumbed in the private hospital to which he had

been confined for the past week. Mr. Williams, who was a native of Birmingham, was born in 184 7. He learned the electro-plating trade at Home, being apprenticed to the firm of Perkins, the well-known locketmakers, of Birmingham. He came out to New Zealand in the ship Pleiades in 1867, and took up farming pursuits in the Wellington district. Subsequently he started in business in Wellington as a tobacconist, but after a few years saw an opening for an electro-plating and engraving business, in which he was a specialist, and for many years successfully pursued his trade in Upper Willis Street. Some three years ago he took the lease of the Upper Hutt Hotel, which he relinquished to take over Barrett’s Hotel about six months ago. He resided for many years in Karori, and was for some time a member of the Karori Borough Council. He leaves a widow and two sons, Messrs. Walter George Williams and Francis Herman Williams, who reside in Wellington. Mr. Williams was well known in Masonic circles.

A case of considerable interest to hotel licensees and the public generally was ventilated at the Dargaville Police Court last week. George Burdett, licensee of the Tangiteroria, hotel, was charged with having on 22nd December last at Tangiteroria, refused to supply accommodation, to wit, a meal to one Donald Laing, a traveller; also with having refused to provide accomodation, to wit, a horse feed to Donald Laing, a traveller. After hearing the evidence the Magistrate dismissed the case.

At the Magistrate’s Court, Masterton, before Mr. C. C. Graham, S.M., John A. Leahy was fined £5 and costs for having given an order on account of another person for liquor intended to be taken into the no-license district of Masterton, and having failed to give a statement in writing of the name and address of such other person.

At the Licensing Court, sitting at Dargaville, Constable Thompson drew the attention of the Court to the irregularity of procedure that had occurred in regard to matters to be dealt with by that Court, inasmuch as that certain applications had been lodged in Auckland instead of the court at Dargaville and at his suggestion, it was decided that all applications . affecting matters in the-juris-diction of the Kaipara Licensing Court be made in the local court.

At a meeting of the Palmerston North Licensing Committee on Monday, the transfer of the Grand Hotel from D. Thompson to G. Trevor was granted; also temporary transfers of the Central Hotel from D. Moynihan to P. E. Wakeman; the Longburn Hotel from C. Morgan to W. Gran; the Royal Hotel from G. H. Foster to A. H. Rogers; and the Occidental Hotel from W. Gran to W. Hunter. Sub-Inspector O’D'onovan reported that there were no complaints against any of the hotels.

Freeholds in the city of Wellington appear to still . maintain their values, and inspire the confidence of investors, especially when the properties are centrally, situated, and in good positions.. Messrs Dwan Brothers, Willis Street, Wellington, report the sale of the. freehold of the Post Office Hotel, Grey Street, which was owned in the joint partnership by Messrs. Dwan Brothers and ..Mr. Dayid v Sullivan, to Mr, Alexander M’Vinish, the present tenant. The price paid is said to be in the neighbourhood of £25,000.

At ithe quarterly meeting of the Gisborne Licensing Committee, Sergeant Huttbn, officer in charge of the Gisborne police district, reported: “I respectfully report that during the past j quarter the hotels in this subdistrict have been well conducted and no. complaints have been made. I have’ inspected each of the hotels separately-and—found -them- clean and tidy, both within and without, and the up-keep all that could be desired.. There has been a considerable : decrease in drunkenness this. quarter, when compared with the corresponding period of last year.”. “A very satisfactory state of affairs!” remarked the chairman (Mr. W. A: Barton) -S.M. The following transfers were granted: George Brown Oman, Wairoa Hotel, to John Dickson (Mr. F. W. Nolan); Andrew Tuony, Royal Oak Hotel, to Arthur Frederick Saunders (Mr. F. W. Nolan).

“ All admit that an excess of alcohol does harm; so likewise does an excess of meat, sugar, or even water. The danger here lies in the abuse and not in the proper use of the articles in question, and it is irrational to claim that ~ their use must oh" this account be abandoned.”—Dr. Thomas Dutton.

Steady progress is being made with the reconstitution of Victorian vineyards with phylloxera- resisting stock. The scheme was started over seven years ago, and since then it has been applied to large areas under vines throughout the State. In the past inability to secure a sufficient supply of wood from American resistant vines has been the. chief Obstacle, in. the way of this reform, but the plantation of mother vines at the Rutherglen State Viticulture.! Station has recently been extended, wi’h the object of overcoming this difficulty. It is expected that within two years sufficient cuttings will be provided to graft a million vines annually. Moreover, the irrigated State nursery, established recently at Wahgunyah, now contains over 300,000 grafted vines and rootlings. It is announced that this autumn the supply for planting out will be larger than it has ever been in the past.. Considerable success has been obtained - with a new method of budding European vines on the young wood of American stocks, and it is hoped that this will provide an additional facility for dealing with the vast number of vines'needed each year for the work of reconstitution.— “ Wine and Spirit News.”

Thus the late Marquis of Salisbury—“ You wish to prevent a certain number of people from getting drunk. Therefore you ask us to prevent four, five or six times as many, who are sober consumers, from having an opportunity of the free indulgence to which they have a right. Why are we to punish the innocent in Place of the guilty? The rich who possess, or can possess, wine cellars, are free from the attacks of the prohibi-

tionists reformers. It is the poor, the working people, that the law inconveniences. This kind of legislation is absolutely of a class character.” The N.S.W. United Licensed Victuallers’ Association in its annual report says inter alia:—“ Our organisation campaign has been continuous throughout the year. We have to-day 129 branches and sub-branches established througthou the State, and in addition many correspondents in outlying places. Our members are taking a keen interest in our work, and rendering valuable assistance. We are making every effort to educate the voting public upon the liquor question, large quantities of literature being circulated, so that the next time they record their votes at the Local Option Poll they will have a knowledge of the question and how it affects the people. The Trade is buckling on its armour and none too soon. Our opponents, the No License Party, have commenced a vigorous campaign throughout the State which is worthy of emulation by the units of our side, and a strong .reason why every liquor trader should join our forces without delay. It is purely a question of ■ organisation against organisation, and the most complete organisation on the day will achieve success. Within the next three months we will have completed our second circuit of the State on the formation of branches, after which the counti-y is to be retraversed. and,a livening up system introduced.