MUDDLESOME METHODS.

Evening Post, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 86, 11 April 1912, Page 2

MUDDLESOME METHODS.

TO THE EDITOR. Sir,— Peaceable folk are roused to the la«t pitch of exasperation by the muddlesome methods of the railway authorities, nnd insolent contempt of junior officials at the Thorndon Station.. Matters have reached a puss now when suburban passengers are treated more like* cattle than, human beings, instead of people who are paying for the service these officials are suprjosed to render. To begin with, the officials nbve'r eeem to have- any accurate^ knowledge of the smallest • matters they' may bo asked. They either cay they don't know or else they give .faulty iv« formation. , You never can toil where any particular -train will start, from, nih»' times out of ten 'ihero is no indication, given, and if -you aek. a porter tie "thinks ifc w the othei' end." A great deal ; of irritation waa caused to-day by tho locking out of the station of suburban passengers who arrived early for' the train, leaving at 12.15 midday. A respected elderly lady, resident afc Ngaio, who diffidently asked a porter (through the bars) if ,6he could possibly get on to the. olatforrn, where she could sit down, wae roughly told "no ; you can 6tay where you are and stand." After a long wait a porter said entrance was available* at the other end. 'A number of people moved in that direction only to find the gates barred againefc'them, a porter contemptuously saying they could wait, just pausing long enough to assure himself that the. bolts were all fast. A number of people had young children, one lady carrying a baby in her arme. Accordingly I scaled the picket fence and opened the gate. ' I fear, in. doing so, 1 caused a porter to get into trouble for not seeing that the gate was locked. 1 submit, sir, thi6 state of affairs* ia not to be tolerated. Law-abiding citizens should not bp provoked into having to defy publio officials in 6olf -defence. But to keep women and children and elderly people standing out in sun. or rain or wind ie just » little more than the ordinary man can put up ,with.— -I am, etc., \ A LONG-SUFFERING SUBUBBANITE. P.S.— This io not an isolated instance. This lockout has happened on many ocvasions to my knowledge, and may be a weekly occurrence, for all I know to the contrary. 9th April, 1912. >