IN THE PUBLIC MIND.

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 33, 8 February 1930, Page 8

IN THE PUBLIC MIND.

CITY PARKS AND. RESERVES. AN IMPORTANT APPOINTMENT. ' (To the Editor.) ' The passing of the late Mr. T. E. Pearson has made it necessary for a new appointment jto be made. Jhe office of parks superintendent r in a large and growing city like Auckland i with its subtropical climate and large variety of soils—each especially suitable °for g om e ; special class of native or exotic tree or plant— 1 is a most important one, and in some ways tin ' present is a most opportune time for a new L appointment' to be made. Our city is j us <. t taking a long stride forward both' in area" r importance and in population. It has "ot to 3 the stage when it mnst rank with thereat - cities of the Empire, and in this - connection 1 it'should lead most of them horticultural]? . Few cities have the natural beauty", the climate ? and the list of natural advantages possessed by . Auckland. We now have upwards of a quarter [ of-a million inhabitants in the Greater Auck- . land area and . those whose, training should r make them competent judges assure 9 us that . the half-million mark is easily within the eight of the present generation. The present is a ; critical time; everything depends on having f the right man to guide the horticultural r development of the city at the present junc--1 ture. Much of what will go to make or mar the beauty of our city in the years to come is in a plastic state to-day, 'many' of our reserves awaiting the touch .of the master hand, while tht> older areas can still be remodelled where necessary 1 in keeping with the latest in scientific and landscape architecture. We ' ; ' have yet to start our botanic garden scheme. I Mdch remains to be accomplished- in selecting s and planting suitable trees and plants (both i native and exotic) to give just, that touch-of r subtropical beauty. ■ The appointment to' the > vacant position is one of the most important : the council has at its disposal. The citizens r will expect the best-trained and most capable " man the Empire can provide, and on the City • Council rests the responsibility of VSeciirin<» v | such a man at all costs. Securing at the : present time the right" man for the position ' is all important to the city and its: citizens. ' There never was "a more important'juncture 5 in the history of the city, arid on a right deci- >■ sion depends in a large measure the aesthetic • future of Auckland. The citizens look to the council to secure for them the best man-obtain-able. LANDSCAPE. GRAFTON BRIDGE TRAFFIC.' I wish to draw attention to the, congestion of motor traffic between the hours of five and six o'clock in. tlie evening at - the "safety zone near Grafton Bridge. It looks as if e\%y i motor car!, lorry aiid. motor bike- in Auckland ! uses this route and cars are lined up .at times . four abreast, preventing pedestrians'- crossing to the footpath. Surely it is time the City Council and the A.A.A. took some'steps to ' provide another outlet. May I suggest that a : one-way motor traffic via the old-bridge site . ! down St. Martin's Lane would overcome this ' congestion of traffic during the busiest time ■ of day. TRAM TICKET. : MARRIED WOMEN TEACHERS. ! I was amazed to read in the report of the L Educations Board's meeting this, week .that ten : women teachers who were married during the [ Christmas holidays, are'to retain their positions. • In view .of the strong disapproval expressed > by members of the board recently in the case [ of the proposed appointment of' a married , woman as assistant in her' husband's, school, > is this, not an absurd state of affairs? : .'.Surely . the board has placed itself in; ;a ,ridiculous s position. If there -were no fully-qualified single ; teachers without employment .there yjould bo i'-little objection to, the employment of married ; women in exceptional cases, e.g., in the case of a'widow or woman whose" husband-;is-unable > to : "provide for the home. But in most cases iit : is only'a question of extra, money or a , • disinclination to undertake "ordinary' household duties. Does it seem right that such women should be taking a living from single girls, many of whom have no homes and' must s'up- •_ port themselves? I know of a case (and there are doubtless /many others) where a certified single girl who provides necessary support for her needy parents and who has never refused a position in the country, is out of permanent employment. In my opinion the ' time has ] come when the educational authorities in this ' country must make a definite ruling on this [ subject. DISGUSTED. 1 .' CHARACTER OF CHARLES I. t The writer of the article in the "Star" ■ entitled "The Execution of Charles I." need not 3 be perturbed at his contradiction by A. Russell Allerton in Saturday's "Star." Tlie.,lying and subterfuge, of Charles is remarked uppn by i almost every recognised British historian of . that period. The persons of contrary opinions I referred to by Mr. Allerton are not recognised r British historians, and his anecdotes are not 5 evidence. The recognised authority in English t universities, J. R. Green, in his -"Short History i of the English People," page 1175, states: 'Of 1 loyalty such as this [the Royalists' heroic i defence of Basing House] Charles was utterly 1 unworthy. Theseizure of his papers at ) Naseby had hardly disclosed his earlier r intrigues with the Irish Catholics when Parliab ment was able to reveal to England a fresh 3 treaty with them' which purchased no longer • their neutrality but their aid by the simple l concession,, of every demand they made. The shame was without profit." So much for this 3 martyr's devotion, to the Church of England.,, 1 ra. • _ —' . r MYSTERY OF MARIE CELESTE, e . I Having been in sailing vessels for between ;j nine and ten years and steamers another *• twenty, mOre or less, -on voyages to .all parts J of the world, may I offer my belated solution to the "mystery"? I believe the Maria* Celeste ® was becalmed, and probably for a long time J (I have been for twenty-eight days), and the monotony of it is unexplainable. What is II more likely than that the passengers wanted ? to break this monotony and got xip enthusiasm J with the skipper's wife and daughter, who prek vailed upon the "old man" to let them have ;» the boats out and go for a row? I have seen ■ the sea like glass and hardly any roll or swell. The daughter went in one boat and the wife in the other and the crew divided in the boats and left' perhaps only the skipper aboard. Some n went swimming and may have got into diffis culties and during this time up came a breeze, n or perhaps a squall, and drove the ship away e from the boats, the skipper being the only one s on board. He lost his head and jumped overs board in his madness with the idea perhaps-of rr being picked up by the boats. A lot of. people, d even shipmasters, will pooh-pooh the.idea of a d ship sailing away and not getting "aback,' a j but I here state that I was in the barque Blaire boyle in 1900 on a voyage from London to il Port Elizabeth, S.A., with Captain Montgomery e in charge and there was one stretch of nine h hours when the wheel was not shifted a spoke d and the vessel did about seven or eight knots e with the wind abeam. If any of my old shipmates should see this they would verify it. d As regards the other solution of;the piano capsizing, it is to me tommy rot, for, in the first place, what sailorman would lash such a shape as a piano "fore and aft" ? And if it were so, how comes it that the wife was squashed o against the bulkhead, for I have yet to learn that a bulkhead runs fore and aft ? As regards explosions in the hold, why only one explosion? t Another mystery, and if he left the ship on account of an explosion I think the skipper would have had a long painter made fast to - the ship so as to get back aboard if he so CHIPS.