WHAT AUSTRALIANS EAT AND DRINK.

Press, Volume LX, Issue 11481, 14 January 1903, Page 6

WHAT AUSTRALIANS EAT AND DRINK.

Mr Ccglilan's latest volume of Australasian statistics, dealing with the year 1901-2, contains, among a <h«st of other matters, some interesting information as to wbat Australians eat and drink, and the cast of living in these colonies. The consumption of meat is, as formerly, the most striking feature of Australaekn diet. We still lead the world in this respect, and the price of meat will have to rise stilt higher here, or come down elsewhere to something like the colonial 'level, before any T)Uier country approaches us. Against Australia's average annual consumption of 2641b of meat per head, America can only put forward 150 ib, and Great Britain 1091b, while in Canada the quantity is but 901b a year, and in Germany 643b, It is generally accepted that colonials eat too much meat, but Dr. Gresswell, the Chairman of the Victorian Board of Public Health, in referring to Mr Coghlau's figures, expressed liis belief that this is partly the effect of the sunny climate, which', by causing the heart to beat more frequently than in more cloudy countries, increases the vital activities. This means an increase in the day'g work, and Dr. Gresswell holds that this neeessitatee an additional supply of nitrogenous food. "The fact that the Australian eats " more meat than the Britisher is from this "point of view a sign of an instinctive de- " sire to satisfy a need caused by the dif- " ference in climate, ,, though he a'dmite thai the cheapness of meat and gqpd wages are still greater factors in increasing the consumption. In the matter of drink, West Australia, by reason of the excwfs of males in iU population, holds the record Its average annual consumption of spirits ia one and a, half gallons, which is nearly half a gallon per head more than Queensland, its nearest competitor. Its consumption of beer is about 24£ gallons per head, a quantity which is not approached by any other State, the nearest being Victoria's 12 galIons! During the ten years 1890-1900 the average consumption of malt liquors throughout the Commonwealth fell by a gallon and a half per head, whereas in New Zealand the average rose from 7.92 gallons in 1890 to 9.15 gallons in 1900, an increase in the ten years of a gallon and a quarter. The consumption of spirits also slightly increased in New Zealand in the same period, and fell considerably in the Commonwealth. With regard to tobacco, the average consumption has changed but little in the last tea years, the reduction in some States being made up by increases in others. Victoria smokes annually half a pound less per bead, but the mining population of West Australia has raised that State's average by store than a pound, and New Zealand

and Tasmania also smo!:e. mo r e «Hj^^P J did a decade ago. West Austral* vj|B ' the list with 4.391b per liead while New Zealand is fourth with and South Australia last with ktTfljß two pound?. When .ur. CogMja' to work out the annual value o! tralias food and drink he deals a, figure. Hβ the cost of tjj viding the food and beverages, other<«£■ intoxicants, in Australia in 1901 upon fifty millions sterling, and witkiJa toxicants added, as slightly more |£1 s:xty.thN-e and a half milliocs. SJl< coims to ll.ld per inhabitant per JJ or £16 8s lid a year, or. with the oddZ' of every r.ecc-sary expenditure, £Jj7 6d, ;i sum which is considerably i n ■of the total average cost «f |~ i-laglaad, America, Canada, and t]» (£ tiiK-nt. where Ruw-a, with a trifle £10 a head, surely touches bottom. though living appeu lß tt> luuch iv Australia than i-hsewhere, and the .sumption may k> borne out by fjcti ' ■ v few revets, in reality, as Mr (jjgt lan points out, the comparison is of lfofcW valu,-. imk'.vu one also takes at» X sideration -.ho amount erf income avails'■ for expenditure and the purchasing B