One would expect from the Lines, one of Bermuda's older families, a genuine sense of preservation of Bermuda's unique architecture, of its historic buildings and of its history. Consequently, it was a terrible shock to see after so many months that so un-Bermudian building go up in place of a charming old Bermudian home.

Where most people nowadays are so conscientious of the environment up goes, in the middle of the City of Hamilton, this exceedingly unattractive black building amongst all the pastels and where the owners of surrounding buildings are making such an effort to keep the old charm of Reid Street.

Not only should the Lines family be reprimanded but the architect should have his architectural license revoked. Where on earth was the Planning Department or the Corporation of Hamilton or whomever when these plans went up before the Board? It is an absolute disgrace, it is an obsolete shame that this building was allowed to be erected as it stands today. What a monument for the Lines family. May you hang your heads in shame.

AN OLD BERMUDIAN Pembroke Dumb and dumber January 4, 2000 Dear Sir, By now, most people have seen or heard reports of the ferry fiasco at Dockyard on New Year's Eve, but there are a couple of things I would like to add.

To sell tickets without assigning a maximum number of passengers to each trip is just plain DUMB. A ten year old (or younger) could have figured that out.

From 6 p.m. Friday evening, a total count of tickets would have told Wedco how many people to expect and how many boats would be needed. And if nobody could be bothered to count tickets, why bother to print/sell them? DUMB.

The 9 p.m. boat could not take everybody, but instead of returning immediately for an extra trip (it took only 15 minutes journey time) it did not return until 10:25. I would be surprised if that boat was not overloaded. There were no contingency plans in place between Wedco, Marine & Ports and the Ferry Pilots in the event of too many people. Ferry crew were left to deal with it as best they could. I did not see one Wedco representative in Dockyard. DUMB.

The live music was all jammed up on the central grassy area creating a bottleneck of people pouring off the ferries and just stopping, whilst the rest of Dockyard was half empty and dark. I saw at least two people fall down stumbling over ropes and other equipment that couldn't be seen for lack of light. DUMB.

There was nothing else to do besides stand in line for a $10 token to buy a chicken sandwich and a plate of fries. I understood that the event was supposed to be for families....or did Wedco think that it was an under 30's event and/or that only 200 people would turn up? DUMB.

Some of the stalls were set up so close to the flower beds that people were forced to walk all over them (and fall over) and yes, some of them were probably three-sheets to the wind, but WHAT DID YOU EXPECT ON NEW YEAR' EVE 2000...? Five thousand people coming to DRINK TEA! EXTRA DUMB.

Come 1-30/2 a.m. the `friendly' Bermudians were swearing, shouting, jumping barriers pushing and shoving, amidst frustrated parents with tired and crying children and babies and old people and others. People were falling over the bollards and ropes and other fixtures on the dock, there was no proper barriers to channel people to board the boat, no `officials' of Wedco or Marine & Ports or the Police to monitor or try to keep order, no checking of tickets (again, what was the point). EXTRA EXTRA DUMB.

I investigated the bus and taxi options, but found out that you needed tokens for the buses (though nowhere to buy them!) and not a bus or taxi in sight anyway. Boy, was I glad I had made a contingency plan with neighbour friends...(albeit in jest) and luckily for us they came to our rescue (at 2am), (SMART). But for those without that option trying to get on the 12:30 boat and then again at 2:00 a.m. it wasn't a celebration it was a nightmare.

Wedco all I can say is that you are lucky that no-one fell overboard and/or drowned, that no-one was seriously hurt in the rush. What's disturbing is the fact that they had a problem before with the JazzFest and have learnt nothing, and the poor excuse Wedco gave this time for disorganisation: expense. Still since they couldn't count tickets/numbers, it is not surprising they wouldn't have the foresight/planning knowledge to make appropriate decisions in advance. TOO DUMB FOR WORDS.

Happy New year.

TRICIA THOMPSON-BROWNE Pembroke List should be longer December 31, 1999 Dear Sir, What a challenge it must have been for Dr. Charles Zuill to select only 10 people who have effected the visual arts in Bermuda this century. I wonder whether he would have liked more choices so he could have included the following people: Tom Butterfield, Masertworks Foundation Founder, fundraiser and Director extraordinaire. The man who led the move to form a collection of art of Bermuda by masters and dabblers who together who together form a total image of the way others see our Island.

Marlee Robinson, National Gallery Senior Curator. She has created or guided others who created every exhibition at the gallery for the last 4 to 5 years.

The shows have been of local, international, historic, contemporary, and multicultural art. All have been educational and enlightening.

Patricia Calnan, art reviewer, critic and author. Her well-researched assessments of exhibitions have helped us understand the visual as well as other arts. She is also the author of the Masterworks Foundation book on their collection.

Dr. Charles Zuill, Bermuda College teacher, artist and longtime Chair of the Bermuda Arts Council. Modesty obviously prevented him from including himself on his list but he has been a constant champion of the arts and artists over many years.

Benefactors, both corporate and private. Without generous finance none of the artistic achievements, exhibitions and visual education to which these nominees contributed would have happened. Two examples from the corporate sector spring to mind: Mr. Amos at Bacardi Limited has given first exhibitions to many Bermudian artists and Bacarbi now sponsor the National Gallery Biennial exhibitions. Bank of Butterfield have sponsored the first two Masterworks-led Art by the Sea events.

I wonder what others think of the choices Dr. Zuill and I have made. I wonder if there are other nominees for major contributions to our exciting visual art community.

ALTER EGO Pembroke The other side of the coin January 4, 2000 Dear Sir, I have read several letters in your newspaper regarding poor service from the Bermuda Telephone Company so I think it is only fitting to report some outstanding service.

At 7 p.m. on December 16, 1999, I reported my telephone out of order. I spoke with dispatcher No. 92 and gave her my cellular number as a contact. I didn't expect to hear anything further for several days. However, for the next hour and a half, this lady called me and, in a conference call with the repairman, kept me up to date with their attempts to fix my telephone. Unable to fix it at that time, I received several calls throughout the week until a repairman was eventually able to detect the problem. On Christmas Eve, after several visits by the repairman on call for the Smith's Parish area, my telephone service was restored. Both of these people performed their duties in an extremely professional manner and are a credit to B.T.C.

W. JOHN GRAHAM Flatts Move with the times January 5, 2000 Dear Sir, If we took Mr. Crichlow's salary and automated the post office with the money, I wouldn't be still...

WAITING FOR MY MAIL A generous public January 4, 2000 Dear Sir, The Women's Resource Centre would like to use this column to thank all those who assisted in our Tag Day on December 10, 1999.

We, like many of the other small charities rely heavily on our Tag Days to help with the over-all costs of operating and each year it presents a challenge. In order not to leave anyone out we would just like to thank all those who volunteered and give a special thanks to all the business inside and outside of Hamilton who allowed us to use their property.

We of course would be amiss if we did not thank the generous members of the public who took the time to stop and give, those donations enabled us to raise over $6,000.

Your donations of time and money will enable us to continue to fulfil our mission statement of reducing the incident and adverse affects of sexual and physical violence on individuals and their families.

PENNY DILL Chairman Women's Resource Centre