The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-04-02

Malt Liquor, the Big Dealers Pay
Licenses and Supply Fixtures
Popular Bartenders and Expo
licemen With Large Acquaint-
ances Thus Set Up In BUSINESS.
| Ii man has friends he does not need
| money to engage in the saloon business
| especially If he is possessed of the deb
| OMAR qualities necessary to the makeup
| OF a popular bartender. To such a man
the breweries. impelled by the desire to
push their particular brands of cellared
! deiectab1llty are willing to extend a help
ing hand and furnish him a license, and
sometimes his rent and fixtures And all
| the guarantee required is that the bene-
ficiary of the benevolent brewery should
| be ION the square" and sell only the beer
| manufactured by his patron.
I This phase Of the liquor business has
been brought about by the sharp competi-
ton between the breweries and the GUS
tom has developed until over one-half
! of the saloon licenses in st. Paul are Maid
| by single local brewery and other con-
Germs pay another quarter Of the licenses.
Out Of 2S6 saloon keepers less than six
ty-five can boast that they are under no
| Obligations to any one, and some Of these
more fortunate dispensaries are in receipt
OF large bonuses to handle certain beers
exclusively. 4,;s
The man who has become a popular bar
tender at some saloon and has secured an
acquaintanceF@t1at he thinks will be a.
backing to him in the saloon business
goes to the brewery agent and suggests
that he engaeeair business fdr himself.
He knows where there is a good location
vacant, and he has a few hundred dollars
or perhaps none at ALL
LAUNCHED IN TRADE.
Il can sell the - beer" he says, and
the agent. who looks the situation over
with critical eye if he thinks that the
circumstances will warrant, possibly fur
nlshes the fixtures OF the place from the
stock that every brewery has on hand
that has been taken In on mortgage fore
closures and then goes to the city treas
urer and gives a check for the licensed
Then the front of the new saloon is paint
ed In vivid colors with the coat of arms
and other insignia of the - beer and
the ex-bartender is launched as a full
Hedged saloon keeper. His only handicap
is that he can sell only - beer.
Every Monday morning the brewery
agent calls and collects for the beer sold
during the week, and for the pro rata
share due on the license at s.. 900 a wear.
otherwise the profits belong to the new
proprietor. Sometimes, when the invest
ment proves a very profitable one the
collection is made only once month but
not infrequently the newly-hedged BUSH
ness man is carried away by the ease of
his new position and its novelty He neg
lects his business his accounts run be.
hind and he wakes some morning 20
find that the brewery which had acted as
the good Samaritan towards him has in
stalled some other man in his place Then
he goes out in the world again to mix
drinks for some other man and work up
new acquaintance that will Justify an
other venture when he thinks that his ex-
perience will enable him to keep off the
rocks on which he foundered before
OTHER SCHEMES WORKED.
Or perhaps the man who wants to go
into business has been employed in some
large wholesale house manufactory
where he has worked up an acquaintance
among his fellow employees In this case
also the agent sees a possible field to ex-
pand the sale of -- beer, and is willing
to take a chance. Policemen and others
who are brought in contact with many
people are the frequent beneficiaries of
this system
But life is not at all bed Of roses for
the brewerieS. For the brewery that pays
a half of the saloon licenses in ST. Paul
the income on over $4,000 must be gotten
back in the increased sale of beer. Then
there are unfortunate ventures, the char
acter Of the neighborhood where the sa-
loon is changes or another brewery will
fit up a larger and finer saloon in the
of Of re md
the net result is a lot of old fixtures
stored away for future use
The brewery agents are always on the
jump to meet competition, and in pushing
their beers spend large sums of money
in making good fellows of themselves and
incidentally popularizing their beers.
Even the collectors are allowed certain
percentage to spend, and the loafers in a
saloon, when the collector calls. are al
most certain to be invited to drink with
the large man, who is happy and free
with his money. This, in the eyes of the
brewery, tends to create a popularity for
their brands that finds its vent in in
creased demand.
HARD TO INTRODUCE BEER.
But it is harder for a rich man to get
into the kingdom of heaven than to in
| troduce new brand of beer. The old
| breweries have covered the field with a
| thoroughness that speaks volumes for the
alertness Of their agents, and they With
| hundreds of thousands at their disposal
are willing to go to almost any length to
put their beer in ahead of some other
brand. One saloonkeeper on Seventh
street is paid $1,000 for a FIVE years contract
to sell only the beer that made certain
city famous. Others receive bonuses in
proportion, and the expense coming from
SO many directions cuts a big hole in the
few dollars that the brewery draws when
the leather-aproned man rolls his kegs
into the saloon.
| A short time ago agent who had sue
cessfully introduced certain beer and
had popularfzed himself with his trade by
years of acquaintance, entered the en-
ploy of rival brewery. Naturally, he
wanted to carry come of his customers
with him, but when he made an attempt
to substitute the new beer he was en-
countered by his former employers, who
insisted on the enforcement of their con-
tracts for exclusive sale that he himself
had engineered into existence.
Then the brewery Is supposed to be tho.
mark Of every ADVERTISING scheme. fake