DA SAD BEACH.

Evening Post, Volume LXXV, Issue 31, 6 February 1908, Page 8

DA SAD BEACH.

BY ORIENTAL BAY. CHILDREN, CABBAGE, SCRAP IRON. When the gentle breezes blow by Oriental Bay they lift up tho last breatu of the forsaken cabbage and the derelict oniou. lv the twilght, when the gloaming inerciiully covers tlie ioreaken half-bottle and tho abandoned jain-tin, lovers and others scroll along the curving roau, and admire the myriad lights that sparkle over the waters far away. la the evening Oriental Bay is lovely; m tho broad daylight it is pretty enough— at a distance. .Long ago the City Council promised to make tho shore a httle more inviting in the sunlight. A .sum of £2500 was voted for the improvement of the baths and tho betterment of the loreshore. Then, on the motion of Councillor Fisher, it was agreed to rescind the provious resolution and dovoto £1500 to each oi the works mentioned. The people along Clyde-quay and further afield—for Oriental Bay atfords recreation to cftizenß of other quarters — are waiting to see sigwa of the money It is understood that the City Engineer has been instructed to prepare plans, practically in accoi ucc with the residents' ideas. The mam feature will be a good street, following tho contour of the beach, a promenade 80ft to 100 ft wide, flanked by a sloping rubble wall with steps at intervals to allow children and adults to reach the sandy shore. A platform on piles for a band is also mentioned. A most important rart ot the beautifying scheme will need to be the clepring and cleansing of the beach. This is tho only strip of marine playground near the city of Wellington, and it is much esteemed by people who may not have the time or the means to take their little ones to the more pretentious strands of Island Bay or Lyell Bay. At present the children have only one little clean spot ; elsewhere they havo boen ousted by ihe vagrant half-brick, the hoop-iron, fhe cabbage-stalk, old boots and hats, discarded raiment of all kinds. The northerly has brought disagrecablo flotsam, and people havo dumped rubbish down by tho cart-load. This insanity debris -should be removed, and the fragments of rock, which havo strayed away in battalions, from the embankment, Bhould be put to better uso than serving to cut the feet of children. Residents of tho bay have asFisted to make the shore ugly by tipping refuse there, but, it is believed that if the oouncil began to tidy up tho place, the people would }earn to respect the beach. There is no reason why the cleansing part of the work should not begin at once. If it is considered advisable to tak<s away offensive matter from sheets, it is equally desirable to shift it from a much-freqxiented Bhore. Vegetation, and other waste things, sweltering in the heat abovo high-tide mark, does more harm than merely offending tho nose and eyes. Oiher objects which cry out for burial are the ugly wooden storm-water drains which are propped up along the coast. 'J'hcy project from the unsightly banks, and disfigure tho whole seascapo. "The sea hath its pearls" truly along Oriental Bay. By next summer, if the_ tuui cil is energetic, the present "ecrap-iron shore" may be a beaoh of beauty.

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