REOPENING OF BARS

Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 236, 3 July 1944, Page 4

REOPENING OF BARS

Invercargill People In Convivial Mood PREMISES CROWDED (By Telegraph.—Press Association.) INVERCARGILL, July 2. The opening of hotel bars in Invercargill after a period of 38 years of nolicence was celebrated with enthusiasm yesterday when business was begun in the four licensed premises,’.the Kelvnn, the Clyde, the Appleby, and the Brown Owl. At all four places business was exceptionally brisk between 10 a.m. aud 2 p.m., and again between 4 p.m. and G p.m. The three bars aud the restaurant were crowded throughout every hour of the six that they were open toj business, and there was no let up ior the barmen, waiters and other attendants. If this rate of business could be maintained ihere would be no douut about the Invercargill Licensing Trusts not only making profits, but .substantial profits. However, yesterday was a special occasion, which many people considered catted lor an unusual degree of conviviality. Besides, for many people who could not remember the time when Invercargill had Hotel bars, there was the appeal of novelty. As one man put it, "At the moment the hotel bars are a nine- days’ wonder in Invercargill. This attitude to the bars will soon pass, and they will be accepted as part of the normal life of the city, as they are in other places. ’ The Trust will probably have to wail for another festive occasion before it again experiences a volume of business comparable with that done yesterday. Many people were agreeably surprised with the up-to-date standard of the bars, specially those in temporary premises, and apparently they had formed conclusions trom the unfinished exteriors of these premises, and had expected something rather crude. The bars, however, did not provide a real novelty. They were just the average hotel bars, with some improvements. Opinions Vary. The real innovation of the day was the licensed restaurant at the Brown Owl. This is an establishment new to New Zealand, and opinions vary as to how the experiment will work out. One opinion may <be expressed in this way ’ "Alcohol and tea will not mix, and, in time alcohol will drive out tea. This licensed restaurant will eventually become a lounge bar.” It is not the intention of the Trust that this should be the outcome, and the opinion may prove to be wrong. Certainly, yesterday many people visited the Brown Owl for morning tea or afternoons teas in spite of the brisk demand from other customers merely for drinks. All drinks were served at the tables. There is no bar counter at the Brown Owl. Half an hour before the bars were due to open there was a large crowd on the pavement opposite the Kelvin. Perhaps they were sheltering from the wind, or perhaps with Press photographers busy here and there making a pictorial record, they were diffident about being seen in a queue waiting for the hotel bar to open at 10 in the morning. When the doors were opened, a small queue quickly entered, and from across the roads dozens of men and some womeu hurried to join in the rush. Attendants in the battle department were quite as busy as the men behind the bars. Soon after 10 o’clock it was almost impossible to get a seat in the Brown Owl. ’Waiters attired in neat cut-away jackets served drinks, and waitresses attended to customers who ordered teas. The city was quiet between two and four o’clock, but very soon after four all the bars and the Brown Owl were again crowded, and late comers found difficulty in being served. The demand for spirits, particularly whisky, seemed to be very heavy, and it was noj; always possible to obtain what was ordered. However, if there was no whisky, either brandy, gin, or rum was available. The weather yesterday was unfavourable after a stormy night, and the city woke to find itself under a light blanket of snow, the first of the winter, and in spite of brief periods of wintry sunshine, the day was cold and miserable. The weather, however, did not damp down the convivial spirit of the occasion. It may, in fact, have stimulated it by creating a demand for something to keep out the cold-

AUSTRALIAN INTEREST

(By Telegraph.—Press Assn.—Copyright.) (Received July 2, 10 pan.) SYDNEY, July. 2.

The New Zealand licensing experiment in Invercargill is being . watched with great interest in Australia. The. establishment of the trust is described in a leading article by the Sydney “Sunday Telegraph” as: “An experiment in civilized drinking which throws into harsh relief Sydney’s hoggish beer-swilling habits. Instead of being at the mercy of greedy publicans who say when, how, and what you shall drink —and then throw it at you—the citizens of Invercargill are being encouraged by their licensing trust to drink comfortably and decently.”