AFTER TEN YEARS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 100, 1 May 1933, Page 11

AFTER TEN YEARS.

■ ■ ■ , AUCKLAND AGAIN. ■ MANY IMPROVEMENTS. EFFECTS OF DEPRESSION. (By E. H. BAILEY.) Reality is seldom more lovely than dreams, yet in returning to Auckland after ten exciting years I found it so. Often in that time I had been cheered by a glorious vision of steaming up the Auckland Harbour on a sparkling summer morning, the blue sky banked with fluffy white clouds and the sunshine gilding every wavelet of the sparkling Waitemata. With closed eyes I #ould see the sheer cliff of Birkenhead, the green peninsula of Devonport and Narrow Neck, and the grey and characteristic outline of Rangitoto. It was midnight when I arrived. Everything bathed in the mystic glamour of summer moonlight was far more enthralling than it could possibly have been by day.- .As the tall ship cut through the silvery water, away to the left could be seen the shadowy mass of Auckland's guardian island, while closer at hand were the myriad lights of Takapuna. Once round the bend of North Shore, the.city, of the sea flashed out her welcome in a liuudred floodlights, illuminations' and electric signs. It was like some great fitage set ready for carnival. What joy to pick out familiar landmarks! ' There were the Ferry Buildings, on the hill the hospital, and not far from that, white and ghost-like, the War Memorial Museum. Seen for the first time, it is indeed a dominant reminder of the loved ones whom war swept from us. Auckland was at that moment, and still is to my prejudiced and enraptured gaze, lovelier than ever! She surely grows more beautiful with time, or perhaps one forgets. Enjoyment and Hospitality. Yet the impression of increased beauty was only one of many surprises in this joyous return to old haunts. Aucklanders seem to possess the secret of perpetual youth! Ten years had sped, and yet they appeared exactly as they had been a decade ago. After so long it was wonderful to be able to take up old friendships just as though one had returned after a fortnight's holiday. Two world-famed characteristics of New Zealanders make this easy, their delightful capacity for enjoyment, and their extraordinary hospitality. Perhaps ihese attributes are well defined, because this was once a small community whose joys rested solely with people: whatever the reason, New Zealanders certainly live up to their reputation for generosity. Next in order of miracles were the roads. In 1023 a section of the road to Onehunga had been laid down in concrete, and people delighted to drive on it as quite a novelty. Now these highways ran from the city in every direction like fingers from a palm. In the country, too, the change was astounding. Routes which 10 years ago had to be abandoned in wet weather were now braved without a qualm in the worst of storms, and service cars went hither and thither, on ■roads' that I''r?membered:'hearing 6f as cow tracks. Newmarket I recalled as a muddy morass. Now it was a busy shopping centre with quite a fine main street and many 6ide roads paved in modern style. And what of the waterfront road, that delightful drive ty the sea which seems doubly beautiful and refreshing after a hot day in town? Each turn of the head brought to view fresh.glimpses of shining water and green hills, of trim 'launches riding at anchor, and old hulks resting after their labours, picturesquely black against the sunset sky. Turning inland one could see the broken outline of the city softened by the magic glow of evening. Ten years ago the New Zealand Insurance Building was the highest in Auckland. To-day it is dwarfed or rivalled by a dozen others. In 1923 there was no splendid station or well-planned Station Square. The Civic Theatre had not, been thought of, and the little parks and roadside gardens which make motoring in Auckland so delightful had only just begun to put i& their appearance. The Museum, From all the neare- suburbs one caught glimpses of the War Memorial Museum. Its impressiveneas is doubled . by its wonderful site so high above the.town, and so guarded from contact .with the world by grassy,. wooded slopes and lovely flower gardens. It is a thing of beauty set in loveliness. The interior is a poet's dream of light and space. Sunraya of every hue blend in perfect harmony as they fall from the stained plass skylight oh to the mosaic floor of the magnificent entrance hall.. From every angle of the wide staircases, from the doorways of the different salons there are perfect vistas: the courts of Greece and Rome seem to have been fashioned again. Close to heaven is the Hall of Memories, upon whose walls in golden lettering are the names of those ■ who died that generations of New,Zealanders yet unborn might live and enjoy the land they loved. All who wander there must surely offer up little heart- . felt prayers to their own particular gods that there shall be no more war. Auckland appears to have been singularly fortunate in those she has chosen to care for her treasures of art and history. In the War Memorial Museum, in the Art Gallery and in the Old Colonists' Museum everything is charmingly displayed, both from the point of view of artistry and for the benefit and ease of visitor and student. It was pure joy to ; find old friends at the Art Gallery, pictures that had been chosen subjects for essays in my schooldays, so much more of a thrill after 20 years than at the period of childish compositions. Ten years ago Auckland seemed -very far from the world, but to-day that dreadful feeling of isolation has vanished. Cheaper cables, wireless, the speeding-up and increasing of steamship services, and aviation have all no doubt had their beneficial effects, but the o-reatest change is in attitude of mind. Travel is so comfortable to-day , that people seem to think nothing of a trip to England, and as for Sydney, why that is becoming an almost week-end affair! New Zealand has overcome her geographical disadvantages by disregarding them. -t The Depression. There was no slump in 1923. Nearly everyone was light-hearted, prosperous and optimistic. People did not greet one another with comments on decreased income and increased taxation. In those days Queen Street was not full of worried faces and of vainly trying to find work. These things are tragic, but even yet, when my friends talked of poverty I wondered if they know what it meant. Was any actual starvation in New Zealand? Were there any children with nbwheWto go, nowhere to sleep? These are the- real tests- of poverty. To the

visitor, New Zealand seemed quite prosperous. There were those who had gone under, and one missed them and feels desperately sorry, but then there were always those who crash whatever the circumstances. I believe that the majority of New Zealanders feel instinctively that the best way to help to solve their country's financial problems is to live as normally as possible, and to cheerfully and hopefully struggle on till times improve. It is a wonderful philosophy. One of the saddest effects of the slump, I was told, was the way, it was either sending young men away from New Zealand to seek work and fortune in other parts of the world, or forcing them into retirement because they were too poor and too proud to accept hospitality they saw no chance of returning. It is estimated that there are about two million surplus women,. in Great Britain, yet there is scarcely ever a party or a function without a superfluity of males. In Auckland, where there are supposed to be many more men than girls, it was, I discovered, almost impossible to find enough men to make an even party. The girls of the rising generation are going to suffer much unless some economic balance can be reached quite soon. Perhaps the young women themselves will be able to discover a solution for their difficulties, but it won't be found over mah jong and bridge tables, where so many of New Zealand's maids and youthful matrons foregather on numberless afternoons and evenings.