FIFTH OF NOVEMBER

Evening Post, Volume CXXVI, Issue 78, 29 September 1938, Page 6

FIFTH OF NOVEMBER

PREMATURE PREPARATIONS 1

Petone boys believe in taking, time by the forelock. Already along the Petone esplanade heaps of highly combustible material are making their appearance in preparation for November 5. The heaps are anything but sightly, and there is also the danger of premature''firing. Councillor J. R. Gaynor stated at the Petone Borough Counqil meeting this week that, while the council wanted the boys to have their fun on November 5, it was going beyond reason that, two months before the event, the esplanade should be defiled by unsightly heaps of rubbish. The council allowed the boys to make their fires on the beach below the sea wall where there was little danger, but the heaps were now being accumulated near the road and in some cases under telegraph wires. They were not only an eyesore, but a source of danger, as it was a great temptation to other boys to set them alight. He moved that the heaps be removed and that a notification should be issued stating that parents would be held liable for the action of any children depositing material on the waterfront until within ten days oi November 5.

The Mayor, Mr. G. London, remarked that Petone boys put on a really good show; that attracted visitors from all parts of the district, but he agreed that preparations were somewhat premature and also dangerous. Councillor W. H. Edwards deprecated the idea of prosecuting parents.

On the suggestion of Councillor A. M. Macfarlane, it was also agreed that the lighting of fires on November 5 should be prohibited elsewhere than on the beach below the wall.

Councillor H. E. Fleet suggested obtaining the co-operation of the headmasters of the schools.

The council decided that if the boys did not remove their heaps the council would shift the rubbish to the tip.