Manawatu Herald. FRIDAY, APRIL 18 1890. Teh Drunkard.

Manawatu Herald, Volume III, Issue III, 18 April 1890, Page 2

Manawatu Herald. FRIDAY, APRIL 18 1890. Teh Drunkard.

Can there he a moro miserab'e and degraded object than a druken person ? Has it not become acknowledged that tho effort to reform an habitual druukard by persuasion, is impossible, and that strong repressive action is the only way such vices can be kept in subjection? We are not advocates for total ab

stinence from alcoholic liquor, though we would prefer that, to the miserable sights witnessed at times, of fairly decent men, who from the craving for dvink, chuck their man-, hood aside, and wildly gulp the clothes, the food, the happiness of their family down their throats^ leaving them to hunger and misery. We are aware that our Legislators, wisely and well, providwd certain sections ia the Licensing Act, empowering certain action being taken against some kinds of topers, but though, to many, these olauaes have been of inestimable value, yet there are many who cannot keep themselves out of the clutches, and drink them* selves to ruin and the grava The Act specifies that " when it shall be made tc appe»r in open Oourt that any person by excessive drinking of liquor misspends wastes or lessens his or hpr estate or greatly injures his or her health or endangers or interrupts the peace and happiness of his or her family " then uny two Justices may forbid the sale to him or her of any liquor by any licensed pwrson for the spauft of one year. What we dash* to direct attention to in the foregoing is, the want of j some person whose duty it is to take guch action. The wife of a drunkard will g« a long way, and bear with every ill, rather than charge her husband, in open Court, of being the beast he is, and it is almost fitting it should be so, as such an action is bound to weaken any other tie existing between them. It must be borne iv mind, that a drunkard, away from liquor, is often one of the kindest of -husband's and father, but. is too weak to withstand temptation- If the wife gets a friend to act, the friend appears at great disadvantage in Court unless it is shown he has acted in concert with the wife, and so the wife in again barred. .The language in the section is contradictory, for if a per' son is addicted to excessive drinking he must necessarily misspend and waste his esta c, ami it married r must thereby interrupt the peace and happiness of his family. Why it should have been thought important, in the prosecution of a drunkard, to assert these facts, is a little beyond our understanding, and appears to be unnecessary, and only offering a loophole for escape to ihe man, whose deeds have forced some repressive step to be taken. In the country districts in this Colony, ex* cessive drinking is indulged in most op nly, every one in the town knows of it, most deplore it, yet it is no one's duty to inform. We should like it to be made an instruction to the p lice that these cases, which must be well known to them, are ones which they should report to the Resident Magistrate, and his advice sought as to whether information should be laid. The processes in force now are extremely rough and ready. A person may apijly for an order against himself, in some moment of repentauce, and on its being granted, prohibition is partially obtained, for cm^ year. It does not appear to be of the least interest to the police to watch whether the prohibited persons still get drunk, and if they do appo.ir in public with a strang aroma of whisky and a sha!ciue9s in their walk, the constable discreetly (?) passes by on the other side. Prohibited persons get liquor in every town, and why ? because the names of the persona to whom liquor is not to be sold is only given, without a description of his height size and weight. How easy it is for a publican to be mistaken, and how very easy to say so. The prohibition order is issued for the sole advantage of the man and his family, and all costs and charges in connection with its adainustration shou'd he made a first debt due by the " prohibit "to the Urown, and wheu it is, we would suggest, that to every order issued a photograph of the •'prohibited" be attached 'for exhibition with the order. We come now to the consideration of the manner in which the Act as now in force is supervised. An order having been granted for a year is al* lowed to lapse, there being no machinery under which notice to the prohibited person or his family, or the convicting Justices, that the order will expire shortly. It if Evident that some such notice was supposed to be given, as we find " that the t-aid Justices or any two of them shall in like manner (to re* new auy such prohibition) as afore* said as to all such persons as have not in their opinion reformed wi'hin the year." This undoubtedly infers that some review of the orders al ready issued will be made, or why suggest this course when the pro* cess of making the first application is open for repeti> ion ? We read it as providing the continuance of a j restriction over a drunkard who might not agree to apply again, but whose first evidence is still helJ againßt him. But who is to move the Justices to this aot ? The clause needs an officer to execute it, or it ia valueless. We believe in the clause and ask for the officer, and we believe we shall be in the majority. In the consideration of this Act, we desire to do no more than poiut out how the same is not of the value it. might be owing! to certain omissions. The habitual drunkard h the same as an idiot, aud no steps are too strong to save himself from himself.

The Butchering Co.'s meeting is for Thursday, not Wednesday. . We understand that the hall will be opened next week forrinking. In another column Mrs Whyte offers for lease a compact farm of 195 acres close to the town. Mi- Thomai Taylor is ajiout givitig ilp the farm to has been rfenling tot aorne years from ttxd Whyte. Messrs Steven & Gorton announce that their next Stock Sale at Foxton will be held on the 7th May. Messrs Russell & Co close their hemp mill to-morrow night and Messrs Hlckfoid & Co do also. The Lessee df the tram Advertises that he willleave SaßsW on Foxton race day at 8 a.m. fetid run hi« passengers in time for the first race He will also leave Foxton at 5 30 pm, and pick up Sandon settlers at the course. •• Writing about the Fokton Racing Club's meeting, Phantom in the Manawatu Times says^ {-*Sttlettdid nominations have been received for the. hack taces, vvhich will be worth going a long way to s«, if * satisfactory adjustment of the weights be mpde. There are 1 1 ndininatrans " for MS HuUdtes, 16 for tiife Wife flat, and 24 for tb«- threequarter mile race. Altogether, although things did not at first appear very' promising, I expect to tee a successful meeting on the 23i( 1 , My final selections will appear in my nest notes. Mr Sutton, a member of the firm of Stuart, Sution & Co., interviewed the creditor oa Tuesday afternoon, and made an offer of 6s 8d in the £ cash: Those present screed to take it,, subject to rnimous conse.it oj all, and though the matter not finally settled, we believe it will be on this proposal At thejCommittee meeting of the Borough Council on Monday evening the following tenders were received : — For carting gravel to the Borough yard. T^Newth (accepted), 8s 6d per yard; T. Lind <fr.Co., 5s 3d per yard. For fencing reserves, George Langley (accepted), ss.per chain ; Spring and Trask, 11s; S. Howan, 12s. We are very glad to hear that Master Robert Wilson, the son of Mr Thorn* ■ Wilson the manager of. the ifoutoa estate, has been successful in gaining a scholarship he Competed for at the. , High School, New Plymouth. Mr G M Snelsonhas two properties for sale in Foxton, and invites offers for them. One is ft corner section by the school reserve and is nearly jf of Jan »»crte t whilst th« other section up the Moatoa road contains nearly five acres. At present we believe it is fenced in with some land Mri Purcell ii occupying. The section is dry, and commands k good view of the surrounding country. . > j The draper's shop of Messrs Murray and Casey, situated at the corner of Cuba and Ghuznee Streets Wellington, was foroibly i entered sometime on Saturday morning and 13s worth of coppers and small •hange ! Itolen. -J. Butement, brewer at Masterton wa 8 , fined £50 and cost for infringement of th c j Beer Duty Act and plant forfeited. j Mr Ellraers of the Woodville Tiramuea showed us says the Examiner & potato© weighing 3J pounds. It was 11 inches long. He also ntatea that a root from th» ' nnnie place had 40 tubers on it and weighed 12£ lbs. ■ ; : ' I Proceedings have been instituted in the Supreme Court by Messrs W. Cable <k Co., ironfounders, to, bring about the winding up of the Rangitikei Fibre Company (Limited). Their petition was presented to the Chief i Justice yesterday, and it has been directed to be heard befor.e one, of the Judges on the 25th inst. Messrs , TYavers and Izard are acting for the petitioners. An operation of considerable interest, says the Ly'teltoii Times, was successfully performed at tio Christchurch Hospital on Tuesday last. This was the removal of the tongue, from a man of about fifty yeftM of age, by a new process. The old plan, it may be. explain^; w as to obtain access to the tongue by dividing the lower jaw and laying back the two halves. The new plan is to make an incision in the cheek from the mouth to the ear, and to remove the tongue by means of two ecraseurs — instruments which cut 'by the tightening of a wire loop. One of these is introduced through the mouth, and the other through the incision in the cheek. The operation w»b so successful that the patient is expected to be able to leave his bed on Monday. By a fire at Baron Rothschild's mansion* at Waddesdon, near Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, a painting by Gainsborough, valued at £10,000, was destroyed. The opening of. the new town of Tipperary, occasioned by the evictions from Mr Smith Barry's estate, took place on 11th April, amidst great enthusiasm. The ceremony, waa performed by Messrs M. Davitt and O'Brien. The old town of Tipperary is now practically deserted. At the suggestionof the Society of Arts, the Auckland. Board of Education had resolved to hold periodical^ examinations in drawing in the public schools. The New York carpenters have given notice that they intend to go out on strike on Ist May, demanding eight hours' labour. It may possibly bo some days yet, says the New Zealand Times, before the accounts for the past financial, year are finally made up, and the exact results of the year's operations authoritatively known. We are in a position, However, to state with some confidence that when the figures shall be made public they will show a clear and indisputable surplus of revenue over expenditure for the financial year amounting to ' £110,000. Eight staoks of wheat, the property of John Hessey, Upper Plain, Masterton, were destroyed by fire on Saturday night. It is supposed to be a case of incendiarism. The | grain was partly insured. There is great excitement at Perth consequent upon a find of gold, which is said to be the richest yet made in that colony. A thousand ounces of coarse gold and nuggets has been found at Ashburton, the soene of the find. Stanley considers that an expenditure of £3,000,000 would be required before England could bring about a complete subjugation of the Soudan. In the eourße of a " character sketch " of Mr Parnell, an anonymous writer in the New Review indicates that the Irish lender is .eminently superatitisus in. trivial matters. He.. refuse to remain in a room where three candles are Wiling, and he regards green' as a peculiarly 'unlucky col ur so much that when the freedom of the city of Dublin was tto be conferred upon him he requested that the lining of the casket hould not be green but purple, the htt , being his favourite colour and conside ed by him !as very auspioious. H s chi f relaxation . is machine-making, and, if he reads at all ; he is a student of a specialist journals of . thecl»B*of Engineering" I

TJie following is one of the many jokes attributed o the late Dr Alder :— A beggar who had trespassed once too often on the kind-nearted Rabbi's generosity, threatened that unless he received further assistance hewoul* 'o to the Society for the Conversion of the Jews and become a Christian. Dr Alder remained obdurate, and dismJsdea him, saying that he hoped he would make a better Christian than Jew. The beggar left the office, but was summoned back by the Chief Kabbi's beadle. He returned, jubilantly expecting to make his own terms with the "Rao." The latter, however, calmly said, "I am afraid that if you walk o the society's office you will have time to. change your mind. I'll send you there in a cab." The beggar made himself aoarce. The Wellington Jubilee Committee have a net surplus of £250. There was a long disoussion the other night about the disposal of this money, some being in favor of ejecting an obelisk or similar commemorative structure, and some wishing to hand the amount over to the Public Library fund, it was eventually decided to entrust it to a committee, who abovjld dispose of it as they saw fit; It is 1, that a momorial will be effected. ' ■ . Kawaii is'arid, purchased from Sir George Grey two years ago by Mrs Thompson, hts, been gold by that lady to Mr W. D. Halgats and Mrs P. A. Buxton, of Victoria. f The Post says Holt, the ex-prisoner, and ex-manager of the Bank of New Zealand, is sail to have dropped into a good billet in Sydney. Tuesday and Wendesday were very W' and the farmers looked, quite happy dabb* ling about in the rain, and it was much needed. The privileges for the Foxton Racing Club's Autumn meeting wore sold by public auotion yesterday by Messrs Tbyane Linton & Co. The following prioss were obtained from the various lots. The gates £17 10a Mr Smith. The Lawn and saddling paddocks £22, Mr Smith. The two Publican's booth £10, Mr Lai-sen, Correct cards £3 10a Mr JJradcook, Refreshment booth £1 Mr Top. Many estimates have been made as to the value the flax industry lias been to tlie Colony* The figures that we have been nble to obtain of the quantities despatched from this town alone, emphasize this in a most marked' manner. For the past twelve months 28.000 bale* have been handled at the whpri, 4,000 bales having been received by rail, 10,000 by the Tramway; 12,500 by dray 9, 500 by river, and .1000 despatched by rait. These quantities may be roughly said to equal 5,600 tons which at £20 a ton meant £112,000. Not a bad year'a won;. The man Frederick Ross who wai placed on his trial at the Wanganui Supreme Court, charged with having stolen £4 from Henry Hoskins P* ppin iv January lust at Foxton, was fonnd " not gu : Uy." Constable Tapp prosecuted. The marriage of Miss Hannah Cameron, third daughter of Mr Thomas Cameron, Halcombe, to Mr R. McDonald, of Horowhenua, took place on Thursday lastsayß the Advoccue at the Catholic Church, Halcombe, the Rev. Father Patterson, of Palmerston, officiating. There was a large attendance of friends and relations, who most attentively listened to a very appropriates sermon from the clergyman. After service they retired with friends and relations to the bride's home, where they sat down to a most enjoyable repast, and in the afternoon the happy couple took their departure^ the mail train to Horowhenua, where they intended to settle down. Stanley has left Brindisi for London via Paris. His reception in London takes place, on the 2nd prox., and the Prince of Wales will preside on the occasion. Mr David Hean, who was sent from London to investigate the affairs of the Bank of New Zealand, replying to inquiries made by the London office early in April, states that the properties of the institution are being re-valued, and so far the prospects are encouraging. Murdoch .captain of the Australian Eleven, denies that the object of the team in visiting England is to make money out of gate reoepta. He says that on the contrary it is true love of the game that induced the eleven to make the trip.