CORRESPONDENCE.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLVIII, Issue 8095, 26 September 1904, Page 2

CORRESPONDENCE.

THE WEST COAST PRODUCE EXCHANGE. '

(To the Editor.) Sir,— The inference one is likely to draw from the letter in Saturday's issue by "Meed to Merit" is that the honor is due to Mr Major. Such is not tho case. Tho facts are these : Three years ago Mr John Holmes, of Wellington, proposed through your columns the starting of a dairy exchange; you thought the matter important enough to further press the need by a leading article. Mr Major was Mayor at this time, but no steps were taken to form such an exchange. A few weeks ago Mr Holmes a second time brought the matter before the public through your largely circulated paper ; you again by means of a leader urged the advantages of such an exchange. Mr Holmes' Tetter appeared on the Friday; the leading article on the Monday. The Mayor (Mr B. C. Robbins) with his usual promptness in moving in matters that are for the good of the town and district, had a falk with you and spent fully an hour with Mr Holmes as to the working of such an oxchange. The outcome was that Mr Rob- J bins had a talk with Mr Wilson, Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce, and a meeting was called for Monday afternoon. On the motion of Mi Robbins it wbb de- . cided to form an exchange, and further to wire to all the buyers and send circulars to all the sellers to meet at Hawera on Thursday, the Bth inst. The day following, Tuesday, Mr Major wired the Mayor and the Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce, urging the calling of a meeting to deal with tho proposal. One of his friends wired a reply, "Too late; you missed the 'bus." To whom is the honor due? Mr Holmes for his letter, the Editor of the Star for prnssing the importance of such an exchange, and last, but not least, to Mr Robbins for his promptness in bringing the Chamber together and moving in the formation of the exchange and piloting it through the first stages. — I am, etc., E. DIXON.

THE TELEPHONE INCIDENT.

(To the Editor.)

Sir, — We now know who the messenger was who behaved so ungallantly to the postmistress when he was sent to the post office to get a message sent to the doctor, and who so unblushingly wishes to gain notoriety by rushing into print. Many a man by signing his name to a newspaper letter, especially if that name is a high-sounding one, thinks he has. done a very brave thing, when in reality he is showing a callousness and effrontery which robs his letter of any importance it might otherwise have. Your correspondent asks ny» what right and upon what ground I interfere in this matter. Even at the risk of letting a lady rest under a most unwarrantable and wilful stigma, I can honestly and straightforwardly say I would never have interfered if I had known, as I know now, who the messenger was. I decline even to go to Auroa and dip him in the pond, for there comes a tini'3-when even our indignation turns to pity when we know the source of things He says he gives me the lie direct. I care nothing for that; I only blush for the correspondent with the high-sounding name, for haying spread his oaths, threats, and contradictions around. My writing the truth and following them up would be like what old Gorgon Graham describes "as trying to round up a stampeded herd of steers when the scare was on them." Those to whom he refers by name must sign that prayer of "being saved from their friends, for no man or woman would care to be mixed up in such a disgraceful business. But for the cap fitting so well the messenger's name would never have been seen in print, and the mere fact that it does fully proves th© truth of all mv statements, for I only referred to inr-dents. Now the public have to judge for themselves, as matters hav>a been placed before them, and more especially by the messenger, who really hears the ignominy of the whole affair. But surely silence in a case like this would have been golden, for it was a similar spirit of braggadocio and high-handedness towards the gentler sex. performed by persons with similar names to your correspondent, which wrung from the noble soul of the eloquent Burke those neyer-to-be-forßotten words, "Is the age of chivalry gone?" Your correspondent introduces the cur into h's letter. There are persons v"ho«;a souls do not rise above tne brute creation, and inrbughout his letter we fancy we hear the whining, the snarls, and at last the f awnings of the whipped brute, which, smarting beneath the lash, licks the hands of others in his endeavors to gain favor somewhere. — I am, etc., INDIGNANT.