The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1877-03-20 00:00:00

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GOSSIP OF THE TIMES.

"From gay tn grave, from lively to severe."

_
People slispneol to be hard on the I -onservatives thol area
that " beer and the Bible" carried the last general election.
I won't stop to discuss whether that was true or not; lout,
if trite, the rillianee is getting rather shaky. The Chureh
of England leniperance Society are going to do what they
can to diminish the sale of beer, for where a man took a
pint before he is now only to have half-a-pint and less and
letss afterwards, on the prineiple, says Mr. Sargant. Pi
" progressive reduction." It was rather an astounding
thing to see the Vicar of Holy Trinity. beside* the Rev.
M. Stephenson' of St. John's, alongside that determined
teetotaler, the Rev. T. Greaves. ,m Thursday night, for
what would holy Trinity pisrisholo without Mr. Devenish
and Mr. Groves! But it stems to prove that, after all the.
coals of fire which have been heaped upon the heads of
brewers, wine enerchants, an.l pulolicans alike, there
really ins hearty desire to get rid of the frightful evils of
drunkenness. And if the parish which c attains Hope-
square ia really in earnest, and they have the enarage
It eir convictions, a great reform is coming on. The
Mayor, too, whose great stores in Maiden-street have •
I corner or two for other things than tea ant sugar, and
whose many I.dtles anal barrels look temptingly up St.
Mary-street—his Worship was there listening to • total
abstainer ! All this is a sign of real moderation, first in
those whose interests would seen, bound up with the
liquor traffic, and notaloly in the temperance advocate
who so wisely abstained from repelling non-altstainers by
abuse, for he remembered that--
the that's convinced against his a ill,
Is of the same opinion still."
AO.l it was a clever thing to try to draw anal bend the
wills of good men to book the soil.ject in the (see. The
Goal Tempters have haul a heavy time of it, anal some
have been beaten by the very weight of the work; lout the
Church of Eagland Society. seeming to aim low, may hit
the mark. The fact that 1:117.0011,110) are invested in the
production, and that £1.16.0e05.110, are spent yearly on
drink, should lead teetotalers toconsider what is the want
that all this expenditure meets. Such vast vested
interests cannot be sacrificed, and we must look to science
to discover a pleasing drink without the harm, then we
are quite sure that men of high character and position,
men of philanthropic aims and refined tastes, will hasten
to manufacture the beverage that w-ill not bring on them
seek ill names as they are often called.

The " Churchiness" of the society may provoke to
jealonsly some .if our Dissenting brethren I hops it will
provoke to love and good works. It must be admitted
that the Church of England pretty well practises the
TM/WU "Pas est 0 al, And doceri," and if it does attain
the secondary object of keeping its own people together
by Sunday School Unions, guilds, and now by temperance
societies, who can blatue /

It is to be hoped that fun for the people will be thought
of by Churchmen who want to bring us to half-a-pint
instead of a pint " I Wean, thou art virtuous shall there
be no more rakes and ale F' should be met by a hearty
sympathy with the spirits of those who see jay in this
bright world. More praise end less sermonising in Divine
service, more of heaven, and shorter denunciations will
lie powerful helps. And let temperance be practised by
preachers as well as drinkers, awl those who have reduced
their pint to halfa-pint he rewarded by reduction of the
sermon from an hour to half an hour, 'slide "progressive
reduction" way land us at that point where we shall drink
no more, and listen to no more than will do IN Wool, Oil
so, without sleeping in church, get as much on the Sofia
as we can of those three health-keepers

"Joy, and temperance, and rep..e."

For, be it remembered, most of us -have to put up with
Weymouth, not only when green leaves are Mout : but in
the dead, dark winter, when we long, as reverend gentle-
men do, to hie to the south, and bring lock refreshing
memories of sunny Spain.
Vested interests have a right to ask that teetotal
refreshments shall be charged at fair micas and not at
such as leave no profit, if the promoters of a " British
Workman" come into competition. Non-abstainers, soy
Mr. Sargant awl Mr. Greaves, are to lay hold of public,
hoeses awl sell non-intoxicating refreshtnents. But they
ought not to do so at or under cost price. "Fair play Is
a jewel," and if they subsidise the new !loose, or sell
their drinks too cheaply, not the licensed victuallers, hut
the existing coffee-houses, will be in danger of being
driven out the field.

The moderation of the society referred to reminds me
that the taints have kept the middle way." Ind that is
an awkward thing when an election is hanging on your
casting vote. Such was the 1.7.10 at the election of School
Moan' Inspector, and our worthy Mayor haS been abused
be,MlOB he chose to have a will of his own. I have great
respect
ncefor
Mr
rfiroirger who boa
to tenat.le,r :I:niry'ra;;lthaenr
introduction to public life ; but I don't believe he I.llVieN
Mr. Pickard the little appointment be has gained. Ilesides
Mr. Lee's popularity ill so great as to rend oil me of a tale
of (I think) Grossanith. the great , .at our old
Literary Institut* . "t speaker w;,, addre...aaa a
public meeting, when in the anidat of a IMlltelll.o lie beard
a great blind of applause. Gratified at the stmts.,'
honour, he routinued ; but the applause dr. Mlll'4l inio
yoke, and then he now the lanalienee rising to their feet
while a military•l•mkinz man walked up, hushing and
smiling on all sides. 'Whit gallant °Meer is that r said
the leeturer, aside, to the Chairman. ' Dan% you know r
said the latter, in a high whisper, heard all round ' that
is the most popular °nicer in the town: he is the relieving
%nicer !'" I should he sorry ton see Mr. Lee taking his
popular relieving-othcership, and honoured quartermaster-
sergeantship to the unpopular hunting up of "vulgar
little boys.

Information has reached Tile that the advanced Liberals
did not oppose Mr. 11.41er out of wilfulness at the
election of auditors, hut that they nominated Mr. Brown
because some of them did not feel certain that Mr.
Hodder was going to stand. Considering who have bevn
advanced Liberals hitherto, it seems either that " there's
another good man gone wrong," or that we are nearing
that political millennium in IVe3mouth, a copy of the
fabulous time—" When none was for a party ; when all
were for the State." If the latter is the fact, there
ought not to have been such a division and such a fuss
about the election of Mr. Pickard or Mr. Lee as School
Inspector.

When shall we see the interior of the Market-house
turned to some good account : In the days of my boyhood
we had a really good market, though the poor r 'entry
people did have to bear the changes of weather under
their moveable stalls. My schoolfellows and I were
serving our apprenticeahip when the great struggle
between the sites was raging, and when fellow-townsmen
seemed to hate each other, all on the question whethei
the Market-house should be in the principal thoroughfare,
or in that wide space offered lw the "Johnstone estate."
All that feeling has happily died flown ; but those who
fought for the Friary would scarcely have expected such
a mere fringe of occupation ea we get for the outer Malta,
leaving a "beggarly account lif empty boxes" within. It
WM happy that our worthy Town Clerk was able to
announce the other day that some more of the Market.
house space WM% likely to let, and I may be rwilone.l for
a little inirsitience if 1 ask—when it is to come ?
It ;s preposterous that so large a space in the very heart
of the town can be kept just for an occasional occupant
of a fraction of the room, or as an accommodation for
empty packages or metre stores. If the renter mentioned
I lots not come forward soon, I hope sonic of the Council
will propose a winter garden or aquarium, or something
else pleasant there. Why! between the pillars there is
plenty of room for a large assembly room, without inter.
ferin,g with the fringe of stalls outside.
Now that everybody is eribliimr and copying, and rut-
tingoint other people's the Dramatic Author's
Society is manfully standing up for literary copyrights.
Even in our own town, I hear a whisper that the repre-
sentation of a copyright play was noticed, and calmed
some trouble, although the name of the piece had been
altered. Agents of the society only do their duty when
they prevent piracy, and I am a little surprised that a
lover of the sock and buskin should attempt to alter the
name, while cribbing the dialogue. It shows the necessity
of consulting one who really understands these matters
before meddling with stage plays, or those who get round
the corner too sharply, may find themselves in a tix.

A leather medal was the appropriate reward of one of
the hldfellows' depoties at the Weymouth meeting of the
A.M.C., and a similarly valuable badge boo Lately been
bcstowed on a Weymouthian, who pulled out of the Rack-
water one who had thus gained the freedom of the
borough. The gallant salvor applied for a medal, with a
hint as to a rise of his pension, and it was found that he
had expose 1 his valuable life in water lli inches deep. So
glorious an act was commemorated toy a leaden rnedal,
bearing the words, in raise I letter, "Weymouth Custom,"
and an engrossed testimonial witnessing that he had
palled a man out of half-a-yard of water. What of the
Victoria Cross after that
Half.seyard is a serious matter when 'tin a cubic halt'
yard of Portland beach. The Surveyor to the Portland
Local Board found the sam, trouble that other employers
do ;his men wanted to "wash down" their work. Along
tame Mr. Ward, the contractor, who is a generals soul,
and" stood" a pint round, and we must suppose that this
" wetting" made the pebbles work in. But the Surveyor,
having a tender regard for the contractors' purse, made up
his mind to credit him with a quarter or a half-yard of
pebbles more than be hail hauled, in order "to half pay
for the drink," and, oddly enough, toll Mr. Mabey, who
was on the look out to check him. This matter occupied
sixteen gentlemen of the Board for over an hour, and the
discussion was flavoured with such strong !Armitage that
the Editor could not publish the whole. To crown the
matter, the Board divided evenly on the question whether
the Surveyor should be cautioned or not, and the Chair-
man, disagreeing with the strong language, gave his cast-
ing vote that he should not be cautioned by the Board.
After this who will say that L real Board; ought not to be
reported, word for word.

I am very glail that Superintendent Vickery is not
allowing the attack mein the Social Evil to rest with the
prosecution and conviction .4 the abominable Ridding.
The question I asked a fortnight ago—" Who introduced
the young girl" to bail? he is trying to answer, and think
he has brought the crime home. Even if they were women
who did it, as he believen, it iv to be hoped they may be
severely punished. 'A shameless woman in the worst of
men;" but the poor little wretches who appeared in the
Police. Court are to be pitied, compared with the loathing
and hatred which must be felt for any she-demon who
brought them into their de,perate state. The Govern-
ment, too, must look into the condition of our soldrs and
sailors and lessen the dancers which gnaw into, and come
out again from, our forces of defence.

A kind friend, to whom I am much indebted, and whom
I thank very much, has sent me the following formidable
array of Queries. Perhaps some of the readers of the
Tacgrenn can answer them more easily than I can, for
some of them are among- as Lord Dundreary says—
" those things that flaw fellah can snake out." In the way
of answers, 'the smallest contributions will be thankfully
received."
DISCEXS.

I,4CESTIONS FOR DISCENS.

- - -
It is stated in a Southern contemporary that a bicyzle
club has been opened, and that The Club will he open to
any person not residing in the town." Can Ulla be called
• Ipcsi club
. . . . _

,
In last week's issue of the T•legram it is stated that the
borough assessor, are y.erinitted to sit on the coveted seats
on the Bench when revising the voting lists' with the
Mayor. Must the armors on these occasions wear billy
cock lets

Now that education is spreading her beautiful golden
wings right end left, the question has arisen "see not tbe
Dissenters sufficiently strong in Weymouth to support a
British Setool r

,
In neighbouring towns there are borough auditors and
a Mayor's auditor. Who is the Mayor's auditor in
Weymouth ?
In the town of Weymouth there is one policeman for
every KU of the population. How many could do the
work if the publichouses were reduced one half
The out-door relief in near)) all the unions in Dorset-
shire was less in IK6 than in IIC5: then why should it
have been much greater in Weymouth