employ only the most competent tradesmen, who could not possibly
make the kind of mistake you suppose. We beg to refer you to the
part of our letter of January 17 referring to Hathaway Mansions.

_Murdoch McWhannel_ to _Messrs. Fairley and Willing_.

_January 24, 191-._

I regret very much the tone of your letter of January 23. It is
hardly courteous to suggest, as your letter does, that I cannot
distinguish between the noise of a cowl on Hathaway Mansions, which
are fully 150 yards away, and one which is practically just above
my bedroom. As I write this letter, seated at a table at the window
of my study, I can actually see the cowl shrieking--if you will
pardon a figure of speech which has perhaps a Hibernian flavour. As
my study is built out to the back of this house, it is parallel
with your property at 15, Poynings Road. I am within fifty yards of
the offending cowl. The noise it makes rises and falls in
shrillness according to the speed at which the cowl revolves under
the pressure of the wind. We are not disturbed at all by any cowl
on Hathaway Mansions, but by this one of yours, about which I wrote
you first so long ago as January 3. I have kept a diary of the cowl
since then and for some days earlier, showing the number of hours
per day that we have been annoyed by it, the number of times it has
prevented us from getting to sleep at the usual time, the number of
nights we have been wakened from the same cause, and the number of
mornings when we have been prematurely wakened, often as early as
seven o'clock, and prevented from getting to sleep again. I shall
be glad to send you a copy of this document for your information.
The original I must retain, in case any legal proceedings should be
necessary, as I have had each item in the diary certified by my
wife and our house-tablemaid, a very intelligent and observant
girl. I hope, however, it may not be necessary to take any legal
steps, such as an action of interdict and damages at my instance,
or a prosecution for nuisance at the instance of the public
authority, which in this case would be the City Council, to a
number of which body I am not altogether unknown. In fact I may say
I took the opportunity of mentioning the matter to Bailie McPartan
at a municipal conversazione to which my wi