Goodbye, Pool Room; Hello, Garage

John Chester's pool-room venture did not last long after that very public squabble with his landlady. In mid-December came the announcement that John had purchased the Main Street garage business of Dale Taylor. Immediately afterward, he closed the pool room "to devote his entire attention to the garage business." He continued to run a livery or taxi service out of this garage (we find a taxi driver employed by John getting into a wreck in March 1916).

Charles Bradley, a machinist who operated a shop in the rear of the garage, said he intended to continue doing auto repairs there, as he had for the last six months. But in early January 1916 he moved out. That doesn't necessarily mean he couldn't stand John; it may have been simply a case of rising ambition, as he immediately opened his own shop on north Center Street, offering auto repairs and selling gasoline and tires.

Emma Chester fell ill at the time of John's purchase of the garage, but I suppose that was just coincidence.

We'll see how long this venture lasts.


Sources:
♦ "Chas. F. Bradley Opens Garage and Auto Repair Shop." Hobart News 6 Jan. 1916.
♦ "Local Drifts." Hobart Gazette 24 Dec. 1915; 7 Jan. 1916.
♦ "Personal and Local Mention." Hobart News 23 Dec. 1915; 23 Mar. 1916.
♦ "Sells Garage." Hobart Gazette 17 Dec. 1915.