WHY NOT OPEN-AIR CAFES?

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 1210, 3 December 1919, Page 2

WHY NOT OPEN-AIR CAFES?

The- prohibition of children 2 !) tea parties in the streets of London draws attention to a serious defect in the organisation of British towns—tho absence of provision for making the most of the opportunities to indulge in tho open-air life (says a writer in a London paper). In l'aris, or Brussels, or Vienna, Hid most other Continental oitic*, one can always take a rest out of doors. The numerous cafes which spread into tho street are a relief to the pedestrian. It is singular how British people are debarred from taking their meals in the open. There are no cafe terraces where in the evening one can extract satisfaction in watching tho world go by and enjoy the cool air. British streets are but dull corridors for tho conveyance of traffic. They sown to have no existence for tho amenities' of life. So that during hot days eating is done in stuffy restaurants, wherein everyone is in at state of disagreeable perspiration. and limpness. Yet, most English people are exceptionally fond of the free and ymshultercd air. - ... .• , .

Here, then, there is need for>tho reconsfcrHctor's hand. Mew hotels should make}provision for the entertainment and refreshment of people after tho manner of thei Continental cafe. If wo have no boulevards we can have the fresh air and chesg and dominoes, and the society of frienda all under the. protection of an awning, with a . few tub trees' 1 to break the grey of this streets. ~;

With open-air cafes London and other English towns would bo better places to live in.