A SHINING EXAMPLE.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, 10 November 1910, Page 20

A SHINING EXAMPLE.

THE SAVING INFLUENCE OF NO-LICENSE. The following extract from the “Bulletin” of October 20 gives a valuable testimonial to Archdeacon Boyce’s infallible panacea against the cursed drink: — “Leno”; If Foster Fraser could be dumped down in Wonthaggi, the baby town beside the Victorian State coal mine, his idea of the Australian’s lack of energy, etc., would get a bump. Although only about four month old, the progress made in building the town is marvellous. Wonthaggi has about 3000 inhabitants, the business portion is lined with shops, the residential part contains about 200 fairly well-built cottages, and new places are going up every day. There are three newspapers, four churches,

a skating rink and a theatre. But there are no hotels. A large twostoreyed brick building nearing completion is labelled “Hostel,” and the owners are hoping to obtain for it a “club license.” For water the Government has temporarily laid pipes along the surface; for beer the holder of a two-gallon license delivers the liquor per dray. Coal mining is a thirsty game; and as the beer cart can’t call often enough, there has been a great crop of sly-grog shops at Wonthaggi. These shops are known to the initiated as “The Blue Pig,” “The Little Pig,” “The White Pig,” etc. Always the) name has “Pig” in it. The police spies, working as miners, have been kept busy, and in one week five “Pigs” were turned into pork. When the five were captured they immediately drew up a circular letter to all the business people of the town, asking them to organise a fund for their defence, which looked like a delicate way of suggesting that the captives were not the only ones in the sly-grog business. N. S. Wales needn’t have gone so far as Maoriland to learn what happens when there isn’t a licensed pub in the neighbourhood.