In reference to Manie Ible's letter in The Royal Gazette , he does not recall Bermudians shooting their leaders. What about the Governor, Sir Richard Sharples, who together with his ADC, were shot in the grounds of Government House in the early 1970's? It was a Bermdian who shot these two gentlemen, Mr. Ible.

W. JOHN GRAHAM Flatt's Village How do we compete? January 25, 2000 Dear Sir, On a recent trip to Boston my wife and I saw an advertisment on TV: Boston to Aruba, six nights and seven days for $699 hotel and airfare included.

The hotel was on the beach with beautiful white sand. How can Bermuda compete with that? Boston is a lot further from Aruba than Bermuda. It's hard to imagine how it could be so cheap, especially when you compare airfares (between) Boston and Bermuda.

It's also their peak season. I must admit we have never been there so we cannot verify what the hotel looks like and what the service is like.

ERNEST DECOUTO City of Hamilton Missing out on the boom January 17, 2000 Dear Sir, As reported in The Royal Gazette , January 8: "Air arrivals plunge in November! Year to date bed nights fall by 103,350!'' As reported in the New York Times, January 9: "World tourism boom continues unabated''.

Is Bermuda truly on another planet? When will David Allen figure out that the first rule of advertising is "never advertise what you cannot deliver''. (He should) get back here from his jaunts and fix the problems -- starting with the prices.

OSTRICH City of Hamilton Don't bite the hand... January 14, 2000 Dear Sir, In grateful acknowledgement of Mr. Mike Bearden's letter in January 12's Royal Gazette . As an American/Bermudian, I would like to say "Thank You, Mr.

Bearden, for standing up for the greatest country in the world''.

I find it so pitifully small-minded when Bermudians insult the very country that keeps this Island alive.

As much as I love Bermuda, sometimes moreso than born Bermudians, I am truly amazed that an Island, so small and isolated, would ever take a chance on insulting a larger, infinitely more powerful nation that has been such a major source of Bermuda's success.

I worry about this high-and-mighty attitude that some Bermudians have -- especially after last summer when Bermuda was a laughing stock in New York's exclusive Hamptons, because of its tourist campaign.

So thank you Mr Bearden, for voicing what needed to be voiced, for being intelligent and fair-minded, patriotic and brave enough to tell it like it is.

Now let's hope our leaders tone it down a notch before we all regret it.

Barbara Cuoco Devonshire Tee'd off at Annex plans January 18, 2000 Dear Sir, It is with bated breath that I await the completion of yet another golf course at the Naval Annex in Southampton. It seems Bermuda is in dire need of more golf courses, especially for the youngsters on the Island.

It seems -- as I remove the tongue from my cheek -- that here lies a perfect opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. The alarming amount of road fatalities and pack racing by bored youngsters would be eradicated if a purpose built motor sport venue was provided at the annex.

Proper education and driving skills could be taught in a more real world setting than TCD and an outlet for controlled organised races on a purpose built track with little risk of injury would surely be of benefit to the people of this Island.

The Bermuda Motorcycle Racing Club is trying to do this against great opposition at Southside, but although this raceway is far from ideal it is our only organised road racing and riding skills location, for how long though is (anyone's guess).

So come on PLP government for the people, do something for the people and not just golfers who surely have more than their fair share of facilities already.

G. GOUDGE Bermuda Motorcycle Racing Club Think about environment January 17, 2000 Dear Sir, I see the Hon. David Allen is pushing for the introduction of huge `mega-cruise ships' to Bermuda - to the point where the Government is considering an extension of the Hamilton docks.

What is especially troubling is that it doesn't appear that the Government has mandated any sort of environmental report! Of particular importance is the potentially destructive impact of the ships' propellers on the coral reefs.

These ships disturb incredible amounts of silt and it would be catastrophic if murky waters prevented the coral from receiving adequate sunlight for food production. Moreover, we need to be concerned about the impact of sewage and bilge pump disposal from these massive ships.

The Minister of Tourism should address these concerns with his colleague in the Ministry of the Environment and stop any further plans for these ships until a report on the environmental impact has been completed.

DOUBTING THOMAS City of Hamilton Tax-time is coming January 12, 2000 Dear Sir, I can see Income Tax coming soon. Of course it will be the beginning and the end of PLP.

The way they are squandering our money on a circus idea of taking gombeys, chefs and the Regiment to Davos.

It's not done, you cannot mix the seriousness of the meetings.

Tourism should be David Allen's department, although I have not seen much for all of his trips he's taken. All out of our money. We can save all that money on the projects we have in the air and proceed with them right away.

Europeans are not interested in Bermuda. They have so many places to visit in the south of Europe which are less expensive. Of course they can fly to US on package tours for half the price of Bermuda.

I think there are too many of these trips to go here and there at our expense and its not the right thing to do or necessary. When different departments have been asked to cut back and we do something like this! Better to concentrate on US and Canada. They are only two or three hours away as long as air fares are so high, we will not get people from Europe.

Those who can afford it may come, sometimes but I would not bet on it.

BERMUDIAN Devonshire Setting record straight January 14, 2000 Dear Sir, On Thursday January 6, an article entitled "Break Free of Office Stress appeared in your newspaper.

Please allow me to correct one statement in the article credited to me.

"Prevention before detection is important, so you won't have to see a massage therapist''.

As a massage therapist I would, for obvious reasons be wrong to suggest that.

There will always be a need for therapist massage or otherwise.

Perhaps a comment similar to "early prevention will limit the amount of visits to health care providence'' would have been more appropriate.

R.A. JOHNSON City of Hamilton Counting cost of war January 15, 2000 Dear Sir, This letter is in answer to Pat Ferguson's letter.

I was talking about all service men and women as well as merchant navy, however I do not know enough about slave trading.

I am sure you enjoy the web, but I have the memories, but when you look you will also come across the Jews that lost their lives, the ships that were sunk outside Bermuda, all the British that lost their lives during the bombings, the French.

I knew a French lady that could not stand to hear the planes overhead because of what happened to her family.

I am talking about Korea, where the British lost almost all the Gloucestershire Regiment, about 100 came out alive, the rest were dead or prisoners of war and they wished they were dead.

The American men and women that lost their lives in the Vietnam war and the Gulf war.

Pat, I do not have a computer to see the web. No matter how you want to put it, 1998 Armistice day was bad, 1999 was the way it should have been except someone did lose her shoe.

MARGARET Devonshire