ROUND ABOUT WANGANUI.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 564, 20 July 1909, Page 6

ROUND ABOUT WANGANUI.

/ (By Telejraph.-Speclal Correspondent.) ' , Wanganul, July 19. Steamer skippers complain of the inconvenience caused by tho position of tho wreck of the Charles Edward, which has slipped away from the breakwater into deep water, and is closer to' the fairway thaa they like. Both the.local papers pll on the Harbour Board to put the wreck somewhere else. :, Steady progress is being.• made 'with the harbour works at.the mouth of the rivcrj The north mole is now some 900 feet out, and another 400 feet will see it clear of the bar. Tho work on it has been temporarily suspended, however, and the staff has now started on the south mole, which will bo run put parallel to the north work. It is expected that the completion, of the works will give from 20 to 22 feet-of water on the bar, and that a much larger class of ship will.soon replace the present little hookers trading to the port. An inquest was held'tcwlay concerning the death ot Petor. Naughton, who was found dead hear Waitotara. , '' A, verdict ."of "death from oxposui'e was'returned. It is , alleged that a - Maori and a European met him on. the road on-the night on which ho was lost, and, though ho was clad only in underwear, they allowed him to go without making any attempt to persuade him to return, and did not report thematter till/next morning. _ Wanganui just now is agitated over its racecourse , and residents of the suburb of Gouville especially.:. so. .Two matters, have been raised, viz., the use of the racecourse as a right-of-way between : ■Wanganui and Gonville, and the right of the; public to have access to the centre of the racecourse for sports purposes.. ,r?or time out of, mind, people have been used to crossing it .on the way to and from town, and indignation was aroused when they recently found a fence across their track. A party of: Gpnville residents calmly and. methodically, pulled it down, and the fat" was at once in the fire. Since then, much correspondence' and comment has appeared in the local papers, and a great'unearthing of ancient history has taken place.,' The racecourse is vested in trustees, who lease.it to the Jockey Club, when the latter require it for racing. Surrouuding the course is borough land, a great deal of which is leased by the Jockey Club, and on which are plantations and buildings. So, even if the course 16 open to the publrc, the latter must cross the Jockey' Club?e leasehold (but still privaic) property to get across, and., if there is no legal right-of-way through this leased land,. it is--obvious that they are.trespassers. That is the position of things which, hits Gonville. So'far as Wanganui is concerned, if it wishes to 'kick footballor "tee off" the golf ball, or smite tho hockey ball in the centre portion of the reserve, it is also a trespasser when it crosses the club's outside strip, and it is Iclaimod. that Wauganui is also a trespasser if it plays' its games in the centre, in that the resorve is only meant for racing, and no one can use it for, anything else without tho trustees , permission. The appointment of trustees is unsatisfactory to the last degree. By the. ■Wanganui and Rangitikei Racecourses Act (passed by the. Wollrngton Provincial Council in 1862) . it. was provided i that trustees should be elected every second 1 year by "the electors of Wanganui and Rangitikei." .. If the electors failed to do so, the superintend-' ent (now replaoed by the Governor) was to make the appointments. As tho electorates , are very different in 1909 from , what they were in 1862, the. difficulties in the way of election are plain, Consequently, none-are held, and the trustees have been appointed by the Governor. The appointments are thus perfectly kgal, bnt certßinly not in accordance with the; spirit of the Act, there being nothing in the Act making it obligatory for the-trustees to give permission for sports other than racing. Tho trustees and tho, fclub met the representatives of the Borough Council and the Gouville J Town Board on Saturday, and talked the matter over. The racing people claimed . that the public had no rights of any kind, but gave way so far as to agree- to lay down a footpath and put in a gate, provided that the Borough Council formed the road skirting the reserve, this being, to give Gonville people reasonable access, but only at the discretion of the trustees. ■ The whole situation calls for the notice of Parliament.