SELLING A TOPER.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1526, 6 April 1887, Page 3

SELLING A TOPER.

The " Lyttolton Time*" tells the following good story:— l he perils of » "prohibit" are very great to be sure. Before he becomes a '' prohibit " he has already become uncommonly fond of drink and will usually go n lone way out of the beaten track of hia daily life toseoure one. Aa unfortunate man m a Canterbury township hud allowed his powers of absorption, and his desire to absorb to bo master hiß sense of propriety and to overcome his better nature, that bis friends, to save him from a denoent to very lowest depths of alcoholism, stopped his grog by order of the KM,, and so, m every pnb, m the district, a foolscap form, bearing the name of the "Inshlngtoo," crnamented the back wall of the bar. This, of coarse, stopped the legal supply, but the diunken man somehow always manages to Ret a little By a trick he managed to induce a yonth to prooure him a bottle of beer. Tbe transaction ended m the yonth being fined £5, while the man who swilled the beer go of! scot-free. A tew weeks afterwards, however, the tables wore turned upon tho prohibit. Hb was m the village bnkery, along with others The village baker was m bis bunk, pretending to be very much asleep, while hia bottle lay near by. The prohibit took large and greedy eyofu's of the tempting vessel; but those present told him it was the baker's whiskey aod must not be tftuohed. Of ooura he would not think of such a thing, but they knew that was the thought upper--1 mott m his mind. One(by one they lift, nntll the last to exit clammed tho d or decisively behind biro, and lift the th'r \ty prohibit along with the snoring baker. Eyeforo they had ail gone, however, the baker had sleepily rolled out of bed, put the bottle to his lips, and apparently swigged with emphasis, then betook himself to bunk and oblivion again. The snoring baker, the tempting bottle, and the opportunity were too muob|f< r the thirsty prohibit. Be crept to the bottle, uncorked It, and the practise that makes proficient standing him m good stead, he gulped at a single draught about half & pint of — butcher's brine 1 Tableau.