A Protest from Catlins.

Otago Witness, Issue 2369, 27 July 1899, Page 7

A Protest from Catlins.

. TO THE EDITOR. Sir, — In your issue of the 13th insfc.- your Owaka correspondent in referring to the. death, of John Connor describes him as " another victim to the demon drink." Now, what are the facts? Connor, on Ma way home from Punedin, stopped the night at Romahapa. He complained to the landlord of the boardJ ing house where ""be' stayed of being unwell, i Shortly after leaving the house he was found ' lying on the road dead, a few "chains fr&n the j house, by a carter. An inquest was held the I c-nme day befor.e Mr W. Hay, coroner, and ! the verdict of the jury was "Death from natural causes." There was. not the slightest evidence to show that his death was . attribi* table to drink. In' the face of these facts, th« remarks of your correspondent ' are unwarranteclandunjustifiable, but even had the verdict of the jury given some grounds for youi correspondent's reinarke no one with a spark of generous feeling would ,l, l have dragged the name of - <an ' honest, hard-working man (as Connor was l known to have been)' through the mire- for the fake of pointing a moral. So far as is known j Connor had no relations in the colony, and I it is as well that he had not,' as they will be j spared the pain and indignation of readingI ' this cowardly attack upon their dead relative. ' I do not know who your Owaka correspondent ' is, but I am sorry that we have anyone in our ! midsl' who, under the shield of anonymity, is capable of thus traducing the. .memory of the dead. Hoping you will kindly insert this in justice to the memory of the deceased, — I am, Catlins Lake, July 20. ! etc., A. E. WHITE. Theve are four children in the Ashburtort | Hospital, all from one family, suffering from. i diphtheria.