IS VISIONS ABOUT?

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXIX, Issue 45, 15 June 1914, Page 5

IS VISIONS ABOUT?

ARE THINGS WHAT THEY SEEM? PTo Thu Kditok Stratford Post. 1

Sir, —“For ways that are dark and tricks that are vain,” sang Bret Hart of, qld,,when referring to the Heathen, Chinese’s peculiar ways. U tbe noet had known the vagaries of the by-laws of, the Borough of Stratford he might quite easily, and with some degree of truth, have applied his lament to them. Some weeks ago it will be -emembeied by at least some of your readers that an unknown, but evidently kindly-dis-posed person, opened the gates of Newton King’s sale yards at night time, and let out on the highway about three hundred head of cattle from the various pens. Presumably he did this wicked thing because he was kept at night through the animals bellowing. Possibly he may, in this latter fact, have had, or fancied he had, some excuse for his action, although if detected in a similar effort he may have to pay rather heavily for it. tlowever, as you can very easily imagine, this action caused an enormous amount of work and worry, and in some instances farmers did not know their own cattle when again yarded. At daylight in the morning the firm employed nearly every drover in Stratfrod to hunt for the lost cattle. The cost for drovers and poundage fees alone was just on £2O, and, in addition, a few head of cattle were lost. The ranger was, of course, out bright and early, and' it became a race Between dm snd the drovers to see who would get charge of the cattle first. If the ranger snared a bunch, he collected his fees, but if one of our drovers got there first, then the poor ranger was done out of his just dues. It does seem rather hard, all the same, that in a case where owners, or agents, are making everv effort, and levins' stone unturned, to collect cattle which have been deliberately let loose on the road, through no f&ult of their own, they should be so hampered ip their search. We cannot, in this case, blame the Ranger,’ for he, is acting within his rights under the law of the land, hut where I do think there is cause for blame—and, incidentally, may I say, this has led up to my present outburst—is that for three weeks every night there have been three horses grazing in Page Street, the owner making no secret of it, and these animals are nearly always in the locality indicated until about 8.30 in the morning. Three times of late these stray equines have got in through my gates and tramped over lawns and flower'eds, and supped in mv vegetable garden. So far as possible my gates are kept shut, but where children are playing about, it is almost: an Impossibility to keep entrance gates closed all the time. Now, sir, let anyone compare the two cases and judge for themselves. Ori the one hand, cattle let out at night, and immediately the fact is known every effort is made to get them hack as I have before s tatea, and in this case there is practically a race as to who will capture them first, the owners or the Ranger. On the other hand, horses are allowed to stray on the roads at night for a matter of three weeks and nothing is apparently said! Whv is this?—l am, etc., H. E. ABRAHAM.. Page Street, Stratford, June 15th.