MUSEUM VANDALISM

Taranaki Daily News, 14 January 1935, Page 14

MUSEUM VANDALISM

WANTON DAMAGE TO EXHIBIT. CHRISTCHURCH PYTHON SKIN. Public institutions such as libraries, museums and gardens are always subject to a certain menace from vandals. When severe measures are taken against it, one does not expect vandalism to continue; yet, apparently, it does at Christchurch. Large sums of money are spent annually in maintaining these institutions and in keeping them up to date, says the Sun, but the. public would be surprised at the large amount of money which is spent every year in repairing and replacing property which has suffered at- the hands of vandals. The institution to come under notice most recently as suffering from wantonness is the Canterbury Museum. Destruction is no worse there now than it has been in the last year or so, but that is not saying that it is trivial and inexpensive. The curator, Professor Speight, says he is beginning to believe that the public conscience is far from being what it was a few years ago. Exhibits have gradually been moved back to a distance that was presumed to be beyond the reach of the public; cases have been locked; some of them have been double-locked and screwed down, but still the vandalism goes on. It is a simple matter for anyone who has entered the building with evil intent to choose for his work a moment when his actions are not under the surveillance of the staff. It is suspected that small boys are to blame- for most of the wanton damage—and most of the damage is wanton —but now and then there are cases of attempted theft. The most popular form of mischief is to remove labels from cases, or to cut the labels, but recently some person with a knife or some other sharp instrument cut a piece from the skin of a python. The python has been withdrawn from exhibition, and, for the present, at any rate, will not be repaired. Some other exhibits have been damaged by people who have poked them with sticks. It is neither possible, nor desirable, Professor Speight says, to exclude from the museum boys who attend without responsible guardians. Some of them find much there of educational value.