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New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume XVII, Issue 968, 24 September 1908, Page 20

At Dunedin last week, in bankruptcy, the discharge of Mr. Chas. Pitches, hotel manager, at Ophir, was suspended for 10 months, and that of John Brennsell, hotelkeeper, Queensbury, was suspended for nine months.

According to report, Mr. H. Davis, Mayor at the prohibition town Ashburton, recently stated that there seemed to be a good deal of drinking going on during Sundays in that place. He judged from the number of persons brought before the Court on' Monday ifiorhings on charges of insobriety. He intended to do his utmost to discountenance the habit, and offenders that were brought before him in future for drunkenness on a Monday mornihg would be severely dealt with.

The Tasmanian Legislative Council has eliminated from the Licensing Bill the clause prohibiting the employment of barmaids.

At Balclutha last week, David Reddic, jun., 'charged with procuring two bottles pf whisky from the Stirling Hotel without giving the name and address in writing of the person for whom the liquor was intended, was fined £3 and costs.

A peculiar case of theft is being investigated in Christchurch. On a recent Monday night, it is stated, the office of the Caversham Hotel was entered, the safe opened, and between £BO and £9O in cheques and gold, and numerous receipts, representing £l5O, stolen. The licensee (Mr. C. L. Stark) told a reporter that late on Monday night he went to bed, and took particular notice that the door of the office was locked. Presumably, the safe too was locked, though he was not absolutely certain of that. About 6 o’clock next morning a friend of his, to whom he had just given his keys, went downstairs to unlock the bar, and, finding the office door open, closed it. The licensee did not go into the office until after 2 p.m., and then he found that two cigar boxes, in which he kept his money, had been taken out of the safe and lay empty on the floor. The safe door was closed, and he put his key in and turned it, but whether the door was locked or unlocked he did not in his surprise notice. The police are making inquiries, and a number of cheques, worth about £35, have been stopped. All the stolen cheques were cashed at the hotel between August 31 and September 7.

Wu Ting-Fang, the Chinese ambassador, said modestly at a dinner in the United States: “I am aware that the honors heaped upon me are due to my exalted office, not to my humble self. ■lt is my office, it is not I, that gains and merits your consideration. Yet this is a mortifying truth of a kind that all of us—ambassadors or no-—are apt to forget. May such a truth never be recalled to our memory with the harsh shock that came to a Rhode Island farmer who won a blue ribbon at a Woonsocket stock show with a fat hog—a 1250 pound hog. 'Get my name right,’ he said, excitedly, to the reporters, with their pencils and yellow paper, who crowded round him at awarding time. ‘Get my name right, boys. It’s Hiram Y. Doolittle, son of the late General Augustus Anderson Doolittle of St. Joseph, who settled in Rhode Island in the year ’ ‘Oh, never mind all that,’ the oldest reporter interrupted. ‘Give us the pedigree of the hog.’ ”

We congratulate Mr. C. T. Gibson the popular host of the Criterion Hotel at Paeroa, on the fact that the fire which broke out in his hotel last Thursday morning was discovered before much damage was done. Some of the boarders noticed that smoke was issuing from a linen room upstairs, and it was found that the room was on fire. The fortunate early discovery enabled the fire to be put out

very quickly, and it is expected that about £l5 will cover the damage. * nc : * * “I was slightly abbreviated,” said an offender at Lambeth Police Court when he was charged with drunkenness. _ *. * * * A new Alpine hotel is advertised as the ideal resort for those who want a complete rest cure. All the plates, dishes, cups, and saucers are made of papier-mache, so that guests will be spared the clatter of a restaurant, and as the material is so light guests will suffer the least possible fatigue in lifting the cups to their lips. « . ■ ♦ • * • Here is Maine’s latest snake story, taken from the “Lewiston Journal”: —“An old hen with a large family of small chickens was recently given an empty barrel turned down on its side for a coop. One day recently the hen gave the signal of distress used by all good grangers, and the barrel was quickly surrounded by the fighting members of the household. A large snake was found in the barrel, and quickly lynched. Several bunches were noticed on the reptile’s body, and he was ripped up the back with a pair of shears, and seven chickens were found gasping for breath. They are all alive yet.” And yet Maine is said to be an honest Prohibitionist State! Mr. T. Storey has purchased Mrs. Meehans interest in Gleeson’s Hotel, Hobson Street, and took possession recently. * * * * We hear that Mr. McSweeney, who has been a resident in the Te Aroha district for many years, has purchased the Grand Hotel, Te Aroha. * * • * A fifty pound fine with costs was the fate of a sly-grog seller the other day in the Balclutha Court. * * ♦ The United Licensed Victuallers’ Association of New South Wales have addressed the following letter to Admiral Sperry:—“On behalf of the members of the United Licensed Victuallers’ Association of New South Wales I desire to express admiration for the splendid behaviour of the men of the United States navy while visiting our city. The men visiting the hotels in the metropolitan area, by their sober conduct and behaviour have shown a splendid example of temperance under trying though hospitable circumstances, and have come through the ordeal with credit to themselves and honour to the great nation of which they are units. Permit me to wish the members of the fleet continued pleasure on their great voyage, and a welcome home equal to any they have received from the many friends they have visited.” Admiral Sperry replied, acknowledging the letter with sincere thanks, and adding that the praise of the association was most gratifying. * * » • Next Saturday, the 26th inst., is the first anniversary of Dominion Day. • • « • The Minister for Public Works states that he is still in expectation that the actual formation work on the Main Trunk Line will be completed in time for the opening of the railway for through traffic on November 1. * * 4s * At Ashburton last Thursday a carrier was fined £5O for keeping liquor for sale in a prohibited district. fc * * * A tenderfoot once visited Tin Can and watched with interest the poker play. From saloon to saloon he passed. Everything was wide open, and very gay and lively. But as he looked on at a poker game that had no limit, the tenderfoot suddenly frowned. He had seen the dealer slip himself four aces from the bottom of the pack. “Gracious powers,” whispered the tenderfoot, excitedly clutch-

ing the sleeve of the man next to him, ‘ did you notice that?” “ Notice what?” asked the other, “ Why, that scoundrel in the red shirt just dealt himself four aces.” The other looked at the tenderfoot calmly. “ Well, wasn’t it his deal?” he said.

It was the firse vaudeville performance the old coloured lady had ever seen, and she was particularly excited over the marvellous feats of the magician. But when he covered a newspaper with a heavy flannel cloth and read the print through it, she grew a little nervous. He then doubled the cloth and again read the letters accurately. This was more than she could stand, and rising in her, seat, she said: ‘ “I’m goin’ home. This ain’t no place for a lady in a thin calico dress!” * * s » Mr J. Bathurst’s Commercial Hotel at Te Awamutu had a narrow escape from being destroyed by fire early last Friday morning. It appears that a young girl staying at the hotel went to sleep with the candle alight, and before she awakened the whole room was in flames, the window curtains Ith ing caught fire. Instead of giving the alarm, she endeavoured to put the fire cut herself. Others staying in the hotel hearing the noise proceeded to the room, and were successful in extinguishing the outbreak, which by this time had a fairly good hold The damage done was comparatively small.

. A peculiar explanation of the disappearance of some cash assets is alleged to have been given at a private meeting of creditors held not a hundred miles from Christchurch. The gentleman, who was meeting his creditors, stated that having decided to change his bank he had drawn out the amount standing to his credit, but arrived too late at the bank to which he had decided to transfer his account. He took the money, about £250, home, and, considering the grate would be the safest place for it, he consequently deposited the notes there. In the morning his wife arose, and not knowing that the grate had been selected as a safe deposit, she lit the fire, and the £250 went up the chimney.