CORRESPONDENCE.

Thames Guardian and Mining Record, Volume I, Issue 2, 9 October 1871, Page 3

CORRESPONDENCE.

[ We do not hold ourselves responsible for the opinions of our Correspondents. Name and address of the writer must appear on the copy to ensure publication:'] To the Editor of the Tiiames Guardian. Sir,— The following facts would no doubt have been brought before the public through the daily records of the Police Court, in a prosecution, for the “ illegal possession of stolen property,” and the Government to the expense of convicting and sending to Mount Eden an innocent person, had circumstances been less favourable in establishing, beyond the shadow of a doubt, the rightful ownership of the property in question. I am induced to make public these facts as showing the readiness of the police in undertaking a case on the weakest possible evidence, if it come from a Government employee,and who may be sometimes, by courtesy, called a gentleman. The facts above alluded to are simply these : That I sent to Mr. Alyrun several articles of jewollery to be repaired, among which was a gold albert. This article came under the notice of a gallant captain of Volunteers, who is also an offieer of the Government. This gentleman (I trust I may be excused the insinuation) at once claimed the Albert as the identical one stolen from him eighteen months ago, and lost no time in acquainting the police of his important discover}'. They were equally as active in taking possession of it, and searching out the supposed culprit. After a searching examination the very important fact, to him, was elicited that he had been the lawful owner of the said chain for the last eighteen years, and that a dozen witnesses could be fouud in as many minutes, whose remembrance of the property extended to various periods within that time. It is needless to add that such conclusion and indubitable evidence was rather too heavy against the unsupported statement of the aforesaid employee, who wisely caused the property to be returned, not. however, without being threatened by legal process. In conclusion I may state I should not have thus trespassed upon your valuable space had some expression of regret or apology been made for the annoyance and chagrin such rather unpleasant proceedings have caused me. offering, to say the least, the only reparation I have Bought, and which would have been most cor-

dially accorded by anyone possessing the smallest show of courtesy or common politeness.—l am, &c., S. R. Clabk.

P.S. The name of the party alluded to maybe' ascertained bythecunpus on application to the police. —• * - * 1 ' [We insert the above letter without further comment than that i| the writer be really wronged, he can ~obtain re-j dress at the hands of the law. The omission of all names in the story lie * -tells renders it impossible-for us to gain, fttoy clue tri his case.—-Efi. TiG.] 5 57 t tt £ ■ > * ' i A g ' ' »- To the Editor of the TnAMKS Guardian. Sir,—l must call in the aid of your contributor, the “Town Crier,?’ with his powerful contralto and deep-resounding bell—the latter of which has been immortalised by Edgar Allen Poe, and which are now partly transferred from the- public streets to the columns of the Guardian —to aid me in bringing through you, to the notice of the public and the authorities, the intolerable nuisance we are labouring under in our present postal arrangements. To give your readers some idea nf the “how not to do it” management of the post-office, I must inform you that on Friday afternoon last, the mails brought from the colonies by the ‘ Nebraska” were transported to the Thames by the ‘ Royal Alfred,’ aud must have been received at the Shorthand post-office at about. five o’clock. I am in a position to state that a letrer by that post only reached a gentleman at present residing at the Pacific Hotel, at eleven o’clock on Saturday morning, and, I suppose, many letters must have been delivered after that time. Now, I don’t want to find fault with any single person connected with the postoffice in Shortland. I suppose they found the system what it is, arid will leav,B it as they found it, but I do find' fault Vkith the authorities for blindly ignoring the fact that our population is increasing, and with it our wants, ; and also'fof their idiotically allowing the post-office to remain in Shortland,whilst Grabamstown has increased so much more relatively both.in size and importance than her s.ster townsh;p. . Please look this matter up, Mr. Editor, and if you think it requires alteration. I should hope that you will do your best to help in abating, remedying, or removing a crying nuisance.—l am, &c., Dobmio. ♦ To the Editor Thames Guardian. Sir, —At the present time there appears to be a general feeling of discontent as to our postal matters in this district. Day after day the common complaiut is made, about the unreasonableness of walking, or in wet weather of wading, half way to Shortland, or vice versa, in order to post a letter. In many instances we are obliged to send our letters private hands, or else leave them to the tendermercies of a forge tfiil stranger—and often enough the powerful brandy on the 1 Golden Crown ’ or ‘ Royal Alfred ’ is the cause leading to an effect by which these epistles never reach their destination. Now, sir, I have grumbled and growled, and the next course that naturally will suggest itself is to provide a remedy. This I should propose to do by having a postoffice on a central site in Grabamstown, and one at Shortland, let mails close at both offices within a few minutes of the same time, giving both places a fair chance, and thus, instead of having to post as at present a letter in the iron receiver an hour and a-half before ihe steamer leaves, we might write up to half an hour of her sailing. I should very much like to hear other opinions on this subject, which I consider of vital importance, and I venture to submit that my plan, as expla : ned to you, would supply a want at the present time much felt both in Grabamstown aud Shortland. —I am, &c,, Sharebroker. [We fully endorse our correspondents views and suggestions on this point. That the present postal arrangements in this town arc inadequate to the requirements and facilities of the commercial public, is a fact too patent to all. But is this in harmony with the general ideas expressed now,viz., Retrenchment? Would not the expenses of a new post-office weigh heavily in the balance when compared with the benefit the public would derive if this proposition were carried out, for aftei all it is of very little moment to the Government whether we have to walk to Shortland or Parawai, so lon° r as a post-office exists within ten miles of us—red-tapeism is satisfied. And again the present laborious duties of our postmaster are such that any additions on this score would probably have fatal results. For it is an old saying “ The last straw breaks the camel’s back.” Not that we wish to insinuate that our worthy St. Valentine is a camel. To be serious, however, wo really should like to see a step taken in this direction, and that soon. We cordially give our correspondents ideas our support. —E.T.G.]