JBM19020605

1902 June 5thMinutes of a Meeting of Directors held at the Brewery Offices at 3.30 p.m.
on Thursday, 5th June, 1902
Present: Messrs Jas. Dodds (Chairman), J.D. Hutchison, T.B. Glover,
O. Haynemann, C.B. Bernard
The Minutes of Meetings held 5th & 8th May were read and confirmed.
¾Kirin Beer in Railway Dining Cars

Kirin Beer in Railway Dining Cars
The Chairman stated that a letter had been sent to Meidiya on thissubject which elicited the reply that it was a question of a tender in which theowners of the Shimbashi Station Restaurant (whom Meidiya backed) had
failed, and that the Sei-yo-ken, backed by the Yebisu Company, had beensuccessful.

Meidiya suggested that a complaint be sent to the Railway

Bureau, not as from the Company, but as from a private person. This had
been done by the Chairman himself.
¾

The Financial Statement
The Financial Statement prepared for the Meeting was read.

¾

The Reports for May of the Chief Brewer & Engineer
The Reports for May of the Chief Brewer & Engineer were read.

¾Auditors, Hall Accepted, Guiness Resigning and Cox-Edwards to Secceed
AuditorsA letter from Mr. F. J. Hall, acknowledging that of Secretary

informing him of his re-election as an Auditor, was referred to, as also one
from Mr. Cecil Guiness resigning his appointment as he is leaving Japan.
Some discussion took place as to whom should be appointed to fill thevacancy and it was decided to leave the matter over until the Managing

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Director’s return to Yokohama. It was suggested, however, that a Mr. CoxEdwards, who is to be Mr. Guinness’s successor in his position at theHongkong & Shanghai Bank, would be the most suitable person.
Some notes by the Secretary on the Chief Brewer’s Report, &c, were readby the Chairman and commented on, as follows:¾

Managing Director’s China Visit: Agents (sorabjee J. Guzdar) in Hankow
and the American Trading Co in Tientsin appointed
Managing Director’s China Visit

Since the last Meeting letters &telegrams have been received from Mr. James saying that he has appointed anAgent (Sorabjee J. Guzdar) in Hankow, and The American Trading Company
as Agents in Tientsin.
¾

Age of Beer Being Delivered.
Age of Beer being delivered

The Chief Brewer explains that the reason

the Beer being delivered is only 2 1/2 months old is, that during January toMarch two cellars at a time had to be empty on account of the pitching andgauging of Casks, which prevented the full number of brews being made inthese months.
The beer that was brewed at that time has been used in current deliveries &/or for the 5,000 Cases stored in godown.
Owing to the youngness of the Beer the Chief Brewer is now supplying
Meidiya’s orders for Cases direct from the Brewery instead of from theGodown because, he says, it is better that this younger beer should go into
consumption at once.
The secretary was directed to draw the attention of the Managing
Director on his return to this sending out young beer and leaving the older

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beer in godown.
¾

Corks
Corks The Chief brewer in his report complained of the quality of two

shipments of Corks lately received from F. R. Southern & Co and said that thelast supply from L. Lumley & Co, Ltd, was not up to the usual quality. He
also wrote that the best beer corks should be obtained and that the higher
price paid for such corks would be more than made up by the absence ofcomplaints.
The secretary noted that in December the Managing Director ordered F. R.
Southern & Co to ship monthly 20 Bales, to correspond exactly with a sample
shipment from them that had been found quite satisfactory. On arrival of thefirst shipment it was discovered that 30% were thoroughly bad – bad quality
cork, badly machine cut – and quite unsuitable for use by us, and therefore theSecretary at once telegraphed to them to cease all shipments.

The second

shipment received appears to be as bad as the first. As this source of supply
is stopped and we have not much stock to fall back on, he telegraphed andwrote to Lumley & Co to renew shipments, and he impressed on them thenecessity of the quality being kept up. The last supply from this firm (whicharrived after the above-mentioned telegram & letter had been sent) is, as Mr.
Kayser states, not up to the usual standard, and a letter has been sent to themcomplaining of this and again pointing out how requisite it is that quality
should be kept up to the mark.
Some discussion taking place as to the wisdom of changing our suppliers
for the sake of cheapness, the Secretary stated that the order to F. R. Southern& Co had been given on a trial shipment which had proved perfectly3

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satisfactory.

It was also mentioned that the Corks from Lumley & Co havenot always given satisfaction.
¾

Supply of Used Empty Bottles
Supply of used Empty Bottles

The Chief Brewer in his Report expressed

dissatisfaction with the empty bottles returned by Meidiya – many of thebottles sent by them are oily &/ or damaged.
Such bottles are sent back to Meidiya, but owing to the opacity of some bottles
the work-people can not see the uncleanness in them and if any one suchbottle be put in a soaking-tank the whole contents of that tank will be infectedwith oil & bacteria.
The Secretary in his note explained the contract we now have with
Meidiya in regard to empty bottles.

He had written & spoken to them about

the matter and they promised to do their best to prevent unsuitable bottles
being sent in.

He considered the present arrangement gives better results

than when we were buying from several collectors.
In the discussion about this, some doubt was expressed as to whether ourbottle-examination staff is sufficient or suitable.
¾

Meidiya’ s Complaint of Beer Bottled in April
Meidiya’ s complaint of Beer bottled in April A letter of the 29th ulto fromMr. Yonei, complaining of the Beer bottled the beginning & middle of April,
and asking the Board to consider the matter, had already been circulated
amongst the Directors.
The Secretary wrote that, as stated in the letter, Meidiya did complain ofthe Beer that was being supplied to the Shimbashi Station Restaurant andthat the Chief Brewer said it was ‘residue beer’ (beer collected from the bottom

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of storage-casks, from broken bottles, etc., and re-treated.)
In connection with Mr. Yonei’ s letter, Meidiya had sent back two Cases,
samples from which were now opened and tasted, and it was not consideredthat Meidiya’s complaint was borne out.

A sample bottle that had been

received from Toyohashi (with the statement that 27 similar bottles in a case
had been found) was now opened and was pronounced to be quite had.
At this point the Chief Brewer attended the Meeting and admitted that
the Toyohashi sample was certainly not right.
‘residue beer’.

He thought it might be

It was pointed out to him that ‘residue beer’, if used at all,should be sent only where it would be at once consumed. He was requested
to draw up a report on the whole question of ‘residue beer’.

He would also be

asked to give an explanation in writing of Meidiya’s complaints.

He was told

to be very particular as to what corks were used rejecting all bad ones, and totake especial care that no bad bottles were accepted from Meidiya.
¾The Chief Brewer’s Application for an Increase of Salary
The Chief Brewer having retired, his application for an increase of salary

was considered.
¾

Engagement of an Assistant Brewer

Engagement of an Assistant Brewer
A telegram having been received from Mr. C. Rohde (in reply to theManaging Director’s letter asking him to engage a 1st Assistant Brewer)
saying that he could engage a desirable person, it was decided to send atelegram to him as follows:‘Will reply within a fortnight’.

The Chief Brewer being again called, he was told that his application for
an increase of salary had come at a somewhat inopportune time – when all5

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these complaints as to bad beer were coming in – and that the Directors would
prefer to await the return of the Managing Director before making a reply.
Mr. Kayser made some general remarks suggesting that Meidiya complaints
were caused by some personal feeling against him. He said that the Beer isgood as it goes out of the Brewery but that it may be subjected to unsuitable
treatment afterwards.
The Chairman said that the Directors would make full inquiry into the matterbut would require time to do so. Mr.Kayser then retired.
The secretary was directed to reply to Mr. Yonei’s letter re bad beer and tosay that the Directors did not find his charges altogether substantiated, butwere, however, giving the matter their most earnest attention.
¾Analyses of Faulty Beer
Analyses of faulty Beer An extract from another private report from Mr.

Rohde was read by the Chairman in which various remarks and suggestions
by an authority were given.

Special stress was laid on the fact that as littleRice as possible should be used, and 24% was considered abnormal.
The secretary said that the Chief Brewer had, from the 1st May, still
further increased the proportion of Rice used.

He (the Secretary) wasdirected to write a letter to Mr. Kayser asking him to give a report on the Ricequestion, stating what percentage is being used now and what percentage wasbeing used this time last year.
The Meeting then closed at 6.10 p.m.
James Dodds
Chairman6