TO THE EDITOR.

Poverty Bay Standard, Volume X, Issue 1233, 27 December 1882, Page 2

TO THE EDITOR.

ftWS'nahihii, Dec., 1882. SJjS.',—Af ’one who is in the habit .of travelling the New Zealand coast by the steamer Rotomahana (and who also travelled.lthe same trip mentioned.by .jT>ur.correspondent I of the . 19th inst.) I. cannot allow the state- I ments made by him io remain uncontradicted. ■ He state* In the first portion of his letter he ! suffered from a most egregious display of ignorance and annoyance. I .assume ip the . foregoing statement he considers himself improperly treated l?y the stewards. Now, Sir, my experience, and It is confirmed by the experience of triahy who have travelled with me In this ship, that the stewards are individually and collectively, most obliging, and that upon all occasions they are most anxious to do all in their power for the comfort and convenience of passengers ; allow me, en pasmt, to remark that your correspondent shews very bad taste in describing a respectable body of men as flunkies of whoso m.brit he can know very little during tli'e period of a seven hour* trip from Napier to Gisborne. My experience during a tolerably long acquaintance with men has been that those who are so ready to apply opprobrious terms to their fellow men are not only flunkies but snobs in the most unpleasant sense of the term. With reference to the further statement of not being allowed to retain possession of the seat he jumped, allow me to say those seats had been occupied in most cases from Melbourne and the southern ports, and I think, Sir, it was hardly to be expected that those who had occupied seats for several days' should vacate them for one who had only just joined the ship, and who could scarcely expect to have more than one meal on board. Therefore, I think the stewards were perfectly justifiediu informing’your correspondent that the seats were engaged. It is very evident to me when your correspondent speaks of some passengers being more favored than others, he feels very sore that he was not one of the I favored ones, as he expects when travelling to be treated with special consideration, and so long as he obtains what he requires, no matter at whose discomfort, there would have been very little complaint from him, who, by the way, is either afraid he cannot substantiate complaint, or is otherwise ashamed to sign his name. With reference to his complaint re berthing accommodation ; I think it is most unfair to blame the chief steward for a matter over which he can have no control, as he is certainly unable to increase the berthing I accommodation of the ship, and I have no doubt he was told the ship was already full when he took his passage. Perhaps he would not only liked to have jumped a seat at table already engaged, but have jumped a berth as well, upon what he considers sufficient grounds, viz., that he had paid as much for his passage a* any other person. Allow me, in conclusion, to state that your correspondent appears to be one of those disagreeable peoSle who are never satisfied, and who are ever esirous of finding fault wherener it is possible to do so. I must say I have ever found the chief steward most courteous and obliging, and the under stewards everything that could be desired, and I think if your correspondent travels often he will find that as far as attention to the comfort of passengers is concerned, officers, stewards, and all connected with the ship, will compare favourably with any line of steamships in the world. Your second correspondent’s letter is chiefly a repetition of the first, with one or two exceptions, which I will briefly notice. He complains of inferior food on the end tables, bad attendance, etc ; there are gentlenieti on board at the present time who also came up with ns and sat at the table spoken of, they inform me that the food and attendance at that particular table wae superior to any in the ship, and the final paragraph with I which he close* hi* letter is most amusing I to those, who a very little time since, re- : member the difficulties of travelling on the I New_ Zealand Coast. I, with many others, consider the Union Company have done a | great deal for New Zealand in providing { such a splendid fleet of Steamers for the i comfort and convenience of the travelling i public. Trusting you will insert this on : behalf of a body of men who, as a rule, do I not care to defend themselves through the I columns of a newspaper, and as the opinion I of a disinterested observer who ha* had I many opportunities of judging,—l am, Ac., Jno. Stedhfohd, J.P., West Melbourne, Victoria.