LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1891, 28 October 1913, Page 9

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

RACE TRAINS. Sir,—Will you allow mo through tlio medium of your esteomed paper to ventilate a oomplaint ro above? Yesterday afternoon I, with, othors, leached tho Lower Hutt station, expecting to travel by tho ordinary 5.33 train to town. Whilst waiting expectantly, ono of tho officials came up in a highly perturbed l state and inquired if we were aware; that there would not be any train for over a.n hour, as the ordinary trains had been suspended. Shortly after a train came into the station, and' was stationary at the platform for about three minutes, but passengers, under threats of divers pains and penalties, wore forbidden to travel by it. Several of the passengers expressed their feelings freely, amongst them a party of riflemen. When the train moved on I got on board, and was surprised at Petono to find that no objection was made to ordinary passengers joining tho train, although tho guard mulcted mo in a 6d. fine for. not having a ticket, whioh the booking officer at Lower Rutfc refused to issuo I . I may mention tho carriage I entered had l only two passengers, so there ivas room for at least twenty people. I havo no fault to find with the officials at tho Hutt station; they were only obeying instructions from headquarters, and getting badly abused for- so doing. The revenuo from the trains is derived from the ordinary travelling public, not from _ tho racegoers, and I certaiiily think better treatment might be meted out to tho "regular customers." I heard of ono case where a man had to meet a young niece arriving from New Plymouth, and tho disorganised service him being there, to time, ai)d as the girl was a perfect stranger here ho did not know what might happen. 1 am a stranger in a. very strange land, audi am often pmzzled at tho vagaries of Now Zealand officialdom, but it struck mo that it was omall encouragement to tho previously mentioned riflemen for having devoted their half-holiday to improving their shooting, with a view to tneir.country's benefit, whilst every facility is given to the racegoer, whose main idea is to get something for nothing. I venture to think if the latter is ever called upon to defend his oouutry he will soon, like so many of the horses he back® —be mentioned in dispatches as nmongst those who "also ran."—l am, etc., A.P.D. Lower Hutt, October 26, 1913.