THE LICENSED VICTUALLERS' GAZETTE

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume XIV, Issue 826, 4 January 1906, Page 23

THE LICENSED VICTUALLERS' GAZETTE

topics

Mr T. B. O’Connor, of the Victoria Hotel, has the publicans’ booth at Alexandra Park for the Auckland Trotting dub’s Meeting. The Government are sending Mr J. G. Gow, late Commissioner in South Africa, to Japan, to arrange for the Eastern nations being represented at the ■Christchurch Exhibition. The Ellerslie booth holders did splendid business at the Boxing Day and New Year races, the first day being especially good. # The time for receiving tenders for the “building a new hotel for Mr E. T. Bain, •of Rangiriri, has been extended until thv •sth inst. Damages amounting to £5OO were awarded in the Supreme Court against Mr Tim Kenealy. the well-known hotelkeeper, late of Te Puke. The action was brought by a Maori, who had sustained injuries by' a shot from a pea-rifle fired by Mr Kenealy’s son. Many of the public-house proprietors of London .have come to the conclusion that a restaurant pay's better than a billiard saloon, and as a , result billiard tables have been displaced to make room for the smaller and more profitable dinner tables. • * * * The recount from Kaiapoi gives it that reduction has been lost by one vote. The previous declaration was that reduction had been carried. The recount gives continuance 1725, reduction 2056, and no-license 2368 votes. • • * • At the meeting of the Invercargill Chamber of Commerce the result of the local option poll in Invercargill was mentioned by some members, with reference to a letter published locally from the Home and foreign buyers at +he wool sales, who said that in the absence of licensed houses they would use their influence to have the wool sales removed to Dunedin. Diverse opinions on no-li-cense were expressed, and the matter dropped. The Camara hotelkeepers have decided, in view of the loss they will sustain through the carrying of no-license and the closing of the bars, that from the Christmas holidays all meals and beds will be charged for at the rate of 2s each. This tariff was, of course, already existing in some hotels. The previous determination to charge what was practically a prohibitive tariff has not been proceeded with, such action being deemed ill-advised. « • • * The Grey Lvnn borough authorities are alarmed 1 at the great quantity of water that is now being used, but what is it going to be like after the 30th June next. • • « • The quantity of British and Irish spirits exported to Australia for the nine months ending September. 1905. was 1.246.941. gallons, and to New Zealand during the same period 330.068 gallons. There is a steadv increase in the quantities sent to Australia, whilst New Zealand shows a slight decrease. • • • » A good election story is told at the Taieri (says the Marlborough “Ileraid’"). It seems that a prominent lady member of the temperance party, with a feminine anxiety to mark what she wanted, struck out the bottom line of the voting paper. On leaving the booth and being shown her mistake, she was inconsolable until she learned that a well-known hntel“keener, who is somewhat short-sightci, had accidentally turned his paper bottom upwards before striking out the ♦wo bottom lines, with the result that he voted for no-license only.

The transfer of the license of the Putaruru Hotel from William Regan to Joseph Miller has been granted. - ■ft ft . ft ft Mr G. E. Tait, manager of Messrs Grey and Menzies’ mineral water manufactory at Whangarei, died suddenly last week. * • * * The new Grand Hotel, to replace the one burnt down at Rotorua, was formally opened just before Christinas. ft ft ft ft The Cosmopolitan Club, at Wanganui, applied to the Licensing Committee to have its license extended to 11 o’clock during carnival week. The committee decided that it had no power under the Act to grant the extension. ft ft ft • A man named G. J. Prendergast has been remanded on a charge of stabbing a man who refused to “shout” in the bar of His Lordship’s Hotel, in Christchurch. ft ft ft ft The hotel boxes in Wellington collected £32 7s lOd during last year in aid of the Wellington Hospital. « » * * Weiss, the Australian billiard champion, in a game of 7200 up, conceded Cook 1500 points, and beat him. Cook scored 5481. Mr Oldham, manager for Messrs L. D. Nathan and Co., at New Plymouth, came up to Auckland for the Christmas holidays. The Hon. C. C. Louisson, and Mrs and Miss Louisson arrived just before Christmas from Christchurch on a holiday visit. * * # • The recount of the Invercargill licensing poll has added two to the no-li-cense majority, making it ten and threefifths. It is said that the magistrate allowed votes which the returning officer had considered doubtful, the Government stamp having been omitted. The railway and tramway traffic during the holidays constitute a record. • * • ■ A man named Michael Lawson is under remand from the local Police Court on a charge of having assaulted Mrs Schultze, of the Governor Brown Hotel, by striking her in the face. Mr Harold W. Hudson, secretary •of Messrs L. D. Nathan and Co., Ltd., has entered Woodside private hospital for the purpose of having an operation performed for appendicitis. • ft ft ft The largest cigars ever manufactured have arrived in London from Havana. Each cigar measures 16£in in length and 6in in circumference, weighs a-quarter of a pound, and entails payment of Is 6d duty. The factory price in Havana is £lOOO per 1000. • • • • Late Home advices go to show that the price of whisky at the Irish and Scottish distilleries has been raised by from id to 2d per gallon. * ♦ ft ft Mr John Ashton, the general secretary of the United Licensed Victuallers’ Association of New South Wales, leaves for New Zealand early in February next foe a pleasure and business trip combined. During his short stay in New Zealand Mr Ashton will explain his' scheme for the affiliation of the wholesale, retail, and allied liquor trades to the various Licensed Victuallers’ Associations, and deliver a series of lectures on the subject. • * • • The steady stream of immigrants from the Old Country is now becoming noticeable. Out of a total passenger list of 532 booked in London by the Shaw, Savill liner Athenic, which arrived in Wellinnton last week, only 28 were for Capetown and Australia. The number booked for Auckland stands at 117. • • • • Tn reference to the sudden death of Mr G. F. Tait, manager for Messrs Grey and Menzies, at Whangarei, the medical evidence went to show that the cause of death was heart disease.

NO .I TTACHED '■ ST A TEMENT. In the Magistrate's Court, at Ashburton recently, Percy Harcourt, a cellarman employed in the .Eclipse Brewery, at Sydenham, was charged with having delivered a keg of beer, being aware that it was being taken to a no-license district, without attaching a< statement that the keg contained spiritous liquor. He was also charged with failing to notify the authorities oi the sale. A fine of 40s was imposed on one charp«, and a conviction recorded on the other. WORSE THAN DRINK. At a conference of the W.C.T.U., held in Ballarat, Mrs Crawford McDowell, well known in. Melbourne as Sister Ruth, said the drug habit prevailed among the women of Victoria It was on the increase, and was worse than the drink evil. She knew of a lady m Melbourne who was so addicted to chlorodyne that she took three bottles of it per day, at the rate of a full bottle per dose, so greatly had she acquired the habit. A Melbourne chemist, told her that a great number of women went into his shop for narcotics. In a Melbourne home they had drug patients w-ho were wrecks of humanity. People who persisted in taking the drugs found themselves in the lunatic asylum before they knew the power which the drug had on them. IT’TZ.I2’ MR. DINN IE SAYS. Mr Dinnie, the chief of the New Zealand police, who was in Sydney on a flying visit, has given an “ Evening News” representative some interesting information regarding the operation of the liquor law in that colony. The facts, as outlined by the Commissioner, afford food for thought, seeing that the new Liquor Act, which contains the “no-license” provision in vogue in New Zealand, came into force in Sydney on January 1. They show that “no license” is not an unmixed blessing. “It is difficult to say,” explained the Commissioner, when asked if the New Zealand Act had a good effect. “In the prohibition districts it certainly has had the effect of keeping drunken persons off the streets, and there is no riotous conduct.” How many prohibition districts are there?—Not many. By prohibition I mean “no-license.” I should say about five or six. In the prohibition States of America persons who want drink will get it by hook or by crook, and I suppose a similar state of affairs exists in New Zealand?—There is a good deal of sly grogselling. For instance, in Ashburton, in the Otago district, during twelve months I had forty prosecutions for sly grogdrinking and there was a great deal of trouble in proving the cases, and perjury was committed right and left to escape convictions. A lot of people, of course, think they should not be prevented from obtaining drink, and, though convictions mean heavy fines, and even imprisonment, still they try. With regard to the club question, how was th»» law opem—T+ K as brought

: about a great improvement,, by bringing the clubs into line with the hotels. They have to close at the same hour, but, oi course, there are cases of trying to evade the law, by keeping liquor in lockers. . t G'ZLkVP HOTEL, HOTOHUA- ' On the site of the old Grand Hotel, at Rotorua, whith was burned down last year, a magnificent new hotel has been erected by Messrs L. D. Nathan and C,o. and Messrs Hancock and Co. It is said to be one of the most up-to-date hotels in the colony. Prior to the opening ceremony, which the form of an elaborate dinner recently, a large number of the rooms had been already engaged. Mrs E. Robertson, a wonderful old lady, 81 years of age, and the bldfest resident of Rotorua, in declaring the hotel opened, expressed herself delighted in having lived to see such a beautiful building erected. She said that fine as the previous edifice had been, the present building was superior in many respects, and was a credit to the hotel proprietary, architects, builders, and furnishers. At the conclusion of her speech Mrs Robertson .presented Miss . May Seddon with a beautiful shower bouquet, after which Miss May Seddpn signed her name first in the visitors’ book. Among those present at the ceremony were Mrs L.i D. Nathan, Miss Roie Nathan, Mr Dayid Nathan, and Mr E. Davis. ■'> The hotel contains about 70 rooms, of which about 40 are bedrooms. In addition to a large square entrance lounge, there are well arranged commercial, reading, and club rooms, ladies’ drawingroom, etc., and an extensive diningroom, measuring about 40 feet by 64 feet, with (accommodation to seat 22 people comfortably. The hotel is lighted throughout by electricity, which is installed on the very latest principles. Mr J. Currie, of Auckland, has been the architect for the new building, ’■ Messrs Lye and Sons the builders, Mr Salinger was the contractor for the electric lighting, and Messrs McLeod and Green for the plumbing. The handsome furnishing was mostly done by the D.S.C. and Tonson Garlick Company. The popular licensee, Mr McMath, remains in charge, with Mr Winter, lately from the Royal Hotel, at Auckland, as manager. Rotorua residents may well be proud in the possession of such a fine hotel and such splendid accommodation for tourists. THE KAIAPOI POLL. In reference to the Kaiapoi licensing poll the demand for a recount alleges no irregularities. The request was lodged by Mr Van Asch, on behalf of the licensed victuallers. A most important point affecting the polling in Kaiapoi, as well as other district®, says a Christchurch contemporary, lies in <the fact that apparently there is no provision in the electoral Act allowing permits to absent voters to be exercised in the licensing poll. In the electoral Act only a permit is provided for which would be exercised in the electoral poll, and would be attached to the electoral ballot paper. There is no provision for a second per-

mit being issued for the licensing poll. In the Kaiapoi ballot there are fortynine Valid permits taken. Of these thirty-five voted for no-hcense, and fourteen for continuance. If these permits are illegal in the Kaiapoi poll, where reduction was carried by one and a-half votes, the position will be reversed, and by the disallowance of thirty-five votes, reduction will be lost by nine votes. INVERCARGILL. It was reported Ihst week that a petition was in circulation praying for an inquiry regarding the Invercargill local option poll. It alleges that there were irregularities that tended to defeat the fairness of the poll. The question whether invalid votes cast for the Parlia, mentary election should affect the local option votes of the same persons is being discussed. It is said that members of a religious body made their votes informal on principle, and if so these were lost to the local option count. The continuance party, therefore, hold that the figures used as the basis of calculation for the local option poll, did not represent all the voters whose votes were recorded. No-license was carried by eight votes. NO-LICENSE AND POLITICS. ‘‘The Outlook” says:—‘'The net result of the local option polling has been to postpone indefinitely what promised to be the beginning of the abolition of the licensed traffic in alcoholic liquor. The first cause of defeat would appear to be the intrusion of the no-license issue into the purely political domain, for how else can be regarded the rejection of almost every candidate who based his claim to the suffrages of the electors upon the grounds that he was an advocate of nolicense. The fact stands? out clear and plain that the average elector resents the making of the no-license battle a factor in the struggle for party. The most significant factor, however, still remains to be reckoned with. It was confidently assumed that the young people who for the first time exercised their electoral rights would form a block vote for nolicense. We fear that an analysis of the voting would prove exactly the opposite, or, at any rate, that a very large proportion of the young electors threw the weight of their votes in favour oi continuance.”

benefits of alcohol. Dr. Gordon Stables, R.N., who -s also an author, and whose worns havj made him well known, writes very firm 15 in favour of the use of wines and spirits. The following is from his pen:— A vast majority of medical men are well aware that in the treatment of many diseases alcohol, in some form or other, .is one af the best medicines we possess. Those "intellectuals’ who deny this are few and far between, borne o< these men have a private history that, if known, would go far to explain lhe’r readiness to denounce, in the face. of facts, the use of alcohol in moderation. We are told, on the other hand, that total abstinence is an impossibility, because every article of food we eat, whether animal or vegetable, contains alcohol, and many ripe fruits a large proportion. Well, that is true enough; still, if a man refrains from taking wine, spirits, or beer, or what is generally known by the general name "drink,” he

has a perfect right to call himself a teetotaler. But here are one or two_ other facts about these stimulants: not only do they assist in curing disease when nicely prescribed and used, but they help to prolong life in the aged and the infirm. They also assist the' nervous to live in greater comfort, and it would even seem that for some constitutions Nature demands alcohol. Another fact we who pray for the spread of true temperance have to face, is that alcohol taken with the food, and in small proportions, not only assists digestion, but is in itself a food. KEFIfESHMENTS IN DISGUISE. There is at any rate one advantage which people who are not abstainers have over teetotalers. As they roam about the country they can gather many curious old-fashioned terms used by our beer-drinking forefathers. Tn Pembrokeshire, for instance, you meet with “sleevers.” A sleever, the landlord will tell

you while serving you with one, is an illegal measure, and contains - the third of a quart. Then in Bristol you call for a “gauger ” (a pint), or a “ blue of old George’s/’ served in a blue earthenware mug. At Ilfracombe you learn what a “schooner” is. At Swansea, the labourers who board the steamers inquire anxiously for “tops and bottoms” —that is,, everything that has been left undrunk in the passengers’ glasses and saved up; or will even drink “legs and arms”— beer with no body in it. In Manchester you get a “hen” that is guaranteed twenty years old, or a “chicken” warranted ten. In Worcestershire a “joey ot liquor” is worth twopence. A curious contrast to the value placed on a “Joey” in Warwickshire. —(“The Daily Chronicle.” > At Waiwera: “Hullo, old man ; come down here for a rest ?” “No, my boy, I have come down here to avoid arrest.”

A GIANT WINE CASK. “Cassell's Magazine” recently describes a giant wine cask or barrel that is in the wine cellars at Belvoir Castle, in Leicestershire, the seat of the Duke of Rutland. This cask is capable of holding 1300 gallons of liquid. Twelve persons are said to have dined within it at one time Compared, however, with a cask at Rheims, possessed by Messrs Pomeroy, of champagne fame, it is a mere midget. Indeed, the Rheims cask can claim the distinction of being the largest cask ever made. It has a diameter of 26feet, and when finished was filled with 6000 quintals of good Meissen wine, valued at £6OOO. It took years to make the cask, and it is hardly necessary to add that it was built more as an advertisement than for any practical purpose. CHAMPAGNE VINTAGE PEP OPT. Mr Charles Heidsieck, in a letter to the “Daily Mail,” states that the prospects of a fine champagne this year seems out of the question, as owing to storms and hail in the middle of July and part of August, great damage was done to the vines in many districts. During the gathering, which is now nearly over, bad weather prevailed, necessitating the exercise of great care in selecting the grapes. Only a very light wine is expected to be the result of the 1905 vintage. The 1904 vintage, which was put into bottle this summer, is developing very well, and gives great promise. The last good vintage, he concludes, from this source was in 1900, and this is being sent over to England, where it is in great demand. Previous good champagne vintages were gathered in 1898, 1895, 189::. and 1892—the lastnamed being exceptionally fine. Vineyards of other wines seem to have considerably suffered from the ravages of th e weather, which has caused m many instances the three vine diseases dreaded by all grapegrowers —“phylloxera” or vine pest, an insect which kills the root of the plant; “peronospora,” a fungus growing on the berries; and “mildew” of the leaves. The Bordeaux crop is more abundant than was at first expected. The Medoc is better than other districts, as owing to its sandy soil the ground is not so damp. Which nation smokes the most tobacco per head ? According to the Bureau of Statistics at Washington, which has been investigating this problem, the answer,, in pounds, for the most recent year available is as follows: —Belgium, 6.211 b ; United States, 5.401b ; Germany, 3.441 b ; Austria, 3.021 b ; Canada, 2.741 b; Australia, 2.591 b: Hungary, 2.421 b; France, 2.161 b; United Kingdom, 1.951 b; Mexico, 1.391 b; Russia. I.lolb. The statistics take no account of the quality of the tobacco smoked, nor of course of the amount chewed. Tn the latter accomplishment the working classes of the United States undoubtedly “lead the world.” * * -4 -K When we come to consider the quantity of drink consumed by our forefathers in the good old days when the foundation of the mighty fabric of this great nation was being built by those sturdy empire-makers, we must perforce regard the still and vat with feelings akin to homage, for those heroes who have given us the great legacy of nationality which we enjoy to-day were drinkers deep and strong. For instance, at the feast given by the Archbishop of York at his installation in the reign of Edward TV., three hundred tuns of ale and one hundred tuns of wine were consumed to wash down the more solid comforts of the prelate’s hospitality. From a household book of the Earl of Northumberland, in the reign of Henry yin.. we learn that “on flesh days through the year breakfast for my lord and lady was a loaf of bread, two manchets, a quart of beer, a quart of wine, half a chine of mutton, or a chine of beef boiled. On Meagre days, a loaf of bread, two manchets, a quart of beer, a quart of wine, a dish of butter, a piece of salt fish, or a dish of buttered eggs. During Lent, a loaf of bread, two manchets. a quart of beer, a 011814 of wine, two pieces of salt fish, six baconed herrings. four white herrings, or a dish of sproits or sprats.” Poor souls ! Such ascetic fare must have earned them full toll to heaven. * * * < Mr Smith, who keeps a public-house, hired, a new barman. After he had been working there for about a week. Mr Smith asked his barman if he took any money out of his register, as his receipts were smaller than they ever were before. The barman ansvered “No.” Mr Smith said. “You must be taking money out of my registerf” “Oh.” exclaimed the barman, “I take out thy car fare every night/* fr Wpll.” said .Mr , Smith, “where the dickens do vou live?**

THE BUMPEE HOP CHOP. That the year 1905 is the best the hop industry has ever experienced in this neighbourhood is proved by the enormous quantity of hops conveyed to Ledbury station by the various hop-grow-ers in the district. The quantity was 6000 pockets, weighing in the aggregate over 500 tons, the largest quantity ever sent fiom Ledbury Station, to say nothing of those sent from Colwall, Ashperton, and Stoke Edith Stations from the adjacent hopiields. — ‘ Worcester Chronicle.” TEETOT ALLEES’ ST ATI STIGS. It will be remembered that in July last Mr John Vale, the well-known teetotal lecturer, made a statement to the effect that the “Drink bill of Canada only amounted, for a population of over a million and a-half more than Australia, to £2,583,609. His authority for this, he stated, was the “National Temperance League’s Annual” for 1905, page 105. The figures were challenged in a letter to the “Argus” by Mr R. Lemon, secretary of the Liquor Trades’ Defence

Union, who, from the materials he at the time possessed, estimated the amount of Canada’s “Bill” at £11,127,497. Mr Lemon has just received, through the courtesy of Mr Ross, the Commercial Agent for Canada in Victoria, all the official documents bearing on the subject for the year 1904, and from a cursory perusal of same he finds that the Dominion’s “Drink Bill,” calculated on the same price basis as Mr Merson’s Victorian “Bill,” amounted to considerably over £15,000,000} as against the Australian account of £14,873,588. . We hope next month to be in a position to give the exact figures, and in the meantime are curious to know what Mr Vale has to say on the matter. Whether he has as yet obtained from sources of an unpartisan character the corroboration of his statement, or whether he will acknowledge his error, or that of his authority, is a matter of interest to the community generally.—(“A.B. Journal.”) AS OTHERS SEE US. We recently came across the following remarkable paragraph in a back number of a prominent American magazine—no less, indeed than “Harper’s New Monthly Magazine”:—“Among the most curious developments of modern brewing are the frozen beer of Tasmania and the compressed beer of Switzerland, both made for export. The British colonies are fast learning to brew for themselves instead of depending on the Mother Country, and Tasmania, which has the best reputation for its beer, ships it to India and Australia in frozen blocks, so that in Calcutta they suck their beer instead of sipping it. The Swiss process consists in evaporating beer during the stas-e of fermentation or after the completion of that process, until the residuum is as thick as condensed milk, occupying from an eighth to a twelfth of its original bulk- The alcohol which distils over with the water is separated from the latter, and is afterwards mixed with the syrupy extract of beer. The condensed beer, which is shipped in tins, is said to stand exposure to the air in almost any climate. When it is to be used, the proportionate amount of

water is added, and fermentation is again started by adding . some lees or ordinary beer, and it is claimrf that th# result is a good table-beer.”— “A.k Journal.” -1 GLARING INCONSISTENCY. It must be obvious to those who study the numerous cases constantly arising under the Licensing Acts of the various States that peculiar evidence, and scarcely less strange decisions, occasionally vary the monotony of police court proceedings. Recently at a Brisbane police court a bench fined a man £5 for “being found drinking in an hotel” on Sunday, and acquitted the licensee of the hotel on a charge of selling on that day. It may not be generally known that under the Queensland Licensing Act the customer who is found drinking in an hotel on Sunday is frequently fined heavily. In the case under notice two incidents really formed part of one transaction, and apparently if one party was guilty, the other was fortunate in being esteemed innocent. The strange part of the conviction of the supposed drinker was that it was not proved that, he had, as a matter of fact, drunk anything. He may have intended to drink, but he said he did not, and the foaming tankard at his elbow was accounted for by the statement that it had been drawn for the hotel cook. He was undoubtedly on the premises, but there was no evidence that he had actually imbibed. Under those conditions, how could he be said to have

been “found drinking?” If that particular decision hid gone forward fpr review, ’'it. would have taken very strong argument to induce the Full Court to hold- that a man who has drunk nothing can be said to be “found drinking.” rhe bench,, however, r having convicted the unfortunate man, proceeded to acquit the licensee, thereby-. conveying their belief in'the about the cook. The supposed: drinker, who drank not, was punished for drinking a pot of beer drawn for somebody else, who, for aught that was shown to the contrary, was entitled to it, and actually got it; and the licensee' who supplied the drink, the drinking of which would have constituted one offence, and the supplying of it would fotrp another, was pronounced innocent. The law is. a -wonderful thing, but its luminosity pales before the phosphorescent,, glpw of magisterial logic.-—“ Australia ‘JACKET'S TOBACCO TbbaccO blending is the Admiralty’s lathst' undertaking. Hitherto sailor’s iobafeco has been issued in the leaf, and the men have had to make it up into rolls themselves. Moreover, all has been of -a strong Virginian, kind. Now, howeveir, 1 tiie.Admiralty have decided as an experiment to supply the men with a neW mixture consisting of Colonial and Vir'gmian leaf. This will be manufactured -in. two strengths, mild and full -lavoufed, . and .be sold., at one shilling per potind,- the same price as is now charged for the leaf. THE LUCKY COAL LUMPEB. Although the lot of the coal lumper is, like that of Gilbert’s policeman, perhaps not altogether a happy one, particularly in regard to long hours and the fatiguing nature of the work, there are, in the opinion of the President of the Sydney Arbitration Court, compensating advantages. Judge Heydon set out some of them in his judgment, delivered the other day. “There is,” he said, “ ‘smokeoh,’ which gives them a half-hour’s rest at short intervals, for which rest they are paid. Then, when their work is done out in the stream, their time includes the period during which they are on the

launch, going to and fro from work, probably about 20 minutes in all. If the collier is shifted from one side of the vessel to the other, or from one vessel to the other, there is an intermission, for which they are paid. If it rains, the men can stop when they like, and are paid for the period of waiting to see whether the rain is likely to cease. If the shoot into the bunker becomes choked, work stops until it is cleared, and only a few men Work at clearing it. Two men, at least, are always put on to carry, though the distance may be only a step or two, so that sometimes the carriers take it in turns to sit down. If, after a stoppage of half an hour or an hour, through rain, the men resume work at a ‘smoke-oh,* they will get double time for the ‘smoke-oh.’ All these things operate to reduce the aver age of four hours 48 minutes for which the men are paid, to considerably less than that period of actual work, and ’t seems probable that the real cost to the stevedore in wages to the coal-lumper for an hour’s work is not less than Is tod or Is lid, instead of Is Bd. Moreover. in the year 1900, an Act was passed limiting the size of the baskets to be used in coal lumping, and reducing them from about 10 to the ton. to about 11-A to the ton. This made the work decidedly easier 'for the men. It also made the work so much slower, and consequently more expensive, that the stevedore’s claimed, and were allowed bv the colliery owners, a higher rate per ton.” When you are growling about your work, think of the poor fellow who has none.

IMMIGBANTS FOB A’ETF ZEALAND. A Hobart telegram to the Sydney Evening News,” of December 11, states . “By every steamer from London to New Zealand hundreds of immigrants are proceeding there, taking advantage of the offer of the Government of that colony to come Out on a £lO passage, providing they have £SO besides. By the lonic 550 were passengers for New Zealand, arid an “Evening News” representative spoke to several of them, and inquired what inducements had been, offeied. They spoke in eulogistic terms of the way in which the colony was being advertised in England, its possibilities, etc., being couched in flowery language. Every assistance was given to intending immigrants in the way of supplying information, and by meeting them as regards their passages out. They asserted' that Australia, with all its AgentsGeneral, was not reaching the people for immigration. There were thousands only waiting a fair opportunity to come out to settle on the land, but they could not hear anything about the country. They had only heard of Tasmania, they said, by means of geography books.” THE BETOBT COUBTEOUS. Aunt Tabitha dearly loved her pipe, and could not be persuaded to give it up. She was a pious old soul, too, but argued that her mother and grandmother before her had smoked in the same chimney corner, and if it was right for them it was right for her. A young minister came to the town, and one day as he was walking about he stumbled upon Aunt Tabitha’s hut at

the foot of 3. hill, 'way up in the woods. He walked in, and found the old woman* smpking. He. at once thought who shewas, as he had heard of her, and. deemed it his duty to remonstrate with her about the use of tobacco. . , . • “Aunt Tabitha,’* he said, “ doh t youi. know that the Good Book says that nothing unclean can enter into the Kingdom of Heaven ? What will you dowhen you are refused admittance because of your breath polluted with tobacco ? What have you to say to that?” he sternly concluded. Aunt Tabitha puffed away while she looked the minister calmly over. Then taking the pipe from her mouth she an : swered, “ What I say to that, young, man, is that I spects to leave my breath behind when I goes to Heaven.”— “Harper’s Monthly.” WHERE IS HE ? “Art galleries and exhibitions,” said a. well-known collector the other. day, j are interesting places to haunt. I wish I had noted down all the odd comments I have heard in them. . . “Only last week -1 5 stood behind two young women from the country in a picture gallery. One of them called the other’s attention to an animal piece. “ ‘Two Dogs: After Landseer,’ she read from the frame., ‘I can see the two dogs, ' but where is Landseer?’ “The other young woman studied the painting closely, . “ ‘Where is he?’ she said. ‘I suppose this must be one of them puzzle pictures.’ ” The Republic of Costa Rica do an immense export banana trade, the principal consumer being the United States, with Great Britain as a good second. In 1900 the number of bunches exported amounted to 2,804,103, in 1904 it had risen to 5,760,000, or more than doubleThe three postal officials, Willis, Lar—combe and West, who figured prominently in the voucher fiasco, have been dismissed from the service by the Government. London, a fourth official connected with the matter, will have his increment stopped for one year, and he will be reprimanded and transferred from Christchurch to another station.

TWO TO ONE. A. certain admirer of the nobility staying at Homburg noticed among the arrivals at his hotel the name of a wellknown Duke. The opportunity was too good to be lost. Hurrying into the hotel he sought out the head waiter and gave bim a sovereign to place him next the Duke at table d’hote. . His mortification may be imagined when, on dinner being served, he found, so far from being next to the Duke, that he was placed at one end of the room and the Duke at the other. Angrily he complained to the waiter. afterwards, and reminded him of his tip. “True, said the waiter, “you did give me a sovereign, and I did not forget ; but when his Grace the Duke gave me two sovereigns that he might not be near you, what was I to do?” ONE HAPPY FAMILY. At the dinner which George Harvey gave in New York in honour of M. Wlt * e and Baron Rosen, a young Russian officer was seated beside H. H. Rogers. “I admire your country,” said the Russian, “because it is so peaceful. Politicians, financiers, the labouring classes, business men, ministers —all dwell amicably together, one happy family. Mr Rogers laughed. . ( “One happv family,” he said. Yes; such a happy family as P. T. Barnum, pur great showman, used to exhibit. “This family consisted of a lion, a tiger, a bear, a wolf and & lamb, all penned together in one cage.”. “ a visitor said one day to Mr Barnum. 'Remarkable, impressive, instructive. And how long .have these animals dwelt together in this way? " ‘Seven months,’ Barnum answered; ‘but the lamb has occasionally to be renewed.’ ” . . Says Jerome K. Jerome—There are no living humourists: there never have been, there never will be The receipt for making a humourist is first to bury him