ASHBURTON LICENSING MEETING.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1269, 2 June 1884, Page 2

ASHBURTON LICENSING MEETING.

Tho annual meeting of the. Ashburton Borough Licensing Committee was held in the Courthouse; there being present—/ Messrs D. Thomas (chairman), A, Orr^. R. Alcorn, T. Sealy and S. Saunders. BBNBWAI3. F. L. K, Hill applied .for arenowiLotr the license for the., Somerset Hotel. Mr' Joynt appeared in the support ' t>£ the application. .... Sergeant' Felton said that the granting ' of the license- would be opposed that ground that drunkenness was permitted there, and that men were allowed to wander about. tho house in a state of semi-drunkenness. In 1877 a similar' objection was made and upheld, and Mr Shearman, the than landlord, promised to shut the bar. In accordance witlr thas the bar was shifted- to Burnett stredt. Since then the place had been altered, and it was now one big, bar, the front, door of which opened on the street. Many ” complaints were made by ladies : and gbntlemen.' Three-fourthS Of the dittelren '3 men in tha : county came frd A tbe Somer;set HobeL Hft~-hn.ndmi ni-a. vetipffi,, the post fivo yeara showing, that five out of six of the drunkenness dame ylbim there. The opposition was founded on section 38 of the Act. -v ; I v > ;The following evidence was given J H. W. houses, said that dutihg - thr last six |mouths a great deal of .drunkenness had existed in the Somerset Hotel; :t TheWJ■wbre also a large nuqabec of half. drunken men hanging, about, the - froht,doop. r ahd obstructing the 'footp'ath. ' A.' rerara tjf : the rooms in the hotel - showed there . ' K inin ij

two public bars,' a tap., *tt>oni, a sitting '" room at the end of the pak&ge, opening on the latter v The ,house had the ~ worst sitting rooms of any hotel ih-jd^JAwn. IVTr Joynt said ha irl nof prepared to meet-this, as nothing was" bald’about «.the- j structure of the hotel fn thapartidiilaii of f i complaint. 7 1 *« *«-!' .iiMO.-r •'* CISfX Sergeant Felton said that ho'hhd raised?*! k the point to show the hotel was little more that a drinking shoptM draw 1 Attention to olause SO of^theAot.r-^ni;'!

Mr Joynt said that the clause referißdm* - to was simply being- used' by ‘theoffider/aaoh a trap, as it gave the police the opportunity -i of raising a general objection." Witness continued that he had himself noticed men hanging about the front and side entrances 'of the Somerset Hotel. Complaints had been made to witness by several -ladies and- gentlemen^..and the Resident Magistrate had complained to Mr. Hill that he had todeaye the foqtpatb,;. ' and had given appliMllg;* wfei •• ness had; locked- many, men upf ronLthere, i. himself, and given orders to constables to do the same. , V. ; r Cross-examined by ’Mr Joynt: Only *: one prosecution for'aUowiag drtfnkeabeSa-' -'' on the premises was instituted.against Mr Jdillj on account of the difficulty of , curing evidence to siistain a oOnviotlOn, ■-* Knew a drunken maawhea Jlfe ; JaW him. Witness understood that he held a permit to enter any- publichous? at any time in . the . day or night. ; CenudaredLthat .4ho~. conviction had not been sustained on account of the difficulty -6i 'getting the evidence,-of the. barman, and not, he thought, because thb , tOstitnohy bt*‘<ne|'l police was not believed - by the ResidentS. Magistrate. Me Hill had. been there over two years, and had not been proceeded against for allowing drunkuoss on the promises before April last. Witness had seen many man gradually getting ; drunk at the Somerset, but could not name of any partiodar man. "THe* ? men he could remember Gibb and Jerome Camille who, be 'konw, «*<* were kept at the ‘hotel. Had no r witness on this . point - on 1 account of the ■difficulty of getting thedl to'oome forward. In witaesa’s opinion a semi-drunken man,. \ was one wha was a nuisance tQ-„.himapl{ and others. Witness was then cross-" examined as to what Was hk ‘definition of a private bar, which he considered to bee - ' place where drinks are supplied ln - aroon&p' —Mr Joynt pointed out that in the intei? A _ pretation clause of the Act it .'said'nothing about a ** private bar. ” —Witness aih4. J c that according to - the law there Was one bar. When objections were raisediftjo 1877, the bar was shifted further.; <dewn<;t Barnett street, and witness was of opinion--. that.it should now bo moved to the back- ~ yard. Gould not say if -any hotdlfiy’, Christchurch had a. bar, ciitranoe.to which * was from the back-yard. Did not 'IwT up all the men found drunk, near ,the Somerset, as the cells were' 1 not lafge enough. In v eptember last 16 out of v 26 -^ r drunken men came from this hotel. '

H> M. Jpnes, bookseljey, gave, evidence Z 1 that he suffered inconvenienoefromthec proximity of the hotel to his shop. .On* , two specific occasions he had seen meq committing nuisances outside the hotel Id the public street. ‘ ' . . CroSs-examined by MrJoynt :The fcwO instances cited occurred in Maroh andf - April, when men came: in from harvesting. Had not informed the police, because he did not regard the matter at' ’ serious enough. -- ■ To the Bench : Had seen- men brought out of the hotel, but 'not frequently. S. E. Poyntz and W. Qavia gave simi- r lar evidence. In cross-examination the | latter witness said that he could swear'' that that ladies could not go pact. the Somerset in the middle of April without being molested. , Constables Casey, Smart and Latimer - said that they had arrested more man for;,,drunkenness at the Somerset than in all the other parts Of the town put together. in answer to the Bench, Constable Smart said that in. his opinion the position of the house accounted for the men congregating there, and he could not say what' the liquor was like. ■ i.x /, W. Martin, clerk of the Court, said he"had occasion to pass .the hotel five or six times a day. There’ were often: a good many men there, but hot'more at one corner of the street than at the other. .V Had never been molested himself. , -- i his closed the case for the police, add " Mr Joynt called the fallowing evidence 1 for the defence:— W. C. Walker, farmer, Yaletta, said that he was often at the Somerset Hotel,' and the house was, so far as he could judge, well conducted. To Sergeant Felton : Did not live in"" Ashburton, but came there onoe a month. ‘ Peter Davidson, commercial traveller, gave similar evidence as th management of the house. A large number of com* mercial travellers stayed there;: ; E. G. Crisp, solicitor, remembered . that when Hill was prosecuted it was proved in evidence that Mulligan and Camille got no liquor at the hotel, and that the barman refused to supply him. Had seen Camille in the Court on another charge of drunkenness. j s. B. Nelson,' builder, had ' h place of business opposite the set, ad had never' been jostled' in front of the hpum* nor had he heard any bad language. The place was well kept, according to witness's expert* enoe. Was in the hotel about three timet a week.

Joseph Sealy, a boarder s'- f . k o hotel, testified tq,ihe.hoo>e being well m.nagsd daring the twelve months be had been ;■ * f. Joseph Clark gave-similar evidence. Lunched,there every day, and sometimes slept in the hotel Was of opinion that the hotel had nothing to do with men congregating at the corner. Mr Joynt then addressed the Bench, and ■ after retiring for, about twenty ‘ minutes they returned snd stated that this were, of opinion that the objections to the renewal of the license had not been Substantiated, and considered that the J donee in the future should bring every breach of the Act before the Committee. They also thought that it was the duty of the police to keep the footpaths clear of persons^standing about. They , were also •of opinion ! that ’ no anamua had bean ahoirar on tbe part of the police, j i Renewal* treoe granted to J. Beecher and J. F. Butler. Mr Crisp applied on behalf of Thomas QniUfoeja renewal of a license for tbe Commercial,Hotel .He also applied that the door which had been closed between ■ the bar and the billiard room should be The Reiident Magistrate had suggested the question should be brought before the Bench, and he (Mr Crisp) understood that there would be no opposition on condition that the police had avpemsionr over the billiard room, a condition Mr Quill was willing to agree to. .Felton said that he would offer no objection as the door .was kept opened’ order to furnish a test case. Mr Crisp Wished *ft to be understood that the application, was made contingent upon an eleven o’clock license being granted.;- fr ' J .' .. I The-Bench decided 1 to allow the door to be opened betwefenthe billiard room and tie bar, and to J be closed the'same time If’ae the hotel.

Applications from Thomas Quill,Jfor the ' RaflWay Station, and 'William Power, for the Royal Hotel, were granted. The ap- • plication of - Donald Williamson for a .s.whcdeaalw license was granted. _ Mr Crisp applied for a renewal of the - liconsoforJhe Ashburton Hotel. - Sergeant Belton suidthat be' had two objeo- '. -tions* to bring forward; but that they were r anyththgnpcm. He . could evidence. - Mr B. Alcorn said that as A Justice of 7< 'UtetPaiew he had several cases of drnriken ••IttiaMMbefort:' him, itf‘which It was 'shOwn

that the men got their lostrdrink at the Ashburton Hotel - Perhaps the Bench tttM&l thk.’but he iraaf ohly arguing as to whether therS wasahy thing to meet. He that what Mc -Aloom had • simply/ a one-sided . statement ],. t)|at|neant ■■} - ; j i< - ! The JBenoh saiu ithat |the license was granted,.but Mrs .Woodley would .simply -.hooautioned, as the bridge-was so-near -oMtdi wps' aeource-of especial to -i«(Lmidten.maK v~ "* - S. j w.ll 4 - i,: : .