1934 Harry Johnson's new and improved Bartenders' Manual
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tenders, porters, cashier, etc., meals for help, free lunch, gas, ice, laundry, breakage, taxes, coal, number of drinks help are allowed to have, license, insurance, water tax and all the extras, you will know all the actual expenses without which no place can be run. Of course, every man must know how much help he requires, bartenders, porters, etc. (and if restauranr is attached, waiters, cooks and stewards), and having formulated a perfectly clear statement of your daily expenses, then compare them with the statement of the cash receipts, and you can the more readily know whether the place is worth the money asked or whether it is best to drop out of the proposed trans action. Furthermore, it is advisable to find out whether there are any judgments against the proprie tor, or any possible legal proceedings against him^ whether or not the place has a bad name, if there is anything detrimental in the neighborhood and. if, after consideration of these different points, you have resolved to purchase, it is then wise to ascertain the quantity and quality of goods. If the proposed buyer is not capable of judging correctly, he should take counsel from some one experienced in the business and who understands the measurement of liquors in bulk. It is to be ascertained whethqr they have been paid for, whether they are sold or consumed by cus tomers on the premises, or whether, as has been the case, a large per -cent, of them is sent to other parties by whom they may be used; and the same with wines, cigars, etc. Then a complete inventory should be made of furniture, crockery, silverware, pictures, curtains, etc. Furthermore, it is advisable that the prospective buyer should inquire for all the bills of all the goods sold on the place, for if the seller claims, for instance, to do a business of $50,000 a year, he must be able to produce about or near fifty per cent, of that amount in bills, and by so doing you may be
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