STILL RANKLING

Evening Star, Issue 23130, 2 December 1938, Page 15

STILL RANKLING

REMARKS MADE BY PRESIDENT OF SURF ASSOCIATION BEACH SOCIETY REPLIES The St. Kilda Beach Improvement Society held a meeting in the beach pavilion rooms hist evening, the president of the society. Mr J. V. Trezise, being in the chair. The chief business of the evening was to discuss the prospects of a Leach carnival in January, hut considerable interest centred in the remarks made by the chairman concerning’certain criticisms levelled at the society by Mr H. H. Henderson, president of the Otago Surf Life Saving Association at a recent meeting of the St. Kilda Surf Club. Commenting on those remarks Mr Trezise said the St. Kilda Beach Improvement Society had given gratuitous service over a number of years, and such criticism did not tend to create the harmony which should exist in organisations working in the public interest. “Mr Henderson has seen fit to reiterate a statement made at the annual meeting of the St. Kilda Life Saving Club,” said Mr Trezise, “ concerning payments made to the society’ without first of all ascertaining the true facts. The position is that some four years ago all debentures held by the St. Kilda Surf Life Saving Club were redeemed, and at the present time the society does not owe the life saving club any money on account of debentures. The club room has also come in for certain criticism, and while it is not all that is desired, it is the best that can be offered at the present time. “ The designer,” added Mr Trezise, “will not feel very flattered when he sees one room described as a cellar and by another correspondent as a lumber room. Mr Henderson, before criticising other organisations, should put the affairs of the Otago Surf Association in order. The St. Kilda Borough Council has been approached on two occasions to assist the life saving movement, and on both occasion it made donations, tho first to the surf club of £l2 12s, and tho second time w’as £lO to the Srirf Association for the purchase of a new reel in 1935, and £ls towards providing a bench patrol. How much has the City Council provided? I _ notice that Mr Henderson confines his criticism to the St. Kilda Borough Council. Why not include tiie city also? Is he frightened it might have a boomerang effect? He should remember that the bench is not exclusive to St. Kilda residents,” concluded Mr Trezise. Mr J. W. Dove also had some remarks to pass on the same subject. The society had rendered assistance to the Surf Club in the past,, he said. It had bought uniforms for the boys, but little or nothing had ever been repaid.

Mr Henderson had stated the society should build a club house, on top of the sandhills. He was quite wrong in advocating such a. step, said Mr Dove. If Mr Henderson had been a frequenter of tlie beach for a number of years, as had the speaker, he would realise the impracticability of such a procedure. Apart from tbis the Domain Board would never countenance such a step. The old Biblical saying about building on sand was very true. With drifting sands and high winds anything built on top of the sandhills would soon be undermined, He was astonished at Mr Henderson making such an impracticable suggestion. Concerning the watch tower, which was now being overbuilt by the rising sandhills due to the marram grass, he did admit something could be done with this. St. Kilda was not situated like St. Clair, which could erect pavilions right on the beach. The -whole configuration of the St. Kilda Beach was different.

The present building was a community effort, continued Mr Dove, and while it might not be all that could be desired it was a step in the right direction. However, the criticism of late would do a lot of good l in that it would stimulate interest in the beaches and the work of bench bodies.

Concerning the remarks made about the Improvement Society’s debentures, Mr Dove said it was not right to say that the Sprf Club, which had taken 20, did not get any of its money back. The Surf Club gave 10 debentures back to'the society towards the liquidation of its debts, and the other 10 had been redeemed. Private individuals who had taken up the society’s debentures had also materially assisted in the same manner, said Mr Dove, one man he knew returning 25 out of 50 of the debentures he had bought.

The subject, having thus been further ventilated, was allowed to drop. The main discussion of the meeting, the beach carnival, was then proceeded with, the society finally deciding to hold one in January, details to be -worked out and submitted to the next meeting.