NEW CITY AQUARIUM

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2268, 30 September 1914, Page 3

NEW CITY AQUARIUM

AT THE NEWTOWN "ZOO."

THE OFFICIAL OPENING

FISHERIES DEPARTMENT FORESHADOWED

Tho now aquarium at the Newtown Park Zoo was formally opened yesterday afternoon by the Hon. F. M. B. Fisher (Minister of Marine). In welcoming the. Minister and the public, Councillor Geo. Frost expressed the city's appreciation and thanks to the Government and the Hon. Mr. Fisher for the magnificent gift of the aquarium, which would always be of the greatest educative value to the children, and a source of, unending interest to the young and old.' He also returned thanks .to" tho Rev.. D. C.. Bates (the originator of the Zoo), the Hon. T. \V. Hislop, who was Mayor when the Zoo was first promulgated, and to the Hev. John who had taken more interest in its growth T;han any other man in Wellington, 'as anyono emild see who read his interesting notes in The Dominion. In his opinion the Zoo was one of the best assets the city possessed, aild was.one that would be of lasting benefit and pleasure to the public. The Zoo had now passed through three stages. When it was first '■'proposed.-it : mot with ridicule; then when established it.was criticised; but to-day it-was being eulogised. (Applause:) Again he thanked the Ministor and the Government for what they had done for the City of Wellington in presenting it with " so fine an aquarium. (Applause.) Our Fisheries. The Hon. F. M. B. Fisher said that' this was a small and informal opening of what he hoped was an aquarium that would 1 be extended until it was one that would do ; credit to the capital city of the Dominion. In most centres of the world there were aquariums, which caused- a great ,deal of interest and contributed considerably to the spread of knowledge'■' of the citizens. They .were, not only of. interest to grown-up people, but were of practical value in enabling children to study the" lives and habits of our fish.. Only quite recently the Government had been fortunate enough to secure the services of Professor Prince, of Canada, probably one of the first authirities in the world mi fish, and as the result of that gentleman s investigations it was possible that a great national industry, which bad been i very, much neglected, and had been worked under divided control might be developed and so enable our people to enjoy the bounty of the seas which . Providence had placed at their disposal. In the case of wool, •neat, butter and_ cheese, the producing sgents had to be fanned at considerable expense, but in the case of fish the whole of that work had been done by Providence. The matter had been' given very close attention, and he hoped soon to lay before Parliament the report of Professor Prince, and as tho outcome of • that report to establish a Fisheries Department with complete control over all branches of fishing in New Zealand, Salt Water Section. , The' Minister said he was very glad to bo in the position to help the City Council, but, ho wanted the council to help him. What they wanted now was to extend tho aquarium, an'd -he saw no reason why this should not be done by citizens presenting *«r.ks to tho aquarium. By approaching the leading citizens t'hey ought not to have, any difficulty in- Getting i half .a. dozen tanks a year, and by and ' by they- could institute a salt-water section—fresh water fish- on one side of the 'path and salt-water fish on the other. They had plenty of power available at the power-houses to keep a fresh supply of salt water running through the tanks. He had arranged with Professor Prince, who was visiting Australia, to secure specimens of Australian fresh-water fish, and later on to forward specimens" from Honolulu and Canada. In .the meantime he thought that a .scheme might be devised in which the Department and the City Go-.mcil would work together, and make the exhibit equal: to those in Sydney and Melbourne. The original suggestion was that- tho ■ aquarium should he housed, biit he had been against that;. idea. He thought that tho fish would be existing, more in a state of nature in the open than under an iron room.- By and by , -he hoped the, aquarium would be lit with electricity and thrown open for inspection at night. He had much pleasure in declariiitr the aquarium open. (Applause.) Apologies for non-attendance were received from the Prime Minister (Hon. •W. F. Massey)', the Minister of Public Works (Hon. W. Frasor), the Postmas-ter-General (Hon. R. H. Rhodes), the Minister of Justice (Hon. A. L. Herdman), and the Mayor (Mr. J. P. Luke). Those present, included Councillors W. ■J. Thompson, R. A. Wright, John Fuller, Mr. J. R. Palmer (town clerk), and Mr. J. Langridge (curator). The new glass-fronted, aquarium consists of 16 tanks, each one in a setting of rough rock, lightly but firmly cemented together. :The tanks are about five feet squaro, and the floor of each is about three feet from the ground, so that the whole of the front is visible, oven to small children. The whole sixteen tanks are inhabited with aii;interesting varietyVof fresh-water',- fish, which include golden and silver carp, perch, yearling brown . rainbow and mountain trout, fry of tho same species, tho fry of tho quinnat salmon, and a selection of-very ugly catfish (which a wag has already named Kaiser-fish, on account of what 'passes for long upturned moustaches), Each tank is labelled with the fish it contains, and the movements of every fish can be closely noted, as in every tank is a sloping background of sand, shell, and rock, which "doubtles gives the glazed prison-housos , tho semblanco of home. Without doubt, tho aquarium, which runs a hundred yards along tho upper hank of:tho path which loads southward beyond the lions' den, is going to be a big. attraction both to the public of Wellington, tho school children, and to visitors. . ■ . '