THE NEW NAPIER.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LIII, Issue 51, 27 January 1933, Page 6

THE NEW NAPIER.

Nearly two years have elapsed since Napier was sorely stricken by earthquake and then devastated by fire, with appalling loss of life and destruction of property. A tragedy of such dimensions shocked not only the Dominion but the Empire and other parts of the world which showed their sympathy for the people of Hawke’s Bay in practical manner. Stunned though the citizens of Napier were by the suddenness of the disaster which overtook them, they did not allow it to overwhelm them, and from the moment they were able to take slock of their great misfortune they have concentrated upon the building of their new city. The work has been proceeding in the past eighteen months, and this week a carnival has been held to celebrate the remarkable progress made. Nearly a million pounds have been spent on new premises which, so far as architectural and building skill can make them, are proof against the devastatingeffects of earth convulsions such as that experienced on February 3, 1931, and have been erected on modern town planningprinciples. Streets once narrow have been widened by taking- advantage of the opportunity presented, and the Marine Parade has been made a greater asset to the city by beautifying the area raised between the seawall and the ocean. The large number of visitors this week have no doubt been amazed at the remarkable progress made in the work of reconstruction—a tribute to a people whose spirit is to be commended throughout the Empire. The shells of some ruined buildings remain—mute but eloquent evidence of the great tragedy—but the foundations _ have been laid of a city that with the passing years will attract visitors from the Dominions and tourists from overseas. The people of Napier are to be congratulated upon their steadfastness in time of great sorrow and for their splendid achievement.