["To the Editor", The Western Mail (Perth, WA), Saturday 23 December 1905, page 17]

To the Editor.

Sir,--

Thc utter want of lucidity and sequence of thought shown in "Human's" letter betrayed the authorship to me at once, nevertheless I am pleased to see Mr. Moore is no longer spooking round under a nom-de-plume. Mr. Moore has known me for years as a determined worker in the interests of improved shipping facilities for the district, by opening up Point Samson. He designates as "worthless" tho mest active workers for the scheme, and then '"cannot imagine" how he can be accused of personality. To discuss this side-issue is hopeless until Mr. Moore can have his "imagine" oiled.

It is in Mr. Moore's opinion right for "him to state that a building is constructed of "splendid granite," but I wrong of me to point out that the correct description is inferior limestone; right for him to state that three vessels have been wrecked near Point Samson, but wrong of me to state that the true number is one.

Good water supply.--Taking Mr. Moore's argument as sound, then Coolgardie should not have been permitted to come into existence; for the rest, the drinking water at point Samson now is better than it was at Cossack for years after the latter was settled, and better than it was in the '92 drought, when we had to tram water from Roebourne.

Construction of tram-line by aboriginal prisoners.--For many years a gang of these men with two whites did the whole of the maintenance work of the Cossack-Roebourne tramline. But forgive me; facts of this kind are "gibberish."

Wrecks.--The barque Solveig wrecked near Point Samson on the I9th February, 1903. I challenge Mr. Moore for names and dates of his two others.

Water scheme for Roebourne and Cossack.--Mr. Moore is incorrect. I have never identified myself with this scheme, and he cannot find anything in the proceedings of tho Cossack Council to support him. What I did try for was a windmill, circular tank, and short length of service pipe to be erected on the best well in Cossack, the sort of installation which nearly every station homestead in the North-West possesses.

Additional expenditure at Point Samson.--Mr. Moore exaggerates this; all that is essential is a shelter-shed. Tho two or three officials necessary to the working of a steamer can go down to the Point in the morning and home at night.

Figures.--My opponent in his rustic retreat of Bridgetown has lost touch with Cossack. My figures are unassailable, excepting that the cost of handling at the Point may be one shilling higher than at present, which would make the net gain ten shillings per ton, and that wool having now been raised to three shillings per bale lighterage increases tho saving to the credit of Point Samson to half-a-crown per bale. Mr. Moore is quite mistaken in thinking it "thoroughly Australian" for passengers to lie offshore in lighters and open boats for half-days and half-nights waiting for steamers, when they can step on and off at the mainland, and to pay fifteen shillings per ton lighterage when they can drop the cargo from the ship's slings into tramway trucks. That sort of thing is "thoroughly Chinese."

And now for the "old pearler and willy-willy expert," This opponent accuses me of "abusing the other side," makes a dogmatic assertion that the jetty cannot withstand a hurricane and then sums up as follows:--"Those arguments and the fact that the present tramline is not paying expenses surely tends to allow that a new line cannot pay." What crushing logic! What sound induction is here displayed! In detail I contradict Mr. Ellery. The Cossack-Roebourne tramline is, I understand, paying expenses. What he should have said is that it is not paying interest, but seeing that this line has been heavily damaged several times by flood aud hurricane and thereby abnormally increased its capital cost, the interest test is not a sound one to the Point Samson line, for where the former has two miles of marsh causeway and eight bridges in its course, the latter (Mr. Moore's assertion notwithstanding) need not cross two chains of marsh in its whole course, and only requires one bridge; hence the repairs after bad weather will be correspondingly less. The 50 per cent. increase in earning power (with no increase in working expenses) which I previously demonstrated, Mr. Ellery steers wide of. I note, though, that he is in favour of returning to carts and horses as means of conveying cargo and wool between the port and Roebourne. Surely we have here a disciple of thc "Simple Life."

Moorings.--Mr. Ellery can have more information than he desires on this. In partial deference to the awful prognostications of the opponents of the jetty we asked the Government to put down the moorings he refers to, but the steamers started to use the jetty before the Government provided the moorings, when it was found that they were not essential.

Wreck of the Solveig.--Mr. Ellery, who was never nearer than four miles of the wreck, contradicts me as to the details. I was agent for the master of the vessel before and after the casualty, wrote his Board of Trade report for him on the occurrence, was one of the contractors to the underwriters for the salvage of the cargo, and was repeatedly at the scene of the disaster. Who then should be the better informed? However, I have permission to use the statement of Mr. H. Young, who was chief officer of the Solveig, when she went ashore, and who is in Cossack today as master of the pearling Eclipse. He says: "The loss of the Solveig was due to the defective, ground-tackle. The vessel was not anchored in the former place. The holding ground off Point Samson jetty is first-class, and is the best I have met with between Onslow and Cossack. The wind had attained hurricane force when the vessel went ashore." The mercurial barometer at Cossack post-office fell 39 points for this blow.

Wreck of the Mariano.--This occurred just twenty-five years aço. The vessel did not drag ashore, she was sailing into Cossack at the commencement of a hurricane, and, missing the channel, stranded on the eastern side of Cossack Creek, where she went to pieces. The scene of this casualty was two miles east of Cossack, whereas Point Samson is four miles north ol Cossack. Mr. Ellery might just as well debit the Carlisle Castle and the Orizaba casualties to Point Samson. Proceeding on he tells us that "one of the cleverest experts" said nothing could be done at Point Samson without a breakwater. After remembering the wrecks that never occurred and the bad holding ground that does not exist, it will be a relaxation to Mr. Ellery's memory to call to mind that for forty years the trade of Fremantle was conducted at a sea jetty, which one Yankee skipper described as being sheltered by Cape Horn. A "certain steamer that nearly met with disaster in getting away from tho jetty." Date and name of ship, please; incident unknown here. Evidently another instance of "our hurricane expert's exuberant memory get entirely out of hand.

Stock shipped during last eight months: 14,784 sheep and 67 horses.

Quality of stock water.--I reiterate that sheep drink it readily. For confirmation, I refer anyone questioning this to Mr. H. E. Bates, manager of Cooyapooya and Harding stations, who has handled some 20,000 sheep at Point Samson.

Yours, etc.,

AUBREY HALL.

Cossack. Nov. 27.