Mexborough, Swinton Times, September 29.
Licensing Day.
More beer for the Denaby men.
Mr Hall applied, on BR for Mr Firth, for an off beer license at Denaby, and said the Denaby Main company have built the house, the rental which is £50 a year, for the convenience of their men, seeing that the nearest public house was a quarter of a mile away.
You surely testimonial which had been signed by the managing director and the secretary of the company and by most people of the district, save to, who were teetotallers; and he told that there were 1700 people in the village.
Mr J.S. Cloricate, clerk to Mr Fisher, of Doncaster, proved that the notices had been posted.
Mr Firth gave evidence, saying that he had managed for nine years. The Albion Street co-operative stores in Leeds, and that the nearest public house to that now proposed was the Reresby Arms.
Mr F Parker Rhodes opposed on behalf of the reverent C.J.Fullerton, Thrybergh Hall, and owner of the estate, and Mr W.E.Clegg as alleged for the teetotallers, and Firth. cross examined, by the first said he had not gather the signatures for the Memorial, and that he had dwelt in the house since August 30, and it was finished then, and by the second denied that he was a servant of the colliery company.
Mr John Warburton, manager for the company, told that Firth was its tenant, and was a respectable man, and recognised the agreement shown. He said that the shop was finished, save for a few fitting, and that it would greatly accommodate the men to be enabled to fetch their beer; and he told that the population of Denaby, was 1696, and that the purpose of opening the house was to prevent the men and women spending their time in the public house at night, and that no member of the company would profit by it.
Cross-examined by Mr Rhodes, he said he had not known that the Reresby Arms was built at the request of Mr Fullerton, for the men of the colliery. The company and built is out for a general shop.
Mr Rhodes speaking for the Reverent C.J.Fullerton, all of the township of Denaby and Thrybergh, and newsagent, Mr Swithinbank, was present to give evidence it needful, said that his client had great objection to the opening of any house for the sale of drink, but had relaxed its rule when asked by the Denaby Main company in respect of the Reresby arms.
“And now,” Mr Rhodes said, “you are asked to even increase the drinking facility of the neighbourhood without need.”
He said of the population that, with parts of Conisborough and Denaby group, he did not amount to more than 1,600, and argued that the one house now provided was sufficient for these, and, clearly Mr Warburton’s opinion that this off-licence will prevent men and especially women congregating in public houses, asked why the magistrates had been allowed to have power in these cases? – And replied that the system had failed in that under it women attempted while in a grocers shop to buy more beer than was needful and to run up long bills in respect of which husbands often found themselves summoned to the County Court.
“It was thought,” he said, “that these off-licences would be a great blessing. But they have proved, instead, a great curse; and thus the Legislature had been compelled hastily to pass an act giving you control all of them.”
As to the Memorial in favour of the application, he said he didn’t attach much importance to it, or that it’s had seemed to him really to emanate from the company.
Mr Clegg said that he really appeared for the leading inhabitants of Conisborough, including the liquor, the doctor, the lady of the mother (Mrs Simpson), the Wesleyan Minister, and the various manufacturers and shopkeepers, who had got up a memorial against the application. He averred that Mr Firth was a servant of the Denaby Main company, and followed Mr Rhodes in the argument that giving increased facilities for obtaining drink was to enlarge the effect.
He gave the pith of the Memorial thus – that there was already a sufficient number of public houses for the needs of the neighbourhood, seeing that there were in the district 9 fully licensed houses and two grocers shop whereat drink could be obtained.
Mr Hall replied to this that the houses named were a mile away from Denaby.
Mr Warburton recalled told that all the houses of the Conisborough side of Denaby had been built since the Reresby Arms was opened, and their number was 101, with an average of five people in each.
The magistrates retired for 10 min, and then the Chairman said:
“We think that in considering this application we must look exclusively to the requirements of Denaby, and must eliminate from our consideration any facilities there may be in Conisborough for obtaining liquor; and, seeing that in Denaby there is only one licensed house at present, we shall use our discretion by granting this second license.”