LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18657, 13 March 1924, Page 3

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

' ANIMALS' WELFARE. > : . Sir,—ln reply to. your correspondent on .';•••• this subject, may I say that the; local.; society is only too anxious to provide a \ home for stray animals and for those whose owners are away from home. ' 1 It" is all a question of funds. It is no use : '■ writing letters without material help. '1 might inform your correspondent that: the • < three humane killers ordered may arrive .. at any time now, and our inspector will properly instrjct those who will have occasion to use them. A Member of THE Committee. WAR MEMORIAL MUSEUM. Sir,—As a hearty subscriber to the War Memorial Fund, J was disgusted to see that an attempt is being made to send:', money out of the province. It is very remarkable that whenever an important public building is to be erected in Auckland, the cry is raised that there is no * suitable stone in the Auckland Province. , When the Auckland Town Hall . was erected, nothing would do for the base but Melbourne bluestone, and Southern ■ soft stone for the upper structure. Look at it to-day; in a few short years the soft stone blackening and flaking off. The; ' late Mr. Edward Bartley, architect, dinted out that a string course of Melourne bluestone had been used in the . Auckland Savings Bank, and as it was > perishing, lie removed it and replaced it. with Coromandel granite, which anyone can see, about the level of the eyes," as one walks, past the building. So much' for imported bluestone. Then look at St Matthew's Church, soft stone, absorbing water daily, and blackening already, after only a few years' use. Then there is the University building, now being erected of soft Mount Somers stone, which can be cut with a handsaw, and hence is not of lasting quality. The fact of the matter is that architects design imposing structures, get the prize awarded to them, arid when the cost comes to be reckoned up, • the buildings cannot be built for the money, and then inferior stone is resorted to, to erect the structure. Hero in Auckland there is local granite of tested superiority. It is comparatively cheap, owing to its nearness to Auckland. Look , at this granite in the Auckland General Post Office. A.M.P. Building. Ferry Building, the Parliament House, Seddon Monument, etc.not a speck of decay in any of them. Our dead heroes, '"gone west," deserve the best and most lasting material to be used in the memorial. v Hearty Subscriber.

- CONDUCT OF SURVEYS. Sir,—l beg to endorse the remarks of Mr. A. H. Bridge in the Herald of the 7th inst., with regard to the increased severity of the new survey regulations. There are three new . require-. raenta which I would like to quote: (1) The rule ..which .requires that field notes of survey must accompany plan. The effect of this is that the surveyor has to keep two books, one of which he retains for his own use, and the other; to be given up. Owing to the, delay in the lodgment and examination of plans,. this will have to be done. (2) The rule • which requires ■ that a survey --must be started from two standards, and . the , bearing checked on to ' a third not in the same line as the other two. A great • , deal of extra work will ,be entailed in some cases.. I know of one instance in , Northoote Road where the third standard is 67 chains distant, and at Rotorua there would ,be 20 chains of cutting of high fern and wattle in some of the side""; streets. (3) That the temperature must be taken. In the measurement of a base line recently the standard . temperature for 500 links was 46F.. and the temperature of the air was 72F. Even this- high * . range of temperature made only .08 of a I link difference, or about three-fifths of an inch, in 330ft-. This correction is so • small that it should be ignored.. Many instances of a similar nature could be quoted. The department's view seems to ■■ be that*very high mathematical, accuracy must be obtained, regardless of' cost to the public. 'They seem to think that the fees can be raised indefinitely, but surveyors, know that the public will not get the .work done. 7 There seenis to be no adequate reason for the new requirements I in" view of the very few claims on the Land Transfer Assurance Fund whett the _ old regulations were in force. R. DEVONPORT WAR MEMORIAL Sir,—Replying to "Freedom" re above, ' I would like to remark , that during ' the : war, on every side one heard of New , Zealand fighting England's battles. England is the Mother' Country, the Domin-; ions her offspring. "Freedom" __ is (evidently one ,of . those -. , disgruntled ; creatures whose power of reasoning is obscured, otherwise he would understand England represents the Empire. One • could hardly say . Scotland, ' Ireland, 7 Wales, Australia, and New Zealand. Be-'' ■ sides, the quotation is known to people who are at ' all-.conversant with „ lit era- Jture. Unfortunately, I cannot 1 ,claim , 1 authorship. At the same time, • I made ■ four suggestions, ajad further recom- , mended others should be asked for. A public meeting shpuld be called, and the question decided. "Freedom's'' -beautiful U quotation is absolutely, void of inspira-'' tion, -which was supposed to be the ob-' * ject of the memorial. ' ! GrRACE M. PIinSLOTT. Sir,—Your correspondent, Grace Pim- * blott, voices the opinion of at least an- . other regarding the inscription lor the Devonport War Memorial—' 'Remember- v ing these dead, let the «living be . humbled." The members of the War Memorial Committee are all - busy' men, " who perchance will welcome, rather than « resist, a little discussion on the- matter, v , and will not be averse to other suggestions. Apart from the fact * that the words already appear at- St. Paul's >•' memorial in Symonds Street, they are , wanting in , inspiration, and are " not ap- - : cable in their sense. , Those'* among us < who were of mature years,' when .the awful war call sounded, need no material monument, no written V. inscription to" t - keep green the. memory -of those' who came to our, rescue against our enemies.. Nor will those who were coming to man's estate at that ' time, and ' whose 1 young ; 1 lives blossomed out in a crimson, mist! It is of the younger ones, we 1 must principally thinkthe tiny tots of : those days, that the passing decade has brought , nearer, or further , |n.to" their .impression-, able years; " those who' are ' passing 1 from, , or who have ' already passed " -from the ' schoolroom, whose respective educations are only really beginning. ' It is they who will be most interested "in reading oiir monument's inscription! It must be of a nature to help them to realise the truth of what a great English writer has declared—"that - their fitness for alt 1 future trust, depends upon what they are now." "Be thoughtless in any after : years, rather' than now"—"though, in- . deed, there is one place' where a man" ,may be nobly thoughtless"—"his deathbed." "No" thinking should ever be left to be done there." No one wishes to carp at the members of the War . Memorial Committee, who have given their valuable time in collecting subscriptions for the erection of our monument, and in accepting all the onerous work and responsibility therewith. It \ would be a pity, after all their, efforts . if the inscription they decide on should >. not meet with the approval of • -the - majority of those for whose dear ones it stands, and also a pity if the growing boys and girls could not fully realise that the late war ■ ,

" was no useless sacrifice, . From the red .sowing of wiute- seed. f - New life shall rise. , .. • "All that for which they fought litm And' flourishes triumphantly ; , Watered with blood and hopeful tears, , It could not die. .' ' : "The world was icing into, ft sJoofiK •* Of sloth, and ; ease, and selfish greed.:,, God eurely sent this scourge to mould , • ■- A ■ nobler creed. . , ■ .: So comfort to the stricken heart! Take solace in the ■thought that h®. v Ye mourn was called, by God to suca High Dignity." , | | Hoping others will be interested in; , subject. A SotDDEB San**. .. !v . I