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Rests. JULES KARPELES & Co.. Herchants. Cnlcuttn and London. This ﬁrm was founded in $317 by llr. Jules Karpeles. the

-known Indigo expert. who was formerly a partner in Karpcles. Hedgers & Co., Merchants of Calcutta. llr. Karpelesis of French extraction and received his early training in Paris. He commenced his business career in Hamburg and subsequently proceeded to London. acq ' ' a thorough knowledge of

the Indigo trade. in which be isnow considered a high authority. The original ﬁrm of Karpeles. Heilgers 8t Co. were very considerable buyers of Indigo and the present ﬁrm is one of the largest lndi o buyers at

liarpeles has

present in India. )Ir.

Mr. Jt'urs KAIPILI'J.

not conﬁned his interest in the Indi 0 business to buying and sell- ing. t he; been ruponsible [or the im rovernent of Indigo growing in In ‘I. always actively engaged in furthering the interests of the local industry both in the field and
 * 2! the marlret. It was Mr. Karo

es among local experts who first recognized the danger from the pro- duction of synthetic Indigo in Ger- many. and among other means of meeting the danger promulgated the idea 0‘ introducing Java‘ and fatal seed to the inferior mdrgenogcvarileties, as a means of sarong ndigo' industr of Belur from extinction by the yGer-

THE CYCLOPEDIA OF INDIA.

man product. He has been active in writing up this subject and in personally interviewing the planters to explain the project. Besides his high reputation as an expert in Indigo. Mr. Knrpeles has acquired a considerable name in connection with ﬁbres. He is the promoter of the Bengal Rhea Syndicate form- ed vn'th the object of introducing Rhea. a ﬁbre-producing lnnt of great value, as an an or alternative crop into the Indigo concerns of Behar. and about 300 acres at Rhea have already been planted and several Rhea factories are being built by the Rhea Syndicate.

Messrs. G. F. RELLNER & (30.. Wine Merchants. Agents and Pro- yrietors of Railway Refreshment

ooms. mu original] founded 5: years ago by the late George Fer. dinand Kellner, who alter carrying it on successtully lor many years retired in r878. and w» succeeded in the firm by ILA. J. Bridge and Mr. George Kellner. In 1894 Mr. W. II. \annuley joined the business, and was admitteda partner in r898. Shortly afterwards Mr. Bridge retired. and Mr. George Kellncr also retired lrom active participation in the firm's business owing to ill- health; Mr. W. H. “'almsley then became senior partner. and the

rmnt prairietarv consists ol

essrs. W.. Walmslev. George Kellner and E. C. Russell.

The first Relrahrnent Room was opened by the firm in 1853 at Burdwan. and (rum that time they haw.- gradually advanced nnd in~ cream-d M the Railway» hiivr upen- ed up the country. and Messrs. Kellner & Co.’s rooms now extend is tar as Simln. The Relresh- merit Rooms ot the firm extend from Howrah to Simln in the North. Howrah to Vlubbulpore and Nag- pore in the West. and Howrah to Virinnagmm in the East. These rooms cover a mileage oi over 4.000 miles of Rnilways. and embrace the Eat lndinn Railway, the Bengal-N ur Railway, the Delbi-L'mballao allot and Simla Railways. and from this some idea may be obtained 0! the responsibility and anxiety to meet satisfactorily the demands of the public with Indian servants to (kal with.

An idea of the ma 'tude of the work undertaken an the stall em- loyed to successfully carry on these llclreshment Rooms, over 50 in number. can be gathered lrorn the following fi 5: European Stall, 45; Native. tall, 862; and the con- sumption ot the principal items 01 food [or one month is also interesting reading; over 0.50olbs of beef. 6,000 lbs. of mutton, 27.000 eggs. r5,ooo loavos of bread, 4,400 secrs of milk. 2,500 iowls. 375 lbs. of ten. :50 lbs. of coffee. and 4,000 lbs. of sugar being required.

Besides the Refreshment Roam the ﬁrm were the pioneers of Rail- way (lining cure in India. having run the twu dining can betWeen Howrah and Horn buy. and via ms.) since October r897. and the testi» moninls written in the Manager's books prove how well these are supplied and how much appreciated by the truvellin public.

The ﬁrm have n otten called the "Spiers and Ponds” ol lndiii.hut it is questionable whether this well- lrnown Horne Firm would be ca— pirble of serving up anything like the same class oi lood as G. F. Kellner & Company do with the poor raw materials obtainable at many of the stations. As Refresh- ment Room Caterers thcystnnd out by themselves. and their room an: those to which all others ni'c compared. No com ilaint is too small to be enquir into. and it at. times there nre complaints, us there must be iti all big concerns. it is always due to laxity on the part of the local start! and disre- gard ol Head Oliicc instructions.

The management 0‘ this branch of the. ﬁrm's business is under the immediate control at Mr. W. ]. Carter. who has had ncticnl ex- perience oi the wor 'ng of the rooms. having passed through all grades till he obtained his present position.

.\'ot only as Caterers to the travel- lin public have Messrs. G. F. Kc lnor 8: Company a reputation second to none in the East, but equally so are they known as the Firm "par excellence." to whom was entrusted excluswely the enter- ing lor H. R. H. the Prince cl Wales (now His Majestythe Kin Jim- pcror) on the occasion of the oyal visit to India in 1875: and on sac. cm] occasions this ﬁrm has catered