CARNIVAL FOR ST. KILDA.

Evening Star, Issue 21628, 25 January 1934, Page 8

CARNIVAL FOR ST. KILDA.

Many people will be glad to note that a project to hold a queen carnival for the improvement of the St. Kilda Beach is now in train. “ Improvement ’’ is a wide term, and the attractions of this stretch of the magnificent Ocean Beach have been notably enhanced for visitors during the last few years. The beach does not lack fine playing grounds for those who want more than lupins and sand, and it is not strange that picnic parties have been attracted to it from far parts of Otago. The proceeds of a carnival, which it is proposed should be held next month, will not all be available for further improvement, since a debt remains still to be paid off on those made in the past. After that has been done, however, ( a substantial sum should remain for making the yellow sands and the green sward an even greater lure than they are t at the present time. There is one improvement that stands out with more importance than any other, though we are not sure that it was given all the emphasis due to it at last night’s meeting. A little before Christmas the St. Clair Improvement Association made arrangements for a competent patrol man to be on day-long duty throughout the school holidays, ready to go to the assistance of anyone who might bo in danger bathing on the beach. That supervision is exercised now by unpaid members of both the St. Clair and the St. Kilda Life Saving Clubs, but, as they must earn a living by other means to the extent that employment is available, in working hours they may have no time to give. Commenting on the St. Clair appointment we observed that St. Clair was only a part of the Ocean Beach, and that the St. Kilda part of it was no less important, and we suggested that a carnival should be promoted by the bodies concerned with the object of providing a permanent patrol for St. Kilda and doing anything else that might be required for perfecting the safety of .« beach. A seaside resort may have all the amenities in the world for picnickers, but its prime attraction must always be the sea, and to make that as safe as possible for bathers should bo the first object of all who have its interests at heart. It was explained at last night’s meeting that the Surf Bathing and Life Saving Club would receive its share of the ' -ofits of the carnival, and that share should certainly be large enough to encourage it in its most admirable work of life saving, and to ensure that no facilities which may be required by it for that purpose are wanting. Even the City Council should have its interest in that object, as it is city residents who make the most use of the beach.