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Evening Star, Issue 4021, 15 January 1876, Page 1 (Supplement)

" AD."ari'l 'ThfMoth rofaFamily, "write complaining of the<* of i° n of ihe officer in charge at Dunedin in s^«f>pi n g fr.-»m fc he wages of the messengers In th» Telegrai hj Office sums they received a. dramas-boxes. It is evMent from tbeir tone th* 'he writer* of thes-_ letters were Eot in possesion of the truest*, w hic 1 ire these; f the officer in charf that the mesbenj:e>R had s >licitfd Chris!alas-box'S from prisons to whom they the h-ibit «>f do iveiing in"3swgt'B ; and AOtmg u der instructions from the General Manager, to whom the matter had in due course been reported, he gave the lads to understand that a repetition of the occurrence, which was an infraction of the rules of the D- partment, would necessitate them refunding the money so obtained and possibly subj ct them to dismissal. Notwithstanding this clear intimation, the boys this y"ar again solicited Cliri&tmos-boxes ; and we hear with considerable success. Of course, when the fact was reported to him the the officer in charge had no alternative but to act upon the inductions he had received, and finding that the boys bad spent the money he deducted the amount from.tbeir pay, which happened to fall due at the time. The Department has nerer, that we are aware, objected to the messengers receiving gratuitous gifts : but that the lads should themselves dun people for Christmas • boxes is decidedly improper; and i the boys should e >■ nider themselves lucky that their offence, committed in the face of a positive warning, has been so lightly vi«it*d. [We are not responsible for the opinions expressed by our correspondents,]