BATHING AT ISLAND BAY.

Evening Post, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 25, 30 January 1912, Page 2

BATHING AT ISLAND BAY.

TO THB EMTOB. Sir,-— May I suggest to the civic authorities, through your cojiimns, the expediency of erecting some kind of enclosure adjacent to the men's bathingshed at Island Bay, so that the individuals who believe in the costume most approved of in, say, Fiji, could indulge in the relaxation of sun-bathing to their hearts' content without being a source of annoyance to other bathers and- frequenters of the beach, who consider that in the case of men and youths the conventions should be observed, at least" to the extent of wearing the regulation bathing garments. If "combinations" and "triangulars" were worn no wholesome-minded person would object, but the "altogether," or anything within just a fraction of it in public, is not consistent with decorum, and ought to be stopped. The ethics of Fiji are not the ethics of Wellington. If the "enclosure suggestion is not worth entertaining seriously, perhaps it would be well for an officer to be sent along some sunny Saturday afternoon — one for preference, with a heavy hand and arcane, and authority to use the same con amore — with a view to abating the nuisance. Another matter of very real urgency is the placing of a/ lifebelt and line on the West Beach for use in case of emergency. This beach,., which is used by a number of bathers living in the vicinity, runs very quickly into deep water, and at times nas a perceptible undertow, which makes misadventure a possibility, even for strong swimmers. Local report states that in the case ot a lady yesterday there wd s vei "y Reax ty a fatality. I would respectively ask, in all seriousness : Ib it worth while waiting for a fatality before making a move? — I am, etc., SOJOUBNEK. West Beach, Island Bay, 29th Jan., 1912.