The Shannon Mail Service.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXVIII, Issue 3700, 31 July 1906, Page 3

The Shannon Mail Service.

j ♦ lWb do not hold ourselves RESPONSIBLE FOR OPINIONS EXPRESSED BY OUR CORRESPONDENTS.] (TO EDITOR OF MANAWATU HERALD.) Sir, —In your issue of the 24th inst., the following paragraph appears “ That during the flood time Mr Johnston has been conveying the mails via Levin, it being impossible for the Shannon service to convey same, &c.” This is not quite correct, for a stranger would infer that the Shannon service had been totally suspended during that period. Let me explain the position : The flood came down very sudden on Tuesday, 17th inst. When I reached the Moutoa ferry in the early morning it was impossible to work the ferry so I had to miss the train. I returned to Foxton, interviewed and asked the Postmaster if he • would send the mails via Palmerston. We consented to this, the result being that the local mail arrived by the 1.30 p.m. train. On Wednesday morning I went as usual for my mails and found they had been despatched. On arriving at Shannon I was informed Mr Johnston was carrying them to Levin. We only carried a portion on the following day (Thursday). When I went in the afternoon I found he had taken the Wellington portion half-an-hour before the appointed time of departure. I took, however, the Moutoa and Shannon portion, getting to Sh&T non that afternoon and returning in the evening with the usual mail. X cannot see, therefore, why Mr Johnston should get all the credit, when he is only entitled to a portion, and that only a small lot. The local postmaster is entitled to use his own discretion in cases of emergency and did so right!}. When he found the Shannon route was once more available the carrying of the mails was handed back to me. The person who, wrote the paragraph alluded to was either misinformed or is a very strong supporter o( Mr Johnston. The latter, I am creditably informed, paid a person recently to get up a petition which Was signed by a number of local persons, to have a regular mail to Levin —this being the thin end of the wedge to get the usual mail diverted to Levin to the detriment of the Moutoa settlers. Such tactics are not creditable. —l am, &c., T. H. Gingell. [As to the assertion that the writer alluded to in our columns was either misinformed or is a very strong supporter of Mr Johnston, all we can say is that we may have been slightly misinformed, but Mr Gingell himseb asserts there was a degree of truth in the statement. But as to the latter portion of Mr Gingell’s assertion, we may state that we lend no partiality to Mr Johnston, nor to anyone else. Unless otherwise mentioned, the Herald itself is responsible for any statement appearing under the heading of locals. We wish it clearly understood that we fear nor favour no one in our writings.— Editor M.H.]