the other was a sort of emporium lined on both sides with a continuous
row of stalls on which were displayed the most miscellaneous
assortment of articles it was possible to conceive. In addition to all
this they kept for many years a farm at Entally which they eventually
closed down, and the produce which they then sold is now vended by
Liptons in exactly the same place at the north end of the building.

It took the directors a very long time to discover that a combination
of shop and hotel keeping was not a paying proposition although they
had had plenty of convincing evidence year after year of the fact. I
forget now at what period it suddenly dawned upon their minds the
necessity of making a thoroughly drastic change and altering their
whole policy; nor do I know to whom was due the credit of this _volte
face_, but whoever it was he most certainly earned the lasting
gratitude of the shareholders as well as every one else connected with
the concern, as by his action he converted a chronic non-paying affair
into a thriving and ever-increasingly prosperous one. When they
abolished the shops they devoted their energies to developing the
place into a first-class hotel which it certainly never had been
before, and proceeded to increase materially the residential
accommodation. They erected a third storey, and built an extra
corridor on the first floor and two on the second, installed an
enlarged and improved system of sanitary arrangements, and added a
bathroom to very many of the bedrooms. The walls were embellished with
dados of bright coloured tiles and the floors paved with black and
white marble. The old antiquated doors were removed to give place to
others of the latest design with polished brass handles and fittings.
Several alterations and improvements were also inaugurated in the
public apartments.