LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1131, 19 May 1911, Page 6

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

ANGRY TRAVELLERS. Sir,—l am glad that at last someone of tho numerous travellers who travel to Pictou, Nelson, and the W-e:,t C'oa.st has had tho pluck to voice his grievance. ■ It is simply disgusting the way passengers are detained at Picton when on (he way to this port, and especially on Saturday Slights. I have had the ill-luck to bo placed on two or three occasions in tho Kimc position as Mr. W. .1. Hopkins. On the last occasion, the passengers for here were advised Ijy the notice board on the I'ateena, which was put up after her arrival from Nelson, that, the vessel would leave at 5.30 p.m. This was on a Saturday. Soon after the time was altered to 7 p.m., and as a matter of fact she did not leave until 8.15, with the resultthat those, who lived on the outskirts could not get to their homes except by walking, or the southern passengers catch their boat. All this delay arose from tho fact that a lot of chaff that came in from Blenheim by the 5.45 train was taken on board. This chaff could easily have been kept in Blenheim until the Tuesday's boat, and so allowed tho passengers who wanted to get south to do so. Mr. Kennedy, the manager of the company, in his reported interview with A reporter of your evening contemporary simply bsgs the question. He de'nies the fact as to tho number of passengers being that mentioned by Jlr. Hopk'in?, but does not state whether none of them were for the south, nor the fact that the boat was late, due to the shipment of cargo. Jlr. Kennedy states in his report that passengers on tho steanKrs that arrive after 10 o'clock at night are allowed to remain on board. I am certain this is not generally known, as I havo known passengers who inquired on their late arrival, if they could remain on board, given an answer that was not satisfactory, so the passengers left. A few years ago a decent lot of fruit was placed upon the tables—now it seemii to be very poor quality indeed. As to the so-called supper that is put on to the table about 9.30 p.m. for the passengers b> the expresses from the south. On the Maori it is miserable. I saw on tho table last Saturday night a few plates of water and brown biscuits, a couple of plates of cheese, some butter, bread, and a plate or two of lettuce leaves and spring onions, and this for over 5U passengers, who are charged 355. for a return ticket, and 2s. Gd. and .'js. for certain cabin's. I am not in favour of the Government running too many mercantile concerns, but I think it is time it came in and ran its own ferry steamers. Let other travellers who have suffered cont.ributo a letter to the papers—it may influence the company, but I am afraid not. I ask Jlr. Kennedy, who, in his report to the reporter, does not think it any hardship for a passenger who wants to. catch" tho 11 p.m. southern steamer, and does not for the reasons mentioned above, whether ho will pay the expenses of those passengers while detained in Wellington until they can leave by Monday's boat What is tho Post Office doing in connection with this constant delay in forwarding tho southern mails? I am under the impression that the steamer has to leavo port within a very short time after the mail is put on board. Is that Department cognisant, of tho fact that the steamer though advised to leave at 5.15 is at times not ready to leave until 8.1S? Will some P.O. official answer this ?—I am, etc., ANOTHER PASSENGER.

Sir,—l am one. of those unlucky persons whoso misfortune it was'to book a passage from Picton on' the , Pateena on Saturday night. The same night my wife arrived in Wellington alone and a stranger with a littlo girl, from tho north. A stranger myself, I was unable to make any arrangements, and wired her to meet me-about 9 or 9.30 p.m. at tho wharf. This was about the time the Pateena should have been in Wellington. ' My wifo was thero to timo with our child, but not so the Patcena, which was at that timo just nosing her way up tho Sounds The night was intensely cold, yet there they waited afraid to leave lest they should miss me, until full midnight, half famished. Sir, I consider it was simply—well, you would not publish what I think! Whoever was responsible for tho stupid business of keeping all those people waiting about for a few truck-loads of barley (another argument for the. Prohibitionists) should be grilled forthwith.—l am, etc., SAM PEL HAWKER,

Sir,—A strong protest has at last been voiced by tho long-suffering public in the .disgraceful way they are treated when voyaging from Picton to Wellington. The Patcena seldom leaves to time, and no -Olio tries to carry it out. This vessel can leavo Nelson and Wellington punctually as advertised, because in these places they have a system and no matter how much cargo has to be shipped,'• arrangements are made by which it is all got on board or shut out by sailing time. But there is no system in Picton. The Union Company blame the Railway, and tho Railway blamo the company, and so they pull against each other and the mismanag'.ioent goes on. Ti;': Patcena, as a rule, reaches Picton at -i p.m. from Nelson, and a goods train from Blenheim is also supposed to arrive at that hour, but it generally crawls in about half-past four, and by the time tho cargo is weighed and shunted, it is quito five o'clock, when the steamer should be preparing to depart. But instead of that she just settled down to two or three hours' steady work, and goes when finished—at any hour; for niore cargo often comes down by the passenger train, and sho is delayed to receivo this also. The advertisement to ship by an early train is taken no notice of at all. If thb Pateena should arrive at .1 p.m. the samo thing goes on. No cargo is ready, and it is all taken in-at a late hour. Being a frequent traveller I have known the steamer to bo kept waiting an hour actually, for the cargo to ho weighed; at other times it can't be found for some time, or it is somewhere up the line, and there is no engine to bring it down, and so the steamer waits—and the passengers suffer. Then another delay is occasioned by waiting for tho luggage-van which is always at the end of the train, instead of next the engine, where it could bo quickly cut off and shunted down to. the steamer at once, instead of waiting half an hour for it. There is no reason why tho Pateena should not arrivo in Wellington before ten o'clock every night. She is dispatched early from Nelson for this purpose, and the delay in Picton is particularly hard on the Nelson passengers. Women, with young children, land in Wellington at all hours of tho night, after hotels and accommodation houses are shut, and sometimes trams all stopped for the night. It is simply intolerable and the public has stood enough.—l am, etc., TIME FOR A CHANGE. SCHOOL FOOTBALL. Sir—ln your columns this morning, I saw a letter from a Jlr. George Howe ro the Marist Brothers' application to play in tho schools competitions. The sonic letter has already appeared in tho "Times." I suppose ho is so proud of tho production that he has handed it on to you for wider circulation. The tone of the letter is hardly up to the standard of your usual correspondents. Tho letter, sir, is impudent and impertinent. In it he tries to make capital out of the Temarks of one of the members of the Public Schools Union, and imputes all manner of things to the rest. Tho only member he has any good word for is our president, and I don't think he will feel very proud to be specially mentioned in such an offensive letter. . In the first place, Jlr. Howe is writing about an institution ho knows nothing of, and the welfare of which ho cares less. Tho Schools Union has never claimed to supply football for all and sundry of school age, though the Wellington Rugby Union would like it to. Tho union is a private one, not a public one. It. was formed with the object of organising the games of tho public schools, and for the purpose of engendering' a good spirit in the play among these schools. It does not look to the public in any way for support. It was not formed by tho Wellington Rugby Union, nor at their suggestion. Up to the present the two unions have worked . hand-iii-liaiicl, Now, because the Wei-

lington Rugby Union wants us to take on something which we, by ;v large majority, consider detrimental to our own union, we see in print that members of the senior union talk of the rotten state of school football—its mismanagement, etc., etc.—and even run to the New Zealand Rugby Union with their tale of woe. If the Wellington Kugby Union, on receiving our lirst refusal, had asked us to co-operate with them in starting an open schools competition under their auspices, \ am qnile certain that quite a number of teachers would willingly have assisted, and our private competition would not have been interfered with. Instead of that, f-omo members of the unioi, have talked and attempted to bounce the Schools Tnimi to do what thev wanted, and have thus given uic/i like George Howe a chanco to. sling ink and drag in religion, etc. If, instead ol the Marist Brothers' School, a private school of any other denomination had applied, I can assure you they would li.ue received the same reply. -~,,„ AVe may from a sport point of viev, ue accused of narrowness, thoush I seo that in the report of one of the W.K.I), meetings on this same question one of the monitors in a discussion re starting a schools competition said "that it all tho schools came in it would be too unwieldy'" aud, sir, after reading the report of the N.Z.R.U. meeting and the opinions they hold of kindred games, 1 am convinced that we must look up o them as "the sports' Jn Noyr Zealand. All we claim, sir, is this: That as .i private institution -.ve, and we only, shall decide the scope of our work. If wo are of the opinion that, for tho best working of our competitions, our claes;fleation of schools is the best for our purpose, neither the W.R.U. nor a section of the public has any rignt to try and bounce us into something else. Wo havo never claimed, nor have. wo any wish to claim, that wo are an institution for the fostering of Rugby, ior our purpose any other winter game would nave suited us as well. But we do claim, sir, in what may to some appear narrow confines, the right to foster clean play and good comradeship among tho boys \vs work with. We also claim that wo havo fostered good Rugby, and are stiii doing so. I also think that, though the field may be narrow (all boys attending public schools in Wellington and suburbs), the W.R.U. has cause to be thankful that it is their game wo take, and are willing to look after this part of tho sport for them. 1 think, sir, if you taKO the trouble to go round the various schools and see the work put in by considerably more than four or five teachers, you will be of the same opinion that I am—that from a Rugby point of view the public school teachers of this city do solid work. Of course I am aware that tho Rugby taught is not the "down and out" fort that a certain section of tho Rugby public applaud. 1 see also that the W.R.U. is coinplaining that tho schools Rugby is not as good as it used to be. 1 ask them to consider this: We do' not get the material now we had in past years. In years past we had seventh standards to draw from. There were boys who spent one or two years longer with us then than the average pupil does now. Just as a boy becomes big enough and sturdy enough to play a good game he leaves us for the high school or work.. If those interested would take the trouble to see ' our competition at work on a Friday afternoon and seo the shrimps that are playing in our senior competition, they would agree with me that for their sizo and ago their Rugby compares very favourably with tho adult players of this city. Another member of the W.R.U. complains that the headmasters of this city have been called on to express- an opinion' oh the matter. Who is responsible for that? Why the W.R.U. They appealed to tho headmasters; they sent a deputation to the Headmasters' Association, and asked for an opinion. The headmasters listened to what they had to say, and in fairness to us called a special meeting and invited our union to attend and placo our views on tho matter before them. They, after very careful consideration of the matter, not only in respect to one branch of sport, but: in reference to all branches for all would be affected by a change in one, expressed the. opinion that they wero in agreement with us in the stand wo took, that schools other than public should be excluded. The headmasters havo in no way tied our hands, and havo expressed their satisfaction and confidence in us for the way we have organised and managed tho school game. Another thing that seems to stick in the throat of some of these so-called enthusiasts is tho matter of tho passes to the Athletic Park. The W.R.U. gavo those passes to the boys as an incentive to the boys in our schools to play Rugby and to the teachers as some slight recognition that they appreciate tho work dono by theso teachers. Tho "soccer" people who aro not so favourably placed as to grounds and are able to charge for admission only two or three times in tho year, send along to each school'a large number, of freo tickets for distribution among school boys to their games. They, it seems, have no wish to increase their funds by taking from the schoolboy his hard-earned three-penny-piece. No, sir. I think that any benefits the W.R.U. have bestowed on tho Public Schools Union have been well earned by that union. And further, I think that the W.R.U. has shown very bad taste indeed in giving to tho tfublic an impression that the Schools Union has refused the Marist Bros, because they are Marist Bros., and so created a feeling of injury in the minds of many of our friends who hold different religious views to some of us.—l am, etc., A DELEGATE TO THE SCHOOLS UNION.