BATCHELAR'S ROYAL HOTEL.

Manawatu Times, Volume III, Issue 105, 7 January 1880, Page 2

BATCHELAR'S ROYAL HOTEL.

The traveller who had visited Palmerston five years ago would not have been over well pleased at tho quality of accommodation placed at his disposal. The " Clarendon " had no existence ; Doard's e*apacious hotel, while m the womb of futurity, was not even born iv thought, and he would therefore be** compelled to fall back, upon the most primitive arrangements made for his comfort by mine host.of tl*.o " Palmerston." ft is true those thirs£y>spuls who worshipped at the shrine' ;df .'.Bacchus ;, had -rude but efficient, pro vision!' made • for paying their diurnal devotions, but the Temple of the -Rosy God was sadly bereft of the elecorations which grace his shrine m towns where civilisation was. of older growth. On the spot j. where to-day the "Royal" rears- its | head with ' kpigly m'en, a galvanisod | iron building of tlie very suiall..3 dl^li j mensions, and less pretensions to architectural beauty, did duty as, a hastelrie, which m time became lander and mo.c .extended; by degrees. More attention was- . devoted- to the dispensation. -of liquids than the '-'preparation of solids, and- tho , consequence was tli a"; he who desired to* refresh the inner man would fare badly if he 'were- a follower of .Sir William Fox. To-day, hWeveV/aiatters'.; aro reversed ; the grog shanty "has disappeared, anei not a vestige remains to murk the humble dwelliffg ; v while the bar is subsidiary to the bed-room, and drink is only an accessory to the dining-room. The change, ing one m more ways than one, giving as jt does a niost indisputable evidence that the progression of the town has not been only great, but that tlie "road along which the march of progress proceeds leads to a goal well worthy of being reached. In the tinies-gone'.by, it was no uncommon thing to take from £500 to £800— and even more— over a "rough counter m one week, and although those times are. past and gone m more sense's than one, the. fact is scarcely a matter for regret. Tho receipts of 1880 may not equal those of five years since, but. the takings of to-day are of far more benefit ' to . the community, who get a share of what before was pocketed by by the brewer, the money- is circulated •through "the town, and employment is given to stablemen, cooks, waiters, and domestic servants, and. with the increased accommodation follows increased employment of labor. With these few remarks wo will now proceed', to give a brief account of the internalarrangements ot what wo "consider to be one of the finest hotels between Wellington and Wanganui. About five years ago an addition was put to the iron building, to meet the pressing calls for accommodation ; but .-to that older structure we will refer farther on, and, for the present confine ourselves to a description of the recent improvements. The new addition consists uf a .hand-, some two stoivyed structure, with balcony and verandah running two sides of the building, and having a frontage of 50 to the Square**, and 40 to the Rangitikei Line. This, with the portion of tha old hotel, still left iutact, gives a total frontage of 117 the Square. There are two entrances to the bar,— one at the corner of the two streets, aud a more private one for tbose who do not care to stand m front of the bar, while the grand entrance cm the Square, seven foet wide, wiih glass folding door*, leads to the staircase, the dining-room, and a private room for permanent" boarders. On the corridor entered from the Rangitikei Line, there is a large commercial ram. 40 x 20, capitally furnished, fitted with handsome cushioned seats, and amply provided with all the material for correspondence, beside which there are four other rooms of smaller dimensions, but all tastefully furnished, d-corated with ehoiee pictures, and the floor covered with bright and cheerycolored linoleum. On the first landing , stauds that luxury of luxuries, a bath ro*>m, fitted with all the latest inventions for shower and other bath*, beside it bvi.ig a water closet \wi;h drainage pipes and other, apparatus upon the* most "improved principle. Mounting a short flight of four step's we come upon the '" bouiviom corridor, and im nediately fronting the stair.-? is a private parlour or sitting room, with a door therefrom leading to a spacious bedroom, the for-

mer having a superb walnut and crimson velvet suite, and. the bedroom a "splendid haif-testarV with wash-stand dressing tabje of • highly- polished cedar and marble:: Upon the. corridor there are six new bedrooms, each.aoout 12 x 10, well lighted, with plerity of ventilation, and. all possessing a capital view of the town and surrounding country; By the addition to the'hotel, Mr. Batchelar has secured twenty-three bedrooms, but even those upon many | occasions are fouud totally inadequate ..to. supply the. demand for accommodation which he is frequently, called upon to I provide. The dining-room — a spacious irpai-'tm.'Bnt "l^x^O-is^built m close "contiguity to^theskitchen, and yet the latter I is sumcientiy" removed to prevent the I noise from being heard, "or the~sino"ll of i cooking beiug observable. Immediately under tho bar, m the floor of which there is trap-door, the cellar is situated, a largo room— air it may be properly designated— 28 x 14, with" a height of seven feet. The floor is of the very best concrete, and as l!he' walls are brick and cemo.qt, while the room- is thoroughly impervious to damp, upon tho hottest day m sumcqer its temperature is of a most cooling nature. All round the jvalls: are;shelves and fixtures;;' which for" neatness would not disgrace any bar,, ,upo:o^-which ■•are-rir-pjaced^in, different plialanxesi wihe.'gin/'brandy! whisky, arid the oilier* hundred >and one liquid decoctions known to the Nine|;eentli Century. .-^tlifSfgh.Jhat enterprising Bonifaoe, geujal Andrew Whyte, can claim the "proud privilege of being the -first-tointroduco gas above ground on .the West Coast, .Host BatcUt*lar has not only -followed- the example set him, but introduced, it to the lower regions, " arid , illuminated hi*, cellar with-^lfat lise'f ul - cbmmodifcy- * Tiiere ftreithirty-foiir. gas-lights on the premises, and his experience is that not only is the gasoline safer, a mighty saving m trouble, showsa better, light, but the, balance in 5 the ledger Vis very much m favor of gasoline oyer kerosene. The .contract, price of ,tfie baildr/ ing, ;we believe, was £800, but as is always the case m such large concerns, the extras ran into a-eonsidei/able sum, and consequently a hole will be made iv £110 b before the building is out of the architects Thands./ jMrrßoss, CQf - Wanganui, had; thc^oiider f or f lirn'isiiing the house, and when wo say that that item' alone will amount to very little short of £700, some idea will be gleaned or the uiode m which the order has 'bca;v cavried aut.^. 3"n_a few v jdays, the building will Bein oie^hands^ol thej proprietor, " when we trust jtlia-fc the iiiV creased patronage which tlieat;i-*,»c.tiqns of the liouse will .draw, will reward him i for his largo- outlay aud spiriteel enter* prisaj. In erecting the building Mr. Batchelar brought 1 - his own: practical oxporieiice -irtto Gpcracion> . and ; while electric bells, anei tho very latest inventipiis which could be of (he -dig-lite*; t use has beyn obtained, there hay not been a--."p<" i n'u-y useli-ss. expendihira, the consequence being that although the new addition -will .riot-cost quite £1100, under other. Q.i'cumsfcances i£4oo .more would not have provided such another building. The County of Manawatu '■• has good reason to boast of the quality j of its hotels. Commencing at the southern end, we feel assured that the ■ beclrpoin accommodation at Whyte's could not be surpassed, and very rarely equalled iri 'either Wellington or Wanganui; we have expressetl our opinion before now about Deards' and" Carroll's; tlie Sandon --Hotel we have not seen since the new building, was. erocted, '"but -judging front the magnitude oE tho rramework.ifc bade fair for respectable proportions ; -Brown's, the Denbigh, and Bell ye *s cannot be surpassed, arid Southoomo's.' .Halcombe Hotel is more fitted', for a .city than a small township; Tho only hous« which has been left behind, and .which has not advanced with the times, is. the Palmerston, and' ifc.i-top,;; Is-.. shortly- tobe p ; ut under the* builder's care t ■=.•.. - :