Page 14 Advertisements Column 1

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 241, 14 November 1914, Page 14

Strike out the Top Line on each Paper For 5300 years the drinking of intoxicating liquors lias been regarded in identically the same way as we regard it now, and its poisonous effects were in some respects as well understood at that period as they are to-day, of which the following is a proof:— Among the oldest Egyptian papyrus discovered is one which contains a series of moral aphorisms of the fifth Egyptian Dynasty (3G06-:i.*iHß 8.C.) which is also said to afford the earliest instance on record of the effects of intoxication and the iirst warning in writing against drinking in wine shops. It runs as follows: "My son, do not linger in the wine shop or drink too much wine Thou fallest upon the ground, thy limbs become weak as those of a child. One cometh to do trade with thee, and findeth thee so. Then say they, 'Take away the fellow, for he is drunk.' " So that in this respect we can safely say, "There is nothing new under the sun.'' It will not be out of place to notice some of the laws relating to the sale of intoxicating drinks that were acted upon during the reign of Khanunurabi, King of Babylon, about the year 2250 8.C., or, in other words, nearly 4200 years ago. ThevSe laws were engraved upon a tall column recently discovered in l.'to Temple of Esagil, the Temple of Bel Merodach at Babylon. These laws bear out tlie fact that the liquor sellers in that country were always women, and the penalties for any infringement of the laws were most severe. For instance, if a wine merchant did not take the legallystated price, the sentence was " they shall throw her into the water." If she permittod riotous persons to assemble in her house and did not seize and take tliem to the guard-house "that wine merchant shall be put to death." If a religious devotee or the wife of one engaged in the temple opened a wine shop, or even entered a wine shop, '' that female shall be burned.'' So that the Babylonian ideas as to the effects of the liquor traffic were not of a trivial but of a most serious nature. China also was legislating inte?nperance before the natives of Britain had learned to read or write their own history. During the Han Dynasty it was decreed that if three persons were found drinking together 1 tliey were to be fined four ounces of metal. At anotherperiod distillers were ordered to be punished by decapitation, and in the year 1500 that punishment was changed to banishment and the same punishment was extended to the sons and grandsons of the distillers. Among the Romans it is asserted by Valerius Maximus that wine forbidden to women lest by its use they should fall into some extravagance. Near relatives weire permitted to salute females when they came into their houses in order to ascertain whether they had been drinking, and if convicted they were sentenced to death. Ignitus Macenius killed liis wife on discovering that she had been drinking wine, and he did so without any legal trial or even the formality of consulting his relatives. He was pardoned for this offence by Romulus, in whose reign it • occurred. Pliny and Valerius Maximus both attest this circumstance, and not only relate the particulars of the case, but give the reasons why the husband was acquitted of the murder. Fabius Pictor states that a Roman lady was starved to death by her own relatives for having picked the lock of the chest in which the keys of the wine chest were deposited. The Roman censors were magistrates appointed to inspect the morals of the citizens, and were even entrusted with the power to expel from the senate, or to take away a horse from any man who was addicted to intemperance. Alexander Ab. Alexandra states that the Ancient Romans hated drunkenness so much that their censors turned any drunkards out of the senate and branded them as unworthy to bear public honours or offices. They thought it scandalous that men of drunken habits should have any share in the Government. . The liquor men in this country want none but drinking men to administer the laws; some degenerates foolishly think the matter would be cured if it were managed by the State or by the municipalities, as if a change in the person selling a poison could alter its effects. WBNE Mr William Gordon Hake, who was called to the Bar in 1835—two years before Queen Victoria came to the Throne—died at Brighton on July 13, in his 104 th year. He was a first cousin of General Gordon. Mr Hake entertained an affectionate remembrance of his distinguished cousin, General Gordon. On one occasion, when the hero of Khartoum was dining 'with'him, -.GenorarGoi?don was invited to.take wine, biit Gordon imperiously decliiied, exclaiming sternly, "Take away tiiat poison! " Mr Hake himself was a'life-long advocate of temperance. Strike out the Top Line on Paper

[fORD CARS AT THE FRONT." Extensively used by ,the British, Russian, Canadian and New Zealand Troops. THE PROVED BEST CAR. 6-Seatcr, Complete, 14cwt . . .."£205 2-Seater, Complete, 18c«rt . . . . £l9O HENRY J~i ANGER, A.GENT, CHRISTOHURCH GARAGE. 94 GLOUCESTER STREET. .161

I'or children's Hacking Cough at uii>hl,, Woods' Great Peppermint Cure. ;/6, 2/6,