CONCERNING POLES.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 10683, 1 February 1913, Page 8

CONCERNING POLES.

IMPRESSIONS OF CHRIST- . CHURCH. HOW THE CITY APPEARS TO AN OUTSIDER. "My impressions?" echoed an oversea visitor to Christchurch in reply to a reporter's query. "My impressions of Christchurch? Well, they can be summed up in the word ' poles.' Is there something peculiar about your people that they' must put up poles anywhere and everywhere, Ive gone here and there about your city, seen the sights, done the rounds, and everywhere and always there are poles, rows of them. Down every big' street they seem to stretch to the rartiiest horizon. I went to New Brighton yesterday and I said to myselr These poles will stop when we reach the .Pacific.' But no; the line of a left turn and as far as I could see stretched on to the crack of doom. Can you tell mo where they do end. 1 A friend took me in a motor-car for ■ a run up the Port Hills. We ran along between rows of poles, and long before we reached the hills I could see poles far up their sides. There they ' stood., a row of black, stark sticks ■ leaning at all angles and going right . on until they were lost over the brow

of the hill." . , , The fondness of Chnstchurch peopic ; for poles had evidently -made .such a ! strong imuression on the visitor that ! he devoted some time to studying it. : He declared that he had located num- ' bers of poles which supported no wires 5 and, as far as he could see, did 110- • tliinc but make the street .ook li«.e a- ■ great tooth-comb. There were hundreds of poles m the city, he said, > which had been erected to hold vires , which tried to keep o.her po<es 1 straight, and generally taxied. . Straightness, he found, was not nel cessary at all. The visitor had di- - vided the poles into classes. Theie , were verandah poles, which, he said i London and Pans and othe-i places " managed Ho do without. _ Ihen tele--5 graph poles loomed large m uhe visitor's eye and of tramway poles, seem--3 ingly, there was no end. Poles for con- * veying electric light mains were nu--5 merous, and lamp-posts came -within

the definition. _ As for the situation o"f some of tiie ( poles, the visitor stated that ho had seen poles in the centres of footpaths and in people's backyards. Along riio beautiful river-bank there . stretcnea poles, ugly, bare shafts, and even the oublic gardens were not free from invasion. In places they stood in clusters; in places in pairs. He had se«!n verandahs which had been built round ' them, and regarding some of the poles ho would very much like to know how I they .got there and how they would | ever be removed. Of course, the style 1 in poles had changed from time to time, and the visitor hazarded the opinion i that the poles which were- painted in ! two colours ana numbered were placed j in position when the patron of somo art society ruled the City Council. The visitor said that the appetite for I poles was evidently no ephemeral whim on the part of Christcburch people. Ho

had been shown a yard—it was stated.! that the Government owned it—whore ; ' there were any number of them, and j \doubtless in time they would join tue j rows which flanked each street ill an j otherwise beautiful city. Of course, the J poles had their uses. He had learned; from a placard on one of them, that a i big swimming carnival was held in the J local tepid baths last year, and other, notices wei'e to be seen. But, takt-n j round, the effect produced by this j forest of poles was not pleasing, and he hoped that some day tho tangle of electric wires would '-■« placed under-e-round, for the city would be improved by the removal of the pgles, j?oles,; uooles.