RAILWAY TRAVELLING-A REPLY. TO THE EDITOR OF THE PRESS.

Press, Volume LIII, Issue 9306, 6 January 1896, Page 6

RAILWAY TRAVELLING-A REPLY. TO THE EDITOR OF THE PRESS.

Sir, —A friend from tho New Zealand Land o' Cakes has thought fit to impugn the management of railway travelling at Christchurch. A. McDonald ha.s, from the geueral tono of his complaint, taken a very strange .view of the ca*c, and has not a very ingenuous account of wh«,t took place between himself, the ever-obliging station master, and tho occupants of the bogejcarriage.

If your correspondent had related what occurred upon his interviewing the station master, giviog the exact language used by him on thac occasion, his complaint would assume a rather different complexion. It he had been amenable to reason in the slightest degree, there would not have ari.en any occasion for parading the fancied tribulations of his lady friend, as the station master offered personally to see to the required accommodation—which at the time was ample—but was too busy to stand to be hectored, even by so important a personage as Arthur McDonald, ot Duoediu.

Oi course a certain allowauce must be made for the evolved A. McD., as the feelings caused in him by the appearance of the "Dark Ages" occupants of the bogey carriage must nave been somewhat akin to the effect produced by the proverbial red rag upon another species of the animal kingdom. I have had considerable opportunities of witnessing the actions of the Cnristchurch Station Master, and have never seen or heard anything in connection with his management but what has been—irrespective of class or creed—quite in keeping with the character of a bu3iness-liko and courteous gentleman.

I cannot help adding that as the process of evolution continues, separating us from the " Dark Ages" and bestowing its benign influence, as manifested in the epistle of Arthur McDonald of Dunedin, one feels inclined to the belief that the acme of perfection is being rapidly reached, and the millennium of peace and goodwill on earth close at hand.—Yours, Sec, A.H.B.