Government should have said the park was purchased in 1890, not 1990.

They weren't sharks'! August 16, 1999 Dear Sir, So, the sharks are coming to get us! Alas by sheer coincidence we happened to be in the Daniel's Head area late Monday morning August 17, kayaking along in our Windjammer rentals when the tranquillity of our outing was disrupted by the shrill peep-peep of a park ranger's whistle. We were kindly informed of two six foot sharks that had just been seen following the inner reef line between Daniel's Head and Ely's Harbour, and were cautioned to proceed at our own risk.

We are not shark experts but we do know that a shark will not "attack'' unless provoked or baited. And so we made a point of following the reef line where the sharks were milling about, in hope of a possible encounter.

One hundred metres later we spotted the two treacherous fins! Immediately we realised these beasts were not two but one four foot tarpon with both dorsal and tail fin out of the water. What's a tarpon? A harmless fish! Maybe there were two sharks spotted that day but it's a known fact that tarpon are commonly mistaken for shark.

All we have basically achieved with this shark hype is to scare our tourists from our true resource, the water. Consequently some comments of "the day after'' were:- "Will the sharks get me if I get dunked on the parasail boat?'' "Will we be jetskiing in more than three feet of water?'' The latter cancelled because of course you do! OK, we agree that the beauty of the ocean is that it is a completely different realm which few of us are familiar with.

Most people have some sort of fear or apprehension of the unknown, so there's no need to scare each other any more but rather to educate ourselves to turn this unnecessary anxiety into a deep respect for the ocean.

Furthermore let's give our marine life a chance to be what it really is! TWO SEA FANS Dockyard Cabbies need a spanking August 16, 1999 Dear Sir, Thank you for allowing me space in your most read newspaper. Concerning the taxi drivers' empty display of weaknesses. What do I mean by weaknesses? From the beginning Mr. Editor, they started off wrong. Two wrongs have never made anything right. The first wrong, they are fragmented and the second wrong, they are a bunch of fearful taxi drivers. They display the fear, like a little child getting its first taste of going to school, and still wanting to hang onto their mother's skirt, so he or she bawls their head off to the point where the mother has to resort to a little firmness.

Well, Mr. and Ms. taxi driver, your sorrowful state reminds me of some of us wanting Independence and some are afraid to let go of Mother England's skirt.

Some years ago, you refused to take people's groceries so then came the gypsy cabs. Very often you see a Bermudian on the street and you pass them by to pick up the tourist. O man, don't let a local be on Front Street trying to get a taxi, that's worse still. The local was made to wait, even though they were there first. This is what I call doing a right thing in a wrong way. Of course, there are numbers of other things I could mention. The taxi drivers want to ruffle other people's feathers, but don't bother them.

Mr. Editor, the taxi drivers have a gold mine in the rough, but it seems if they are afraid to tackle the roughness, and make a clearance so that they could get to that gold mine.

They either need a spanking on their back side, or need a bang upside their head to knock some sense in it. Just like a mother would say, that little limousine has caused them time off from work.

Making a lot of stupid noise in the city. What they should be doing Mr.

Editor, instead of wasting time and energy, is to sit down together and find out ways and means as to how they can take control of the taxi industry along with the limousine industry.

Mr. Editor, there are so many other parts of the taxi industry that Bermudian taxi drivers can get into and take over.

They must form themselves into a corporation where they can buy out the limousine service at the Airport. Get into the bus sightseeing tour business or take it over and bring in their own taxis, and buy a cottage colony or two.

The taxi drivers must become visionaries. They must sit down together and discuss these possibilities and others. If the older taxi drivers don't want to do it, then they should step aside and allow the younger taxi drivers to go in such a direction. Taxi drivers must sit down together now and make their move for a better industry and enlarge the business for themselves and their children.

The Government has only ruffled the nest so that you can get up and fly on your own. That's what a mother bird would do. This is a democratised country, the undertaker, or undertakers have the right to have a limousine. Don't let this little thing blind you from seeking greater possibilities. The Government has gone over to many cities in the US, Canada, England, even Europe to build up the tourist industry and you, taxi drivers, are the first to benefit from these many millions of dollars.

I hope some day that the taxi industry find themselves in such a position, that they would be able to go along with the Tourism Minister to promote Bermuda, and their business.

Let's not sit down on the wall as it were, and wait for hand-outs. Get up of your backsides and take control of your industry. Be like the businessmen in the city and form your own corporation and then, only then, can you have real power over your industry. Having a house and taxi paid for is not enough in this day and time. You must become aggressive, bold, and have a vision as to how you can think large and make the industry mushroom. You cannot do that if you are going to sit around moaning and groaning. The world will go on and leave you behind. So get up of your backsides and take full control of your industry. You've got to get off the shoreline, you've been here too long.

You've been around long enough to know how to swim and swim strongly. So go out into the deep, for a fisherman does not stay on the shoreline if he wants to catch choice fish. All the best in your new venture. God, bless the taxi owners and drivers.

Mr. Editor, I believe we have more than 600 business owners in the city and they come under one umbrella, so can the taxi drivers do the same.

DONALD JONES Southampton Protect Par-la-Ville park August 17, 1999 Dear Sir, In yesterday's Gazette there was an article concerning the changes proposed for Par-la-Ville Park to mark the year 2000. I was astonished! This peaceful garden in the centre of Hamilton is very much a part of our heritage and should be left in its beauty, simplicity and peace. It outdates the City itself.

In Terry Tucker's charming little book "Beyond the Rubber Tree'' one can learn not only the story of the Perot family in Bermuda, but the story of the home they built, now used by The Bermuda Historical Society and Bermuda Library and the garden which they created.

All of Mr. Perot's children were born in the house at Par-la-Ville and lived there until they married and moved away. William B. Perot, of the "Perot Stamp'' fame, died there in 1871. His sons sent him plants and seeds from wherever they moved and had businesses: Adolphus and James from British Guiana and William Henry from Baltimore. It was from Demarara that Adolphus sent the slip which today is the famed Rubber Tree. Terry Tucker tells us it was planted in 1847.

When the Corporation of Hamilton bought Par-la-Ville in 1990..."The grounds became a Public Garden in which many of the trees remained as they had been for over half a century, the winding paths retained their charm...'' A far cry from..."a curved seating area around a fountain, Greek-style columns, pergola and the commemorative "virtual reality'' wall (whatever that is?).

It is encouraging that so many protests have been made to the DAB. There are people who get refreshment from familiar, restful surroundings. May their objections be taken seriously and a halt put to these plans to strip away yet another bit of our history.

The public toilets are another matter. They are a disgrace. Their removal to the Number One shed area is a good idea. The little walls could be removed, and thus the people who sit on them, the railings extended to enclose the area which could be replanted.

Just in passing, the Perot Post Office should be kept in good condition and remain open on Saturdays. This is an historic area which is a tourist attraction and looks most gloomy on Saturdays when shut. The staff need not get in a tizzy, extra personnel could be employed, just for Saturdays. So much fuss is made about promoting the tourist trade, and yet there are so many matters that could be attended to that would improve our image.

JOYCE D. HALL Pembroke Thanking Mr. Winchell August 19, 1999 Dear Sir, I am a staff member of the Bermuda Aquarium, Museum and Zoo (BAMZ) and the Bermuda Zoological Society (BZS) and would like a little space in your newspaper to say a few things about out Principle Curator, Richard Winchell who will be ending his tenure here a BAMZ today. I'm sure that this letter speaks for all of those who have been fortunate to work with Richard.

I don't need to tell you about what he has accomplished at BAMZ; that is evident when you visit our facility.

However, what he has done for the staff here is another matter.

He truly is a man of vision through which he has taught us how not to be short-sighted or narrow-minded.

Our ship has never floundered because he, our captain, has stayed focused and on course -- no crew could ask for better! Richard has set the tone for inspiration and dedicated, and has led by example putting his "money where his mouth is''. No job on our facility has been beneath him.

He has helped everywhere! He never seems to tire and is always willing to give assistance.

He has encouraged staff members to grow in their personal development, helping many of us find our way when the path was not always clear.

When we've made mistakes, he has not berated us for them, but has asked what we learn from the experience.

One of the key reasons BAMZ is not just a tourist attraction today, but a wonderful facility for all, is because he treats his staff with respect and because of that, his team has come through for him and Bermuda too! We only wish that every employee in Bermuda could have a boss who is as positive, intelligent, efficient, funny, fun-loving and compassionate.

However, I believe the one thing that makes him so unique, is he knows when to think with his `head' and when to think with his `heart'. Richard, I wish you the best -- you'll be in our hearts forever.

So lucky to have worked with you.

EMPLOYEE Bermuda Aquarium They were not victims August 24, 1999 Dear Sir, On June 21, I submitted a letter signed "Sad Bermudian'' to which Eva Hodgson felt the need to rely on July 5. Her letter, appearing under the title of "Welcome to the Club'' assumes that I am a woman. How could she make such an assumption, since only you Sir, know my identity? I certainly wish to reject any membership offers to Dr. Hodgson's Club. I have very little respect for those who waste their privilege. Bermudians whose parents struggled to provide them with a sound education and who have had the good fortune to receive a professional training as a guest in another country have -- in my view -- no grounds to complain. Life is full of barriers to one's personal progress, and institutionalised prejudices of one sort or another. It is up to the individual to make the very best of a privileged start and find ways to open closed doors. There are many professional black Bermudians who have returned to the Island to private practice, and who have worked tirelessly to provide every type of service, especially to their own community. Through their actions, they have broken down bigotry and have built bridges for others to cross.

Members of Dr. Hodgson's Club, are ultra nationalists who use history as a tool to justify their own positions. This is of course nothing new, and charismatic leaders have climbed to absolute power and justified terrible excesses against ethnic groups by exploiting history. Hitler and Milosevic are good examples of this, and both rode the tide of national resentment against stereotypically demonised ethnic groups. I do not recall Dr. Hodgson writing about the infamous slave castles on the west coast of Africa, which were indispensable staging posts to the slave trade, as they were the gathering stations for human cargo. These castles were owned and operated -- so to speak -- by African tribal chiefs, without whose expertise in the field of capturing their victims and holding them in ghastly dungeons ready to be sold to the ship owners, this terrible trade in human suffering could never have succeeded and flourished. They became wealthy over lords. Why doesn't she write about that? It speaks to the subject of betrayal and greed as well as any other more modern topic.

Many if not most of Bermuda's "white'' or Caucasian population hail from anything but estate rich slave owners. Most of us probably have our roots in families tied to indentured labour so widespread in the industrial revolution in Europe, whose suffering authors such as Charles Dickens portrayed relentlessly. The industrial success of Europe was built on the exploitation of most citizens. The Caucasian ancestors of most "white'' Bermudians were probably locked in working class hopelessness. Only very few bear a name to prove otherwise.

As far as using "economic disparity'' to excuse the brutish behaviour of the various individuals described in my letter, and portraying them in her usual style as victims may I add the following facts for her information: All but the first individual in the account are known to me.

One of the work crew had actually once worked for us, comes from a wealthy black family which owns dozens of apartment houses on the Island and whom I would describe as being unemployable due to a recreational drug habit which made him unreliable. He has a lovely wife and beautiful children and wants for nothing.

Judging by the class of cars being parked in our driveway on a daily basis, neither did his colleagues.

The "gentleman'' who accused us of harassment is actually an African American married, I believe, to a local and owns at least one huge multi-apartment complex and a very nice boat. The young man who spat hostile racial insults literally in my face at the wharf in St. George's (public place!), is a football player for that parish -- not a bad one when he is in the right condition -- has a job with W&E and in no way qualifies as underprivileged.

In conclusion I should like to make it clear to Eva Hodgson that although I am sure I have many personal failings "lacking stamina'' is certainly not one of them. In addition, because of the nature of my work I frequently have to tolerate abusive racial remarks. They really do not trouble me in the least because in most instances I understand the genesis of the remarks, and I am not easily offended.

My letter of June 21 was written out of genuine concern for the future of Bermuda. If Dr. Hodgson were less obsessed with herself and her victims' script written to justify any act of racism perpetrated by persons of African descent, we could all work together towards a common and harmonious future.

SAD BERMUDIAN St. George's PS. Like most people, I do not wish to "struggle on'' but to enjoy my life. I believe I have every right and that happiness is a healthy emotion; healthy for me, healthy for Bermuda.