VICE-REGAL DRINK

Gisborne Times, Volume LXIV, Issue 11012, 27 January 1926, Page 6

VICE-REGAL DRINK

WINE THAT WAS WATER.! AUCKLAND’S SAD MISTAKE. When the Governor-General pays what is called an official visit to the Exhibition it is nob always as formal as it sounds, says the “Otago Daily Times.”- For instance, his Excellency paid an official visit to the Auckland Court, and in the course of time the official party was invited into the office to sample some of Auckland’s famous wine. Asked what they would have, most of the party chose port, while three selected sherry. The glasses were emptied in unison, and a strained silence followed—one of those' silences that shriek. Something was clearly wrong. Finally his Excellency spoke: “Er, was that alcoholic liquor?’’ he asked. An official was quick to assure him most emphatically that it was. Another strained silence, while each man looked strangely at his neighbour. “Well,” his Excellency ventured, “I would like to make sure.’-’ Then an amazing discovery was made. By an unfortunate mischance those who had ordered port had been given a nice tepid drink of colored water, and liis Excellency was- among the victims. It appears that the bright array of Auckland wines on exhibit in the court is a delusion and a snare. The bottles contain coloured water, and one of these was apparently mistaken for the “real Maekav.”

And it is whispered that several who tasted the “port” smacked their lips with evident relish. We are all connoisseurs, more or less.