COMMA MISSED

Evening Post, Volume CXXVII, Issue 17, 21 January 1939, Page 12

COMMA MISSED

MAY BE EXPENSIVE

The omission of. a comma from a motion on the books of the Wellington Lawn Tennis Association and a little misunderstanding may'cost the local women players who sought the Nunneiey Casket from Canterbury last week their fares down, When arrangements' were being made to send theteam away the matter of expenses naturally came up and a motion was passed to the effect that the players' travelling and accommodation expenses from the Sunday before the Casket game would be paid. All the players in the Casket team were at the New Zealand championships at Christchurch (held in the week previous to the Nunneley Casket fixture) and some of the management committee of the local association considered that as- they would be on the spot in ,any case their fares down should not be paid by the association. Others apparently thought that as they were sending a team all travelling expenses should be paid. - . > The mover of the motion, Mr. L. H. Pollock, however, had meant it to read that the players' travelling expenses, (the comma here obviously puts a different construction on it) and their accommodation expenses from, the Sunday should be paid. The seconder, Mr. E, P, Cooper, on the other hand, understood the motion to mean that enly accommodation expenses from the Sunday and the fares back to Wellington should be borne by the association, Opinion among members of the committee seems to be fairly evenly divided,

Each member of the team was to pay £2 towards her expenses and, by paying their own fares down, it would have left the association with £5 to pay. When the manager of the team (Mr. W. W. Stirling) was making his report at the committee's last meeting, however, it was revealed that he had read the motion as Mr. Pollock had intended to put^it and had paid the return fare. This brought the expenses to something more than some of the committee had expected, and lead to some argument as to the meaning and intended meaning of the motion.

Eventually Mr. PallocK gave notice of motion to have the motion altered at the next meeting to read -as he originally intended. If the motion is rescinded the team will not have to pay any more, but if it is not each member will be liable for her fare to Christchurch,