LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1024, 13 January 1911, Page 4

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

- THE £5,000,000 LOAN. Sir,—lt must.appeal as a very great pity that when.' figures cannot lio and know no romance there should be so much room for'argument in so small a calculation as the product of a £5,000,000 loan. In a letter this morning theproduct to the lender of the New Zealand loan is placed at £4 3s. 6d. I make it £3 18s. 9 I-Sd., and would like to bo' informecUiow the £4 3s. 6d. per cent, is made up;—l am, etc., i' ; : . 3 henry bodley. '■■'' [Suppose the: investor pays £98 for a debenture. He-receives 3i per cent, each year.for.four,j'.ep.rs,....)vhen hehands... which Is £10b; That is to say, m the. .-■ four years he receives four times £3. • 10s., or £14, plus tho difference be--tween the £98 he .paid and the £100 he;/, receives, for. ( the bond. His total income-/ - in four, .j-ears' is •' thuVSjßl& or £4 perannum." And £4' interest 'per annum onS £98 cash is interest at the rat-e ofy'roughly, £4 2s. If ho paid less than.'; £98 to'begin with/.the rate of interest;/; received. byJiinv oh'-his outlay would heW more. The dates of payment of inter'-.-est, of course, also affect the actual- 1 , rate .slightly. If he paid:£97 for tha-' debenture he would get nearly £4 BsV, ' 6n-h'is money'-for tho'-four years, if he.;.' decided; to..quit-.his! holding at the time-' of redemption.], ...... :.'. I '.

*..-:? divers. ; ; ;tSir, —A. recent ■ interview in youfi. paper with a diver has caused consider-;: able merriment among the diving pro-; • fession in .Wellington. -As an old diver,-! and. one with.'3s .years' experience, a! few lines from mo may be of interest' to your many readers', air. Shobrook,! who was interviewed on the subject, !■ stated that divers were very scare, and,f inter alia,-that the. calling was a dani' gerous one. The writer, who is welli : advanced in years, will prove that there; is absolutely no danger with a shark' or octopus under 'the water."' I have .- been in company wi,th sharks, some ofthem twenty-five feet long, and never' cm any occasion did they molest mo. As for octopuses, T got foul of one and-": brought it safely to the surface on my' back. They aro.generally of a very.:! playful mood when .met with many feef£i under flhe water. 'The writer has been'"■"• following his calling for the greater part'' of his life, and he looks upon the work.' as very safe, viewed from any. mechanii : . cal line. As regards music in the .' .' this is caused by air escaping from the-" yalyes.. It.would -be interesting to a£: certain from.Mr. Shobrook which valve'.'? causes the hissing noise. Hoping yon'--' will find space 1 for this epistle, and -- thanking-}ou'in< anticipation.—l. ami \ etc'.',; -■":.. vOLD DIVER. ;b UNEQUAL TELEPHONE. CHARGES.-^' Sir,—Can you tell me why a telephone connection costs more-in the middle of > this city than at one.;end of it? Desir-i.'. , ing to have my residence connected with!/ the system, Icalled'at the Exchange and : ' ; asked the terms. A polite official quickly. '■' ascertained that my house (which is ; the Basin Reserve) was more than a mile-i from the Exchange... .That, being so, hew informed me that the subscription would t-. be"''s£6 10s/:pet annum,, and that I should.? ;bon , 6quired'-atoysign a bond to continue,!, this payment"for* three years. When Ell expressed Surprise ahd ; mentioned that raf.\-friends'-at-HneVextrerab northern end of;!: the .city, only; "paid,-..£5 a year for their {'.' •■ telephones, the. .officia.radniitted the fact,'"; ; and also' stated.that'.'they were only re.-;,'. ! quired to sign a" bond for one year in-;, stead • of: threOi.o.Thoj only explanation ha;; ,had>to offer was that the charge dependefl'''* l on the distance from the Exchange. It.;. appears, therefore, that tho people of-.; i Newtown are penalised'and.-thoj people of;.'.' Thorndon subsidised simply 1 because theV'jS authorities ohose to locate-the Exchange/"'. a long way from the centre of the city./ Do' Wellington' South and WellingtonEast really like "this? I ought to add', that-I was.':fur.ther-informed at the Ex-.-change that there is an entrance fee of-' one pound.for. every new telephono con--.-nection' in anv- part of the city, and;;:". . that if.l left Wellington before the exi-;' piry of the three years, my successor in the/'i house where I anrlivinjf"might, if he";'.; ' wished, relieve' me of the bond for the/ remainder of the term.—l am, etc., "/"' .:.;'•■'' _. . SUNNY SLOPE. [Questioned-in regard to the foregoing';., complaint;:'the. officer in charge of the ,•', Wellington telephone system stated that/ our correspondent has not correctly state's the position. The annual charge lev-,', ied for the use of private telephone lines / to points within a radius of one mile'.from the Central Exchange is «£5, and'; tho subscriber is required to sign a bond-' for one. year. The annual charge for a - private wire to any point distant .more' than a mile from the'exchange is ,£6 10s:, and.tho subscriber is required to enter.,nvteabond to continue payment for three-': years. .The variation'is grounded on the:-'-. ? simple fact that - tlie Department is putto greater initial expense in connecting, up telephones for subscribers, at a dis- , tanoe than for those "who reside closer to'/ .the. exchange. Save.in the; case of a few/ long-distance line? that are utilised by a.; number of subscribers tho Department--? has to separately' oon'iiect each . telephone in its circuit, and the expense, over dis-i----tances exceeding one mile, is cousider-i ; ahje. Tho official questioned . characterised'as incorrect the statement that scribers "at the. extreme northern end ofe'. the oity only, paid JES a year" for tho use i of' telephones'.']"' ' '' : •'■