CAMP BEER BOTTLES.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLVI, Issue 116, 14 May 1912, Page 2

CAMP BEER BOTTLES.

A PROHIBITION ONSLAUGHT

STRONGLY ANSWERED

CimiSTCH URCH, May 10. The Prohibition League's letter to General God ley regarding drinking inTerritorial camps has drawn another volume oi' testimony from the most reputable sources as to the sobriety and orderliness of the men. Lieut.-Colonel G. J. Smith, who was in command of the Templeton camp, said to-day: "I do not propose myseli to go into the matter at all, as I hore- that there will be a searching inquiry instituted by the general officer commanding—conducted, if possible, by an officer from headquarters, so that it shall be absolutely impartial, but this I will pay: that I think the resolution first passed was an uncalled for reflection on the Hi en in camp. There will be "plenty of evidence to t prove that there" was no drinking in camp, and that the order and behaviour of the men, rjght through, was most excel-: lent. The evidence that schoolboys collected beer bottles, and that in the rubbish heaps there were found signs of whisky having been taken .into camp can hardly be called sufficient to justify the charge made. Perse n ally, 1 saw a good many bear bottles, but they all contained the ordinary 'soft drinks,'., The presence of a bottle does not always guarantee what its contents have been. WHO FOMENTED IT? "I have been/told,!: continued the colonel, ''that the two gentlemen who introduced this subject at a league meeting are both very strong antimilitarists, and possibly their desire to damage the defence scheme caused th>?m to neglect the,ordinary precautions of verifying the truth of the rumors which they.may have heard." SOME FLAT DENIALS. , The North Canterbury correspondent of The Press interviewed a number of the residents of Rangiora and officers who were at the Easter Territorial camps, and all gave a flat denial to the reports of alleged drunkenness and rowdyism. ' ■. Mr E. R., Goi-d, ex-Mayor, ; who /isited the camp many times, referred to the capital order and conduct of j Jie Territorials. ' The Territorials be-j hayed in an excellent manner, and did credit to the service.'' A leading hotelkeeper stated that lie had had a conversation privately with-two of the principal officers, and, leaving that there _was only a small proportion of men in the ranks over 21 years of age, he decided not to serve (or allow his assistants to serve) Territorials in unifoim. So far as he knew, his instructions wereicplici it-ly-acted upon. # ' The secretary of the Kaiapoi District' Prohibition League said that he saw no signs of drunkenness, and noticed no rowdy conduct.! The conduct of the Territorials as a body of young men, was, from his observation, above th>i average. His district learruo was taking no action in the matter, and he had conferred with the Eev. T. Millar v t he president of the league),, who was in agreement-., with Ihat course, as there was nothing to go on in the reports put forth. A CHAPLAIN SPEAKS OUT. The Rev. F. P. Fendall, of the Church of England, remained in camp throughout. Most of' the time, as chaplain, he way sleeping there' at nic,hts. It was impossible to prove a negative, but neither day nor night, .while in camp had he seen anyone under the influence of liquor. Being somewhat anxious to see how _the new regulations prohibiting liquor in camps would, operate, \he was perhaps on the alert for :any cases, but there iwere none in ::any/;of : ''tbc ; .-.in|n showed signs of intoxication. On the Saturday evening when the men had been in town he was in camp,, and when they returned they retired; to their tents'in a m<i?re, orderly and quet manner than he had .ever seen at any previous camp. , _ In the letter the Prohibition Lea> gut- stated that schoolboys had said that chey harl collected beer bottles, at the camping ground at, Templeton. s'That is perfectly true,'' said a Territorial. "Each morning before the lines were cleared beer bottles could, be seen scattered in plenty about the lines, ana to any busybodies who were looking for evidence against us, this would soem certain proof of our. guilt, but the offensive looking bottles contained nothing stronger than lemonfide. The firm who had the canteen• contract for .the camp evidently! thought that the ■usual small bottle of lemonade would prove inadequate for the thirsty Territorial, so they hit upon the plan of putting /soft' drinks up in bottles exactly similar to ; the quart beer bottles, and did a roaring trade. When a botlio was finished it would usually be thrown away, and next morning all the^ bottles would bo consigned io. the rubbish heap. where no.doubt they- wero found by the schoolboys. That is the whole story of the beer bottles."