FIFTY YEARS AGO

Evening Post, Volume CXXII, Issue 70, 19 September 1936, Page 17

FIFTY YEARS AGO

ITEMS FROM "THE POST" THE BOTANICAL GARDENS "We entirely sympathise with the desire of the-residents of Thorndon to obtain a cricket and football ground in their own neighbourhood," remarks "The Post" of this date fifty years ago. "This, we take it, is -the real meaning of the present agitation, because Thorndon has already, in the Botanical Gardens, the finest breathing space in the city. The population ot Thorndon is not yet so dense, nor is it likely for a very long time to become so dense, as to render it necessary for sanitary reasons to provide another 'lung.' Still the youth of Thorndon have a real grievance in being without any ground of convenient access suited for athletic sports. If this want can be supplied without imposing any additional or heavy burden on the city, then it certainly ought to be supplied without delay. It may be true, as Dr. Newman asserts, that Thorndon has not been fairly treated in the matter of the Tevenue derived from the Town Belt, but it is, we think, more than doubtful from a legal point of view, whether any of this. Town Belt revenue could be expended either in purchasing or maintaining a hew recreation reserve. The required recreation ground should be looked for in another direction altogether, and the question of obtaining it would best be considered in connection with the present position and future management of the Botanical Gardens Reserve. Since the Government ceased to contribute reasonably towards the maintenance of these gardens they have relapsed almost into a wilderness. To call them Botanical Gardens is a ridiculous misnomer. Their present condition is discreditable; in the eyes of visitors, to the city. The management is, however, by law, vested in- a board which has practically no money at its disposal. We believe that, without in*any way destroying the beauty of the Gardens or their utility for general recreational purposes, a portion might be adapted for use as a cricket ground at a very moderate cost, so as to supply all needful requirements in this direction. We would strongly urge those who are taking a lead in this matter to turn their attention ,to the Botanical Gardens reserve, to see whether it would not be possible to get it placed under more popular control, and to devise means not only for providing a field for athletic exercises, but also to maintain its natural beauties, keep the grounds in good order, and render them- more attractive as a place cf general healthful resort for all classes of the community. A. comprehensive scheme of this kind to maintain and improve an already existing and very beautiful reserve, would, we are sure, meet with more practical support and more general sympathy. 1 than any proposal to purchase private property simply as an athletic sports ground."'

WHEN ELECTRIC LIGHT WAS A "NOVELTY. •

"By yesterday's mail th% director of the Wellington Woollen Company sent home an order for the plant necessary for lighting the works with electric light. The installation will be one of about 240 lights, on the Siemen's principle, and. will light the whole of the factory, thus enabling the company to work night and day, and doubling 'the ■'. productive power of the machinery. The Kaiapoi factory already adopts this system, but is still unable to supply < ' the demand. The Wellington. Woollen Company' has every reason to'.antici- '*' pate a similar demand for its goods. Already orders are in hand which will keep,the machines at full work for several months, and the samples pro- •: duced are fully equal, if indeed they are not superior, to either the Mosgiel or Kaiapoi manufactures. This is i scarcely to be wondered at as the Wellington Company's machinery is all of the newest class, and comprises 'all recent inventions and improvements calculated to reduce the cost of production and improve the finish of the ' goods. It is hoped that the electric light will be to hand and erected within fiye .months. In the meantime it is probable that the main rooms will be temporarily lighted by electricity, • Dr. Lemon having very kindly offered the directors the temporary use of a small plant which he possesses, and which will suffice to enable a great deal of night work to be got through by its! light." '....■

A TE ARO GHOST. . "It is not at all creditable to the police authorities that'the miscreant who has for some weeks past been carrying on the ghost business in Te Aro still remains undetected. ■ The

matter if it ever was a joke has ceased f. to be so, for several women and chil- • dren have been very seriously frightened, and in one or two cases serious results are feared. . The individual who takes delight in such pranks must be a thorough scoundrel, and when he is detected it is to be hoped that he will be most severely punished. He is evidently a fleet runner and a good jumper, and to these qualities he has owed his escape on several occasions when he has been seen and pursued. Last night, we believe, a constable on duty in v Newtown saw him and gave chase, but was unable to get near him. It is probably very little use sending constables in uniform after him, but the police ought to be able to detect and capture him by other means. Surely the detectives should be able to find out who the fellow is, and arrange to pounce on rlim when dressed in character. A few men in plain clothes, detailed to patrol the streets-for a few nights, and armed with guns loaded with good charges of small shot, would probably effectually exorcise the ghost. A peppering in the legs with small shot would effectually interfere with his pedestrian powers, and would serve him right." -

A PROFITABLE TRANSACTION. "The transactions connected with a recent sale:of property in Christchurch to close up a trust estate are so wonderful in showing the marvellous increase in the value of property in this colony that they deserve fuller details respecting them. Some 35 years ago Mr. John Christie Aitken, a squatter on the Goulburne, visited New Zealand, and made a stay of a few weeks at Christchurch and Lyttelton. He was about to return to Australia and take the balance of the money he had with him—some £42o—back again, but the manager of the bank he dealt with insisted upon charging him a second exchange, and he was so annoyed at this that he walked into an auction room where a land sale was going on, and invested the tolal sum in Christchurch land. For the last 20 years that land has been under the management of Messrs. Matson and Co., and on Saturday last, by order of the trustee, that firm offered the balance of the estate for sale, the result being that for this £420 a sum of £BO,OOO was realised by the investor and there is more to follow. The trustee is naturally delighted at the upshot of the transaction. This shows the wonderful strides that the colony has made and the fruit to be borne by judicious investment in land."