FURTHER EXPLANATION.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 985, 28 November 1910, Page 6

FURTHER EXPLANATION.

; . 'ABOUT A CONTRETEMPS, With further reference to the excur* sion arranged by the Masterton branch of the Navy League, and the statements ' made, per medium of our special correspondent, in-Saturday's , ' issue; -that "all arrangements were left to the" secretary at Wellington," Mr: G. W. Palmer repudiates this, and says that ho certainly never undertook tho huge responsibility of looking after tho excursionists during their stay in Wellington. Hβ obtained the flag-captain'a assent to the trip at Masterton's re-, quest, and arranged various other preliminaries, including the matter of transport of' League members to and from the warship. Upon learning that some 550 non-members were also coming down (ostensibly to visit the Powerful), Mr. Palmer informed the Ferry Company, who made arrangements accordingly, but only about 100 of these went! across in the Duchess. Mr. Palmer further states that. ths request for an address by his Excellency came from Masterton, and it wa3 assumed that the timo (5.30 o'clock) and place (Missions to Seamen Institute), particulars of , which were sent up two days beforehand, would be ad-< vised to the boye and girls on board the train coming down. The building was decorated with, flags, and was pointed out at 1 p.m-. while on tlie Una of march from the railway station to the wharf. , •.'•;.

Mr. Palmer contends that had the trip been confined to Navy League members, who., he says, could (as in tlio case of tho Manawatu' schools'' trip of the day before) have remained under control of their teachers the whole of the time, no .difficulties could . have arisen. Both he and Mr. Daniel (whose enthusiastic work for the League Mr. Palmer says ho fully realises) would thus have been saved'a lot of worry and annoyance, and, above all, the unfortunate contretemps at the Seamen's Mission Institute would have beea avoided. ' . . . '.',■'.