Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1896-05-16

serious one to me. ! knew II I made II
that should not deal In intoxicating liquors,
as was the common practice, was told, In
other hotels. I hadn't very much money at
run hotel without obtaining the
The question of ' whether
should or should not sell liquor was not
seriously considered; the only question was
whether l could make the property pay and
, not sell III although ! may have done other
had conscientious scruples against dealing In
liquor at that time and have continued to
have them until the present moment. How
ever. after consulting with MIR. Bowman, .
friend of mine who was an
expe msns hotel man concluded con ,es
chase the property, and entered Into partner
ship with. Mr.. Bowman to run the hotel.
Mr.. Bowman was quite In accord with my
views relative to dealing In Intoxicating
liquors. so we commenced operations there
In April, ] think, 1881. I was very much
1s sa Sass being The B Ba and
could pay but little attention to
the business Of hotel. l didn't know much
about the business-in fact, nothing about
the business. So we ran the hotel for
two years. think made an addition that
year upon the hotel-the last year he was
west wing. l left the management Of the
hotel entirely to Mr.. Bowman; be hired and
discharged all of the help; knew very little
about the details. We talked, of course,
relative to the business and some discourage
mcnts that arose on account Of not dealing
in liquor, but the discouragements
relative to the traffic so that
we changed our course at all during the time
that he was there. We had pretty warm
competitio across the street In the Ameri-
can house; Mr.. Drew was a very popular
landlord and conceived the idea near the
close Of the two years that 1t would be a
solidate, as any. one would know that the
expenses, especially in the winter time, of
one hotel would only be about half what 1t
would for two. So l finally made trade
with Mr.. Drew that was to buy out the
O. (By Mr.. wilds.) Was that trade in
writingF A. Yes, 1 think I have 1t up at
@. (By Mr.. wilds.) viii YOU let us see its
| A. / will bring 1t down II you want to see
1t; think | have all the papers and will
| be very glad to furnish It. Mr.. Drew was to
be manager of the Van Ness and his wife the
housekeeper, and was to rent the American
house of him. When we talked about the
portion that l should rent I told him I
should not want the billiard room and the
barroom. He told me that he would trans
| fer the lease to me, and then l could release
the billiard room and barrOom to him.
told him didn't want to do 1t that way
lease except the barrOom and the billiard
room, which was done. When we made
this trade 1 told Mr.. Drew that he
understood, of course, my ideas Of
dealing In liquor we're different from
his, and that he went over there with the
intoxicating liquors. He said that he under
stood it thoroughly, and he took charge of
the house. l had the same confidence In him,
| and always had during the nine years that
he was there, that had in Mr.. Bowman,
which was implicit confidence in his honesty
and ability and that he would do
v wnst to directed tss .r. Especially G IN Dealing
In liquors mentioned. I had nothing to do
with the hiring or discharging the help and
had nothing to do with giving orders to the
help, except perhaps | would talk to Mr..
Clark; but l don't think ever gave an
order-I don't know-if 80, it is rare thing
my talk was always with my managers with
regard to the conduct Of the house; from the
time Mr.. Bowman went in there to the
present time have no knowledge Of dealing
In intoxicating liquors. We never had
a United States license; 1t IL
possible the first year (although have nc
particular remembrance of it the revenue
officer might have asked us II we were moi
going to take out license. i think he did
but Il so, think told him we had no use
for one.
@. One or two questions-it may not bt
I of any particular cOnsequence-but at some
time after Mr.. Drew came In did you learn
anything that you took notice OF with regard
to the door between that part " the Ameri
1 NH nh OF cd nd
billiard room and barroomS A. Yes.
think some two or three months after
Mr.. Drew came over to the Van Nest
house heard that the door between the
billiard room, which connected with the
barroom and with the baggage room
rented, was open. told Mr.. Drew Of The
fact and he said that he thought it was, ant
| told him that wanted It closed, that 4
would occasion talk and would have righ
to occasion talk; as long as l was keeping
house on the principles that wal
munication between his part and my part Of
the house, and IS far as know 1t was closed
during the time that rented the American
One year Of the time that rented the Ameri
can the baggage room was rented and oc
cupied by another party, so 1t would be very
difficult to have communication, as that room
was occupied by another party.
@. believe that billiard room and bar
room were In the extreme easterly end of thu
old American, anyway? A. Yes, and will
say 1 never was In either one Of them while
rented the householder billiard or barroOm
Q. Was that billiard room where thu
store Of G. +. Pease & Co. Is now, extreme
easterly endp A. Yes.
Q. Was your attention at any time
called to the fact that cider had been put or
the table ut dinner? A. Yes; a few year,
after Mr.. Drew came there some one asked
me II knew that Mr.. Drew had brought uI
some cider from his farm and put it on the
said he had and thought you would like Il
know 1t. I went to Mr.. Drew and asked
him II he had. He said, ''Yes, it was sweet
| cider !" I'D him, at was very kind of you
Mr.. Drew, to do 1t, there is no harm, Of
course, when you made no charge for 1t,
know, but don't want to have you do II
any more; I understand 1t Is against the law
He says, "All right, WON'T"
@. You have reason to suppose that that
injunction of yours was obeyedf A. have
no reason to think otherwise.
| @. Was there ever transaction-what
appeared to be transaction--at the desk
some time in '03, I was standing at
the desk In front and Mr.. Clark threw
out Is cents on to the little side door
window the, g and heard something said
about ale. l asked Mr.. Clark what that was
for. He said, "A man Is sending out for a
bottle of Bass ale." said to him: "You
must not do that, Mr.. Clark. don't want
my money used for that purpose" He says
Every WELL"
O. Have you any reason to suppose but
| that your Injunction at that time was
| obeyed? A. have not. He didn't say at
that time either that he had ever done II be-
fore.
@. Who was standing at the window,
II any one, when the money was thrown out
on that little shelf A. My impression Is 1t
was boy.
@. Did you ever see anything that APP
peared to be intox icating liquor In the dining
room, other than at the banquetsy A. Yes,
sir, have.
@. State the facts and circumstances A.
have sometimes taken my dinners In the
summer time at the Van Ness house when
our house has been closed, and during
"a L.