HOTELKEEPERS IN TROUBLE A SALVATION ARMY LEADER

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2273, 6 October 1914, Page 7

HOTELKEEPERS IN TROUBLE

A SALVATION ARMY LEADER

TROOPERS'' LAST SUNDAY IN PALMERSTON. (By Telegraph.—Special Correspondent.) Palmerston N., Ootober 5. During their last Sunday in Palmerston the members of the Expeditionary Force and their friends increased their sooinl 'party at Devine's Empire Hotel by 63 more than usual, and caused the staff such extra work and bustle that they were responsible, according to Mr. Devine's explanation to the Magistrate yesterday, for his committing a breach of the Licensing Act. This breach, to which ho pleaded guilty, consisted in selling liquor during closed hours. Ho regretted the occurrence. Ho had been a hotelkeeper in Palmerston for thirteen years and had built up a good reputation. The trouble had occurred through a door having been opened to admit a boarder, when several others orowded in.. ' i

Mr. Poynton, S.M., said that he would not endorse the license, but would impose a' fine of £5 and costs. Under somtewhat similar circumstances, Samuel Paul committed a similar breach at the Phoenix Hotel. His lawyer, said his client had allowed his patriotism to overcome his better judgment. A similar fino .was imposed. . Two of tho customers concerned in the cases were fined £1, with 'costs 7e., each. .

A good deal of discussion has been waged iii the English Press 011 the sub- .• i 6o * l °f aggressively-sounded motor horns and it is - only too clear—now that automobile locomotion is the predominant form of traction—that the public is paying dearly for, the perfection of the motor-car. -England, says the "Car,", is the only country where the silent car is appreciated; and when in the early day 6of prejudice the opinion of the man in the street was based on two objections—that the motorcar was a "rattle-trap" and" always breaking down —British manufacturers addressed themselves just as sedulously to the task of removing one objection *s the other. In this tidy have succeeded to a far more remarkable extent t'han_ their foreign rivals, and the result is that the streets of London have become a pandemonium by: day and night owing to the ceaseless sounding of motor-horns. . vBut is there any way out. of the appalling difficulty? 'Hie-motor-car no longer heralds its own approach, and from sheer necessity the: driver must give audible warning of''his approach by other means —whether" as a direct ' method of averting an otherwise certain accident or as a measure; of precaution when approaching a corner. No doubt the thing is overdone,' but how and where is the line to be drawn? Tho law says that audible 'framing must be given, and in every' accident case that comes into the law; 'police or coroners' courts, the tirst question to be asked of the driver is always : "Did you sound your horn?" and his affirmative reply is always countered by the evidence .of_ witnesses who -aver' that ho did nothing of the kind! In self-do. fence, therefore, the motor-car driver must endeavour to leave no room for doubt as to whether he complies with the law or not, for every 1 time he errs on the side of • moderation he is likely to meet with an accident and an overwhelming majority of witnesses who did not hear his horn. a 6 compared with those who did. Of inconsiderate hornblowing, of course, there is plenty; but how is it to be checked?