How Invercargill Strikes the Stranger

Southland Times, Issue 17083, 4 November 1902, Page 3

How Invercargill Strikes the Stranger

(To the Editor.) strikes the visitor is of course the unusbtriKCb mt . s Your town is , lal width of your* At theßame SeTshould 11 imagine that 'the roads were made .much before tne bicycle came so popuiar, »»d the J something to desne ■ streets Ahd inmost countries would be planted with tiee. side, affording shade from both . n wind. Nor must I forget your handsome public buildings and offices, which would be an ornament any town, and the air of elegance and comfort presented by many of the Citi r.ens' residences. The appearance ot tne inhabitants, too, shows that if you> tniate is not the most agreeable in tne world, it is at all events healthy. J am pleased also to learn that your ch - ches are, on the whole, well attended, „nd in the opinion of one who is not a stranger to journalism, there is not much tube desired in regard to the tone and impartiality of your newspapers. But there is one feature of your town that. OIW cannot honestly praise. I mean tne public displays of drunkenness in yom ptrcets. A friend of mine in the North

seen more drunkenness in the streets of Invercargill than in any other town in the colony. , When I lirst heard this statement I confess I met it with a smile of incredulity.' But 1 * cannot say that I feel quite so incredulous now. and whilst I would not go quite so far ns iny friend, I hope no offence will lie given when 1 say that I have never seen anywhere, I think, us much drunkenness in a town of the same size. During last week only 1 saw drunken men in each of your principal streets : on one occasion saw an intoxicated man in charge of two drays ; on another, was driven by the molestations of a drunken man from a shop window in which 1 was looking with the view to making a purchase; on a third occasion siiw a man guilty of a

gross act of indecency in broad daylight ; etc. Ido not think the police altogether to blame : they cannot be everywhere. At the same time there must be something wrong when drunkenness is so openly tolerated in the public thoroughfares. 1 sincerely hope that this reproach will be removed from a line and enterprising town by the results of the coming licensing poll. May Invercargill flourish by the preaching of the Word, and the removal of its drinking bars !—I am, etc., FREDERICK STUBBS. Invercargill, 3rd Nov.