PAST AND PRESENT.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1132, 20 May 1911, Page 3

PAST AND PRESENT.

KARORI'S ADVANCE. ITS TRAMWAY COMPLETED. There are times when it is pleasant and instructive to turn up the musty pages of the past. It is a common practice with our public men, lor instance,' when opening post offices.. I.ridges, sections of railways, etc., to go back periods and make statistical comparisons with the present to show how progress has taken place. So Karori, yesterday afternoon, held a mental survey of the "early days," and compared those pioneering times of bad roads and difficult access, to tho present, with its modern conveniences--and its completed tramway system. To quote the Mayor (Air. C. Cathie), Karon's history, so far as European settlement is concerned, goes back CO or |0 years—to tho time when the Now Zealand Land Company purchased property there. Alaps, compiled in those days and still in existence, show that streets wero marked out to connect the proposed township with Wellington, but thoso road-markings suggested highways that were straight and level, whereas tho first settlers discovered that only tortuous pathways and heavy climbing? would take them up to Karori, or back to the city. The real name of Karori was Karoriroro, which, according to one Maori authority, meant ."crooked," and the name was bestowed because of tho many windings over the lulls and along the valleys that led the traveller there. But, again quoting the Mayor, the Karori people have lived to mako their "crooked roads straight and their high places plain." Once an hour distant from the city, Karori is now little more than' twenty minutes away. The portion of the tramway formally opened yesterday lies between the Karori Council Chambers and tho park. Its use, for. some time at least,, will chiefly be, to enable speedy communication to bo made with the athletic grounds. The construction of this length practically completes tho tramway scheme which Karori had set herself out from the first to accomplish. The opening function was quietlv though pleasantly performed. A special car convoyed out a few guests from tho city, including Mr. Fletcher, senior city councillor (who was representing the Mayor), Councillor G. Frost, Councillor John Fuller, junr., Air. J. ]>. Luke, AI.P., Councillor Fitzgerald, Air. \V. H. Morton (City Engineer), and Messrs, »S. Richardson and At. Cable tramway manager and assistant manager respectively. At Karori was • another ear carrying tlm Mayor and borough councillors and several residents, and a rapid run was made over tho now portion of the line to tho terminus at tho Jiaron park. It is a pretty scenic prospect here—a long stretch of green valley, terminated abruptly on every sido by steeply-rising hills.. But tho wind was bleak- and tho ground was damp, ami tho people feared for their seasonable colds, so the Mayor said only a few words, and back tho cars conveyed tho people to tho Parochial Hall, whero already half Karori wero gathered. Tea and cakes were handed round, and then tnero wore speeches. Tho Mayor (Mr. Cathie) went at length into the past and tho present. Ho showed that Karori was rapidly going ahead, that a new Anglican Church and a new Methodist Church were about to bo built, and additions wero to bo mado to tho State School. Tho park, comprising 54J- acres, had been laid out at a cost of £2000, and it was hoped that not only athletes, but staid citizens of Wellington, who delighted in beautiful scenery, would patronise it frequently. Karori was the cheapest and tho healthiest borough in Wellington, and it was excellently served by trams. Ho spoko in terms of praise of the work of Air. C. I. Dasent, exAlayor, in connection with the tramway scheme, and, in conclusion, called upon that gentleman to'address the gathering.

Mr. Dasent also gave a lengthy address. Ho said he was ono of th'o oldest settlers. From the outset the idea had been to make Karori a first-class suburb, healthy, wholesome, and conveniently linked with the city, and now, that afternoon, they were practically completing the task they had set themselves. Ho thanked the engineering officials of the City Council "for the work they had done in connection with the line, the Karori Borough staff, and Mr. W. G. Brigham, the borough engineer. Brief congratulatory speeches were also made by Mr. J. P. Luke, Councillor Fletcher. Mr. Morton (w;io nraisod Mr. Brigham's work), Mr. S. .Richardson, and Mr. Henderson, of the Karori Borough Council.