FIFTY YEARS AGO

Evening Post, Volume CXXVIII, Issue 145, 16 December 1939, Page 11

FIFTY YEARS AGO

ITEMS FROM THE "POST"

WIDENING WILLIS STREET

"The proposal to celebrate the Jubilee by widening Willis Street would be an excellent one if it were at all practicable." remarks "The Post" this week fifty years ago. "But we fear it is not so. Even if all the owners of the frdntages were prepared to behave liberally, the cost would be enormous as it would entail the moving back of several substantial brick premises. The opportunity for widening the street was lost when the scheme originated in the council some twelve years ago was allowed to lapse after its proposer ceased to be a member of that body. That proposal was that if the owners agreed to move their premises back 20 feet the council would give them 40ft of land at the back, to: be reclaimed, with a frontage to a new street. A considerable number, in fact almost all the owners, were found willing to accept these terms, and the others could have been easily arranged with. Had this been done, Willis Street would now be one-third wider than it is, and property in it Avorth a good deal more than it is at present. Unfortunately, however, the matter was not followed up, and substantial buildings have since been erected on the original frontage. We fear they will have to remain there. Of course, in any case, that part of Willis. Street between Old Customhouse Street and Manners Street would require to be specially dealt with, for the sections there have not sufficient depth to allow of the buildings being moved back, and it would probably be necessary for the City Council to obtain- power to acquire the freehold of the entire block, and redivide it. On the whole, we fear that the widening of Willis Street is not likely to be numbered among the civic improvements of the Jubilee year." TRAMWAY EXTENSION. "Why there should be any objection raised to the granting of the necessary authority for the construction of a tramway to Island Bay we cannot understand. It appears to us that the prospect, of such an extension being carried' out in the manner proposed should be hailed with joy by the local bodies'- concerned, and that every possible consideration and encouragement should be given to the promoter. The draft of terms brought up at the last meeting of the City Council was very carefully prepared, and amply provided for the protection of public interests.- A tramway to Island Bay is really an urgent necessity. It would afford cheap and easy access to a charming place of seaside recreation, enlarge the at present most unduly congested space available for cricket, football, and other athletic sports, and open up a large area of building land admirably adapted for residential purposes. With a tramway from the city, Island Bay would soon grow into a most important suburb, and Wellington is more deficient in accessible suburbs than in almost any other,respect. We certainly hope that no further obstacles will be raised to this necessary work being undertaken. We are glad also to learn that there is a project mooted for constructing a cable tramway to afford access to the various terraces and higher levels at the back of the town. The cable tramways to Roslyn and Mornington, in Dunedin, have rendered those town-, ships populous and prosperous, and if aOifie of similar tramway were constructed up Bolton Street, or from Wellington Terrace up Botanical Road, a considerable extent of building ground would be rendered available, the difficulty of access to which is now a barrier to occupation. At a comparatively small expense a cable tramway could also /be laid up Polhill Gully to Karori, rendering that pleasant suburb easy of access. These are all improvements which the growth of Wellington demands, and the necessity of which will soon become imperative. It ought to be the aim and object of the City Council to aid and encourage them in every possible way." TE WHITI IN TROUBLE. ; "How are the mighty fallen! Te Whiti, the Prophet of Parikaka, has once more been arrested and placed in durance vile, but under what different circumstances to those under which he formerly suffered loss of liberty. No longer has he been approached and surrounded by armed forces, equipped in all the pomp and panoply of war. No Minister of Defence, mounted on a white horse, has this time, directed the operations leading to his capture. A policeman and a bum-bailiff have taken the place of the former force of artillery, cavalry, and rifles, and .instead of being a prisoner of State, poor Te Whiti is simply locked up because he will not pay his debts. Fanaticism, however, has led to his present arrest as it did to his former one. It is not because he is not able to pay, that his Taranaki creditor, a storekeeper, has been forced to take the prophet's body hi satisfaction. It is because he will not pay, although well able to do so, that has led to his imprisonment. Possibly his followers may comprehend the principle upon which he is acting in preferring imprisonment to paying. Whether he deems that the honour of his custom is sufficient recompense for goods'' that perish and are consumed,, or trfat he feels it a religious duty to follow the Mosaic example and spoil i the Egyptians, represented in this case j by the Taranaki storekeeper, we do not know. That the arrest should have been made so quietly yesterday shows how very different is the aspect of Native affairs now compared to what it was a few years ago." , A VANISHED INDUSTRY. j "The violin strings works, situated on j Gear's Island, Petone, was the scene of a little excitement yesterday afternoon, when all the 17 hands employed were out on strike. The trouble apparently arose over the question of the forthcoming holidays, the men declaring that they were being unjustly treated. A settlement, we understand, is likely to be arrived at and work resumed immediately." i