WHAT WE EAT AND DRINK.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXXXV, Issue 17, 21 January 1903, Page 4

WHAT WE EAT AND DRINK.

. Ht Coghlan's latest volume of Aus- ' tralasian statistics, dealing with the year 1901-2, contains, amengst a host of other ' natters, some interesting information as to what we eat and drink, and the cost of bring in these colonies. The consumption of meat is, as formerly, the most striking feature of Australasian diet. We still lead the world in this respect, and the price of meat will have to rise still higher here, or come down elsewhere to something like the colonial level, before any other country approaches us. Against Australia's average annual consumption of 2641b of meat per head, America can only put forward 1501b, and Great Britain 1091b, while in Canada the quantity is but 901b a year,,and in Germany G4lb. It

. is gent rally accepted that colonials eat too much meat, bnt Dr. GressweU, the chair- ; man of the Victorian Board of Health, in referring to Mr Coghlan's figures, expressed his belief that this is partly the ; effect of the sunny climate, which, by I causing the heart to beat more frequently than in more cloudy countries, increases thevitai activities. This means an in- ":. crease in the day's work, and Dr. Gress- ' well holds chat this necessitates an addi- ',■ tto&al supply of nitrogenous food. "The ~! fact that the Australian eats more meat than the Britisher is from this point of, view a sign of an instinctive desire to satisfy a need caused by the differences j . in climate," though he admits that the! cheapness ot meat and good wages are; still greater factors in increasing the con- \ sumption. In the waiter of drink, West Australia, by reason of the excess of males in its populatku, holds the record. ; Its average annual consumption of spirits is one and a half galloos, which is nearly ' half a gallon per held more than Queens-; S. land, its nearest competitor. Its con- j sumption of beer is about 241 gallons per ; head, a quantity which is not approached j by any other State, the nearest being Victoria's 12 gallons. During the ten years 1890- 190J the avenge consumption ; ' of malt liquors throughout tho Common-: wealth fell by a gallon and a half per - bead, whereas in New Zealand the aver- - age rose from 7 92 gallons in 1890 to 9 15 ', gallons in 1900, an increase in the ten .' .years of a gallon and a quarter. Ihe : consumption of spirits also slightly ini. Creased in New Zealand in tho same' ;• period, and fell considerably in the Com- j monweakh. With regard to tobacco,! I the average consumption has changed £. but little in the last ten years, the re(^duotion in some Sta'.es being made up] t'by increases in others. Victoria smokes f • annually half a pound less per head, but [ :The mining population of West Australia <\ has raised that State's average by more' * than a pound, and New Zealand and Tupnn l "* also smoke more than-they

tdid a decade ago. West Australia heads the list with 4'391b per head per year,' ■,. -while New Zealand is fourth with E 2*381b, and South Australia last with Ik less than two pounds. When Mr CoghP. kn comes to work oat the annual value 8.. of Australia's food and drink he deals ¥? in huge figures. He estimat: s the cost' t' : of providing the food and beverages,i f: other than intoxicants, in Australia in L 1901 as close upon fifty millions ster- ] r- Kng, and with intoxicants added as & * slightly more than sixty-three and a ?'- half millions. This conies to 11 Id per | inhabitant per day, or £l6 8s lid a P a year, or, with the addition of every ||- necessary expenditure, £3B 0s 6d, a sum P which is considerably in excess of the w 'total average cost of living in England, It America, Canada, and the Continent,' |. where Russia, with a trifle over £lO a W~ head, surely touches bottom. But JL. though living appears to be much dearer ft in Australia than elsewhere, and the I* assumption may be borne out by facts w in a few tespects, in reality, as Mr fcr* Coghlan points out, the comparison is h 'of little value, unless one also takes into & t consideration the amount of income IF available for expenditure and the purW- chasing power of money.