HAGLEY PARK

Star (Christchurch), Issue 8375, 22 July 1905, Page 4

HAGLEY PARK

PAST.

Oozj swamp and sluggioli creek Looping in. an eel»like freak; "Wind-swept toi and rustling- flax, Mud impressed with vreka-tracka. Blue pukeko's strutting squeak (White of tail and red of beak). Perched on nig-gerhead-3 to look For the earliest glimpse of Cook.

PRESENT. Jjorvfers, nursemaids, schoolboys', lots! Muddied oafs and model yachts, College dons and undergrads (Interesting little lads),: Golfers, cyclists, weed-filled pools, Clergymen and ladies' schools. Quite a nice scholastic tone, kfiaglinjr with, thy charms— ozone !

FUTUuctE. Miles of corrugated roof, (I'roduofc of much " Gov'mant oof"), Products of all human graft fiince old Adam's fig-leaf craft; : Courts and halls, aide-shows; and bars, ailaring bands ant! bad cigars; Speeches, show-off, glfe, d!ispi*y, Bunknm Bosh — and Bil4s to pay.

During his recent visit, Alphonso of Spain accompanied Edward VII. to the Adelphi. The Royal Box had been freshly upholstered, and a darningneedle left in one of the cushions. The youthful monarch, after bowing to the slobbering British Public, sat graoe-

fully thereon. Erecting himself, as from the business end of an able-bodied hornet, our Royal Visitor addressed the world at large in the romantic damwords/ of Old Castile. And the band struck up " Under Which King?"

The very slightest symptom of carelessness, followed by fatal results, very properly renders railway' servants, mo-tor-drivers, or anyone els© who endangers public safety on land, almost certain to be prosecuted for manslaughter. In the merchant service one moment's inattention to the rules of the road, or even a bit of bad luck, does the same. Listen, then, to what occurred in the crowded Straits of Dover, off Duugoness, on the night of June 6 : — "The fleet," says an officer of the Channel Fleet, "was steaming full speed in two divisions down Channel. All lights were out. "We wore practis-

ing battle tactics, and all went well until we entered a fog-bank. Then the collisions began." It would have been odd if they had not. Result : The Triumph smashed the Swiftsure, the Caesar sank tho British sailer Afghanistan and the Hannibal dismasted the German barquo Emma Louise. Eighteen merchant sailors were drowned. Picture it! Night — Fog — No lights — and a fleet of twenty-two warships tearing through the most crowded seaway in >the world, "practising battle tac-

tics. 7 '