The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-08-13
Upton AND WALKER
Men Who Made For
tunes by Triple
Profits.
THEY ALSO WON HIGH TITLES.
Both Sold Beverages Which
Floated Them Into
Wealth and Power.
THEY ALSO WON HIGH TITLES.

Sir Thomas Upton, whose yacht the
Shamrock, is now crossing the Atlantic
to the United States, is one of those for
tunate beings on whom fortune has be-
nignantly and steadily smiled during
the past score of years. Whether it be
due to his particular star or not, yae
golden fact is that for twenty years,
wealth has poured into his Golfers in
avalanche-like volume until Re has
come to be regarded as a second Monte
Cristo. He made his vast fortune in
trade" and in the rather unusual way
OF being producer, wholesaler and re-
tailer all in one, thus gaining triple
profit on his business.
After long experience as an indi-
Vldual provision dealer, first in Ireland
and afterwards in Scotland and Eng
land, Upton late in the 70's conceived
the idea of growing tea in Ceylon on
his own account consigning it to his
wholesale house in London and from
there distributing it among his own ra-
| tail stores in every city end town of
Great Britain. Each of those retail
stores was located on the best part of
| the leading thoroughfare of each city,
1t was in charge of a salaried manag
VINO gave bond as security and who
every week, after deducting salaries
| and other running expenses, turned the
proceeds Of the weeks trade (Which
was all for cash) over to district man
a,ger or collector who in turn accounted
to the head office in London.
Upton was thus the gamer of the
growers profit from the wholesale
house and of some hundred different
retailers profit by his retail stores
| throughout the country. Selling strictly
for cash, it can readily be seen how
easy it was for the Upton fortune to
grow. OF course, he incurred the dis
like and hostility of the other whole
salers and retailers in his particular
branch Of trade. But he cared nothing
| for that. In every large city he had sew
eral retail stores, shreWdly located in
the best business centers and through
them he sold his goods to the public,
instead of having travelling statesmen
| to solicit trade from the local dealers.
AS in his tea business, so with his
| trade in hams and bacon. He estab-
| lished his own curing plant in Chicago
and made weekly shipments to Liver
| pool and from his wholesale warehouse
| there supplied his network of retail
| stores. Twenty years of triple dealing
| of the Upton magnitude and system
and it is no wonder he could afford to
make great gifts in honor of Queen
| Victoria's diamond jubilee (Which gifts
gained him his knighthcod), or build
| Shamrocks to race for the Americas
cup.
But perhaps the Columbia may yet
| chsck the meteoric progress of this
wealthy purveyor, in his struggle for a
| higher title and for greater political
and social honors than he has yet at
| tanned. Guinness Of Dublin stout fame
and Bass the ale brewer, were both
made peers of the re aim, one as Lord
Arlilaun and the other as Lord Bass,
| in reward for fat contributions to the
| Carlton club, the national committee Of
the tory party; and why should it not
be Lord Upton if the Shamrock wins
the cup?
Lipton's triple profit plan of business
was not original with him. He was
preceded by Andrew Barclay Walker,
brewer of ale Walker had his brew
cry in the city OF Warrington, about
20 miles from Liverpool. Instead of
drumming up trade through wholesale
and retail dealers, he was his own
wholesaler and retailer as well as brew
err He established in Liverpool a sys-
tenn of public houses (saloons) for each
of which he procured a license and
placed in charge a salaried manager
(under bonds, of course), in whose name
the license was issued, although the
business was entirely Walkers, just as
much as if he himself stood
behind the bar all day, sold
the ale and placed the money
in the till. In the course of time, this
system had grown so large that in 1880
ly some 400 ale shops in the city OF
Liverpool alone. One could hardly
turn a street corner without seeing the
familiar sign of an ale barrel suspend
ed in front of one of Walkers saloons,
bearing the alliteratfve inscription,
Walkers Warrington ale.
Every Monday morning collectors
from Walkers head office drove through
the city, took up the weeks proceeds
from each manager, paid the wages
of the help and took charge Of the rest.
Needless to say, Mr.. Walker grew to be
a very rich man.
An American brewer could not work
this system so easily as it was oper-
ated by Walker of Liverpool. In Eng
land there is no local option, neither is
there any limitation of licensed places
in ratio to population, and most impor-
tant of ALL there is no municipal license
fee. The licenses are granted by the
recorder at an annual licensing ses-
sion. Any person, male or female,
whose character is vouched for by the
police, can have a license in any To-
ternal revenue fee of three pounds
($15) year Licensed places can keep
open from a. m. till II p. m. on week
days, and on Sundays from IL to and
from to 7. Non-observance of these
hours or keeping an unorderly place is
punished with fine of half a guinea
for the first offense, a fine of f2 for
the second, a fine of G5 for the third,
coupled with an Endorsement on the IL |
cense of the third conviction by the
city magistrate. This Endorsement us |
ually prevents the holder from getting
a renewal of his license when the re-
corder holds his annual licensing court, |
but another applicant may be licensed |
for the same place if he be properly |
recommended.
Mr. Walker of Liverpool put his |
wealth, or a large portion of it, to very |
commendable use. In 1880 he bought |
several blocks of real estate in the |
heart of the city, removed the build |
ings and erected on the site one of the |
finest art museums to be found in the |
united kingdom outside London. He |
not only put up the building, but he |
sent commissioners all through the
continent looking for suitable works of |
art to fill the various galleries. Then, |
to cap the climax, the city council of |
Liverpool Ito whom Walker donated |
the museum without reserve or condi- |
tom succeeded in getting no less a
parsonage than Queen Victoria to ded- |
icate the institution. For years, indeed |
since the death of Prince Albert, her
husband, the queen had abstalned from
all ceremonies Of this nature, and THE |
Prince of Wales had to do all the cor
nerstone laying and public building
dedicating, that came the way of the |
sovereign. Consequently the exception |
Ia I.rrf laA Al,