Dec.  I,  1896.] 
THE  TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. 
431 
NOTES  EKOM  THE  METKOPOLIS. 
London,  Nov.  G. 
An  ex-Ceylon  Colonist  wrote  to  me  some  weeks 
tliat  1 mast  not  leave  Lomlon  without  pay- 
ing a visit  to  the  new  oMiees  in  City  Koad  of 
the  faifamed 
MU.  LIUTON. 
Such  was  my  full  attention,  apart  from  tliis  re- 
minder ; for,  whatever  feeling  may  have  been 
aroused  in  the  minds  of  (.'eylon  plantcr.s  and 
other  residents  - ourselves  among  the  numher— 
in  tlie  early  days  of  Mr.  Inpton’s  connection 
witii  Ceylon  tea,  through  his  adverti.se- 
ments  —tea  direct  from  his  estates,  his  use  of 
“Ceylon”  alihougli  his  sales  were  chiefly  if  not 
entirely  “ blends  ” rather  than  the  pure  .article 
and  his  ))icture  placards  of  the  island  and 
Lipton’s  estates  as  if  he  said  “ I own  or  personify 
Ceylon  tea”— yet,  allowance  being  made  for  the 
ingenuity,  imagination  and  entcrjirise  of  adver- 
tising lieutenants — there  can  be  no  shadow  of 
doubt  now  about  the  enormous  beneiit  conferred 
by  this  big  caiiitalist  and  far-reaching  distriiiutor 
on  our  staple  and  local  planting  industry.  In 
the  first  jilace,  there  is  the  capital  he  introduced 
(at  a time  wlien  faith  in  Ceylon  tea  was  not 
too  strong  in  the  City  of  London  and  Companies 
were  tew  and  far  between)  to  ])urchase  the 
Dambatenne  and  Pooprassie  grou[).s  of  [dantations, 
and  tlie  first-class  way  in  which  he  lias  since 
developed  these  properties,  and  fitted  up  model 
factories.  No  one  can  say  that  “Lipton”  is 
liehind  any  Ceylon  estate  iiroprietor  in  tins  re- 
spect. Tlien  it  is  undouiited  that  few,  if  any, 
buyers  of  tea  in  “tlie  Lane”  (not  to  spe.ak  of 
Colombo  or  Calcutta)  handle  so  much  of  Ceylon 
as  well  .as  Indi.an  tea  in  the  pre.sent  day  as  does 
rilr.  Li[)ton.  The  trade  in  Ceylon  tea  for  his 
Jjondon  open  and  bonded  stores  has  grown  to  an 
enormous  extent  ; we  are  now  speaking  of  what 
w&hava  seen  during  our  vksit.  But  even  liefore 
then,  we  ivere  aware  that  the  great  food  dis- 
tributor could  not  be  honestly  regarded  as  other- 
wise than  a benefactor  to  the  colony.  Two 
stories  we  have  been  fond  of  repeating  in  and  out 
of  Ceylon  of  late  years,  as  compens.ation  for  some 
sharp  criticism  in  earlier  times  of  “ Lipton” 's 
system  of  working: — (1)  An  oM  planting  friend, 
still  in  the  island,  brought  out  from  Nottingha.m 
samples  of  “ Lipton's  teas”  and  coming  to 
the  Obserccr  Office,  arranged  to  Ineakfast  with 
the  editor  at  Mount  Laviiii.a,  in  oriler  to  give 
a fair  trial  to  the  teas  and  to  state  the  result 
condemnation,  as  I fancy  both  mentally 
anticipated  ! The  samples  wore  of  the  Is.  4il.  and 
]s.  7d.  teas — the  latter  about  the  best  sold  of 
Lipton’s  blends  and  our  cups  from  it  were 
suflicient  to  convince  both  the  critical  planters 
and  myself  that  there  Mas  no  room  for  c.ondcm 
nation— the  tea  Moas  simply  about  the  most 
palatable  and  refreshing  ^ve  had  ever  drunk.  1 
then  learned  and  admired  Mr.  Lijdoii’s  enter- 
prise in  getting  Mater  from  all  the  large  iJritish 
cities  and  inepariug  his  blends  (.as  experts  only 
can)  to  suit  the  tlilierent  M’ater.s.  [ N.  B. — There 
must  be  something  in  common  between  the 
M’.ater  of  Mount  Lavinia  and  that  of  Nottingham  1] 
Such  enterprise  ileserves,  as  Nvell  as  commaiuls, 
suece.ss.  Story  No.  2. — Another  old  (Jeylon 
idantcr  and  friend,  set  u|i  in  busine.<s  as  Agent 
for  a Ceylon- London  tea  tUstributing  house 
in  Dublin  : fdpton  had  not  been  long  at  Mork 
befci'e  he  hatl  to  stop,  because,  to  use  his  om'u 
worils  : — “ Li[)ton  had  startetl  next  door  and  sold 
a better  tea  for  a less  price  than  he  had  to  oiler,” 
“ Such  testimonies  were  from  men  Mdio  desired 
to  be  critics  rather  than  admirers  of  the  great 
dealer.  Here  again  of  his  enterprise  in  Ceylon 
as  capitalist,  mc  have  been  hearing  lately  that 
during  the  nresent  year  he  muU  have  added  live 
or  si.x  additional  plantations  to  his  purchases  of 
Iironerties  in  Ceylon. 
With  some  such  mingling  of  thoughts  in  our 
mind,  M’e  made  our  May  the  ocher  evening  to 
City  Koad  expecting  to  sjiend  half-an-hour  or  an 
hour  in  running  over  the  ncM'  oflices.  But  M’e 
little  anticipated  their  extent  or  M’hat  M’e  had  to 
see  ; for,  although  every  facility  was  shoM’n  to  us, 
first,  by  Mr.  Lipton  himseif,  his  Secretary,  and 
the  scpaiate  managers  of  haif-a-dozeii  Depait- 
menis,  and  althougii  M-e  literally  M'afked  through 
M’ith  very  little  standing  about— indeed  merely 
glanced  in  at  the  doors  of  certain  working 
rooms  or  scores,  it  took  us  from  3 '30  to  well- 
nigh  G'30  p.m.  (the  establishment  cleared  at  7)  to 
complete  our  round,  M’ith  only  one  break  for  a 
cup  of  tea  and  reireshnient  M’lth  Mr.  Lipton  and 
his  tea  m.anager.  First  of  all,  the  conspicuously 
handsome  block  of  buildings,  with  its  huge  flag, 
amt  huge  stone-cut  letters  “ Lipton  ” beneath 
the  central  front  turret  as  well  as  on  the  doorway, 
arrested  attention.  The  site,  though  a little  out  of 
tlie  best  of  the  ordinary  city-goer  (at  least  among 
the  colonists  at  home)  is  for  the  business  no  doubt  a 
highly  convenient  one.  It  is  most  advantageous 
in  occupying  the  corner  between  tu’o  roads,  so 
that  the  extensive  accounting  offices  below,  and 
the  many  Departments  above  in  the  main  block  are 
most  admirably  lighted  from  tM’o  sides.  No 
doubt  engravings  of  these  oflices  are  familar  to 
many  Ceylon  re.aders;  for,  alreay  such  have  ajipeared 
i:\Blaek  and  White,  M’here  the  oflices  M’ere  described 
as  “ an  important  addition  to  the  architecture  of  the 
district — designed  by  the  late  Mr.  Mark  \\ . King  of 
Fenchurch  Avenue,  the  buildings  have  been  con- 
structeil  of  white  stone  and  red  brick  and  they 
pre.senic  an  imposing  aspect.  The  Illustrated 
London  Ncios  pays  a higher  coinjiliment;  lor  it  not 
only  offers  a first-cla-ss  engraving,  but  tiie  follow- 
ing liberal  amount  of  letterpress  : — 
A Great  Industrial  Enterprise. — An  imposing 
addition  to  the  architecture  of  the  great  thorough- 
fare known  as  the  City  Boad  has  been  made  by  the 
completion  of  the  new  Central  Offices  of  Mr.  T.  J. 
Lipton,  “ the  Tea-King,”  as  he  has  been  dubbed  by 
bis  friends.  The  new  buildings,  which  have  been 
erected  by  Messrs.  Grover  and  iSon,  under  the  guid- 
ance of  Messrs.  King,  the  w'ell-known  architectural 
tirni  of  Fenchurch  Avenue,  are  of  red  brick  and 
white  stone,  with  a spacious  doorway  flanked  on 
either  side  by  grey  marble  pillars.  The  staff  of 
more  than  three  hundred  men  and  women  engaged 
as  clerks  is  accommodated  in  a fine  saloon  with  a 
floor  area  of  some  six  thousand  feet  and  a Uand- 
somely  panelled  ceiling.  Smaller  offices  conveniently 
arranged  flank  this  saloon,  the  mest  notable  being 
Mr.  Lipton’s  own  private  room,  which  is  panelled 
with  no  less  than  tou  different  kinds  of  wood  and 
tastefully  fitted  in  every  respect.  The  most  striking 
feature  of  the  first  Moor  is  the  advertising  depart- 
ment, wherein  are  filed  twelve  hundred  newspapers 
containing  advertisements  of  Mr.  Lipton’s  wares. 
Other  oflices  on  this  floor  are  allotted  to  Mr.  Lipton’s 
own  staff  of  architects  and  solicitors,  whose  services 
arc  retained  for  the  building,  leasing  and  other 
operations  cunstaiitiy  required  by  Mr.  Lipton’s  great 
provincial  organisation.  On  the  second  floor  are 
printing  work.s.,  in  w’bich  some  two  hundied  hands 
are  engaged  in  tho  printing  of  posters,  circulars,  and 
other  “ copy,"  and  not  in  one  language  only.  On 
a still  higher  floor  all  the  tin  and  wooden  boxes 
necessary  for  tlio  proprietor's  many  wares  are  manu- 
factured by  a staff  of  skilled  workmen.  Truly  to 
explore  such  a building,  to  see  its  ample  accommo- 
datiou  for  a thousand  employes  of  one  kind  oy 
