FROTHBLOWERS' FIGURES

NZ Truth, Issue 1151, 22 December 1927, Page 1

FROTHBLOWERS' FIGURES

Statistics — even the most reasonably reliable of them— seem to indicate if not conclusively show that there is a lot of beer consumed m this country, especially at the festive period known as Christinas. -

TAKING- the average man m his aver--1 age stride, for instance, -we do not need to enter Into a deep atudy of hia habits, etc., to know, well, what we know. , . He has a good hour at least, from the time he knocks off work until the gentleman m "another place" sends up the call "time, gentlemen, please" at ten minutes to six (?). He has, on a very conservative estimate, two smokeCOncertS to attend during the normal week (these are sometimes known among wives as "going back to adjust the quarterly balance"— there often being a balance m those infernal tengallon kegs to be cleaned up). A round of golf (they sometimes hole out m four — bottles), a cricket match, a tennis set, a swimming lesson or a race-meeting on Saturday afternoons m summer; and m winter, a Saturday afternoon at football, hockey, golf or snooker.

Even sandwiched Into this fairly full programme of legitimate excuses to drink beer, there is often, very often, indeed, «a "wetting of the baby's "head" (another way of wetting father's throat), a wedding, possibly a snappy little funeral now and again. That is merely -the average week of the average man, the moderately abstemious man. Admittedly, there are immoderate drinkers who take beer on "every" occasion, but they, m spite of their abnormality, do not represent a very big majority. The average man cannot plead privilege on this occasion because he is privileged on AI/L occasions. He cannot plead reciprocal conviviality m the

festive season because he will reciprocate conviviality on ANY occasion — where beer ie concerned. There must be something m the .effect of the moon at about this time that qualify a few of the average drinkers for the immoderate class. Otherwise, there is no accounting for it. Assuming the statistician to be correct, one can only look at the results as insupportable by fact. One has to remember the big propaganda movement of the brewery Interests towards the end of the year, . coupled, of course with a very natural thirst that comes with the dry season which Christmas usually heralds. iiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiMiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniir...iimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiini