"MOVING HOUSE."

Evening Post, Volume LXXIX, Issue 16, 20 January 1910, Page 3

"MOVING HOUSE."

UPLAND SUBURBIA. TRAMS, AND STILL MORE TRAMS. No. 2. The tree called Wellington is spreading its branches to all points of the compass, as is natural enough with respectable and moral trees. On the sunrise and topmost sides of the young giant the foliage is thickening finely. Up on the overlooking hills Kelburne, Wadestown, Northland, and Karori are making strides towards greater things. If their present rate of progress increases in proportion as the years go by, maturity should find them broad of girth and well established : such cities as dwell on hills and cannot be hid. EacTi of the hill suburbs has assumed such responsibilities a-s can be shouldered by local councils or citizens' committees, and these bodies, to keep pace with the aspirations and ideals, are constantly working forward for the good of all concerned. In what particular way these aspirations have been satisfied and are still oeing pursued : both may be disclosed in its own fashion lower down the column. AMBITIOUS KARORI. Beneficent, benign Karori — still outside the pale of the city — has prospered exceedingly. The old milk-run has passed into the limits of unremembered things, and is not now mentioned in the best circles of the village on the hills towards Makara. With a population yet well under the two thousand mark, Karori, or that part of it that had business in the city, became tired of walking an hour every morning (if they missed the bus) into Wellington. It was decided — and well decided, too — that buses were right enough for country outstations, but a growing hamlet on the frings of a maturing city required something more modern, and so the trams arrived. The result of the installation — an expensive one in the beginning — has proved the foresight of the council to be gratifyingly accurate : after the first two weeks the line paid well, and has maintained itself and earned enough further to put a stockingful in a reserve fund. TRAM EXTENSION. With an eye to the future still, the ratepayers ot Karori gave the council authority to extend the present local system another 120 chains or, more to the foot of Makara Hill^where it will feed the new recreation ground, and — it is hoped — promote settlement on the land abutting. Most of the preparatory work has been done so far as the council can do it. The quarry has been opened up, feeding lines for carrying out the metal have been built, and a Straker wagon has been purchased. All that is required is the assurance from the Government that under, the State Guaranteed Advances Bill the loan of £27,500 applied for will be forthcoming. The Premier has promised to reply within a fortnight. When the loan is known to be available, tenders for the extension will be called immediately, and, if all goes well, trams should be running to the recreation ground towards the end of the year. SHORTER ROUTE TO THE CITY. And still more trams. A certain section of the Karori public is agitating for a shorter route between Wellington and the borough. The popular vote is for a tunnel through the hill from Mee's steps, Lambton-quay, to Tinakori-road at the spot where so many coming into town, leave the tram and cut across the cemetery hill into the city. Time and money, it can be demonstrated on paper, would be saved by such a scheme, and representations have ( been made from Karori (which is most deeply interested) to the City Council which is just now collecting data. A proposal to link up the Karori line with the Kelbume tram has also beer suggested to the ratepayers of Karori, but there sterns to be a pretty general opinion existing that thiß idea is premature. The attitude of many of the > extra-suburbanites on the question is that they desire these tram facilities if they have not to pay for them. A. FINE RECREATION GROUND. lifears ago the present Mayor of Karori worked up a scheme to provide the place with a recreation gtcund, but it fell through at the last minute. A second attempt has met with belter success, and to-day Karor 1 ' possesses a Recreation Ground of 57 acres which if, ready now for the summer cricketer, or the footballer and hockey msn in winter. Bought for £4500 the giound has had expended on it on purchase money and improvements altogether aboui. ' £8000. It is goiug to b? a beautiful playing area, and the council intends building a swimming bath on it in the not distant future, and making the place "an athletic terminus." Knipri hr.b not yet a v.'clcr and sanitation service. This will probably arrivo when, as is almost inevitable, the borcugli becomes merged in the city cuviio!im%nts. xU present, the watering iou!d only bo done frcm the city reservoir r.t meter late, and the individual cost of •connecting each henso to the main — from J3lb to J345, accord mg to distance from Uip rtrcet — makes the task impracticable for th? present. And all thus would lcquire the erec tion of a big storr.gc i:scrvoir in one of the adjacent hills. POST OFFICE \KD THE POLICE. Karori is looking forward to having a real live pott cflu.e. Ihe Government has purchaser l a site, centrally situated on the corner of Iteauchamp-sheet and the Main-road, and the residents are now waiting for the building. There was also on the Estimates a grant of £800 fcr a police station, etc. Of course the district has had a policeman of its own, but the premises have been leased only. i WADESTOWN WORKS AND WANTS. Wadestown nskod not so long ago for water and a satisfactory drainage service, and the City Council allocated Fomethinq like a sum of £30,000 from the original Melrosc Impiovem-e-it Loan for the purpose. Northland, which was to participate in the allocation, has had the corporation men and plumbers at ,work, but for Wadestov,n there has been no beginning as yet, thoujrh propertyholders aie being rated for the service, and each resident is paying a sanitation fee of 14s 2d. Mostly uncomplaining the hilly subitrb has hopes of an • early start being made. Again a majority of ratepayers decided that their district should have tram facilities, and £33)000 has been s-st aside by the City Council to meet their wants in this respect. But tho work ' of 'ayinjr the track has not yet begun, though this, too, is expected to be not mucli longer delayed. Wadestown. so far, has no sports ground, but there may be an area set aside for that purpose if satisfactory terms can be arranged between a private syndicate and the corporation. A BRIGHT FUTURE. An optimistic outlook for the future of Wadestown can be justifiably assumed. The resumption by the Government of two large estates at the back of the present township, and their subdivision, should tend to promote closer settlement on the areas, especially when the water service and the trams are installed in the suburb. The Citizens' Committee, according to its chairman, is satisfied that the present postal facilities quite meet existing needs and those of the near future. When the trams arrive,

there will be a proposition put forward to join up Ngaio with Wadestown by a bridge across a gully from the foot of Hanover-street. This will induce a tram traffic from Ngaio into the city. It is also a hope of the local Citizens' Committee that Wilton's Bush, a charming scenic reserve, will have a few conveniences put in, such as fire-places, etc., for picnic parties. At present sojourn* ers are forbidden to light fires there, and consequently the "billy" goes unboiled. CONTENTED KELBURNE. Kelburne has in the main been content to sit still (figuratively speaking) and givw. It has a supercilious position, and is quite a superior suburb. It has joined hands with Karori and Northland on the one side and is extending a delicate finger-tip to Mitchell town, whose turn will yet come. Water, sanitation, and tram— r-Kelburne has all these, and is apparently satisfied. Its wants are few. It possesses a pleasant recreation ground, a volunteer fire brigade, and a reputation with the city firemen for fires on windy nights, and it admits to being one of the "blowiest" places adjacent to the city. Doubtless there are many who would like to see the loop line between the cable car terminus and Karori, but they may have to wait for that. And when certain-property-holders cease to encroach on the street fre/itages, and the cattle (there are but few now) uninvited sleep no longer on the pansy beds of a scrupulously kept front garden, Kelburne will be still more contented than heretoforp. Which is saying a great deal for its present satisfaction.