ONCE MORE MR. ASTBURY.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXI, Issue 73, 9 November 1911, Page 5

ONCE MORE MR. ASTBURY.

Sir, —Your foot-note to my letter in its effort to exonerate the County Clerk and apportion the blame on myself and the Rost Office, may not have been attempted if all the circumstances had been known to you. 1 would gladly exonerate the County Clerk myself, "if. I thought a portion of the romissuess did not lie with him. But tire unfortunate combination of circumstances include Mr Penn, together with the post office officials. 1 sent the registered letter one day and a half practically before nominations closed. Mr Penn was aware I intodod sending it. He, in my opinion, did not exhaust all the moans at iiis disposal to see if tlie nomination paper was at the post office. lam informed by the postmaster that a card notifying Mr Penn that a registered letter awaited him was put into tlie County Council post office box directly tlie registered letter was received, viz., on the*. 81st October, between the hour of il a.m. and 12 a.m., and tlie official whose duty it is to do this, will —and does—maintain this was done. There is a direct contradiction between this official on the one part and Mr Penn on the other. I got on to the telephone here at Mahoe on the Ist November, the day nominations closed, but by mistake was put on to Mr T. Harry Penn’s office, and spoke to some one in that'office. Noticing the mistake, efforts were made to get the county office, but 1 was informed that the Stratford exchange could not got them. This was at 9 a.m. on cue Ist November. 1 could not wait as I had a prior engagement and was satisfied to leave the matter, as tho postmaster at Mahoe informed me tho letter had certainly gone the day before. Fancy registering a letter to an important centre like Stratford and finding Unit delivery did not take place lor two days and a half after its reception, for Mr Penn did not receive that letter till tho 3rd November! From my point of view Mr Penn failed in not inquiring at the post office and his time, unfortunately, did not coincide with the post office time on the firkfc to enable me to speak to him through the telephone re tlie matter.. Thus this comedy of errors has come about.—l am, etc., DAVID L. A. ASTBURY.

[Mr Astbtory is ungenerous in his persistency-: , surely he knows the County Clerk is'- precluded from replying. -Wo ; have as many facts tin hand as Air; Astbury and arc quite satisfied fetill that Mr Charles Penn is without blame in the matter. What other means i could the Clerk, have been reasonably expected to “exhaust.” —Ed. |‘The Post.”]