Temperance News.

Feilding Star, Volume IV, Issue 1130, 10 March 1910, Page 3

Temperance News.

TEMPERANCE AMONG RAILWAY MEN. In the course of his address, delivered at, the harvest festival held in connection with the North-Eastern Railway Temperance Union at York (England), Mr Alderman Meyer said it was gratifying to notice the way in which the temperance movement was spreading, for if there was one profession more than another in which the practice of the virtue of temperance was necessary it was that profession to which the lives of so many millions of persons were entrusted. They could not afford to play with the kind of work which railway men had to do, and one felt that the achievement of such unions as theirs were of very vast importance to the well-being of the country. The practice and the spreading of temperance principles were going on very rapidly both at home and abroad. When he used to go to Germany he hardly ever heard tho_ word "temperance"—the, people did not know what it meant, and they thought it was absurd that reasonable human beings should give up drinking Avine. Now, there were large and important societies in Germany, and many of the German gentlemen who came to York recently to inspect the model village at Earswick were pledged teetotalers. Evidence of this spread of temperance was to be seen in business places and also in clubs, though, many of the clubs, he was sorry to say, had not yet learned that there could be plenty of entertainment without drinking. HOW PAT BECAME SOBER. In the beautiful village of Milford, Massachusetts, there lived a somewhat notorious character, named Pat Murphy. Pat was a great frequenter of the liquor saloons. The priest Father Skilly, often urged him to i give up drinking, and warned him of the consequences. But Pat still continued his evil ways. And finally the priest met him one morning reeling from one side of the path to the other. Father Skilly reproved him, j and added, "If you don't stop drinking so, I'll have you sent to gaol." Pat then knocked his reverence down, The priest had him sent up for 90 days. Pat came out a sober and wiser man, and went to work with a will. The old hat disappeared from the windows, there was a pig in the pen, and .a general appearance of thrift was seen. After about four months the priest, meeting Pat one morning, remarked, "Well, Pat, wasn't it a good thing my sending yon to gaol?" "Faith, your riverence, it was," replied Pat. "I wish I had knocked your rivorence down 10 years afore." HOW WE SPEND. The following estimates are from the New South Wales Statist, and relate to the Commonwealth:— £. Alcoholic liquors 14,500,000 Bread ... ... 7,250,000 Sugar 3,750,000 Tea ... ... ... 2,000,000 State school education ... 2,214,812 Railways and tramways... 7,769,383 Post Office, and telephones ... ... 2,576,113 DRINK AND DEATH RATE. The United Kingdom Temperance and General Provident Institution in 38 years dealt with 61,000 lives. There were 31,7.76 j ion-abstainers, of whom 8491 died. There, were 29,094 abstainers, of whom only 5124 died. If the abstainers had died at the same rate as the non-abstainers, according to the age groups, the numbor would have been 6959, or 1835 more. Another way of putting it is that out of 100,000 persons against 30, the number of non-abstainers "who live to 70 is 44,175, the number of abstainers is 55,382, or 11,207 more. DRINKING DECREASING IN NORWAY. Fifty years ago, states the Scientific Temperance Federation in its June publication, Norway consumed 20 litres of strong drink per capita; today, the consumption has fallen to two litres per capita. A remarkable advance in the health of military recruits is one significant evidence of the official results.—Advt.