TOPICS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume LXXXIV, Issue 139, 9 December 1912, Page 6

TOPICS OF THE DAY

When, Mr. A. M. Myers was Minister V _ „ of Railways he proA Ratlway mised to send an Station Problem, expert to Australia . , , to acquire helpful information for the planning of Wellington's long -deferred "central railway etatjott- Apparently the new Government thinks differently, and the whole project haus slipped into the background. The Ministry, with reason, pleads a financial difficulty, and the Wellington people are told fairly plainly that they have to wait. Meanwhile citizens have to witness a curious anomaly. Goods for use in the larger part of the city, the southern section, are discharged at Thorndon. A railway attaches to Te Aro almost to the doors of the fruit and produce market, but horses ahd carts have to ply between Thorndon and the marketplace. The Railway Department, which has not seriously tried to compete with the old system of haulage, complains that the Te Aro line is run at a loss. Of courts it is. There will be no profit till the Department intelligently tries to make it. The first need is a suitable goods shed and shunting %pace, and the Minister (the Hon. W. H. Herries) has admitted that those facilities are necessary. Convincing evidence has been submitted to him that Wellington's centre of population is now somewhere near the Town Hall. If the new station is put near Bunny-street it will be considerably outside that 1 centre, and, therefore., onany thousands of ireoplc will justly continue to demand fair use of Te Aro line. We should like to have the whole of this railway Subject brought up prominently for the next municipal election. It is a chance for prwpcutiyo candidates to reveal their ability in looking ahead. Nominally, it is a Government task to provide railway accommodation with sensible regard for the lines of the city's expansion, but representatives of the city have necessarily to make an effort to help the Government in this very important planning. Island Bay has not Lyall' Bay's crescent mi «.. „ ?* lace-edged waves, The Call of but Island Bay has Islanu Bay. compensations, as thousands of people, with no property nor residential interest in either watering place, have pleasantly found. Island Bay was the "old love.'" The sunny niches of rock, and the clear water, bright with flowers of the sea, in tortuous inlets, the beach, the curved white road, and the cosy lap of the hills, were refreshment that never palled on child or adult. Then the cars brought Lyall Bay within easy roach of people in search of rest or recreation, and Borne soreness came lo burgesses of tlie other bay. Of course they blame (ho City Council for the superior popularity of the rival resort, and, therefore, the authorities are being urged by a Municipal Electors' Association to widen and complete the esplanade and to do some treeplanting. We do not know tho exact merits of the claim to expenditure on the Mplauado, but it is filain to any ( yisi« ,

tor that the bay does need some brightening. It is strange, after all the years of traffic to the bay, that the Space between the tram terminus and the shore looks so dismal, so grey and drab. An assurance has been given by the Electors' Association that working bees will oe organised for tree-planting. Scope for Buch activity is abundant. The place needs not only trees, but Borne suitable sand-binding plants to add a brightness of verdure and flower" to the landscape. A few score of enthusiasts could employ some afternoons admirably in reducing some of the avoidable ugliness on the sandy wastes near the sea. Yet, even with this necessary work not done, Island Bay has no reason to feel second in status to Lyall Bay, which has nothing much more than the sea and sky to gladden the eye. By the roar of a "record" waterfall New Zealanders have a reA Noble minder that their coun« Waterfall, try is not yet thoroughtly explored. Decade after decade a river swirled over a cliff and boomed and thundered on rocks after a, sheer fall of 300 ft. It is said that from the surging base to the glistening crown the water— a torrent 30ft wide— is in rapid flight for 500 ft, of which, 300 ft is cleared in one Bwoop. Year after year since the white man brought hig sheep and corn to these islands, that leaping water of Tangarakau has never ceased its clamour for notice in the tourist books and pictured. That fall has boomed itself by hundreds of horse-power, and when the music came back mellowy in echo from the wooded Rlopes some birds mimicked it perhaps and helped in the advertisement— -all m vain, till a Bush King arrived, the right man to readjust the waterfall honours and give to Tarangakau the pre-emi-nence so long enjoyed by the Sutherland Falls. Five years ago the. Rev. C. Bush King, because he had more than average curiosity, had his senses thrilled by the splendid spectacle of that bound* ing flood, He heard the distant voice of troubled waters, and the settlers said it was the wind roaring through a gorge. They had to think of things of more vital interest than a. wonderful orchestration far away in the forest, and were content with a guess at the cause. Mr. King repotted hie discovery, and the note of -Now Zealand's greatest waterfall was quietly pigeonholed, For five years more a river made the bush vocal by its marvellous play, and the fall had to be rediscovered. A survey party has made accurate observations, and, therefore, the poets have & new themo and the tourist* have another wonder.