The Manawatu Times. SATURDAY, MAY 18, 1878.

Manawatu Times, Volume III, Issue 63, 18 May 1878, Page 2

The Manawatu Times. SATURDAY, MAY 18, 1878.

Some few weeks since we published a statement to the effect -that the Napier ! coach arrived m Palmerston laden with twenty-one adults and five children. A^ few days afterwards the proprietor o£ • this journal received a letter from the Palmerston agent, flatly contradicting the statement m the following language : — " The statement m your newspaper of the Ist inst., that the Napier and Masterton ooach arrived m Palmerston on the 29th ult, with 21 adults and five children, is untrue., I have only seen the statement, and as agent to Messrs. Hastwell, Macara, and - Co, have to inform you that the number of souls on the coach on its arrival m Palmerston was sixteen, which includes two drivers — Yours truly, J. E. Gilbert." As Mr Gilbert thought fit to follow his usual questionable course of writing to the proprietor' on matters which should have been brought under the notice of ■ the editor, the proprietor very properly tbbk na. notice' pE his communication, further than handing the letter to the editor, and informing Mr Gilbert of his proper conduct : forwarding the correction through the proper channel to the responsible head of the paper. Of course Mr Gilbert did not do so, as Mr Gilbert did not intend, that the editor should know anything at jail about the matter. However, Mr Gilbert through an anonymous source got the substance of his letter inserted m a paper published out

of the district, and consequently our veracity has been called m question. Had Mr Gilbert, taken a manly straightforward course, and sent his letter to the editor for publication, we ■would have given him all satisfaction by a *letter from our informant, an old resident m Palmerston, and a member of the Borough Council. If Mr Gilbert felt inclined to doubt the unsupported statement of our, informant, we Could Have Supplemented it by the testimony of another very old settler, who is also a Borough Councillor of Palmerston, both of whom were passengers by the' coach. We confess/ ho wever, we were not quite correct m the number of the adults on the coach, and consequently * owe Mr Gilbert some apology. We stated that m addition to the children there were twenty-one adults. This we find to be a mistake, as m reckoning up with our informant lie discovers" there were only twenty-two, or -one more than we imagined. We regret the inaccuracy, and nave; to thank Mi* Gilbert for being the very innocent cause of setting us right. As the words italicised m Mr Gilbert's letter his own, it is just possible that there may be some quibble m his denial. However, we are prepared to prove that there were twenty-two full grown bodies, we leave Mr Gilbert to account for .there being only sixteen souls. ; We have referred to the matter to let the public know to what dishonorable tactics some persons will descend to gain an end, and also, what amount of credence can be attached by papers at a distance to information gleaned from such sources.