Street Names.

Southland Times, Issue 13737, 26 April 1897, Page 3

Street Names.

TO THE EDITOR. Sir, —I noticed the other day a Dunedin visitor gave.us a well-merited rub about the difficulty of finding out what street in Invercargill one who is a stranger may happen to be in; It is true that here and there may be seen rusty plates screwed to buildings, but these are meant only for the eyes of the young—l’m old and can’t read them. If we are to have that sort of thing it should be like those enamelled iron placards one sees at the railway station—six-inch white letters on blue ground—not an oxidised lump of cast iron showing nothing. The painting of the names of the streets on the lamp glasses was good enough—if the glass had never required cleaning and if there had been no boys about to smash them. A good many years'ago 1 saw it suggested in the Times that the names of streets should be out on metal strips like stencil plates and that these should be hooked insided along the upper edge of the lamp. They could be removed when cleaning was going on and would not be involved in the destruction of the glass by the small boy’ But this is altogether too simple a solution of the matter for our borough council or their officials, and I have noticed that they never—well hardly ever—accept tips, and when they-do they let so long a period elapse that it may be supposed that everything is the result of their collective wisdom. By the by,how many hundredweights of those lovely and artistic house numbers that every ono was to be compelled to ornament their frontages with are still on hand ?—I am, &c., Q.E.D.