ROUND ABOUT WELLINGTON.

Otago Witness, Issue 3890, 2 October 1928, Page 20

ROUND ABOUT WELLINGTON.

- Pencabrow. (Sphcixl job the Otago Witness.) September 27. I have been to the Winter Show, which Is now safely housed in permanent buildings. erected for the purpose—and on land no one else wanted. Having seen the land I am not surprised. However, the site is sunny—one goes up John ptreet, which is not very far from the Hospital, and on the other side of the road. I am not a manufacturer, so may be forgiven if I say that what struck me as the best part of . the show was the view from the main exit. The building'is so large that the stalls have B lost look- in off hours —and it was a very off hour in the morning when I and one other passed through the entrance place, which is arranged so that great crowds can be handled expeditiously. The show building is so new that hammering was still going on during the opening ceremony. Ghastly yellow clay surrounds the place, and the footpaths are, let us call it, “ cobbled.” However, all things must have a beginning, even the Canadian National. Show, of which a picture is shown inside. Some day we too shall have lawns and spreading trees and dignified approaches. 'They have evidently relied a good deal here on lighting effects at night, and I believe that thousands of people are spending their evenings up at the show just now. Just outside the main entrance are water-w'aves and other attractions so dear to the very young. inside this exhibition is very much like those we have seen down in the Harbour Board sheds for four consecutive winters. Products and industries of New Zealand are spread before our eyes, and it is all rather wonderful considering how very young this country is. The Government departments are making use of this opportunity to advertise, and there is nothing more interesting'in the show than the stand of the forestry Department, and that of the Mines Department. The industrial section is really illuminating— not till one sees New Zealand chocolates, biscuits, tinned goods, etc., displayed to advantage and en masse does one quite realise the advance Vjuch has been made in this direction, nor do we always grasp the fact that there is no need to import furniture when planning a beautiful home. The honey and the apples must be as good as any to be found elsewhere in the world, and the arrangement of exhibits is excellent. The live stock still await a visit from me. The creatures are all comfortably accommodated, and there is no running about from place to place in search of. them.

The whole show can be seen conveniently. It is all under one roof. There are the usual sideshows, and a great display of motor cars (no aeroplanes yet), and these vie with model trains which the Railway Department is showing, and which look most comfortable. The Show Association has leased the ground for 50 years, and has been Very generously backed by the public, which is alive to the advantage held out by such an exhibition, which must attract increasing numbers of exhibitors and visitors as the~ years go on.

John street is not so very far from the Mount Cook site on which the National Art Gallery and Museum is to be built. There will be much pulling down and laying out and town planning in the near future, but the Mayor is not disclosing the suggested plans for improving the Te Aro flats—so speculators are still guessing. This Mount Cook site has been given by the Government with a promise of £lOO,OOO on condition that another £lOO,OOO be raised by public subscription. Many believed the condition put the scheme beyond reach, but not the Mayor and others, who from the beginning have been actively interested and optimistic. Already by firms and individuals £73,000 has been subscribed. The names of’the subscribers have been published. There are 96. The general public is inclined to sit back now and say, “ Look—after all we are public spirited—and they don’t need the small subscription winch is all I can afford.” The organisers desire that every citizen shall be a subscriber, and thev urge that it is better for 20,000 people to subscribe the required sum than that it should be subscribed by a few'people. It is a magnificent and splendid project, and will succeed, but for our own satisfaction it is hoped that the appeal to the small subscriber will not be made in vain.

Mr Mawson, F.R.1.8.A., also M.T.P.1., the ? new director of town planning, has arrived from England. In his own line he is regarded as one of the leadingauthorities in the world. In Wellington during the last few years there has been so great an improvement in the streets and buildings that one realises it is never too late to make amends. Our streets are becoming gracious and dignified; open spaces are being made; places are being created; old errors corrected as far as possible, and new ones avoided as a rule.

There are some who look with great disfavour on an alteration now being made near Clyde quay, where some sort' of P u blic rest rooms are being built right in the fairway.- It seems extraordinary and quite unnecessary. Ordinary people like myself think that

traffic will be interfered with, and the approach to Kent terrace somewhat spoilt. Kent terrace is so altered that it is now the city’s pride—a beautiful avenue it is to become eventually—leading towards Mount Cook, where so many of our memorial buildings are to be grouped.

This week the Dominion newspaper quoted a paragraph written 50 years ago: “ The Mayor laid on the table a design for a seal for the Corporation of the City of Wellington, prepared and drawn by the town clerk.” So was recorded the adoption of the city’s coat of arms. The seal consists of a lion rampant and a moa on either side of a quartered coat of arms which is representative. Below the crest are the Latin words: “ Suprema a Situ,” and the date (1840) when the city was founded.