THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. TUESDAY, MARCH 11, 1930. GARDENS AND FLOWERS.

Wairarapa Age, 11 March 1930, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. TUESDAY, MARCH 11, 1930. GARDENS AND FLOWERS.

There is no doubt that the Autumn show of the Masterton Horticultural Society, which open's in the Municipal Buildings to-mprrow, will deserve on its merits to attract a very large attendance of the public. Though the present season has been one of climatic ups and downs, it appears to have favoured the enterprise of gardr eners intent on producing choice and beautiful blooms, 2 and very fine displays are assured at to-morrow's show. Et certainly is to be hoped that the public will attend in large numbers. All who give the matter any thought will agree that there would be reason for very serious regret if the activities of the Horticultural Society were in any degree curtailed for want of public interest and support. Apart from, any question of sentiment or love of beauty, considerations of the most severely practical kind arise in this connection. For instance, a town well provided with* beautiful gardens undoubtedly will have a higher range of property values, other things being equal, than a town in which neglected sections and yards are common. It might be argued vqry reasonably that property-owners in Masterton who are not taking at least a friendly interest in the enterprise of the Horticultural Society are unwisely neglecting their own business interests. No, doubt interest in to-morrow's show will be stimulated very considerably by the activities of the Garden Week Committee of the Small Holdings Association. At the instance of the committee, a number of publicspirited people have thrown open their gardens to inspection during recent weeks and others will 1 be doing the same on every day this week except to-morrow. The numbers of people who haye availed themselves of the opportunity of visiting gardens thus opened to public view demonstrates that there is no lack of interest in gardens and in the cultivation of flowers. It seems very probable that the Garden Week Committee, as time goes on, may find means of extending and enlarging its activities, notably in the direction of attracting the interest and attention of young people, in the schools and elsewhere. All that is accomplished in this direction will, of course, strengthen the position of bodies like the Horticultural Society. Meantime it is clear that both the Horticultural Society and the Garden Week Committee are entitled to public recognition and support.

Two children, aged 5 and 6 had a miraculous escape at Dunedin on Sunday. They were playing in a right-of-way leading to Messrs. Kempthorne Prosser’s. One is believed to have lit a match near the bunghole of a drum, which was afterwards found to contain methylated spirits. An explosion followed, the lid of the drum being blown off with such violence as to make a hole a foot deep in the ground. The children suffered only minor injury. Station 4YA, Dunedin, as an experimental preliminary, established twoway verbal communication with New York early, yesterday morning. Voices from Dunedin were conveyed by telephone cable to 2YA, Wellington, thence broadcast to a short-wave station in Sydney, and passed on to 2XAF, New York. Replies received from 2XAF were picked up here direct. Mr. Russell Owen, of the “New York Times,’' will speak through this system early this morning, and Admiral Byrd at 12.30 o’clock to-morrow morning.— (P.A.)

In returning a verdict that Mrs Ngati Pirere, a Native woman, died from meningitis associated with suppuration of the eas, the Coroner Mr. A. S. Lairo, at ian inquest at Taumarunui yesterday commented strongly on the fact that a period of over 48 hours elapsed with the deceased in an unconscious state and no steps were taken to secure medical or nursing assistance. The Coroner added the following rider: “That the relatives of the deceased be informed that the Health Department expected all Natives to take advantage of the provision made for their assistance in time of sickness and would regard neglect to do so in future very seriously. '' —(P.A.)