FIFTY YEARS AGO.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20793, 9 February 1931, Page 3

FIFTY YEARS AGO.

EXTRACTS FROM THE HERALD

The following are extracts from the. jj New Zealand Herald of February 9, ■ 1881: |

Several gentlemen were engaged yes- £ terday in canvassing the town for eigna- J tures, praying 'the City Council to set ;« aside four acres of the Albert Park reserve as a cricket ground. At present the $ council is advertising for plans for laying || out the ground. /• - •f:

We hear that the working committee |! of tha Society of Arts has secured the |< Choral Hall in April for its Art Exhibi- :|i tion. The society is progressing rapidly both in numbers and influence; and the !; forthcoming exhibition bids fair to sur- j[; pass all its predecessors both in the nu:mber and the quality of the exhibits, and jt in all the other details of its manage- | ment. Public interest in art matters is *. steadily increasing in Auckland, and the | day is not far distant when the annual | exhibition of the society will become a matter of widespread interest. Mr. Blewden, the contractor for the city drainage works, has made a start with ins contract. About a dozen men'?, commenced yesterday to break ground' i near Jacob's - Ladder, and had made a J trench by evening on to Mr. P.iilon's f shed, near the railway station, . underneath which the drain will be carried. I Nobel's giant powder is being used to i loosen the formation of the clay, and | the work of blasting is being carried on | expeditiously and efficiently. Mr.. Blew- I den is determined to take advantage of | the spell of fine weather to -maka head- 1 way with the contract, for tha comple- •' re tion of which eight months is allowed. 11