Mr. Pim Passes By

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 19887, 15 March 1939, Page 16

Mr. Pim Passes By

Sir,—ln passing by—and it is well known that I do pass by—l have been interested during recent weeks in the current happenings, and I deem it now a suitable time to give you the trend of some of my musings, I look back, Sir, a few weeks, and see in your columns a letter from “Visitor” stating that he had left our fair town in disgust, having been driven out by the allegedly filthy water in our mains and the incessant and intolerable barking of dogs during the hours that should be spent in peaceful slumber. A few letters in your columns supported “Visitor’s” complaints and there the matter ended, having, no doubt, supplied a little light entertainment to your readers. ( I wonder, Mr. Editor, if it has occurred to you that “Visitor’s” charges against this town—supported, as they were by several householders through your correspondence columns —cannot be contemptuously tossed aside, for they constitute an indictment, and any of us possessing any local pride should feel definitely uneasy and, perhaps, a little ashamed that our local conditions could give rise to such a complaint. But are these charges true? Or are they merely the outbursts of a few peevish persons, perhaps perpetually protesting? Sir, the nocturnal barking of dogs throughout the suburbs ol' Gisborne is as alleged by “Visitor,” and it is a very definite blemish on the town. “Resident” writing from the Lytton road ai-ea claimed dog barking supremacy for his district, but, while I acknowledge his suburb to be in a oarticularly healthy state of advancement Jn this sport of physical litness (for dogs), I do not think it right that any district should be extolled above any other district, for such rivalry leads to bitterness, and this leads on to feuds, and eventually to civil war Partisanship should be controlled, and it should be an offence for any per son to say that his district is preeminent in nocturnal canine disturb ances. I suggest. Sir, that on the lines o Safety Week in the cities our town and suburbs be divided into eiglu

areas, each having a flagpole with a Union Jack, and that each flag be lowered one inch for every barkless quarter of an hour experienced during the hours from sunset to sunrise, and. that, at the end of the year, a prize be given to the district whose (lag has been flown from the masthead for the greatest length of time: the prize might be a free ticket for all residents to the next Dog Show 'and a printed copy of the poem that begins ‘‘Oft in the stilly night.” If this idea is not taken up. I, as a meek and more or less willing taxpayer, suggest to the Borough Council that it considers this matter and takes steps to end it, for it is very definitely a nuisance, and seems to me to call or attention from an inspector of nuisances. If Gisborne does not pos--1 sess such an officer, one could surely be borrowed from the Government md never missed. Thank you, Sir, 1 nust now pass along. I hope to send you my musings on the water supply ater on.