CORRESPONDENCE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXIII, Issue 10082, 18 March 1896, Page 6

CORRESPONDENCE.

THE REV. ■ o THE KbITUh. AIA I KB Sir, —It 13 pity that the idea .u ~ Iffl disseminated ut the collection of tl 1b « II testimonial v s not the work nf tk lb ° f e 111 Ration of Hi' Trinity Church Th, 00 ' II suggestion w made by a print, i"" I '*! 111 addressed so ly to the congregation K CUlir ill chnrchwarde i, and the gathering J? "" ill means of |e usual Sunday o ff Pr^ B by II church, Th; some kind Bym „a,C 7 111 II doubt, sent eir subscriptions in aft. 'n" Ha is quite true and perchance in< Mm'' 111 who were n strictly church | 1 «„,lA ,0,TI! [1 is misleadini to put 'it 80 general v I.*} 11 '% your corresp ident, or to attribute the t , 4 H he uses as pokeu by Mr Mays ' € social meeti c, and which I did n V,,?' M from his _spc :h, though, at the mL*""* M anatteutivefstener.-I am etc " ® ! ' Iffy DevonportfelarchlUVjl. ARI)e , ;3

si won for gam;:. TO THE EDITOR. Sir.-I trst thai the Auckland will not accut the reply to their i-etinV.n? the Acclim ;isation Society in J' "Ji opening the Jason tor shooting native' " at Easter feof the Thames do no: i„C to do so, for It a meeting held on Wfj'r evening resolxtions were carried e, n , ly ally protests against the recom.n,,!, , of the Uuccl to postpone the openin -. f !° native game season until May Ist on tU - e of the game tatting scarcer. We l, v ' formed the Colonial Secretary that ,'i?" statement isaatrue as regards this di«f, as game has een more plentiful hce <i"r'i 1, the last thr;eyears than for fifteen vearsV*' viously. Bssdes, if the statement were trn. and the seas« required shortening th e com mencement 6 the season is the wrou* m to take it ofi The season should ( ~;e n a ] the most seasoable time, and it" it is to u short season,the last month is the pror month to ta:e off. To do otherwiJ J!! promote poac.ing. I feel sure that jf \J { is not include* in the ensuing open seas™ many people hre who wait patiently for th» day of openin, although they can i. > h cream of the ;port being taken '.ft t,..;'.' hand, will runthe risk and pi out si;ootii> Game laws h this country must n..; 'f administered for a class, if they ~re to L respected, bit evidently the Auck'in 1 Society do lot think so. Time 13' doubt in air person's mind, w-;,o kr anything $bmt the subject, tint "V; real reason of jutt ing off the openin; „i ■ , season for sliotinii native gam- is "WaLn members of tie Council believe tlut !0 ", pheasants are killed before the se,i«n n . j, the native gone season is opened j. r i, - that of imported game, the Council are •£ gether to blone for the l.nue amount '.ij illicit shootini that is done, l»eo.in«e ihev tic nothing to prevent it. The fe< s that wo «.' every year, intead of being used t<> |.rnt« t the game tor sjortsmen, are frittered away mostly in stoc-.ing the rivers with ti?i, j 0 the pl»asur of die moneyed diss, an.i ». have further t> forego our month's duck shooting througl their neglect.—l mi,, etc., Albert bnrcE.' Thames, Marcl 12, 1890.

: JUSI'ICI TO SPORTSMEN, T( THE KDITOK.

Sir,— your Blue of Tuesday las; there« a full report of ue doings of the Acclimatisation Society. Anong other thiols it gives the reasons which lave actuated the l.'ouncil it changing the owning dates of the shooting season this yeat Members of the Unn.i, hold out that tie ducks are decreasing in number. Now, '-his iB false, and is used only as a " blind" to cover the selfishness of some members of the Council. Country tport<men, who are really the most competent to ju,l«', declare that there are more ducks this year than ever they saw befoie. W, sir, if tlnse members of the lomicii are so ccncerned about this tictiti.MH decrease, why do they and their parties slaughter hundreds of these duck« n>rv year? Sure, this is not sport. 1 travelled last Easter Monday from Mercer to Auckland with a prominent member of the Council .mj his party, an! I can assure you, sir, that they had in the guard's van several lugs and hampers full of ducks. And these are the very men who at the meeting deplore tie wholesale slaughter of native game and tie consequent decrease in number. Now, the real reason why the opening day wis postponed was to prevent business men who jet a few days' holidays at Easter front shooting, in order that, the sport might be kept exclusively for them ami tin leisured class, who can at any t : me during the season indulge their slaughtering propensities. If it be necessary to curtail the season to three months, then why not commence ths native game season ou Good Friday, and the imported game on the Ist oi May, and end both on June 30, thus curtail ing both seasons by one month. In that way all sportsmen would have fair play and an equal chance. There is no doubt that the pheasants are _ decreasing. Why is this Because ever sinoe they were iuttoduced no fresh strain has been imported, consequently through the continued in-brseditig of the birds their constitution has become more delicate, with the result that half the birds never reach maturity, and the other half are lucky if they escape tin depredations of the hawk and the wild cat Now,_ Mr. Editor, hundreds of pounds are contributed annually to the funds of the Society by sportsmen, but how is this money spent? In introducing fresh strains or new varieties of birds ? In destroying hawks and cats? Oh dear, no. Almost every penny i.< spent on ova and fish ponds, thus pamleriiu to the hobby of one or two members ot tin: Council. It is certainly very nice in haw our brooks and rivers stocked with fish and so encourage a few tourists, but to entire!!/ ignore the rights and interests of those men who contribute so largely to the Society's funds is surely an act of injustice not worth? of sportsmen, if it were not for money obtained as shooting license fees where on, 1 theCounoil be? Twenty-nine pounds isalltii it was obtained last year from fishing licences. More than this, these gentlemen have acted lately most arbitrarily and unjustly. A short time back a petition was sent in to them by the sportsmen of Auckland requesting them to change the hour of their annual meeting from four p.m. to half past seven p.m. in order to allow sportsmen the right granted them by the Act of recording their votes in the election of council «-

four p.m. being an incouvenient time tot business men. Instead of complying witn this request the Council changed the hour to two p.m., which made matters worse than before as they well knew. Of- course tiir did not want the sportsmen, but wantd just the same little family party that they had in the past.—l am. etc., Verite sans PrXR.

PUBLIC LIBRARY. TO THE EDITOR.

Slß,—lt is very strange how somn pn'smis (many of whom are not even city ratepayers or residents) are so ready to find fault wiw our public library. Dr. Bakewell finds im!t because the reference branch is not a ltmliu? branch; then another correspondent uw the lending branch is too full of novels, etc. It remains for strangers who visit here to invariably speak in the highest possib's terms our library, as almost unriv ill-il in the Australasian Colonies. Your corespondent, " Deo et Literis," writes about the library rate being paid l»y tiia " hard-working, straggling men,' but this ii a little high falutin'. If the woi-kini man (who pays rates) averages a shilling a your, it is as much as he does, in return for which he has a first-class reference and lending library, newspaper-room, etc., etc, Surely they hue no reason for complaint; rather the reverse. Your correspondent has ore opinion lr what books should be provided, but otitis have opposite views—who is t'> »lcc:«ie ■ There will be a difference of opinion <>" th.' vexed question no doubt; but 1 believe tin bulk of the ratepayers are satisfied with win' is done on their behalf, and proud oi the Auckland Free Library.—l am,etc. Commune IJontm.

Some time ago four gentlemen who *« r9 strangers to each other were playing whist, wnen one of them had the whole 13 trumps dealt to him, and yet he did not win. " I" 1 ' possible!" you say. Not at all. His partner led an ace, he trumped it, and his partner flung down his hand in disgust. The only " trump" that never fails is the new Water' bury Watch.