INVOLUNTARY HOSPITAL CONTRIBUTIONS.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3882, 28 December 1883, Page 4

INVOLUNTARY HOSPITAL CONTRIBUTIONS.

Tho following story in reference to involuntary hospital contributions is related by " /Egles" in the Australasian : —"Tho landlord of one of the best hotels in a country township lately engaged a bewitching but unsophisticated housemaid. It was part of her duty to take charge of the bar each morning, this being the time when the local civil servants called to obtain the stimulants necessary to brace them up for the day's exertions. Strange to say, after tho advent of the fair Lucy, the daily rceeipts of the bar fell oft seriously, and suspicion began to haunt the landlord's n-iiiui; Just as she was leaving her post one morning he entered the bar, pilled out the drawer, and found nothing in the till, although the callers that day had been exceptionally numerous. Pointing to the empty space, ho slowly said, "Look at tho till: how do you account for this?" She instantly exclaimed: "Oh, sir, this is not the till I used; this is the one," pointing to the subscription box of the local hospital which stood on the counter. The landlord was dismayed. The Hospital Committee held tie key of that receptacle into which had gone his receipts for a fortnight. But rather than apply to the Committee for a refund, and raise a laugh against himself he resolved to pocket the loss, and perform an involuntary act of charity, without even getting credit for his generosity."