A case that has just been heard at the Montgomeryshire
Quarter Sessions raises the question, inherently interesting in itself and of great importance to the public, of the duty of innkeepers and hotel proprietors. The facts briefly are, that on a cold day last December a Mrs. Owen, of Machynlleth, expected to be arriving at Welshpool with her children from London by an evening train, with a motor drive of some fifty miles before her. She took the precaution of ringing up the principal Welshpool hotel, the Royal Oak, to ask whether she would be able to get dinner there, adding that the train might quite possibly be late. She was assured that all would be well, however late the train was. Actually, it was about an hour late, but when Mrs. Owen and her children reached the hotel she was told that dinner was over and she could get nothing. She asked for even a cup of tea after a long, cold journey, but that was refused. She then called a policeman, who tried persuasion, but still in vain. So the family went away hungry, but in due course the licensee of the hotel, a Mr. H. J. Pryce, was charged with unlawfully refusing by his agent, Mrs. Rfith Osborne, to entertain Mrs. Owen (whose husband happens to be chairman of the Montgomeryshire County Council) by refusing to supply her with food without lawful excuse. The case went forward to Quarter Sessions, the defendant pleaded guilty and the justices, under the chairmanship of Mr. Clement Davies, K.C., M.P., who observed that a sentence of imprisonment might have been inflicted, imposed a fine of £75 and costs. The difficulties of hotels in present circumstances are understood, but many hotels are need- lessly and unjustifiably arbitrary, and it is well that the rights of the public should be realised.
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