CITY AND SUBURBAN

Dominion, Volume 22, Issue 105, 28 January 1929, Page 13

CITY AND SUBURBAN

HAPPENINGS IN AND ABOUT TOWN

Wellington’s fine harbour presented a scene of great animation on Saturday afternoon. Every conceivable form of craft was afloat. White wings in plenty cruised serenely before a gentle breeze; squadrons of launches conveyed their holiday freight from bay to bay, and outboard motor-boats darted here and there, leaving a trail of churning foam. In sharp contrast was the rythmic splash of oars as a crew of scullers skimmed the sparkling waters, bronzed shoulders glistening in the sun as they bent to the even strokes. In the shallows the humble canoe, manned by a diminutive pilot, wobbled its crazy way about. But as tiyp sturdy coastal agents of commerce steamed their way across the point, came the reminder that all who go down to the sea in ships go not for pleasure alone.

Councillor J. Aston has lodged with the town clerk a notice that he intends to move at the next meeting of the City Council that the footpaths adjacent to the main gates of the Botanical Gardens be set back in order to eliminate curves now existent.

A large number of Welshmen were present at the Cambridge Terrace Church Hall on Saturday night when the Wellington Welsh Society met to discuss the possibilities of arranging a radio concert. Mr. J. Tucker presided. The meeting decided to hold a meeting of all Welshmen on March 1, to celebrate the anniversary of St. David, the patron saint.

The searching questionnaire recently circulated by the Public Service Commissioner might well have included some reference to the ability of the Public Service to spell. Astounding as it may seem, a circular just issued by the Internal Affairs Department spells the name of the famous English school “Eaton.”

■A sight in Wellington which should be, but is not, a rarity, is the shells of buildings partially destroyed by fire, which have been long allowed to remain in the state in which the firemen left them. Such neglected premises are dangerous, as well as disfiguring. It is regrettable that the Town Planning Act makes no special provision for their demolition or reinstatement.

' Smart work was done by the Railway Department in repairing the damage done by Friday’s storm to the railway line between Wellington and Petone. So rapidly was the work pushed on with that both sets of rails were available to cope with the race traffic to Trenthain on Saturday. Of course, only temporary fillings have been used where the sea had scoured under the railway track, and it will be a considerable time before the breaches in the embankment have been permanently repaired.

A sore point with many Roseneath and residents is that they have to pay a fare of fivepence for the journey by corporation bus, from the Hataitai School to Courtenay place, via Grafton and Carlton Gore Roads. The service is a useful one for those who have made their homes on the heights of Wellington, and has helped to remove the nightmare element from daily shopping; but now the novelty of the service has worn off, the fivepenny fare serves as an irritating reminder that the convenience is being well and truly paid for.

Old Wellington newspaper files contain ,an interesting reference to the early days of the butter export trade. Tn 186 S Messrs. Krull and Co., of Wellington, exported two kegs of butter, which brought Is. sd. per pound in London. In January. 1870. the same firm exported 25 kegs on the Halcione, which was described in the ship's manifest : “butter (as grease).” Krull and Co. naturally objected, and stated that it was of the best qunjity, and had been chosen from Wairaraiyt. Hutt.. Porirua. and Karori. They hoped to realise Is. 3d. per pound—but in July they reported that the shipment had been a complete failure.

A start has already been made to set back the footpath to its new alignment on the widened part of Lower Taranaki Street. With the nearly-completed Wakefield Chambers (on the corner of Wakefield and Taranaki Streets), and the big reinforced concrete structure that is being erected by the Levy Estate, the widened part of Taranaki Street promises- to be a dignified thoroughfare, which is more than can be said for the rest of the street.

An accident occurred in the main street of Lower Hutt early in Saturday evening, a motorist, proceeding in the direction of Wellington in a three-seater car, running into some deep excavations made for the purpose of renewing the street mains. Had the car been travelling nt any speed the consequences might have been serious. As it was, the driver appeared only slightly dazed, while beyond minor damage, the car seemed to be little the worse for the severe bump it had received.

The popularity of the Oriental Bay Parade as a promenade does not appear to be realised by the Works Committee of the City Council. Although there is a formed footpath of generous width almost to the Point, a fairly considerable stretch of it remains to be tar-sealed, and while the cost of paving it might not be warranted at present, there is no reason why all the loose metal placed there originally should not be rolled in, and thousands of pedestrians provided with a walking area of reasonable comfort. The next occasion one of the corporation steam rollers is available, it should be hastened into commission at Oriental Bay.

Friday’s south-westerly gale drove the water much higher up the beach at Eastbourne than is usual, and the- occupiers of a number of bouses on the seafront became seriously alarmed. The waves made a big cut into the sandhills at Muritai, transforming the gentle slope down to the beach into a perpendicular bank some twelve or more feet high. In one instance, the cut reached within a few feet of the fence along the front of a section recently sold by the borough council, and the owner of a boatshed there began to fear that it would be undermined. Several boats that had been left on the beach well above the usual high water level, were swept away and wrecked.

Time was when city works were carried through from a purely utilitarian point of view, but nowadays there is usually some regard for the aesthetic side of things. Tn the transformation of Glasgow Street for instance, advantage has been taken of the erection of the retaining wall on one side of the road to carry up concrete standards topped with shapely frosted globes for street lighting purposes, thus doing away with the unsightly electric light poles, and improving the appearance of the whole street. In addition, at the corner approaches at each end of the street, where the rounding off of the curve has left vacant spaces, grass plots, bordered with rockeries, have been laid out, which in time should add materially to the general effect in beautifying the locality. In time improvements of this nature will make a marked change for the better in our street vistas.

In these days of the Wahine and Maori express excursions to Picton. it. of interest to read of the first excursion to Waitohi, or Cromwell, as it was then known. On January 12. 1559, the s.s. Lord Ashley, 580 tons, and 100 h.p., ran an excursion to Queen Charlotte Sound. The advertised hour of departure was 8 a.m.. but as now. the crowd gathered much earlier on Plimmer's Wharf. Owing to there being no suitable wharf, passengers had to "be conveyed to the vessel in watermen’s boats at a charge of Is. 6d. per head, in addition to the fare of 10s. 6d. Three hundred passengers were accommodated, and the steamer left at 9.30. Tory Channel was reached at 2 p.m.. and Cromwell at 4 p.m. The excursionists were not embarked, and the return journey was commenced at 6 p.m., Wellington being reached at 2 a.m., but owing to the boats being used again, at Is. 6d. per head, it was 4 a.m. before all of the passengers were landed.

“J admire the spirit of girls who ride on the backs of motor-cycles in the city,” said a visitor to Wellington yesterday. "In the country towns a girl considers that sort of thing undignified—she wants a car, or prefers to walk. Here, she cheerfully takes her seat on the pillion,, and worries not a whit about dignity.”

About 2.40 o’clock on Saturday morning the Fire Brigade received a call to 22 Brooklyn Road, a five-roomed house occupied by Richard Haldane and owned by William Pearce. The house and contents were damaged by fire and water. It was thought that the fire was caused through clothes which had been left airing’ in front of a grate catching fire.

There was a general desire on the part of members of the Wellington Education Board last week to meet the new Minister of Education (Hon. H. Atmore) and discuss various subjects with him, and steps are to be taken towards achieving this result. Approval was also given to the proposal for a conference of education boards.

So numerous were the motor-cars parked at Day’s Bay yesterday afternoon that passing motorists had the utmost difficulty in steering a safe course along the road. Cars were parked ou both sides of the road with the minimum regard to the claims of through traffic, and the difficulty was accentuated by the casual manner in which pedestrians wandered about. Day’s Bay is a place where the motorist, apparently, can park his car just where and how he pleases.

Visitors to Wellington who are unfamiliar with the location of the various streets must have endless difficulty in finding their way about. This applies more particularly to the streets in the city, where name plates are practically conspicuous by their absence. Even those few that are visible are showing signs of exposure to the elements. • For the small cost to the municipal authorities to put this matter in order, the travelling public would show appreciation.

‘‘There is a blind street by the waterfront at Muritai over which the Eastbourne Borough Council might with advantage exercise a little supervision, particularly on Sundays and holidays,” write “Resident.” “The reference is to Pukatea Street, which gives access to sections on the sandhills by the beach. The formation is exceedingly narrow and permits only of one-way traffic, so that when motorists selfishly park their cars on the street while visiting friends or enjoying themselves on the beach they occasion great trouble to anyone who may desire to drive past. As the formation runs out abrutly into the sandhills, vehicles can only get into or out of the street by way of Miro Street, and many a ear lias become trapped in the loose sand alongside the formed road when endeavouring to pass another car left standing on the ‘hard.’ The Borough Council might very well take some steps to prevent this great nuisance to residents along the street and tradespeople, who have no alternative route for their vehicles.”

“Senior cricket these days is not worth watching,” bewailed an old cricketer as he sat in the bright sunshine on the steps in front of the pavilion at the Basin Reserve on Saturday afternoon, and watch- ■ ed the Old Boys’ batsmen scoring 40 runs in an hour against Wellington. “Batsmen these days are far too cautious; they think more'of their averages than they do of their team. One seldom sees good hard hitting these days.” Just then a ball came sailing far and sure over the heads of the players in the senior game. Another followed, and another, and soon every person on the ground was sitting up straight, and enjoying one of the most refreshing displays of spectacular hitting which have been seen at the Basin Reserve since Ces Dacre left for the Old Country. The youthful Bonnor, who was doing the mighty hitting was R. B. Chadwick. a stalwart youth from Napier, who hit irp 76 for University against Midland in the Junior A match in about half an hour. His strokes included five sixers and eight fourers, and every one of them bad plenty of wood behind it. The old cricketer’s face literally beamed with joy. “Thank heaven.” he said, “that the youngsters are still not afraid to have a go. There is hope for the good old game yet.”

The possibilities of the formation of an association to safeguard the interests of suburban ratepayers and householders with respect to the construction and proper maintenance of footpaths should be explored by the Civic League at the earliest moment, suggests a correspondent, “Citizen,” who writes to say that in his locality. Hataitai, two informal meetings of residents interested in such a project have already been held. “The Civic League is suggested as the body to take the matter up,” the writer adds, “because it should be in a position to undertake the work of organisation, which would be fairly considerable. Working in close cooperation with the various ratepayers’ associations, however, should help the league to clear the initial hurdles. Some united stand must be taken to compel the present authorities, or. let us hope, their successors in May next, to see to it that newly-populated localities are given footpaths. and that existing pavements are not allowed to remain in their present disgraceful condition. This could be done if the association proposed were organised before the approaching municipal elections. I would suggest that the first action of the new body would be to obtain a complete list of all the suburban streets requiring urgent attention for submission to every aspirant for municipal honours. Each candidate would then have an opportunity. publicly, of letting the voters see where he stood with regard to their pressing needs.”