The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED DAILY FRIDAY, MAY 9, 1924. HALL! H.M.S. REPULSE.

Gisborne Times, Volume LX, Issue 9800, 9 May 1924, Page 4

The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED DAILY FRIDAY, MAY 9, 1924. HALL! H.M.S. REPULSE.

The arrangements in connection with the East Coast tour of the Imperial Service Squadron to-Ray and to-night were completed yesterday in a most satisfactory manner. On Ins part, Admiral Field has arranged that, at every point, the residents shall he afforded as large an opportunity as possible to see the splendid fleet under his command. It is now a matter of general knowledge, of course, that H.M-sS. Repulse has been detached from the squadron and will spend this morning and portion of the afternoon in Poverty Bay and that, on her departure, she will rejoin H.M.S. Hood and her companion vessels and the whole -fleet will proceed to Auckland. When the main section of the fleet reaches Wairoa it will steam close in to the Hoads and such being the case the residents of Northern Hawke’s Bay should secure an impressive view of its various units. The bulk of the residents in and around Gisborne may not see more than a glimpse of the majestic Hood. If the weather should prove reasonably fine, however, the lengthy stay of H.M.S. Repulse should enable all who wish to inspect her to have an instructive outing. Especially will this bo so in the case of the smaller children who, four years ago, were too young to take an interest in the visit of H.M.S. Renown and who may not for many years to como have an opportunity of inspecting a battle-cruiser of such immense dimensions. As the squadron proceeds north, the residents of the Coast townships will, thanks to the 'considerateness of Admiral Field, bo

entertained with search-light displays more brilliantly effective than have ever been given before along any coast of this Dominion. What is especially pleasing io record in regaict to the memorable naval visit to-day is that yesterday’s meeting of citizens, convened at such short notice, should have set about with so much heartiness and industry to make such complete arrangements to enable as many residents as possible to pay a visit to H.M.S. Repulse. It represents a lmppy state of affairs that, without charge, many hundreds of youngsters will to-day he afforded an enjovablo outing that will Jong live in their memories. Adults wishing to inspect the vessel will require to pay 2s for transportation, but they will not begrudge such a small fee, appreciating, as they* will, the fact that tho general expenses for the day will prove substantial. Capt. Parker, his officers and crew nro assured of a. warm welcome at Gisborne and it is to bo trusted that their visit here will ho as pleasing to them as it will he to all classes of this very patriotic community.

HELP THE PUBLIC BATHS MOVEMENT!

It is with regret that we note, from tho report of the latest meeting of the Public Baths Committee, that the financial results so far in sight in connection with the art union that is being held to assist the movement to provide Gisborne with up-to-date public baths fail to come anything like up to what is deserving with reference to such a commendable enterprise. In short, tho position may be put in this way: Through tho generosity of Mr Mcßae, the promoters of tho movement were favored with' tho gift of an ideal site for the purposes of public baths —a section worth, probably, upwards of £750. Such a handsome gift, it will ho agreed, represented splendid initial effort towards the object in view. It is not improbable that those who had taken the project in hand might, at that stage, have succeeded in inducing the ‘City Fathers’ to step in, seeing that- tho site has now. been vested in the municipality, and left the question o'f obtaining the whole of the balance of tho required moneys to ho found by the ratepayers as the sequel to a successful poll. But —and rightly so—what was felt was this: that, in addition to the ratepayers, it could he taken for granted that many non-ratepayers

a very great amount of support j could, with confidence, be reckoned j upon from outside, districts. What ■ now stands out conspicuously, how- ; over, is“ that, whilst numbers of ; people throughout tho Dominion i patronise art unions merely for a ; little gamble, and quite .heedless of j tho merits of the movements intended i to be assisted, it does not follow that many outsiders - will buy tickets to j assist a cause which is purely local ; in character. The point which wo : wish to stress, therefore, is this: | that, if any mistake were made in • the matter of hitting upon an art j

union by the Public Baths Committee it was in that the amount of support likely to he gained .from outside districts must have been sadly overestimated.' But nothing can he achieved by stressing that aspect of the matter. What does require to ho emphasised is, however, that the amount of local support given, so far, to the art union is not to the credit of the people of this district. Much greater assistance should, for instance, have 'been given to the Public Baths Committee by the various local sports bodies and by various other institutions which, in the past, have not hesitated to throw their full weight into the scale on behalf of any other good cause. In the short period which now remains prior to the drawing of tho art union a great rally must be brought about, apart from tho further benefit entertainments . which have been planned. There should bo no need for the Public Baths Committee to appeal for more volunteers to dispose of tickets. • So much help should he forthcoming that an end should soon be put to complaints—if there are such complaints—that the .tickets are not being pushed with as much vigor as is desirable. We firmly believe that there is still time to make the art union a big financial success and we trust that, within the next few days, the Public Baths Committee will be in the happy position to record that much new. life has manifested itself in connection with the campaign.

in the town, besides many residents of the surrounding districts, would deem it a privilege financially to assist such a laudable venture. Whether it was wise or otherwise on the part of the Public Baths Committee to establish an art union to further the cause need not now, at the eleventh hour, as it were, bo discussed. As matters now stand,-the art union requires to be drawn at tlio end of tho present month. But, unhappily, it has not, as yet, “caught on” to anything like the extent that it should have done. It would, indoed, seem that it must bq regarded as having boon an erroneous conclusion that, if an art union were held,