6 NOVEMBER 1936, Page 23

[To the Editor of TI1 E SeEmeroft.] SIR, — Mr. Angus Watson,

in your issue of October 10th, said : " In 1908 the convictions for drunkenness in Carlisle num- bered 300 ; in 1916, 950 ; and in 1932, 49."

He ought to have explained why the 1916 figure was so high. It was chiefly because the City, particularly at week-ends, was, with its public houses, overcrowded with workers from the huge Gretna Munitions Factory—people who did not belong to Carlisle.

The improvement shown by comparing the 1932 figure with that for 1908 can, I think, be claimed for almost every other town in Britain.—Yours faithfully,

WILLIAM VAN SCHAICK.

Yonderton, Laurel Road, St. Helens, Lancs.