THE BEAUTIFYING SOCIETY.

Colonist, Volume LIV, Issue 13274, 27 November 1911, Page 2

THE BEAUTIFYING SOCIETY.

LARGE GATHERING IN WASH-

TON VALLEY

OPENING OF THE ADAMS

TRIANGLE

On Saturday afternoon a large concourse of people assembled iv tho bright sunshine to witness the opeiiiug by His Worship tho Mayor (Mr T. A. i-I; Field) of the Adams' Triangle situated at the junction of tho roads winch lead from Washington Valley to the Haven road and to -the city via the railway station. The residents of the Valley mustered in force, and many from other parts of tho city were there by their kind invitation. The locality was gaily decorated with Hags, and tho Nelson Citizens' Baud kindJy supplied some excellent music. Mr William McGee, the chairman of tho Washington Valley committee of tho above named Society, addressed the assemblage. He said the members of the committee had been at work for ten weeks, and they had met on the present occasion to celebrate the opening of the triangle, which had been presented by Mr Percy B. Adams, the President of the Society. Their committee had planted no less than three hundred trees, and every one was growing. The ladies had done the tree planting, and tho result showed that they had done good work. The triangle had for this year been planted with annuals. Ho concluded by asking the Mayor to open tho triangle, and expressed his pleasure at seeing such a large gathering.

Tho Mayor said the triangle was one of the results of the beautifying movement. The citizens had been quick to sco the value of the movement, and a healthy rivalry had sprung up between the different parts of the city. Strangers had often remarked what a beautiful city Nelson was, and had expressed surprise at Nelsomans running it down. The reason for the latter was no doubt because the citizens had never realised how beautiful Nelson really was, nor how great was its natural advantages. His Excellency tho Governor, viewing the city from the tower of tho Boys' College, said "that Nelson was to be congratulated on its town planning. It was admirably laid out, very different from most cities." His Worship pointed out that the area of the city was 4800 acres, and there are forty miles of streets. The extent of the city made it very difficult for tho City Council to do .ill that it would like to do in improvements. They hoped some day to see tho low-lying ground at the bottom of the Valley rilled in, and made into a recreation ground. (Loud applause.) The Mayor then opened tho <rate of the enclosure and declared the Adams' triangle opened. Rounds of applause greeted the announce•vp.flt. Tho enclosure is neatly fenced and well laid out, scats having been provided for those desirous of taking a rest, and viewing the surroundings at their leisure.

Mr McGee rccognißcd the pood ser"iees that Mr Jonathan Rronsrh had rendered, and the valuable information that gentleman hnd piven as to M-,(« fvee plnnUiiK. He then called on Mr Percy Adams to address thorn.

Mr Percy .Arlnins, who wap rereivod 'vith loud anwl.'uifp. pongratulnted the "ppidents of the Vallpy on the work <-'ir>v had accnrnnlislied. Ho was plf.is"■d the beantifviiiE n'ive"'"nt li--d Aiken such a firm liold. Fo paid it <vric. anite true that Nature hud doiT» ■> lot for Nelson, wliieh had tho nirvit f*onsistflTitlv cjood olimnto in +1'"

■«-ovld. and far surpassing that of t'-p '■)l:iffis of resort in. F,urone, AmnnVa. ■"id Australia. When tbe beantifviivr ■^irtc; Wei-/* started on tho Cburrl< Hill, it. had noon said In- some, peorV "mt the- children would trull o"t the lowers and rlpstrnv tlip hods, He wfs tiire vow littl" dostnictinn had been -lone hv tbe children. who were tnlciiiT im'tp as keen an interest in the lieaiv '•ifvinr: efforts as their mrents nv* fvimids. In voarj! to enmn <ot>><' 'if f'"l "'•>ildvpii tirppmit. would he nl»]n \« ■"loint; with wiri? to snm» of tlip t'^os

-h\rh li-il bo"v nliMt-rl in +W, Yfii--1"V by thomsolvoß. their r^viiis. nnd Ttranclnnrpnts. Tlir> aclnl+s in labouvi'i.i; to extend tho bpmitifvin™ movement wero re-ally working for thoso who would snerppd them i" tho future. Tt was good for the children to get them interested in plants and flowers, for it had a snftoninc and refining influence. (Loud applause.)

Mr A.A. Grace said tlmt there was doubt in the minds of some people in the North Island .is to whether there was any necessity to beautify Nelson. Two Wellington ladies had been overheard discussing the question. Ono had said, "What! A Beautifying Society in Nelson ? It must be an ugly place!" But her companion, who had evidently visited the city, replied, "Oh no, not at all. It is bo pretty that I should have thought there was no necessity to beautify it." In a sense these two ladies were both right. Nature had made Nelson beautiful, but tlicro was much which they might do to improvo certain parts which were not the. most beautiful. Two hundred years and moro ago Nelson was as beautiful, if not moro so, than now. They only had to look at the eastern panorama to see what no meant, or they could walk up Pitt's Hill and look out across the Bay to tho magnificent range of mountains which stretched from Mt Arthur to Separation Point. Nelson was beautiful by reason of her surroundings. The place had been beautiful beforo a single street was laid out, and before a single house was built. Once there had been two Maori pas —one on the Church Hill and ono at the Port, on the further side of the hill which overlooked the old entrance to the harbour. The people who lived on the Church Hill grew fine crops of kumara and taro on the low-lying lands where the centime of the town now is, and the people at the Port caught an abundance of fish inside and outside the harbour. So the people of the two pas entered into a compact to share their food. But when the chief of tho Church Hill pa was next entertaining a number of visitors ami called on the other chief to send him a quantity of fish, the latter refused, saying ho needed all his stores himself in order that ho might entertain his own visitors when they cmno. But ho ■did more, for he sent his people by night to rob storehouses of his brother chief, and stole all the kuniaras and taro they contained .This ho thought at the time a clever tiling to do, out by and by when the. people of Motueka and Takaka picked a quarrel with him, ho found himself desperately in need of help from his friends who lived on Church Hill, but it was not forthcoming, and he and his hapu wore wiped out of existence. Where the first settlers landed, 70 years ago, on tho sth of the month , they ran up their flag on tho hill, which could be seen to the west, aiuj had strayed down into tho Valley beforeUiey trod the ground where tho centre of tho town now is. There was an old Maori track which had joined the two pas. It came from Pitt's Hill down the Valley, skirting its southern side into Toi Toi Valley to a place near the old school, whence it crossed the flat to the northern end of Mount street,' and so to the Church Hill. Mr Waterhouse, who arrived in the. Martha Rklgeway, in tho year that tho late Ring was born, had trod that path with tho father of Mr McGee. At that time the tide came right up to the place where they were standing, and that part of tho harbour was named by the Maoris To Whanga Pae Mango, which meant the place whore the sharks were made fast. The Maoris used to tow them to tho spot whore they were standing that afternoon, and there make them fast, ancl when the receding tide left them high

It has been the custom for over 100 years to give a sick person a little Martell's Brandy—doctors order it — buY if Prohibition is carried, you can only obtain your Martell's by a doctor's order, especially prescribed for eaoh occasion.

and dry they killed them by knocking them on the head. At the place where tho houses stood, at tho junction of Hustings street and Washington road, ! Mr William Taylor, ono of Nelson's first born and so long a resident of the Valley, had bathed when he was a boy; and a little further up the Valloy thore had been a pond where the boys of those early times used,1 to catch eels. Things had changed very much since those days. Some would say thoy had changed for the better— ns no doubt they had: some might think otherwise. But one thing was •certain—that to assist Nature by planting with trees tho streets of the city, and the public places, was a work of which they might bo proud. And thero was another aspect of their work which soemed to him to bo even moro praiseworthy. The Mayor had said Nelsonians were not proud enough of their city. As a matter of fact the prosperity of Nelson had been hampered hy tho lack of unity among her people. The community had been divided with insignificant cliques and socinl coteries, and these working incessantly against one another had prevented concerted action, and Nelson had foiled to progress as s'io should have clone. The" Nelson Beautifying Society, however. had brought nbont a wonderful unity of effort, which was ns excellent ns it was 'remarkable. If that unanimity were to continue to grow and flourish, and if instead of wasting their strength in differences and disunion tho people of Nelson, ns a result of the SooiVtv's work and examplp, were to consolidate their powers and firmly combine to ndvnnoe thp city. then tho Bonutifving Society would have ncnomplj'shprl r> hotter work than that which it liod sot out to rlo, and wnnVl lini-e beautified the city more effectually than it ; was possible to do by planting flowers and trees.

Mr Bishop, the chairman of the Port committee of tho Beautifying Society, said at first Washington Valley was attached to tho Port, but it was too big a district to work successfully so the Valley was separated, and Mr William McGeo was elected as chairman of the Valley committee. Ho congratulated Mr McGeo and the Valley people on what they had done. Tho triangle was a credit to the Valley and to Mr Adams. He had been in a good many places, but he had never found a moro desirable place than Nelson to live in. He emphasised that Nelson would never bo a great commercial or manufacturing centre, therefore its residents should do all in their power to make it attractive as a residential place. At tho last City Council election hu suggested that a Beautifying Society should bo started, and soon after tho Mayor called a public ! meeting to consider tho question, am; tho Society was started, and the good results to-day were to be seen in the Valloy and other parts of the city. Ho urged Nelsonians to think niortof their city, to work for it, and spend their money in it. The public spirit Mr Adams had shown was most commendable. Mr Adams was really the pioneer of tho beautifying movement, and he was sure they all appreciated Mr Adams' gift of the triangle. (Applauso.)

Mr Walter Moffatt said he once resided in that Valley. He heartily congratulated the residents 071 the work achieved. Mr Grace had given them a very interesting historical sketch of the Valley. Mr Percy Adams had made them a handsome gift, which 10 doubt would become a pleasurable, resort for old and young. (Applause.)

The three longest residents in the Valley, namely, Mesdames Rrou:;h. Simpson, and Dobbs, each planted a tree in the triangle.

Rinsing cheers were given for "Mr Percy Adams, the Mayor. Mr AY. McGec. Mr lirongh, the Nelson Citiwvis' Jland. and the lady ti-eo plant-

cv.;:. The ladies provided an abuirl■n>ce of refreshments, and lollies wore distributed to tho children. Photojiranhs were taken of a large group of the Valley residents.