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Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 13, Issue 682, 17 May 1869, Page 4

" Shouting."—We extract the following from tli'e letter of a correspondent to the Timaru Herald : —lndiscriminate " shouting " in public-houses, by long usage, has become so customary that a man is considered a "stingy fellow" who ventures to break through it. For instance : A, having business, no matter of what nature, at the " Pig and Whistle," finds there B, C, D, and E, jolly companions everyone ; and it becomes his duty, under the present state of tilings, to order " glasses round " for the company. Of course B cannot drink a glass of ale at A's expense without offering him one in return ; and so with all the others, who, having partaken of A's liberality, are bound in honor to return the compliment ; and so it would be if all the other letters of the alphabet were in company. Now here are five and twenty glasses (of something) consumed! For whose benefit ? Clearly, for nobody's but the landlord's. The men would be belter without the drink, and with the price of it in their pockets ; but the force of habit and custom is so great, that to enter a public-house and leave without going through the prescribed forms, is regarded as a positive injustice done to the landlord ; and he must be a bold man who is able to run the gauntlet of public opinion, evoked by his failure to comply with the usual practice.