The Feilding Star. Oroua & Kiwitea Counties Gazette. Published Daily. SATURDAY, FEB. 23, 1895. A BLOW AT TOBACCO.

Feilding Star, Volume XVI, Issue 201, 23 February 1895, Page 2

The Feilding Star. Oroua & Kiwitea Counties Gazette. Published Daily. SATURDAY, FEB. 23, 1895. A BLOW AT TOBACCO.

The Factories Act is uot going to be allowed to rust for want of us£. W« are informed by telegram from Wellington that : " The Inspector of Factories has issued a circular to hotelkeepers, pointing out that if. they sell, or expose for sale, tobacco, cigarettes,

or cigars, their premises will come within the designation of a " shop " under the interpretation clause of the Shop and Shop Assistants Act, and they will have to close their licensed premises on the Statutory half-holiday. Mere abstention from selling cigars, cigarettes, or tobacco on that half-day will not suffice ; they must altogether give up keeping such articles for sale or selling them at any time." No doubt this is perfectly within the limits of the Act, and therefore the Inspector is justified in what he has done Still, an unnecessary hardship will thus be inflicted on travellers who hitherto, when they arrived at their journey's end, have been able to depend on the hotel where they stayed for for their supplies of the nicotian weed We confess that persons who dislike tobacco may bb gratified, but as they are a " miserable minority " their joy will be but a poor compensation for the maximum of misery travelling smokers are now to have inflicted on them. We expect that tobacconists will, after next session, be compelled to take out licenses for the sale of their wares.