TRADE TOPICS

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume XVIII, Issue 1063, 21 July 1910, Page 21

TRADE TOPICS

A change is taking place in the management of the Queen’s Head Hotel, Upper Queen Street, Auckland, Mr. C. Taylor having disposed of his interest in the property to Mr.A. Summers, late of the Masonic Hotel, Devonport.

Said a leading counsel, who appeared in a licensing case some time ago, when speaking of the state of the New Zealand Licensing laws: “The licensing laws of this country embarrass the hotelkeeper who has to obey them; they puzzle the police who have to administer them; they bewilder the magistrates whose duty it is to construe them, and they enrich the pockets of the lawyers who have to unravel them.” A true bill, more’s the pity! Yet when one speaks of “the harrassed publican” there is very little real sympathy for him, even on the part of the authorities. Why?

“This country,” says the San Francisco “Argonaut,” will never permanently sustain the principle of prohibition. That principle, if it may be so called, is founded upon an error of logic and upon a false notion of the duty of government. It assumes that, because some men abuse the privilege of individual freedom, all men must be denied that privilege. It forgets that laws must be made for the normal and self-controlled man; not for the man of special infirmities and weaknesses. It disregards the first and fundamental tenet of liberty.”

The name of Barber is proverbial fol’ excellence in the confectionery line, so that the fact of up-to-date tea rooms being opened at 292, Queen Street, should find much favour with the public. The spacious upstairs-room is fitted with every comfort and up-to-date appointment, and makes a pleasant rendezvous for afternoon ,tea. Choice cakes and prompt attendance are special features of Barber’s.

Two men were discussing a saloon keeper of their acquaintance, both being agreed that he was not noted as a generous dispenser of drinks- “Did he ever treat you?” asked Mike. “Yes, nearly,” was Jack’s somewhat puzzling reply. “How was that ” was the eager questioning. “Well, one morning it was very cold and foggy. So I went into the saloon for a minute, thinking to warm myself. Jim was behind the bar standing at the end of it nearest the window looking out. He looked at me once or twice. I looked at him several times. Then, says he to me, friendly and encouragingly like, as he still gazed out of 'the window, ‘Jack, what are we going to have —snow or rain?’ ”

A novel point was raised at the Magistrate’s ' Court, Eketahuna, on Monday, during the hearing of a charge of a breach of the Licensing Act which it was alleged had been committed by sending two packages into a no-license district, . without a statement thereon to the effect tnat the packages contained liquor. The liquor was packed in two boxes, which did not have a label as is usually attached. On one box, however, appeared the words, “Imperial ale,” and on the other, “Gienlion special whisky.” Mr. T. M. Page, for the defence, contended that the words were afsur ficient indication that the packages contained liquor, as otherwise how was the constable to discover it? The Magistrate (Mr. C. C. Graham) agreed with this contention, and' dismissed the information.

Tneie are 7482 licensed brewers in the . United Kingdom. The total piOuUvtioxi tor cne year ended September 30, 1909, was 34,167,217 barrels of beer,.or wnicn 0u6,j.7.0 barrels were exported.

importers of spirituous/liquors into the Commonweaitn alter Ist January next wi.l be required to modify their language in describing the beneficial properties of their, wares. The Fedeial Minister lor Customs has decided that in regard to spirits the description snould be confined to the nature of the article, and. that it cannot be truthfully asserted as a general statement tnat spirits are safe and beneficial, and that any statement direct or indirect, wnich would infer meukinai properties, claims, etc., are not to be permitted. This direction does not affect any statement as to tfie purity of the spirit.

Mr. O’Donnell, who has recently entered into possession of the Hibernian Hotel at Timaru, is well and popularly known throughout the district. For five years under Mr. D. J. Burns regime, he was employed at the Empire Hotel, where his love of any kind of sport made him a prominent figure in athletics in Timaru. Already his friends are patronising his house in Latter Street, which by the way is in a quiet locality, but only a stone’s throw from the Main Street. Mr. and Mrs. O’Donnell have great experience in hotel running, and it is a certainty that they will do well at the Hibernian. For comfort, cleanliness and best of accommodation, it stands unrivalled in its class. The South Canterbury Boxing Association and Athletic Club, hold their meetings at the Hibernian Hotel, which under the O’Donnell management will be a favourite resort.

Mr. D. Mahoney, of Stafford Street, Timaru, is offering the freeholds of several first-class hotels in the Timaru district, also freehold farms and other good businesses. We direct the attention of those looking for a lucky investment to Air. Mahoney’s announcement on page 29.

The police raided a residence in Seddon Avenue in Waihi, last week, and seized a quantity of liquor. It is understood that the occupants wid be proceeded against under the Licensing Act.

The old Kaikoi’ai junction Hotel, now used as a private boarding-house, containing 20 rooms, was destroyed by fire last Thursday, xiie house was owned by Airs. Elizabeth Johnson, residing in the North Island, and was occupied by John Ross, his wife and brother-in-law- The fire is supposed to have been caused by a defective chimney. The house and furniture were totally destroyed. The insurances on the building were £5OO in the Royal, and on the furniture £225 in the Alliance office. fine place, which was old, and constructed of wood, burnt out in half an hour. One of the inmates had to escape by a window.

At the Club Hotel, Shannon, the sum of £7 7s has been collected in pennies and small coins since last December on behalf of Mother Alary Aubert’s Home of Compassion, at Island "Bay. The money, which had been deposited in a bar of the hotel will be forwarded, in the form of a cheque, to the Home. Such instances of thoughtfulness will be much appreciated by the authorities of the institution. „ *

The efficacy of chemical fire engines was fully demonstrated at Hastings last week, when an outbreak of fire occurred in an old two-storey block of buildings next the Grand' HotelThe fire had burned through from the ground to the upstairs rooms, but the doors and windows were kept closed, and the chemicals quickly extinguished the flames. Had they fai.ed, the whole block, from the Grand Hotel to the Union Bank corner, must have gone, as an asbestos joint blew on to the “steamer” engine before it could get. into action.

One would have thought th.kt all the ’ points thht could possibly/ be raised in connection with the bona-fide traveller section of the Licensing Act had been magisterially dealt with .(says the London L.V. Gazette), but a new one cropped up at the .West Ham Police Court, when Charles Gordon was summoned for being on licensed premises during prohibited hours. According to the Act a bona fide traveller is a per-'

son who hastravelled three miles from the place where he slept or abode'the night previously, for a purpose other than that of obtaining a drink., Gordon’s excuse was that he had slept at a house-more than three miles away the; night previous, but called home and changed his coat and bootsin flningi the man five shillings Mr. Gillespie said he destroyed the fact of being a traveller by changing his clothing. The licensee was not summoned; -U> • ■ ?• ’ . ■*. * * *

The Kamo Hotel, some four miles out from Whangarei, is well situated so far as the road traffic is concerned and is extensively patronised by those travelling by. the main North Road. Mr. A. J. J. Meyer, who at one time conducted the Ellerslie Hotel, is the present proprietor, and those who visit Kamo should drop in at this well-ap-pointed house- Mr. Meyer makes a most capable host and has the reputation of running the hotel in first-class style.

After wrestling all day with the problem “What is Whisky?” Mr. Taft reversed Mr. Roosevelt’s dictum that whisky which has not been aged in charred oak casks shall not be dignified with the name of whisky. In a 5,000-word verdict, Mr, Taft declares that there are four kinds of whisky—straight whisky, aged in wood; whisky made of rectified spirits; whisky made of re-distilled spirits; whisky made of neutral spirits, but rendered potable. He draws the line at whisky made of molasses, which, he says, is rum.

“No church can afford to make of its pulpit a continual political rostrum, to suit the pleasure of the AntiSaloon League..• Such subordination, if it must come, means—beyond doubt —the : uprooting of that church and its total disintegration for a church thatJ&nly ; serves a purpose politically ceases to serve its purpose Ghristly. The. "Anti-Saloon. League, however, would die the death in the wilderness of : unforgotten should the churches close their pulpits to its demands.” ---‘.‘The Beverages Trade News.”

“E. Y- Sarles, former Governoi’ of North Dakota, attacked attempts to prohibit the sale of liquor, and assertprohibition has proved a failure in his State, in an address at an informal luncheon given by the Minnesota Society. A. O. Eberhardt, Governor of Minnesota, and Mr. Sarles were the guests of the occasion. ‘Prohibition ..law. cannot, be ..enforced unless backed by a strong sentiment in. i the community,’ declared Mr. Sarles, ‘and when it is not backed by this;''sentiment : it. turns a community into a rendezvous for bootleggers. There is more liquor consumed in North Dakota now than when there was no law against public saloons. Much of it is used by mere boys.’ ” — Chicago “Tribune.”

The latest complaint to come from prohibition Georgia is a novel one, to say the least. It is to the effect that prohibition is causing trains in that State to run from fifteen minutes to three hours late, due to the enormous amount of whisky carried, for which stops are made at wayside stations to discharge consignments.