Dear Sir,

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 1, Issue 27, 21 June 1939, Page 4

Dear Sir,

!<■; '<■ Letters to the Editor must be ; ©fcarly written on one side of the paper. Where a nom-de.plume is used the name of the writer must be enclosed for reference purposes only. THE DOMAIN (To the Editor) Sir, —Your correspondents' criticisms of the Domain Board make very in_ teresting reading. "Sportsman'' states that the Boanl caters only for 20 or 30 Croquet play ers, and that the only revenue that the Board receives is from the Rugby . Union. For the benefit of ''Sportsman'' and of others who may be interested, the following details are given: 1. The Croquet Club—comprising 25 members, has, since the board camc in"to existence, for many years, maintained their lawns built their own pavilion, provided roller, marker and mower, and c ut and tended the lawns themselves. At present by mutual 'arrangement the Croquet Club pays the board £2 per annum for cutting, rolling and ' marking the lawns through the'playing season. 'In addi_ tion the club bear the cost of manuring a,nd topdressing of the lawns. They have also planted shrubs and made their area attractive ami kept their pavilions and surroundings in a very creditable state. The contribution, which is substantial is always readily forthcoming, and -no reduc_ tion has ever been requested bj r the Club. Contrast this with various otli_ er sports bodies which have the use of the Domain. 2. The Rugby League applied for grounds, and were granted the use of the new area with the entrance from Domain Road. They certainly pu4 up goal posts v and playctl, matehc-s but no cash has ever been received from them. 3. The Whakatane Amateur Atti--letic Club waited on the board with the request that the grounds lie put in order for sports even'ts. They stated their membership was la"gt\ but that they had no funds whatever for improvements to the ground they desired to r use. They stressed th e urg_ ency of the .need for such improvements, but. alt-hough, the board ofier_ cd £15 to'them, for improvements, nothing has been done by them, and the offer has not been accepted. 4. When the Hockey Club was formed they were granted a playing area free provided they put the ground in order. This they did, and the club was run very successfully for a number of years. They then asked for and were granted another area, on consideration, of the board ploughing this new . area, the hockey club were to level and sow it, and pay the board a very low rental for its use. The board had the ploughing done, but the club repudiate:! the arrangement, and nothing further was done to the area. 5. The Cricket Club has certainly tried to make their area playable, by piftting down pitches and cutting the grass themselves, but so far have not contributed anything for the use of the grounds. 6. The Rugby Union during the past five years have,paid a total of £31 10s for the use of the two play, ing areas —little enough when their membership of 275 is considered. As you know the board receives a subsidy from the Borough Council of £100 a year. A man is employed to attend to ?;he gardens, cut the lawns, repair the hedges, at_ tend to the camp "' ground and various other jobs incidental to the main.;' tenancc of such' a large area—the 5 wages paid larft year for this work was over £150, so that the responsibility of creeting stands, dressing ' etc. is not one that could pos 1 sibly be placed on the shoulders of the Domain Board. Yours etc., C. S. ARMSTRONG, Hon. Secy. '<■ Sir, —To the ladies of the croquet ( club whose feelings I have apparently hurt, my deepest apologies. My previous letter was a request for infor. ' mation. It was in no sense meant to be a "cruel attack" on the ladies of the croquet club. I must take ''Croq- ( uct Supporter" to task for his reference to Rugby players "squealing like wounded Animals." The Rugby 1 players, or their authorities, have tak_ 1 en no part in this matter. Far from "squealing like ' wounded animals" the> are suffering bad conditions like patient dumb animals in a slaughter house. As I remember it -the mn|.. : < ter was first raised by the BEACON, 1 not by the Rugby interests, and < take it that the paper began iW..

v campaign for improvements whca^l new members' df its staff, fresh from a more progressive centre, were^,§-^H tonishecP at the lack of accommoda-B tion at Whakatane. for that the Rugby pe6ple should the job themselves and quoting the ex. ample of the croquet players, I fail^H to see that niy¥rieVulcan draw a fair comparison. True the croquct club has a limited membership and^H has raised a good deal of money for improvements, but after all its mem. bers are a closely knit group many are in reasonably comfortable circumstances. In Rugby you have some hundreds of young fellows, a 3 great proportion of them Maoris and not earning much money. They come from a scattered district. The ?d- - of the sport is very costly, ajid reserves must be built up to ' take care of the purchase of material H and gaar, representative expenses^ compensation to injured and: H 1 all the other details. Also, be remembered that the croquet plav_ ers have sole charge and control- of H ' their ground, whereas the Rugby ' placers simply have the use of the Domain once a week. Players of other games put confusing markings [■ on the grounds, and use and cart H ' away the seating bought by the Rug. H bj r Union. I hardly think thatthe H 1 Rugby people would be ready,l their own responsibility, to build a H dressing shed, conveniences and grand H stand 'from which other people would H get the benefit. However that is my H personal opinion, and lam not speak- H ing for the Rugby Union. Probably ■ the position would be different if H Rugby had a ground of its own, I H think your suggestion of a spprts H queen carnival or some similar I 1 ■ ity is a good one. What about it ■ sports bodies? H Yours etc., H SPORTSMAN. I MAIN HIGHWAY VIA HOSPITAL; I Sir, —At the meeting held on M.on- ■ day evening for the purpose of dis_ ■ cussing the route the highway should I take through the borough, members I of the Hospital Board stressed *ie I fact that the road must not go via I Stewart Street (as proposed) or past ■ the hospital because the 'traffic would I disturb the patients. 1 venture to I say that if thc. road in front of the I hospital is laid down in concrete (not I 'asphalt or tar seal) and a row bf I ornamental trees put along - betweea I the road and hospital boundary the I patients will be troubled very little I or one iota with the traffic. I hav<S I been a patient myself for a consider- I able time in a hospital; and I have I every sympathy for the sick, Nurses I are very nice but 'they have their I duties to attend to arid cannot stand I by your bedside all the time but there are occasions when one feels the quiet loneliness. The stillness of night gets on one's nerves., I understand that there are fifty patients in the Whakatane Hospital —I maintain, that more than half of them' woalii like to see and hear the traffic on the road. I have visited the Auckland Hospital several times where hundreds of cars' and vehicles pa&s every day. I have seen patients ask specially to be put at the open window where they can see the traffic. don't know anything about road malting but I think the suggestion of the main highway going through Stewart Street and up the Maractotana Gorge is quite alright. The work necessary up the gorge will be nothing compared with the new deviation "at Tikitere Hill. Yours, etc., P. A. SHUNT. WHAKATANE ON THE MAP >• M.F. sfij'i "Ntiw thri'proposed 'Main Highway will give' \VTia_ katane a chance to get on the map/* Will it? I say it will jttst put Whakatane off the map that is if it through that obscure part of th<^ town along Goulstone Road. To Ihe thousands passing along, our Whakatane of repute will appear to them a mere village. No, if Whakatiane is going to have a main highway let us use it to vcrti.se our town, its size, scenery, etc .etc. We have the goods let us boost'them. And so the proper place for the proposed Main Highway is on the sea. ward side of the Strand (as " 0 There it would not interfere with our town traffic. It is not the goods and liquor that thousands might buy but it is the tremendously far_rcaching advertisement that matters. Yours ; • \- } WHAKATANE. ■ In view Qf. the unprecedented 'pressure on our space due to thei'ntereSt . taken in the above subjects, Ave -ire* compelled to hold several (letters They, will appear in Friday's issue. Ett