GRAND FIGHTING SPIRIT

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23275, 18 February 1939, Page 1 (Supplement)

GRAND FIGHTING SPIRIT

People of Hawke's Bay;

By KOTARE

WITHIN the last month -1 have managed to motor through a considerable part of the North Island south of Auckland. Travelling is easy and comfortable these days, with practically all the main highways either tarsealed or concreted, and the rent of the surfaces in reasonably good condition. Concrete has apparently not appealed beyond the Auckland area. But the bitumen roadu to the south are quite as good as our own local highway. In addition to giving smooth travelling the new surfaces have eliminated the dust nuisance in all but a few districts. Altogether our roads are a ?ery satisfactory job of work.

From the through traveller's point of view, which naturally, does not take into account the by-roads, the really good surfaces increase in number the further south you travel. The route through the Wairarapa, over the Rimutakas, must be one of the finest roads in New Zealand. Whoever is responsible for it has looked well to the future. There has been no tinkering with a big engineering problem. The dreaded mountain barrier of other days now presents no more difficulties than the run from Auckland to Huntly.

To even the lay mind its value as part of a co-ordinated scheme of defence leaps to the eye 3. If we could only tackle all our major problems with this foresight and skill 1 New Roads

The same can be said of the new Hayward's Road out of Wellington. No longer is the main traffic to Wellington canalised into a narrow gorge just when the necessities of a great city demand wider room. This new road is broad and admirably engineered. It branches off the Wairarapa Road a few miles on this side of the Lower Hutt. For trade and tourist traffic it has solved an urgent difficulty. For defence it will prove of supreme value. In the event of any compelled evacuation of Wellington, which need, let us hope, will never arise, but which wisdom will always take into account as a possibility, the Hayward's Road will be of incalculable service. \ • For the casual traveller there is much occasion for pride in this far-seeing wisdom. Like most pioneer communities we have been disposed to let things happen as immediate necessities dictated. We have met emergencies as they arose. In a democracy the clamour of the moment tends to dictate all policies. V ision of the future has to be sacrificed to the present urgencies, But here is planning not merely for to-day or to-morrow. 1 don't know who is responsible for this wise statesmanship. But here are wisdom and foresight of a high order. I spent most of my time in Hawke'a Bay. Every -New Zealander should make a point of visiting Napier and Hastings. Napier is one of oiii* best show-places. My visit coincided with that of the long-drawn-out cyclone that afflicted every part of the country. But even the tearing winds could not rob Napier of its manifold charms. ; ; Still more than the delights that this phoenix among our cities provides in its own boundaries and in the country outside, there is the spirit of its inhabitants. Their knock-out blow of a few years back has simply called forth in full measure their splendid courage and determination.

Dauntless Courage I have; never been in a town where there was a greater faith in its destiny. The citizens believe in Napier. From the wreck they have risen triumphant. Fate was not content with one smashing blow. But nothing; could daunt their confidence in themselves and in their city. It is there in every man and woman you meet. To visit Napier is to experience a great quickening of one's faith in human nature.

Here for all to see is man the in- ;fi domitable fighter* man the conqueror. I came away uplifted in spirit, with a new pride in belonging to New Zealand stock. "Tine heart, tine a'," said Sir, Walter Scott when lie found his life in ruins around him. That is how Napier tackled its® overwhelming' disaster.

Nature's last malicipus thrust at Hawke's Bay is being met with the same courage. Esk Valley was a year ago one of the most delightful rural areas in New Zealand. A lovely valley it was, rich in trees and green fields and comfortable homesteads, crop and orchard and flower and nestling glen smiled on bv the friendly hills. But on one dark day the hills ceased to be friendly. The proud valley was swept by a raging torrent. The soil from the hills poured over the fields and gardens. The swirling waters carried out to sea the soil that might have compensated in some measure for the lost fertility of the desolated farmlands, and to-day the valley is feet deep in sand; sand and nothing else, rippled by the windcurrents like the dunes along the seashore. Down below is still the fertile soil. But how to get to it and make it available again is beyond man's devising. The Esk Valley '¥ Here and there undaunted men have sown the sand. But the oats after a quick start in the surface moisture have wilted and died. The orchards have made in some places a fight against the sand that close enwraps the treie trunks, but they have given up the struggle. The heavy winds of January lifted an inch or two of? the shifting surface and for days motor-cars struggling through the sahd-laden air, had their headlights on at noon-day.

Yet these settlers are still hoping. There must be something in the Hawke's Bay atmosphere that keeps the candle of hope burning. A visit to Napier and its environs is a specific against pessimism. h Hastings is Napier's great rival. Their proximity has naturally fostered in each an intense civic pride. And Hastings is not a whit behind Napier in courage and faith and public spirit. Hastings has a Country Club that is perhaps unique in New Zealand. Around the town stretches the fertile Heretaunga Plain. A prosperous farming . community uses Hastings as its social and marketing centre. In the heart of the town the club is the rallying"point of a wide constituency. . It is splendidly appointed. Here is an up-to-the-minute creche where mothers from the farms around can leave their voung children when they visit town. Skilled nurses are in charge. I here are cots and books andhv toys and every thing else to delighipithe heart of a child! Here, too, are dressing rooms for the girls from the farms who are attending dances in the town There are rooms for cards and for meetings. The club is completely furnished with richness and taste, It is a fine idea, most admirably carried out. - And all these privileges are available for an annual subscription of three guineas. There may be other Country Clubs in New Zealand, but this was my first experience of . one. In a country,, like Now Zealand they should ralM » social function of the highest value 4