A Magistrate's Advice.

Hawke's Bay Times, Issue 1551, 17 February 1874, Page 119

A Magistrate's Advice.

A ruffian named Galloway came before the Dunedin Bench recently, charged with biting a man's, finger. Mr Strode concluded an eloquent address on the occasion as follows':—" You see, it is just this drink, this cursed drink, and I give you this advice,—that any man belonging to a railway should never drink, no matter whether he is on duty or not, and if he does get drunk at any time he should be dismissed from that railway—at least that is my doctrine, and I should advise the authorities to carry it out. If it had not been for your drunken state that night, sir, this would not have happened. I shall mark my sense of your/conduct by calling on you to pay £3, with Court and professional costs ; in default, you go to jail for 14 days, with hard labor." The Melbourne Publicans. The Melbourne Telegraph says:—The publicans of the colony are marshalling their forces for a grand effort at the corning general elections, and it will not be their fault if they do not make their influence felt at the ballot boxes, As they imagine that their rights and privileges are threatened with some terrible, though not very well-defined danger, it is no marvel that they should cry out even in anticipation of being presently hurt. The action which they are taking is the more necessary on their part, and the more easily understood by the public, in consequence of the opposition with which they have to contend. The Permissive Bill of inglorious Parliamentary memories is the red flag which is flourished, before them, and has made them screw their energies un |p the agitating point, and their difficulty consists in the fact that whatever they may say or dp, the flag which they wish to haul down has the vast majority of the electors as standard-bearers." , , . We imagina that the most ardent opponents of the Permissive Bill would admit that Melbourne would be greatly benefited by a reduction in the number of low public houses which swarm in it; but it does not seem probable that their number will ever be decreased by the action of liceusing magistrates. It is not apparent, however, rjiat there \b any distinction made by the pjiblicaris,' arid' if the respectable' arid influential members of the craft vyill identify themselves and their interests with the scum of the trade, and make common cause with such riff-raff, they cannot be surprised if they do not secure the coope', ation of the public now, and they will deceive themselves if they calculate upon the sympathy of the electors when the tug of war takes place. Robbing a Museum. A daring robbery has been committed at the Sydney Museum. A case containing about £4OO worth of unique gold specimens was adroitly opened during visiting hours, and the contents abstracted,