RECENT COURT CASE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 27433, 5 July 1950, Page 6

RECENT COURT CASE

Sir, —In your report of the action taken against a lodal baker for selling bread unfit for human consumption, his lawyer infers that the clearing up of a wood and coal yard next door caused rats to invade the bakehouse for the first time in his client's experience. This statement could not be taken seriously, but for the imputation that the next-door section was full of rubbish, which, of course, was not the case. Now, Sir, I feel- that a lawyer should verify his facts before presenting them in all seriousness before a magistrate. I am the proprietor of the wood and coal yard concerned and have occupied the premises for six years without ever having observed any evidence of rat occupation therein. I am anxious that the imputation created by the lawyer’s statement should be erased. It could possibly be that, influenced by such a statement, customers will be constrained to hold myself and my staff responsible for all unfortunate rat experiences in the future, as it must bo an exceptionally tough and voracious type that enjoys coal and wood as a diet. However, grasping at one grain of comfort, we will now be enabled to the future, to cope with (hysterical accusations regarding light deliveries with a nonchalant exclamation —“ Rats! ” —I am, etc.. A. E. Hardman.