SCENERY PRESERVATION.

Wanganui Herald, Volume XXXXV, Issue 13058, 28 April 1910, Page 7

SCENERY PRESERVATION.

— AN ENTHUSIASTIC MEETING. “The Passing of the Bush.” There was a very ‘good attendance of the public at . the meeting held under the auspices of the -Beautifying and Scenery j reservation Society in the Borough Council Chambers last evening.

His WORSHIP , the MAYOR/who presided, briefly explained the object of the meeting, and expressed his pleasure at seeing such a representative gathering. His Worship paid a hearty tribute to the Society’s opening effort in the direction of beautifying Dprie Hill steps, and commented on the immense improvement that had been effected. Nature, ho said, had been kind to Wanganui, and there was no reason why our .town should' not rank among the most beautiful, or, in fact, as the most beautiful in the Dominion. His Worship then touched briefly on the allimportant subject of deforestation. The river, he said,, was of. vital importance to the prosperity and progress of the town, and it behoved the people of Wanganui to guard it as a .treasure, but if the wholesale wiping, out; of the bush was allowed to continue, our most valuable asset would slowly, hut - surely, take its place among those things which “have been.” His Worship: concluded by paying a hearty tribute to those who have laboured so strenuously in the interests of the Society, and expressed the opinion that whole-hearted co-operation among all classes of the community was all that was required for ultimate success. Mr WRAY, who followed, expressed his hearty sympathy with tile work of the Society, and wished it a long and prosperous career of usefhliiess. During his r.tay in the Old Count/y 'he had been especially impressed witfi the numbers of parks and open spaces,-'Avliich 'were dotted all over the city of London, and were veritable God-sends to town-dwellers. There were, also, he said, numbers of private parks thrown open to the public, but here the “keep off the grass” sign was ‘. o much in evidence. Htiwever, thg people had only themselves to blame for this, as ".umbers of picnic parties did not appear to sufficiently appreciate'the privilege, and departed leaving a most disorderly litter behind them. In the .various Australian cities, and particularly in Melbourne, the beautifying societies had done splendid service, and places that a few years ago were nothing better, than eye-sores had been transformed into veritable paradises. Mr Wray concluded by congratulating tinSociety on the excellent start, that had been made, and prophesied that future generations would bless the men who had laboured so hard and unselfishly on their behalf.

Mr MoCAUL, who had been • trusted with that part of the question dealing with deforestation and its attendant evils, .first read -an eloquent appeal f rom Mr Gregor McGregor, in which the writer appealed particularly to the young people of the town to give some of „heir spare time towards helping along the work of beautifying their native place. Mr McCaul went on to say that deforestation of the river hanks must stop, and stop without delay, unless people wished to see our navigation ruined, tourist traffic lost, and the town laid open to devastating inundations, which would put an qffectual check on development, to say nothing of the 1 damage to property and probable loss of life. The speaker then gave some interesting examples of the manner. in which other countries had found out their error when it was too late, and the bush hqd gone, never to return. China provided a terrible example. The great Yellow River, which flows through the centre of the most fertile parts of the Chinese Empire, was, before the denudation of the hush, a source of livelihood to millions; now matters bore a very different aspect, and villages which were once thriving communities,' with a population of between five and six thousand, had been literally wiped off the face of the earth, while in the great flood of 1887 no less than seven million Chinese lost their lives. Surely we could not afford to ignore a warning like that! Mr J. A . NEAME then dealt at some length with the aesthetic side of the question. New ZeMand, he said, had njanifold attractions, but its wonders, were 'paral-. leled in other T parts of the world. ■ The Wanganui River, however, was .the one exception to this rule, and was acknowledged' by tourists -from all parts of the, globe as being absolutely without parallel-/, .for river scenery in the world. There ; Was also, he said, room for '.imjmovement, notonly in the streets and parks, but, jas mharity commenced at home, in pur own, private gardens, : which should he our first care. J '

■Mr A. G. BIGNELL emphasised the. ;gvoaj; danger from floods if, deforestation was allowed to continue, arid instanced.the big inundation of 1904. In conclusion, he moved:—“ That this meeting of the citizens of Wanganui urge upon the Government to at once promote siyh legislation as will give them the necessary legal power to prevent any further dej'"resta,tiou of the hillside hanks of, the Wanganui and its tributaries, this' being necessary for conserving the navigation of this groat highway, preserving the scenery, and protecting the town of Wanganui from serious inundations which' w.i l ! assuredly follow the deforestation of t]ie immediate banks of-the' 'Wanganui ‘'and its tributaries.” 7. ' ’ :o * ’■■■' ’’

The seconded ■ H. •J3TJKNET, supported by Mr T. ALLISON and carried unanimously., .... ’ .During the,'^voping,Mr T. W. Downes kindly exhibited la ■. number of.L very interesting lantern views iof various' beauty spots, which were much appreciated.

The force of the old adAge that “Truth is : stranger than Fiction” is strikingly exemplified in. connection' with a’ cable appearing in , last night’s issue of the .■‘■‘Herald.” Tiro message described a murder in Vienna by an old couple who killed a logger in their house, a stranger from America, tiic motive being robbery of his money. They then, discovered that they had murdered their own son. Strange to say, not only the main outline of the tragedy, but even some of the incidents, wore depicted in a dramatised picture which ran at tiie local, Lyceum Theatre during the same, week that the

murder v.’ps committed. Were it not that the picture had been “made up” several months previously, one could almost have imagined that the Vienna tragedy had furnished the material for its incidents. The adverse weather conditions of .the last few days have been succeeded everywhere by a ‘more geneial sky, Lyttelton and the West Coast of the South Island, being the only places reporting an absence of sun this morning. Though the East Coast of this Island reports a clear' sky, heavy seas are still running there, though smooth seas prevail in the other parts of the Dominion. Light southerly breezes are being experienced all over the North Island, and light northorlies in the South, except in Otago where a calm prevails. The barometer is high everywhere. The 9 o’clock shade temperatures showed a variation in the Auckland district from 41 at Cambridge to 56 at Auckland. In the southern half of this island, they rangedffrom 47 at Gisborne to 55 at Wellington,, and in the South Island from 37 at the elevated station at Bealey to 56 at Lyttelton. In Wanganui a smooth bar and a fairly bright sky prevailed,, with the barometer at 30-21 and the thermometer at 53. At tho Education Board meeting’ last night, Mr G. 11. Bennett asked whether any reply had been received to the ap- ; plication for a (teacher’s) residence at ; Bangitaua. On being informed that no ..word had yet conic to hand, Mr Bennett "proposed that the Board strongly protest against the action of the Government in thus delaying the matter. At present, the teacher and Lis family was compelled to live in a- tent, and thoroughly disgraceful and shameful as tho position was now, it would become absolutely impossible with the advent of tho cold weather. The speaker moved that tho Department be again informed of the position, and be •erwarded a copy of the resolution. Several members spoke most strongly on the matter, and the motion was carried unanimously.