LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1681, 22 February 1913, Page 6

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

THE BASIN RESERVE. ITS EARLY HISTORY. Sir, —On page 7 of this day's Dominion you gave an admirablo summary of the city engineer's (Mr. Morton) schemo for improvements to tho Basin Rescrvo and the tramline there. It would be hard to find any fault with tho suggested improvements. . Also the suggestions of a change of name. Nature has helped towards a change owing to the earthquakes of IS-15 and 1858, as To Aro flat, including the Basin, got an upward thrust that made or converted them from swamp to dry land. A canal was to bo cut from the harbour to the Basin for ships. Tho terraces on the sides of the canal were named after Queen Victoria's father (the Duko of Kent), as Kent Terrace on tho east side, and on the west, her undo the Duke of Cambridge; and tho square, the Duke of Sussex, all sons of Georgo 111, who lost the United States. After. tho earthquakes, a largo part of those grounds and lower Adelaide 'Road became soft black mud swamps, and were unused for many years. That was the state of the Basin Reserve when tho writer first saw it. Indeed, cows have got bogged and drowned there at times. The Provincial Council of the provinco appointed the lato Mr. J. C. Crawford, ot Miramar, and the late Mr. George Crawford, of Wellington, • trustees of tho Basin Reserve, and they put a post and rail fence around it. A Caledonian Society was formed in Wellington, of which the writer became a director, and we at first held our sporti on New Year's Day in the late Hon; John Martin's paddocks, opposite tho Panama Hotel. Then we moved to tho Basin Reserve, and it was called the Caledonian Society's Grounds. It was very rough and tussocky, and at times got flooded in tho centre. _ We cut a large, wide.. open drain across it to carry off the surplus water, and spent sums of money to make an oval running track, our sports and prizes being tho chief events of tho year. We flew- the Royal Standard of Scotland, presented to tho society by one of our members, Captain Sellars, of tlio ship Electra. We planted trees around tho ground and a thorn hedge. All the trees have since been cut down. Wo improved the ground at considerable annual cost. ' At our second year's sports there, a severo southerly gale came on that wrecked the pavilions and side-shows and 'many bottles and glasses in the' booths. Tho late Mr. Georgo Crawford and tlio ; writer; formulated a scheme to build a grandstand,'and issued debentures on this' grandstand, .which with other accessories' cost ,£ 1-1-00 to dBIoOO, in addition tp our expenditure on the grounds. Tho directors and members took the debentures amongst themselves for the good of the society. As long as the old directorate remained the; society flourished, but ' some died, others removed to other districts, olid the new directors did not have the success of tho original board, and so tho grandstand and all the assets of tlio society "were handed over to 'the City Council, subject to a small sum owing to the society's bankers—something over JS3OC. Tho late Mr. Christian Julius Toxward was our architect, and ho and all the first directors havo joined tho great majority, with tho exception of Mr. James Lockio and tho' writer of this letter—l am, etc., JAMES M'DOWELL, . February 19. A HINT FOR THE PETONE BOROUGH COUNCIL. Sir,—The worthy councillors of Petono have ■ recently had' som& six narrow asphalt ridges constructed across tho main road,'doing this under the pretext of their being footpaths.. Along with theso barbarian obstructions, the council "has enacted, with seeming satiric humour, that'a speed of 20 miles' an hour is reasonable for any motor-car within their borough. If those inoongruous points aro merely intended as a joke,- it might bo now prudent to consult their solicitors as to how far the corporation is responsible for thus endangering travel on the main public road. Suppose, for instance, as is ' probable, that a car breaks its springs, bonds its axle, or is otherwiso :ipjured in crossing either of theso ridges, Or, further, if While crossing after dark, and tho' council has erected no lights, someone is jolted out of a ' motor and killed; in such an event, would not'councillors be responsible for manslaughter, especially since this danger has been deliberately created by them ? At least it might be prudent for them to ascertain their legal, position beforo claims havo to bo met and these dangerous obstructions should not be allowed to remain for another 2i hours.—! am, etc., A CITIZEN.

OUR MAYOR. Sir,—Every intelligent; citizen must deplore the performance of the Mayor at tho Carpenters' Union meeting, unreport of which appeared in your issue of today. 'Mr. Jl'Laren's speech is extraordinarily puerile, 'with tho additional reflection that some of his remarks are in execrable taste when given expression to in a publio capacity. Tho best proof of Mr. M'Laron's unsuitableness : for the position he holds is given by himself in Lis obvious class partisanship, and the. bias in favour of one class, which taints his. conception of his duty in the; high office of Chief Magistrate of the city and representative of the citizens as a whole. —I am, etc., 'NO HUMBUG. Wellington, February 20. THE LATEST GERMAN FIGHTING SHIP. Sir,—With regard to the cablegram nnd "Gyro's" note dealing with a now type of German, low, free-board warship, in last Tuesday's issue, it may bo remarked that in October; 1910, "The Navy" quoted Fred. T. Jane, who had then, written to the "Standard": "Tho 'Vorwarts' story of the German motor battleship is, sufficiently moderate to bo true, . . . Let us assume that eomo such 6hip is, under construction in Germany. Tho next assumption is that German nautical knowledge is still so much 'soldiers at sea.' that they have not realised that waves exist, and that you cannot liit the enemy through waves which you cannot see over. That 6ort of argument may suit an,ultra-Radical or Socialist newspaper— but it will not suit anyono who knows the German naval officer. They know enough' to know that the 'Vorwarts'-' ship would bo about as dangerous to a Dreadnought as a barnacle. Yet I,.think it is true that a ship somewhat as -described is either building or projected." "Gyro" now gives this new type a speed at least 50 per cent, greater than that of any existing warship, which would come to 51.4 knots or eo (the Princess Royal having mado over 34), a velocity probably not contemplated by Fred. T. Jano in 1910. Even granting a speed so great, with heavy armour and guns, the objections remain of of steadiness and command for gun-fire, with small low-lying. hulls, in anything liko rough weather.—l am, etc., R. H. FITZIIERBERT. Havolock North, Fcbrunry 19, 1913. SPEED OF EXPRESS TRAINS. Sir,—l' desiro to draw tho attention of the Railway authorities to tho excessivo speed at which some of the express trains are driven round sharp curves, which at times is little short of criminal. Recently I was a passenger bv tho night Wellington-Auckland express. Palmerston North was left punctually, and Mortonwas reached ten minutes ahead of schedulo time, this ten minutes having been gained in negotiating the curves on a stretch of tho worst line between Wellington and Auckland, and for no apparent reason, as we had to wait fully fifteen minutes at Marton station until the arrival of the south-bound express. Naturally, the passengers wero considerably alarmed,-' notably when negotiating ono very 6harp curvo at tho bottom of tho last grade before crossing the river. Familiarity breeds contempt, but no expert is required to realise the danger of reckless speeding round these curves—l am, ec„ _ NIGHT-OWL. NAVAL DEVELOPMENT. • Sir,—Having rood your article by "Gyro," I must ask if you would kindly insert- the following remarks bearing on this subject:— To say that "as usual, Germany leads the way," is._ of course, not in keeping with fact. Wo havo in ifnglnud the Lest naval architects in tho world, capable of building any design of vessel that jnaj j

be required of them. Your correspondent seems to think that because Gei'many has apparently decidedion sJiiolfer dimensions for battleships—on: oil fuel oiitl motorpower—for singlo ' turret ; ships, that all these things nre epmjng upon us. Since about 1850, when Captain Cowper. Coles designed tho first turret sliip, and the Captain was built at Laird's works at Birkenhead, we have had the turret .in our Navy with tho exception of some ships built bv Mr. Reid and designed as box-battery snips. ■ Now, in building shins tho constructor has given liim certain desiderata which have l>ecn decided on as the most necessary, requirements for a strong power like ourselves, with an enormous shipping to protect) and interests all over tho world. Tho ship must bo of a certain speed, so as to clioos-3 her own timo and method and point of attack. This means length of ship. Sho must carry a certain amount of fuel, so as to have a large radius of action—this moans displacement, or, in other, words, size. Sho must carry a certain amount of guns of a ccrtain weight and armour, of a certain weight and thickness. This all means displacement again, and tho more displacement tho greater power of engines is required to drive it through the water. Thou, again, a steady platform in all seas is most necessary, so, that the fans may firo accurately, and in all weathers, when tho smaller vessels cannot fight their guns. There havo always been some people who liavo said: Do not put all your eggs into ono basket—build two smaller vesiels for the sarno' money. The Polyphemus was built as a fast ironclad ram, 'showirig little mark to tho enemy, and steaming 18 knots, with no gun armament. We are building now submarines which come to tho surface and use a gun, diving again after firing. Wo liavo quantities of torpedo destroyers of great speed and ever-dncreasinjf size to stand all weathers. All tlicso questions of . design in building depend on tho "policy of tho Government." Do tlicy intend to rule the sea? What Powers are they preparing against? :Where do they intend to fight? .Will they, keep the sea—in all weathers—against all comers? We may como to vessels of smaller dimensions. We shall conio to motor-driven vessols without funnels, and the exhaust taking place through tile stern. Wo are experimenting in the forefront of all tTie world on these ciuestions. England invented the turbine. But there are many things to bo thought out. , At present, wo have a largo coal supply, but oil is controlled by foreign supply. Wo have, built largo oil storage tanks in all our depots; tnd aro ready for the , now development; ,But in ntj opinion no nation can or will ever compete with our, building capabilities—and engineering- establishments—provided they are not ruined by strikes, which are common to all nations. Our constructors will build any. vessel tliey are asked for quite as quickly as Germany. We have many things to admire in Germany. Their patriotism and, discipline—but do not lefj -us-admire her at tlio expense of the Old Country or of the "Empire, which' is so rich in, resources and - has such on inspiring outlook, us we see it growing in confidence, and'strength, as a great Power from its love of peace and justice, but determined to destroy in order to be at peace.— I am. etc., WALTER VERNON ANSON, Captain R.N. (retired). Lower Hutt, February. 21. ■ A SUGGESTED STATE LOTTERY. Sir,—Some littlo time ago I saw a lotter i& your, valued paper regarding a State lottery. . , V Tliero are at the present time'hundreds of. young men liko myself,' who have a little experience of farm work, but unfortunately, with not enough capital -to tako a place 'of their own,: and .my idea is that the State should run aMottery for the benefit of,these young men,, letting tho prize be, say,' 10, 15, or not more than 20 acres of land ;.(tho area would .depend on. tho class of land),' with.& dwelling aiid outbuildings, and stocked with 2 or 3 cows, 2 pigs, and 30 to 50 fowls, .also horse, trap; harness, and all necessary implements. . ' ' • This would hardly-keep a family for the 'first few months, but if tho prizewinner also, drew absut JJ2 per week, for the first year lie "would, then be set on his feet, ami Now, Zealand would get what she wants—namely, a number oi small farmers,' or, as they are called: in England, 6mall holders. I am'sure that if such a scheme were started under State control, thousands of young people would go in for it, and' we would thus keep thousands of pounds in New Zealand, which at present'finds its way over to Tasmania. Trusting that somcono abler with the pen than I will tako this matter up.—l am, etc., WOULD-BE SMALL HOLDER. Nolson, February 17.