CORRESPONDENCE.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 21 November 1924, Page 5

CORRESPONDENCE.

DESPICABLE VANDALISM

(To the Editor.) Sir, —Some tjfrie ago you brought to the notice of the citizens of Ilawera the despicable conduct of some person or persons Avho had taken the flowers from the Memorial Arch. The petty pilfering of the choicest blooms ha 6 been going on for some time, and I for one intend to do my best to have it stopped. The care of. these flowers, as eA'ery one knoAvs, is in the hands of the Women’s National Reserve. The 15th NoA'ember has especial significance for me, and I, in common with other mothers, placed ' a floral tribute in the rose bowls so kindly gh’en by Mr Jones for that purpose. On Sunday morning, much to my disgust, I found the red-roses, also some of the' Avhite, had disappeared. The inside cases of the boAA'ls are so fixed that only a deliberate pull AAxmld get the flowers'out. It is up to eA’ery citizen in HaAA’era to help saA’e our memorial from such desecration. What-AA’Ould the people of London think, if flowers Avere stolen from the national memorial, the Cenotaph in Whitehall, where the humblest offering of ftoAvevs placed there by’ a poor dAveller from the slums lies side hv side Avith the most gorgeous Avreath given' by the mightiest in the land. Thanking you for A’aluable' space.—l am, etc., A. J. KING, Vice-President Women’s National Reserve.

“LEAVES FROM THE PAST.”

(To the Editor.) Sir, —In a copy of your issue- of the 15th inst., Avhioh was sent to me by a Hawera friend, I read, with considerable pleasure, the A’ery interesting reminiscences gh r en under the heading,' “Laves from the Fast.” To- one like myself Afho arrived in Port- Chalmers on the last day of 1862, the account of Mr. George S-yme’s early experiences in; the South Island was particularly interesting, and its perusal brought back to memory e\’ents almost forgotten. May I point out one small inaccuracy in the reference to the raihvay which AA’as built betAA’een Im’ercargill and the Bluff. This line, from its inception, was laid Avith iron (br steel?) rails, and it was the first section'of the Winton line, that f&m Invercargill to MakareAva, that, was laid AAnth the sin x sin wooden rails referred to. This line AA n as not constructed until some little time' after the railway betAveen the Bluff and Invercargill had been opened. I was 'Wing at the Bluff from the end of ’63 till ’66 and in Invercargill for many years a f towards.—Tam, etc., R, W. EVANS. Paeroa., 18th NoA r emher, 1924.