ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1144, 15 December 1879, Page 2

ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE.

TO THE EDITOR OF TIIE OAMARU MAIL. Sir, —.At a late meeting of theConimittee of the Excelsior Cricket Club it was proposed and seconded and carried unanimously, " That as the letter received from O.C.C. in answer to ours of the 4th inst. was unsatisfactory in every particular, the correspondence mentioned should be forwarded to the Oamaru Mail." I am, &c., W. Bajtserman, The following are the letters referred to :—- Oamaru, 4th "December, 1579. The Secretary Oamaru Cricket Club, — Sir, —I have been requested by the members of the Excelsior Cricket Club to lay a complaint before your Club. As you are aware, the E.C.C. secured the Cricket Ground from the O.C.C. for Monday last, in order to play a match with the Palmerston eleven, for which privilege we agreed to pay the sum of two guineas. The match having been concluded early, and feeling that we were entitled tq the ground for the whole day, we commenced to indulge in a scratch match, in conjunction with several members of your Club. We had scarcely entered upon our pastime, when Mr. Borton objected to the play proceeding, and we desisted, with the intention of seeking an explanation at the hands of your Club. You will, I think, perceive that by the wording of our letter, asking for the use, of the ground, we were entitled to occupy it for the full day for the purposes of cricket, and it appears to us that Mr. Borton had no right ta object as he did. Our object in laying the matter before your Committee is not to piace your Committee in any awkward position, but to prevent the recurrence of the unpleasant proceedings of Monday last, in which Mr. Borton was the chief

actor. Moreover, had any of us so far forgotten ourselves as to have acted as Mr. Borton did, we should have deemed it to be our duty to apologise tq those whose feelings we had injured by an act of such unwarrantable interference. We hold that no member of your Club is possessed of such authority as to entitle him to act as Mr. Borton did. Of course, we might have proceeded with our play notwithstanding that gentleman's opposition, but we thought that the course we adopted would, through the intelligent action of your Club, prove more salutary to the self-constituted custodian of the Club's ground, and be more judicious and beneficial to the garfie and its votaries jn every respect. We 4o trust that you will investigate the matter, and even pass a vote of censure upon the aggressor, if you should deem it wise and in the interests of cricket. I remain, &c., ffsi, Bannep.sian, Hon. Sec. E.C.C.

Oamaru, December 9th, 1879. To Mr. W. Bannerman, Hon. Sec. Excelsior C.C., Oamaru. Dear Sir, —Your letter was received ; and in reply, the Committee of the O.C.C. regret that the permission to use their ground for your matoh with Palmerston should have been so far misinterpreted as to lead to any unpleasantness in the matter. I am also requested to inform you that, to prevent any further unpleasantness, the Committee have decided to reserve the ground for their own use in the future. I remain, &c,, John Walls, Hon. Sec., O.C.C. [The Oamaru Olub ought to be a good one. It hedges itself in pretty well, and protects itself against the tainting and demoralising influences of the outer world. Very admirable, indeed. There i 3 nothing like respectability ; but might we be permitted to say that consanguinuity is sometimes undesirable, and at other times positively disastrous. We think that

they might, perhaps, continue to allow those giddy young men, who, we suppose, call themselves the Excelsiors because they have frequently beaten the Oamaru Cricket Club which, of course, is nothing worth mentioning—to use their ground occasionally. But they must not permit too much of the familiarity which breeds contempt. The ground is theirs, and it matters not whether theirs is really the representative club of Oamaru or not. It has adopted a title that would imply that it is, and that is sufficient. We do not approve of upstarts. When the Excelsiors have been beaten as many times as the Oamaru Club they will be more sympathising. Then they will recognise the fact that the Oamaru Club acted only fairly in prohibiting them from using their ground. Too much practice might make them so proficient in the game that there would be no fun at all in witnessing our two local clubs in the field. As it is, we would not be surprised if that club calling itself the Excelsior should endeavor to take satisfaction out of its superior and elder brother by challenging it and giving it a licking every week. We mention this, not to put naughty ideas into their heads, but in order to express a hope that they will not be so cruel.—Ed. O.M.] TO THE EDITOR OP TIIE OAMARU MAIL. Sir—The editor of the North Otago Times is bilious. He has bile on the brain, bile at the heart, and bile on the stomach. Everything that he says is bilious, everything that he writes is bilious, his prose is bilious, and his poetry full of bile. One time he vents it on Wellington, at another time on Christchurch, and his latest is on Dunedin. It is the law of bile that it will not allow its victim to see matters in a clear light. If a man subscribes to the Mechanics' Institute who is not a member of that institution, then, haw, that man is a snob. If any man subscribes to the Church, then ho is a hypocrite. If any dares subscribe to anything without feeling the enthusiasm of the original mover of the scheme, aw, then, he only aims at self-glorification. His latest is against the admirers of Robert Burns.—l am, &c. Bo b.