CONDUCT OF CITY HOTELS

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2795, 13 June 1916, Page 7

CONDUCT OF CITY HOTELS

A LICENSE REFUSED

LICENSEES WARNED BY THE

COMMITi'EE

The conduct of certain hotels in tho city came under review, again at the adjourned meeting of the Wellington Licensing Committee, which was held in tho '.Magistrate's Court' yesterday. -Mr. W. G. Riddell, S.M., presided, and with him on tho Bench were Messrs. R. Fletcher, G. Tiller, J. Smith, W. 'J. Helyer, anil C. J. Petherick. • ALBION HOTEL. In the caso of, the Albion Hotel, the application for a-renewal by llr. J. J. I'irth. was refused; Mr. ltiddeil, in announcing tlio committee's decision, said that the evidence, of the police in regard . to the conduct of" this 'House had . been ; substantiated,' and in view ,ol -tho'. evidence that, the house was not, conducted in a proper; manner and -that dr'uukenriess had Men permitted on the premises, tho committee decided to refuse'the renewal of the license. Subsequently; on ..the application of Mr. -, -M'Grath, tho -application.'was ■ granted, . on the understanding that a transfer ' would bo effected before the end. of the --/■ month.. ' ... - ' ; ; CLARENDON HOTEL. : The chairman said that the- committee •: ; considered'there was some justification' . for' the police evidence in. regard to' the Clarendon' Hotel. The evidence went'to 'show that, while'tlie licensee (Mr.' F. Dobson) was" in charge, lie controlled-it in a proper manner. During his'absence the conduct of the hotel w{\s not satisfactory, owing to the want of supervision: oil the part, of-his staff. The committee' had decided to grant the' licenge;: but : at . the sanio time ' pointed out" that there must, be a .sufficient and competent staff to manage tho hotel in the' licensee's absence quite as "well as', during his pre-. • tencc. In regard to 'a room'complained of by the police,- the committoe required that the' door should be removed, so that ..the roomwbuld'Temain'open -to persons entering the hotel,- and thus'prevent a recurrenco of the scenes described by tlie . police. : - - . i. • • NE W. ZEALANDER HOTEL. ' - Application for-a renewal of'the New Zeaiander Hotel was made by Elizabeth - it. Uavoy, for wlioin Air, T-.:. Young appeared.. , v ■ ■ Inspector Hendrey said that proper supervision■. was -not maintained in- .-the bar of . this hotel. licensee.:, had 110. ■: controlvover the' house,.: dnd- ■;for'that recoil lie submitted' that-., tho'. license ■ should not be-renewed. A large number of people patronised .the hotel, and there was considerable . drunkenness.: .Many , .men. left tho hotel at. night under;-the -".influence. of; liquor. -.Evidence would be , given showing tliatmen had becn caught: ■;: playing ''two-up'*;in the-back yard. : 'l'ho licensee had been convicted during; the . past twelve months, of allowing drunkenness on 7ier premises. . Sergeant Fitzpatrick. deposed that tho : hotel did an extremely large bar trade. Tlio; house,wa3 'patronised.', chiefly- "by. wharf labourers, firomen; and sailors. On January X last at 1.55 p.in...he had found men there under the influence of drink. .. On subsequent occasion he 'had - similar experiences. . Witness ".said* ho had' fro-' quently called the attention of the manager, to the fact that the bar was rowdy, and- the men creating disturbances had been ejected.- The bar. trade was beyond the control of a woman. Ho had spoken to the licensee' several times as to the conduct of the place, and she . ..seemed to resent being spoken' to'-on."the • Bubject. ■ To Mr. "1: ourig: The house was frequent,ed by soldiers, but the iwdy element was composed "of firemfen and: sailors chiefly. ■ The'licensee had got an .experi- j .' enced manager- to: run-Hhe'-'house; -but the control was not what it should bo. The manager had always.endeavoured to iinprove matters when, spoken to. The re-'l <• sidential part of the-house was well conducted. ; | Tolnspector Hendrey: At the Duke of Edinburgh men wcre stationed'outside to '.prevent drunken men coming ; inside. : - To Mr. Young: The barmen did not use the discretion they should. -The only cura for the trouble was to get reliablo men to stand at the door. - : •" .? '

Sergeant Wilcox, said the. conducted the. hotel generally' was', unsatisfactory. There had' been no proper, supervision over the barsuntil the last two months. He had found men' in tho bar-wlio wbro under the milueiice of liquor, arid likely to .bo .rowdy. Ho had suggested to tlie licensee that "she" shoilld- have a . porter, stationed at the doors- to prevent drunken-men goirig'/in; j . Witness. had spoken to the licensee about the conduct of the "bars.. ,' She, resented it." i./ There were : freguent disturbances the hotel at night, caused by half-drunken men. He had found men in the backyard playing, "two-up" during the day. There were four bars in the house. On Saturday. last. there • must - have been seventy or eighty people in tlie house, and no one to supervise them.';. ■ .. : .- . To Mr. Young: The manager, Mr; Speight, had''dohe his best to run tho house- properly, .but it required : more than one " to do so. ' ■ ' o '. V ' ' Constable Binns said that a large num.

her of the men who'left tho hotel at night were in a drunken stato. Discuibances wore frequent in tho bars. Keucntiy. he had prevented an altercation between a soldier and civilian, who: were both under the influence of drink.

Constable O'Dea deposed' that there liad been a considerable improvement in tlio conduct of the house during the past month.

Evidence to a like effect was. given by Constables Black, Uunu, and Frost.

Mr. Young, for tho licensee, said that Mrs. Davey was an experienced liotel- ' keeper, and had invested ail her money in the business. Sho was most anxious to comply .with the law. She had engaged a ' competent manager to control the- bars, iu regard to tho suggestion that , a man. should be stationed outsido the door, licensees had a diffidence about 'doing so, as they felt that the police suspected them.- of "scouting." However, the licensee would bo glad to comply with the suggestion. It was difficult to tell ivhen a man was under the inHuenco of liquor. The manager could cope with the business, and it ho were allowed to have a man outside the door there was not likely to be any troublo in the future. -.

■James. William Spoight,,manager of the New Zeaiander' Hotel, said lie had twenty-five years' experience of the trade. He'employed one '.barman, an assistant barman, and four barmaids. The liouse did a considerable trade, and any slight row or disturbance could be heard from the. street. '.. If a man were posted at the door lie could prevent objectionable customers coming in. Ho would be prepared to engage a man for the purpose. •To Inspector Hendrey. Hotel servants generally took their cue from their employers. His. instructions were to', bo strict, and control ' the house as if it were his own. : He was endeavouring to carry out, .these instructions, and had given' the staff orders accordingly. " Elizabeth . Mary Davey said she had nine years'■ experience of the hotel business. She had been in the New'Zeaiander a year. She had-been trying for seveii or eight months to get a: suitable manager before securing Mr. Speight. She was prepared to do anything to keep tho .liouse'in proper order. She .knew nothing of men playing "two-up" in ; the backyard ' until the police came on tho scene'.' .She was quite willing to comply with the requirements of tho police in: the. future.:;

■To'lnspector Hendrey : She' had paid "the limit" for : goodwill, and all she possessed was in tile business. She had told Sergeant Fitzpatrick he was "making it a bit too 1 hot" because ho had ejected a-man who was perfectly sober. Harold Carr, manager of the Empress Theatre,' kid he liyed at the New Zeaiander. Until he had come-to Court he-had considered, the'house was well conducted.; He.had never; seen the disturbances spoken of by. the police. Percy Harold O'Donnell, optician, -said his;shop " was adjacent .to the New Zeaiander; ; :.He,knew, nothing against the conduct, of the house.

.' Walter Woods,, meat salesman, deposed that;'lie-had seen nothing of what tho police had alleged against the house. He was in the hotel four or five times a day. . . . Evidence in favour of the conduct of the'house was, also given by E. J. Gnllacher ; and James. Foster. . The --committee reserved' its decision .until Monday next. : : , CRICKETERS' ARMS. : Inspector 1 Hendrey said the:chief, objection to the renewal of the license in caso/of tho,.Cricketers' Arms. Hotel was that ef Sunday "trading.' - Two ooiistables had dressed themselves in a uniform resembling that 'of soldiers, and. had been served with liquor. The licensee was convicted for the offence; There* strong-' suspicion of Sunday trading boside this, and evidence that a watch was kept for . the police.: " Mr ~ M>. Myers,' for the licensee, .said that it was not an objection to; the granting of a license that he was fined for selling liquor during .prohibited hours, Tho Magistrate had said ho did not ap-. prove, of . the'methods adopted by the police in securing evidence. The case of tlio. police rested on suspicion.

. . Sergeant Cruicksliank said 'there,"was very .strong'. suspicion; of Sunday '.trading.' at the hotel. There,appeared to bo a watch kept for the.' police, It was not possible for him to approach the hotel oil Sundays without being seen. There was always a lot of "soakers" hanging round the hotel. ; . 'Che committee decided .to grant' the license.- The Chairman said the police had made; grave objections, and all licensees-warned by the polico were informed by-the committee that,they must conduct, their, houses according to law. • IMPERIAL HOTEL. . In the application of T. li. ll'Guire for the -renewal of the' license foivthe'lmperial Hotel, Cuba Street. Inspector "VHehdrey -said the complaint ■against this house was the worst'of all. It'was/alleged.-by the police that by design. and.for profit the:licensee allowed it. to'-be-made a resort of womeii of ill'fame.', The house had become' a nuisance, '. Evidence was given by Sergeant Cruick» .shank as'fd. the house being frequented by women 'of . the town, who' were allowed to remain' too long :on tbe premises. Constable Brown deposed to . seeing, soldiers and women in a room in the house. Witness drew the licensee's attention to.it. - . ; : Similar' 'evidence, was given by Constable Henry, who- gave specific instances .of having seen women enter and leave the hotel, in the company oE men. The licensee, had . been warned of the class of people -'frequenting his- house,, but had

not made any attempt to improve matters.

Evidence to a liko cffect was givon by '.'onstables Sawyer, Scott, Murphy, Cunningham, fltyan, Devinc, and Hrennan. Mr. Young, for tho licensee, said that tho difficulty; of the house was that the uoighbourhood was frequented by women of the town. Tho licensee was not charged with permitting drunkenness in his house. The evidence in regard to women frequenting the hotel was very general. .

Thomas Maguire, licensee, said that he endeavoured to keep, uiulesirablo women off tho premises. Ho had removed the furniture from tho room where the women were served. Within the last two months he had turned away a large number of women.

J.o Inspector Hendrey: He got a notice six months ago containing-the police report a'bout his house, alleging that it was the resort of undesirable women, who engaged in unseemly conduct. Ho denied that he allowed -women to frequent his house. He regarded himself as a fit and proppr perron to hold a license. Robert Koid, butcher, said that so far as he knew the house was well conducted.

Rouse -Jensen, grocer, said his - shop was nearly opposite the Imperial. He was. there on business every day. He had seen nothing wrong' with -the conduct of the house.

Similar evidence was given- by shopkeepers in the neighbourhood. The committee reserved its" decision until Monday next.