NOTES AND COMMENTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVII, Issue 14294, 14 February 1910, Page 4

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

.i' ]f'xl] }? • 1 • . •; I •:.MOTOR- CARS ; AND.» WINE.; The; connection befween'aiutoraobilism and good, wine is not apparent; - but real. It has just been discovered •by the - Touring • Club of France, which ' intends to" work up its discovery in the I interests both of motor - touring and of wine. •; It seems that ■ express trains have killed- good wines all over France, except in "large, towns."; 'In the old coaching days you - put up at ; a fine i ancient inn; and,' when you "felt : like it, J could - have a bottle , or - two ;of claret, or Burgundy well worth sitting over. ]] The express trains 'have; whirled all those who . can afford fine wines past the ancient inns, with their capacious cellars, and travellers; for years drank the wines of the .railway dining-cars, which, as every.tourist ,knows, are well-nigh identical, whether you; dine ' on the way from 'Alexandtovo to Moscow, or between Rome and Naples. Reduced to the custom of " commercial . travellers only, who enjoy their vm' ordinaire, ; but, do not order up an extra old bottle once in a blue moon, the ancient inns ceased to replenish their cellars. ' ' When the motor car was invented the ancient 'inns began to look up • once'more. But; cellars cannot be' improvised. ' Motorists •occasionally asked for old bottles, but a new one, carefully covered' with dust five minutes before, and containing very ; unpretending vin ordinaire, was generally the result. The; disheartened tourists gave up renewing the unfortunate experiments, and motorists became mineral-water 'drinkers. The French Touring Club, having the interests of ' the ■wines 'of' France at . heart, has been painfully impressed by' this state of things. " For some years past it has , given prizes to "hotelkeepers # for "hygienic" ' bedrooms is to . say, clean, fresh, with painted walls, wholesome furniture, and no hangings.; But is not good wine as. valuable. a" „* thing .. as .. a hygienic bedroom ? Henceforth the ..Touring' Club ~ Will bestow. prizes 'for ' their wines upon the hotelkeepers of France, -j Tourists will thus, it-is- hoped, be cured I of the vicious habit of tippling on mineral waters. . The good - old days, " when,\ you sat over the - tavern fire with-' a bottle of Burgundy fit to.be remembered through a lifetime, will come" back,- • except that- a steam-heating , radiator . arid a . hygienic diningroom will have replaced the blazing logs and' ;the emoke-'mellowed parlour. "Jam redit eVvinum," and the ' return.of good wine. will 'be due to - motoring.*]-:• ;-'i .. . * J•• •0*; *'0-o.oo\ SOCIAL. CHANGES. .. Among the , many, social ' changes which have taken place: iff .England, ! two are j particularly]. noticeaWe-rthe fashion iof well-to-do '.people: to spend "their Christmas holidays away from,home,"and*tho eaormous popularity of ss Christmas and: New Year entertainments at hotels <and-restau- j rants.A' - London ' paper;";! iff commenting on these new. development*, says :—Oi»iy a few years ago there was no such thing) as a-winter "season" in r Switzerland.' Now it: is the ' fashion to, rush thither at Christnias . time : at "express speed 'for the • sake of .a few days' exhilarating" on' the snow add ice, afld then .nislrbads again. The other social development -is of -a", very different - kind. : "This"'can' be" traced' Jto - a varietyof ■'<reasons,' chief."among which is , the fact that the Wist End of London is now «*>w<ied with, palatial hotel*-, arid restaurants, where a few/years ago-there were practically none. Given these palaces- of luxurious • pleasure, . and ; the taste" to enjoy them—>hich is ' most'easjly acquired—the social change '.'which ;w now | most marked might safely have been pre- j dieted. -What more natural "than]; that host-* and hostesses should • prefer to give i their; entertainments r in - places ; built -> and designed ' for the purpose,, where there-.is'i plenty of inhsic and gaiety, and - all : the j colour, and life of] a Hghkh,»arted company, ; : ready 'to amuse and to be amused ? 'Trouble is reduced to a minimum; the giving of an entertainment resolves itself into the signing of a cheqtje. Something, -no doubt, may be■ lost by the change.- Glitter and splendour are' not. everything,"'and would be * purchased ! too dear if -the; price were to include the sacrifice of ', private entertainment at-home. ' But of that there is little fear. . And so, if 'it seems'a little strange -to hear; of the big hotels ' being thronged at Christmas time," ; instead :of being empty , as their'predecessors used.to be, : it does not : necessarily . imply , that there is le?s domestic hospitality. "The glamour of family tradiUon- v the- charm Of the personal welcome under j the ' Host's own. roof-tree, the knowledge that;every detail of the pleasures provided has been suggested by ; the -spirit'-of-friendship— these are qualities which enable the home feast to challenge successfully even the brilliant and " luxurious efficiency *of our splendid public'dining, resorts. _ : •"• -- •.