A STREET OF BEAUTY.

Auckland Star, Volume LVIII, Issue 195, 19 August 1927, Page 6

A STREET OF BEAUTY.

At nil seasons of tlie year Prinocs Street J* beautiful, hven in tlii>« *1 nil winter the leafless oaks and poplars, making a dclicatc tracery of branches against the cloudy sky, have a melancholy beauty that reminds one" of a Landseer sketch of a leaflet tree. The oaks in the ground* of Government Hon so enjoy a luxuriance of growth not permitted to the more severely pruned tree* in the street. Among them arc two or three sombre nine tree# and a shiny-leaved puka. A wealth of brilliant green covers part of the Museum building, and soino fine exotics grow there. Beside the synagogue stand* an old but vigorous puriri, with rosy flowers peeping from beneath its glossy dark leaves. Further up the street a giant bronwleafed magnolia testifies to the age of Prints Street. Palms in Albert Park, glistening after heavy shower?. add a tropical tourh to the srenc. At night the lights, gleaming high among the trees, east tessellated shadows of the brauchc* on the wet roadwav. The white front of the University College blares with light; then Princes Street looks like the approach to a fairv palace. One half expects to sec the Prince standing on the wide steps awaiting Cinderella's arrival in her grand coach. Perhaps he is truly standing there, for is not this the street of youth and golden opportunity, along which comes our young men and women—who are "seeing visions" and "the rising sun of wisdom** gleaming on the mountain top! It is a right and good thing that the war leading to our college should be through a street of beauty, for wisdom and beauty mutt ever be associated, learning is but tho key that opens up new vistas of beauty in natnre. thought and feeling, and enables us to reach the stars and beyond. Who will ever forget the avenue of splendid chestnut trees through which ho first approached Christchurch's venerable college building? The colleges of the Old World have been made beautiful with wido lawns and shadv avenues. Aucklandcrs arc fortunate in liaring their new college built amid beautiful surroundings. It adds importance and dignity to a street whose associations date back to the beginning* of our city. —E.W.W.