THE WORLD'S GREATEST BREWERY

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 59, 3 April 1909, Page 4

THE WORLD'S GREATEST BREWERY

ROMANCE OF TIIE BASS FAMILY. j An absorbing romance of the business world is recalled by the recent death oi | Lord Burton, the head «f the famous linn of liass, of Burton. At the present time the yearly output of this brewer)' is close upon a couple of million barrels, which yield an annual turnover of ovci Ji 5,000,01)0 and all'ord employment to over 3000 men,. A better idea of the huge business iione by Bass and Co. is obtained, perhaps, from tlie fact that 700 trucks are loaded in the works every day with barrels of beer, and the iirm pay close upon ,11:2000 every twentylour hours to th,. Government for beer duties alone.

And yet this great concern was started hi 1717 by a carrier, the great-grand-father of the J-ord Burton who lias just died. What is more curious still is the l'act that the prosperity of the firm was practically brought about by a shipwreck. Jir. William Bass, tile founder, lived in the little village of Burton. One day soin.'oiie starti'd a brewery in the viliagc and made so much monev out of it that the carrier thought he might as well try to do the same tiling. Accordingly. li v . became a brewer, but I'or many years his trade was limited to foreign '|>arts. lie found it cheaper to send his beer to lius„ia and India by water tlian by waggon to Uiadon. I,l\l.ill'dDL ANKJOI) Rlli MULIK. One -1 ii y, however, a vessel which tarried :ll») hogsheads of th ( . famous ale was wrei'k.'d iu the Irish Sea. .Much of the ale was salved, and was afterwards sold in Liverpool. The Liverpool buyern liked it. and asked for move, and irum this small beginning grew up a big trade in tb ( . North of England, which linally extended throughout the entire country and ultimately all over the world. As showing how a vast industry like the famous Burton brewery alTecls other interests, it might be mentioned that th ( . land rci|uiivd for the supply of sullicieat barley for liass and Co. would exceed 80,0011 acver;, while 5000 acres nunc would be required to grow the hops, As a matter of fact, 85,000 tons of raw material are used by Bass and Co. every year, and one of the fenlures of IhcVtorage buildings are huge cold chambers which will hold 20,000 pockets of hops. A l'lllYATli RAILWAY. To facilitate operations iu the gigantic premises at Burton the company luw a network of seventeen miles ot fullgauge railway lines. The works trallie employs 120 railway trucks and eleven locomotives; in addition, there Li a special saloon carriage, which is employed to convey passengers around the premises. A large quantity of Bass is not bottled, but an increasing quantity of bottled Bass is being supplied for household use. livery year Bass and Co. send out over 350,000,000 labels to its bottling customers throughout the world. A SELF-CONTAINED l'Tli.M. In addition to brewing beer, practically every article used by the linn is made on the premises, from rivets to the coppers, which cost .C 250 each, anil from tin cans to the wooden shovels, o! which there are thousands in stock. One of th,, most interesting departments is the steam cooperage department. In this wonderful building solid oak and hoop-iron are fed in and tome out as finished tasks. A large number of casks are required in tin; business; in fact, a slock of 414,000 casks is kept, while thousands ar t . made to carry ou the export trade. BANS Tllli WU'XTII'UL.

Th:' Bass's have always been a family of philanthropists, and, as an illustration ot tlie generosity and kind-hearted-ness of the late Ixird Burton towards his employees, it might be mentioned that j.veiy year they are given a fr.'e trip to tlie'seaside, each person receiving, in addition to full wages, a sum of money and a ticket for free admission to all tlie exhibitions and places of amusement iu the town visited. — lit Bits.