Sunday Times (Perth, WA : 1902 - 1954), Sunday 17 May 1936, page 18


A GOLDFIELDS' BUSINESS ROMANCE

Extension of a Big Brewery

Some Interesting Facts Reviewed j

The announcement recently made that it waa the intention of the Kalgoorlie Brewing and Ice Co., Ltd., to establish a lager brewing plant in connection with the Kalgoorlie Brewery, at a cost of over £100,000, is not only an evidence of the complete faith which the company has in the future of the goldfields, and of confidence in its ability to cater for their taste, but in the business world strikes a note of romance which in itself is inspiring.

The Kalgoorlie Brewing and Ice Co.

Ltd., is the most important business > concern outside of the mining indus-try and <ts immediate colaterals that the goldfields possesses, and Its success has been largely due to the foresight of the late Mr- Jas. Cummins, who

came to the fields in IS94. and entered ¡ into the hotel business at Kunanalling,

afterwards adding to his assets by 1 judicious investment in other bouses of the kind. Later he became associated with the Kalgoorlie Brewery, and when his guiding hand took control extended

its operations and improved its tech- : nique to such an extent that its pro- ' duct became famed not only on the : goldfields, but achieved a reputation ' amongst connoisseurs.

31 r. Cummins, whose untimely death ? occurred in London last March, was 1 always keen to anticipate and satisfy i public taste in which tendency he was 1 eminently successful, and although the

beverage for which his company was < famed had reached a pinnacle of per-fection he had forseen the day when lt would he necessary to instal a plant

which would produce for the goldfields , a light lager beer for those whose taste , was so predisposed- Unfortunately, he did not live to see the consummation of his ideas in this direction.

The business acumen of Mr. Cum-mins has, happily, been translated to his daughter. Miss Alice Cummins,

LLB., a gifted lady who ls herself : proud of the fact that she is a gold-fields product It has fallen to the lot of Miss Cummins, as the administrator of the affairs of the Kalgoorlie Brewing and Ice Co. Ltd. to carry into effect the highly important task of establish-ing the

EXPENSIVE ANO MOST MODERN

LAGER

brewing plant in Western Australia. I The cost, as already stated, will be In

excess of £100,000, and its equipment < will be in the hands of Messrs. Mauri ! Bros. and Thompson, of Sydney, who were entrusted as brewing engineers and contractors to initiate the re-nowned lager brewing plants of the United Breweries, including the Ab-bott's. Carlton. Fosters and Perkins (Brisbane} lager breweries, which are famed as the finest in the southern hemisphere.

Messrs. Mauri Bros. and Thompson have lt as a condition of their contract that except for the essentials of trade marked and patented machinery, etc.. all materials involved In the con-struction of Western Australia's most modern lager brewery, shall be ob[talned at Kalgoorlie, and the local

foundry and all local suppliers will.

?where possible, shortly be afforded an opportunity of contributing to the work of completing the establishment. LOCAL LABOR AND MATERIALS being used to such an extent will mean that the slogan of the Kalgoorlie Brew-ing and Ice Co., of "spend your money where you make it," which has always distinguished it, will not be departed from. Of the £100.000. no less a sum than £20,000 will be spent in the erec-tion of the steel and concrete building which will be one of the most ornate and symmetrical architectural achieve-ments the goldfields have ever at-tempted. In the provision of the highly technical plant and the most scientific apparatus known to the brewing world a sum of £80.000 will be expended, so that botb inside and out the brewery should be a monument to the enterprise of the firm and the man whose fore-sight was so well known on the east-ern fields.

In recollecting that the Kalgoorlie Brewing and Ice Co. Ltd., to-day caters for a region that embraces the whole of the eastern goldfields and several other mining and agricultural centres, it is worth recalling also that at one time

i THERE WERE 19 BREWERIES

on the eastern goldfields, of which the Kalgoorlie is the sole and successful survivor. The first brewer was a Ger-man gentleman named Shenkel. whose

brew laid the foundations upon which rest the superstructure of public taste and approval of the popular victual on the 'fields to-day. Afterwards Mr. Deacon, who still controls the technical department of the establishment, took charge and has capably maintained the standard of perfection for which the brewery is noted. In its 40 years of

history the Kalgoorlie Brewery lias

NEVER LET ITS PUBLIC DOWN

and the magnificent attempt now being made to further meet the demands of its legion of patrons ls a further evi-dence of a profound desire to please the public regardless of expense.

In 1929 a subsidiary company was formed to establish a brewery at Mer-redin to cater for the need of the com-pany's hotel clients within a radius that thus could more conveniently be served. It was found, however, that the demands upon the company wer« such that the lager there produced finding popularity on the eastern gold-fields it would be required to serve th« Kalgoorlie. Boulder. Wiluna, Mt Pal-mer, Merredin, Southern Cross and many other mining and atrrarinn areas, and the brewer (Mr. H. C. Popjoy) had to strain his resources In order to meet these demands.

The following hotels are controlled by the Kalgoorlie Brewing and Ice Co. Ltd.; Tattersalls' Hotel Boulder; Mount Palmer Hotel. Palmer's Find; Palace Hotel. Southern Cross; Moorine Rock Hotel, Moorine Rock; Merredin Hotel, Merredin; and the Tammin Hotel, Tammin. It may be observed that it is somewhat unusual for a brewing company to conduct hotels In conjunction with its brewery, but the policy ls one which has

MUCH TO STRONGLY COMMEND

IT.

Zn the first place it is possible to ex-ercise direct supervision of the man-ner in which the output ot the brew-ery's product is dispensed, and in this

connection it should be mentioned that in all the Kalgoorlie Brewing and Ic« Co.'s hotels there are duplicate filtra-tion equipment which ls serviced at regular and frequent Intervals on re-turn to the brewery for steam compres-sion cleansing. In the second place the public is safeguarded acainst many other possibiiities relevanl to lack of control of a beverage in its transition from the brewery to tho point of consumption, as well as to the general cuisine and housing accom-modation, and the Kalgoorlie Brewing and Ice Co. have an efficient and ex-perienced general supervisor of all its hotels.

Miss Cummins ls to be congratu-lated upon the choice of ber able lieutenant. Mr- Percy Johnson, who has at all times endeavored with a maximum of success to cater for the requirements of the hoteikeepers and the public generally.