Sir, – Further to recent correspondence (October 14th), from my extensive study of westerns, I reckon the driver sat on the right so the shotgun guard could sit on the left. The guard being most likely right handed, he could easily turn to his left to fire back at pursuing desperadoes. If seated on the right, a left turn would endanger the driver and a right turn would be more awkward. Another case of the "scattergun effect"? – Yours, etc,
BILLY FITZGERALD,
Strandhill,
Co Sligo.
Sir, – I refer to M O'Muircheartaigh's query as to why nobody has fights on top of trains anymore, as in the westerns of many moons ago (October 13th).
Much as I loved being terrified by those fights, particularly when down the line we could see a rather low bridge, the fight on top of the cable car in Where Eagles Dare, when Richard Burton fought off two baddies single-handedly while high up above the snow-capped mountains in Austria, at the same time as setting the clock on a time bomb, and then jumping onto the roof of an oncoming cable car, was perhaps the last word in rooftop fights. – Is mise,
URSULA
HOUGH-GORMLEY,
Donnybrook,
Dublin 4.