A VOICE FROM THE PAST

Evening Star, Issue 22542, 9 January 1937, Page 11

A VOICE FROM THE PAST

EARLY DAYS DF MOTORING IN DUNEDIN -WA 'saw the air liner go over this ' morning on its' way to Palmerston North; we read how a girl flew alone from England to New Zealand; we drove to town, listening as we went to the voices- of the world by wireless; we .threaded our way through a maze of motor,vehicles; traffic lights blinked at us and we passed a service station in every second block.' Then we came home, and,, clearing out an old desk, chanced on somehting that made stop in amazement. It'was a charred scrap of 1 newspaper. The beginning, and more unfortunately still vthe date were missing, but what remained. was evidently the report of a meeting of the Automobile Association (■Otago) formerly known as the Otago Motor Club. The fragment ran as follows: — “ The trade must understand that a very large number ,of those who owned ~, motors had jmtthe-time to', attend per"'u'‘sonully to 'them, neither had'they the .time vto gd to outlying portions of the 'town for the It would be a great convenience to motorists if some • - person or , persons would establish a "‘. garage.'and repair',shop where the work —-'Could be attended- to on up-to-date hues. : • , , , ■ .. ■ Mr E. E. Stark seconded the motion. •"•■Mr W. 6. T- Goodman hoped a garage would be established independent ' altogether of the trade. • If the committee gave the matter some considerar tioii he thought a scheme might be drawn up. He knew there were several people here who would go in for motoring and purchase, either motor cars or motor cycles if there was some l. place where, they could take their machines and leave them, knowing they would be attended to. Other towns in the colony had garages. ■ . The following officers were elected "'for'the ensuing year:—-President, Mr ‘ James. Mills ; vice-presidents—-Messrs ■J. P. M. Fraser, J. Gray. A. 0. Hanlon, Dr R. V. Fulton, Rev. H. \V.. Cleary; committee —Messrs W G. T. Goodman, J. Wardell, W. Bell, E. E. ' Stark', T. Fraser, E. Howlison, and H. ' V. pulton; hon. 'Secretary, Mr G. \ Sievwright. '• The' Chairman said a suggestion had hfeen ina.de that the city should acquire ■ Forbury Park. •In conection with that proposal there was an important matter from a revenue point of view that had not been mentioned yet, and it was - this; If the city did acquire the park ■ and made a speed track for cycles ■; round the outside of it he did not think it would be too much to say that it would produce an income of £SOO or i £6OO a year. On such a track they could easily put up an exhibition of .■ 40 or 50 miles an hour. That speed had never been seen in Otago, and it was the only track in the colony where i, th,ey could let out a machine at speed. It would be an enormous attraction ; from all parts of the colony. He ."thought, the track would require little ’or no banking. Ho did hot think he was overstating the figure when he said ’ ■ that from that source alone the oorporatioh would have an income of from „ £SOO to £6OO a year (including tramway revenue). ■ _ The opinion was unanimously ex- .. .pressed that the idea was a good and ~ ' feasible one, and that it could be given ; .effect to at little cost. Four new mem-’l-hers were elected. There were now 52 • members in the association. (In 1936,

it may be observed, there are more : .than 3,000 members.) * - . When we had read it we wondered. The colony flocking to see 40 miles an •hour, the ordinary cruising speed now of any car worth the name. Even wc (tell it not in Gath) had felt the thrill • .of 80. And the plea for a garage, V- “ somewhere that one could leave a .car, knowing that it would be attended to,” find now anyone wishing to establish a service station must first obtain permission from the Government, for the powers that be have decided - that there are too many of them. And all this in Dunedin in the course of a very few years, not a line in the • book of. history. As we looked at that bit of charred 'paper the revolutionising miracles of “ things to come ” did not seem far off and strange, but somehow very near and tangible.