ASPECTS OF THE CITY

Evening Post, Volume CVI, Issue 8, 10 July 1923, Page 17

ASPECTS OF THE CITY

I-y - ..jIBST.. impressions of a -..''•:■ I f¥* I city, mean much to the I IT) I«^ visitor; they may often )/*' I * colour..the -whole of hisIfe". I ■ II sojourn in that place. -. -Au-' . :-f^- ;If.;,'ono could have tho ' ."^^^^^3 .choice, one would prefer - N .eritcr-'Wellington by the/ scawarcl. gate in the early morning 6?: after dark,-when the serried lights ply-bur : hiil-top, towns. link this tor-rc-strial. sphere with tho stars. Bathed vi' the; gbldei light of the morning* with- the sun .shining over tho'waterfront into the' connnercial centre, with it's till"buildingsV' and.with tho. green hills,^ studded'; ana crested' with the h6mcs■'■"of -its' citizens, as a. background, or with its cruder features softened at nightfall by the oncoming dusk,.pricked by the Inyriads of lights as they, flash into view, Wellington looks at its best. -It'was' such, a scene in the transition from day to. night that inspired the anonymous poet to tho lines':— '.-..'. • Sheer <hill-top towns ■ in outline .stark The city sentinelling; .. ' . .Clear light above, beneath, the dark Sea-waters dimly, Svelling. ;It is such pictures as these lingering in the memory, that seem to give our visitors from overseas or from the South by ferry a more favourable impression of the Empire:' City than that made on the train traveller arriving at our railway stations-in the early or late afternoon. Any Wellingtohian ;■ can, sympnthise with" the feelings 'of ■'an Aucklander, for instance, !who . comes down by the-Main Trunk "express, .and, after, a .wearisome journey in the train, lands in the-apology for a'lailway-station"offi--•■tally . listed in the'time-table as. the *"i-minus-T-Thorndon., If Wellington puts 's best at its seaward gate and, gives •9 new arrival a waterfront and vista ' the city worthy to rank beside' any - the world, it' shows its very worst ij the train traveller, -whether he comes

to Thorndon-'or :tb 'Lambton:. All the Wellingtoriian" can say of either station is that it is not his fault, that it is there or is what it is. So far as he is concerned, he would have had a new station long ago.. . But the Government has put ,off for years' the single and collective agitation, and it is.only within the last few months that the decisive step has been taken, which lies iri the reclamation of a huge ..area from 1!k; harbour to make room for the bigger railway yards and the new station which the growth of the Capital City demands. The reclamation" will take several years, so it will be a long time yet before Wellington gets its new: station. The Ay«llingtoriian may not have the ostentatious pride in his city that,.other citizens have'in theirs—he is usually too busy for the moment—but helloes draw the line at Thorndon and Lambton railway stations. So much for theso blots :pn the city.- ... '.- . ''-. . ' . ';j Safely arrived; in the city and (let ns h"t>e) comfortably accommodated, if .lib has had sufficient foresight to mako tis arrangements in advance, our visitor niav..seize a few odd; hours from -the

s>.Tie3u'ed events of the: Carnival to see

- jyi.ut.is worth seeing in the place. "See „ 11 first/- might well .be his

niotto. ■ . • .■' -. '•':.'. •VNdw, there .is a proper' mood in which to sco and appreciate a new country or new ' city. -"Nobody, fdr example, would look in Wellington for'monuments of medieval architecture and art.or the atmosphere of mellowed age for which one goes to the showplaces of the old world. If in now countries like this Dominion ■we look to the'past of'ou'r'town or city,

H is rather':to-find. A.mark to measure

Str progress up'to the, present'"arid to i;-'-:;c-iite what we may expect in the futthan to discover. something to ad- ".: ••> for its age or intrinsic associa- • •■'■ -:.. Indeed, we are said to have no ■'• iationsat. ill.; Our. forefathers, the '-. ...!ers of New' Zealand, the pioneers .: V' early settlers,',did not build for all ■■/■He: they were strictly utilitarian in tiieir architecture, for, the gimple reason

that there was neither time nor money to be anything else: Tlie progress of a new country is, like the fabled progress of Lincoln, "from log cabin to White House,"*—and this is' reflected quite clearly in its. architecture. A concrete instance meets the eye of the visitor in the buildings of different periods in Parliamentary Grounds. First, thero is old Government House, for ten years used for tho meeting of Parliament after the disastrous fire which destroyed the old wooden wing of-the then existing Parliament Buildings. ; Of course, the late Government House was not a log cabin—far from it, but it marked a period in the development of the Dominion—a period .now gono by for ever. .No official residence %vill ever be built in-New Zealand like that again. Then there is the library wing of old Parliament Buildings, which escaped the fire; that symbolises another period. Lastly, there is the noble edifice of marble in the centre, :in occupation but not yet completed to the full dimensions of the final shape. If old Government House represents the Victorian age in, New Zea- t land—indeed, it resembles much the late Queen's favourite residence of Osborne— and the library wing might be classed a. little later, towards the last quarter of the nineteenth century, then the new Palace o£ Parliament stands for the New Zealand of to:day and to-morrow. It is a permanent piece of architecture,, and time can be safely left to ripen it.

This, then,, might' suggest the attitude proper.for a visitor to adopt iri his perambulations about' Wellington—or, indeed, any other city of-its kind. Let the visitor think of what the site was a little over eighty years ago when Wellington was first founded—rough, hills, sloping steeply down to the water's edge, with limited" areas'of comparatively level ground at .Thorndon and Te Aro, now the centre of the city. Let him remember that - Thorndon . quay, Lambton quay, and 'Old Customhouse quay- marked the beach in those days.

Let''him recollect the'small beginnings of the country, the', difficulties with the Maoris, which held up development of the North Island for nearly thirty years, the distance from the Motherland and her comparative : indifference in those, days,: the struggles of ;the settlers and their hard-won 'livelihood, the lack of capital at. the start and its'painful accumulation since:—and the. story of the city may be.read.in its-face. .Surely few cities have.been faced :with,a harder task in making the best of their physical configuration. The commercial portion of the city has been built on land reclaimed at great cost from the sea. To -'make homes for a growing population hillsides have had to be excavated • 'and hill-tops made accessible by tramway or cable car, and high ridges pierced by tunnels to open up movo distant suburbs for settlement, with rapid transit to the-city. No other .centre in New Zealand has had anything like the natural obstacles "to its growth^ to surmount. AH this must.be. borne.in mind! in seeing .Wellington.

. Setting.out on his rambles in-aiiph a right frame of mind 1o appreciate, the interesting side of tlie 'development' of "the capital, tha. visitor would -be.-".well advised to devote the. morning of.the day, if lie is otherwise untrammelled by time and circumstance.' to the nvii" part of tiie city, which then gets tlie light thai sets it' off. best. The first place to sec will naturally be Parliament Buildings and grounds, the home of the Legislature, arid' the scone of tho historical drama of politics. Here, in front of the buildings, are the statues of Richard Seddon and John Ballarice, two of New Zealand's best-knowiv statesmen. By arrangement with his local- member the visitor might be able to witness the interesting spectacle of Parliament in session, which would give. him an insight into the running; of-the machine of Government. This, of. course, vyould have to be reserved for" the afternoon .or evening. The visitor could be shown through the buildings'hi the morning.

Directly behind Parliament Buildings, blue in Bowen street, is the Dominion Mus- lend cum, a decrepit old wooden structure Hou externally; dating back- to Wellington's witl old colonial days, but inside a perfect oug] treasure house of New Zealand history, an ■ with one of the best Maori collections qua in the world! It is one of the scandals the of our Administration that such' irre- Uni placeable historical and artistic mem- Cr.t orials should continue year after year cub to be housed in imminent danger of de- T>rei struction by fire, arid, if the visitor can 'the add his pound: of pressure to the agita- <?.lin tion for a 'Worthy building to contain %?p these records of the past, he will be ot ' doing a public service. Just down the '.— street from the Museum is the Turnbull -\V_. Library, a'solid,, brick building erected f~ through the munificence and public -spirit ■ of a private citizen, who left a splendid collection to the people for all time; and gave an example to the State of how to treat its historical records. To' the: student of our' history or the literary enthns-' iast the Turnbull'Library is well'worth a visit. "'■ ..'. '■' ' This particular part of-Wellington is. the centre: of Government, though"' vari-.; .ous Departments of State are housed in other quarters of the'city. Across,-Lamb- ">■ ton quay is what was formerly, onb Nof Wellington's chief show places—Govern- . merit Buildings—" the largest wooden.. . building in the lworld."- Though visitors . from America deny to-day the truth,of . this description, alleging that some of. the Florida Beach hotels are much larger^ . -' —which may or ' may not be so—our ■; pride of place may be retained still by • inserting : the word " Government v be;: > '< fore building—" the, largest wooden-Go- ;. . vernmeht-building in tho world." There • can surely be no controversy about that. , New Zealand must be facile princeps in ! .;, i this respect, though, doubtless, during; - the war .there, were temporary wooden , j structures about London for War Office , t purposes which might have inspired com-. ; panEohs in the minds of some "Diggeirs".''--3 Though approaching its jubilee, the : " Buildings,"'' as they are familiarly known, 1 are.still sound, with their good • New Zealand-totara and kauri, and look smart.with a new coat of paint, .while the interior has been modernised, to some' degree by: the installation of lifts. The •-. two-stoned asbeftce-pahel and timber structure, alongside, known as the '' toniato-hpuse,'' is a : relic of New Zealand's own expansion of the Public Service,under war conditions, when the Government stepped in and took half of one of-: Wellington's streets—Whitmore street^for a site for this temporary building. . The building is still occupied five years after the end of the war, and the street .still"closed to traffic. Wellington.' has 'not.received, the best of treatment from the Government of the Day, it may be mentioned in passing, and- it has to -thank- a former Government for the .disfigurement of its_ very best site on Mount Cook y by a building intended for" a gaol,._and another Government for the ■ loss !bf an'area of land on which it would have-been possible to plan a garden suburb 'with ample ground for the recreation of .the. citizen arid his children. To which it may be added that the' Governrhent,.which holds 'some .of , the most., valuable property. in , the city, does not pay, rates. ■ Over the street which the Government closed for traffic vis the Supreme Court, an old but dignified building both outside and in.' Here in the.high; panelled Courtroom have taken place trialsr.for moire than a generation past, ending in the recent conviction and execution for murder of John-Tuhi and Daniel Richard .Cooper '.after exhaustive hearing by :Juge and-jury.;,''.lf the Court is sitting, ; 'it.'will:bo -worth the visitor's while to spend a few -'moment's inside watching the process* of justice .in-.its. higher stages. ' :The lower; Court.of the Stipendiary Ma-gistrates-is'-in. the" same ; general block, at the corner of-Lambton quay'and Ballarice'street, and here may be witnessed the-daily drama .of the Police Court, Often.sordid and .squalid, but seldom without interest to the unprejudiced observer: A'notable building in the vicinity is the huge and ornamental edifice of the Dominion Farmers' Institute of reinforced 'concrete at the corner of Pea- ■ therston street: In its Assembly Hall, .'admired for its rinm panelling,, are held most of >the' big annual conferences that ■ take place in Wellington. If one . looks backward a. little to the rear of the, Government Buildings, the progress o£ the structure which is to contain the- new; automatic control telephone exchange may be seen, while across Featherstori street are the handsome'head', offices of the-New Zealand Bailways. In this quarter Wellington's new railway station-will be built in the due course of time,.'which accounts for the dilapidatedi. state, of some of the buildings between' there and Waterloo. —■' quay. '.' Before leaving this neighbour--hbod.it"would) bowell, if time and in-'. ?S 8 cl.ir.ation ■so dispose, to see the collec-'----'^n tion of paintings in the New. Zealand • ent Academy of Fine Arts, a' neat, unprerty tentious. building in Whitmore street, md Some of the best work of local'artists in is on view ..there. The fine building next ers to it, and on ■the corner fronting thenek Supreme Court-in Stout street, is the lful Missions to Seamen Institution. Between 0 { Featherston street and Customhouse .j v quay are the chief shipping offices and i i mercantile-buildings, 'including, the lofty, Jei imposing offices of the! Union Steam Ship Company,, a-landmark along'the water- «'■- front; ' . '.. „. . ; . "J Through-. the centre of .big. business, . ■ past newbuildings and oH. and some lnl. in the pi'.irs'e..of.erections-one specially .^ x" interesting for its unique concrete slab l~'° construction —through streets where brass "Sll ■. plates on .'the - doorways : and- names in .-'•'P cilt letters .on the windows or screens ink> announce the habitat o£ the legal pro3tli- . fessionV.or'.'the headquarters of acconnmy- tancy firms and commercial companies.. its .we return 'to Lamblon quay with, its • be. background ot houses aud: gardens and trees terraced up to tho skyline. Lamb,- , ton .quay, with spacious curves and vis,,n tas and '.rounded, facades, .Wellington -ju ' Proudly."', considers .'its -, Suest thorough- . V fare, and.one, when the old lias'made 1 ' . way for the new in, the shape of .better .ay> buildings, Inot to be equalled in the Do'lnl<: minion. Lambton quay, like other part „°v of :the city, is now in the awkward tranu ■ sition. slase. -when the palatial struc.sco ture'of many stories shoulders down some, ! nJ> s 7>oor little wooden shop'of two—or even .a" one —dating back to a- much earlier, rlc. a age when the ;city was. simply a little , , seaport in an obscure colony of the South rd Seas. , ..'..,: . ■.< '-, -■ ew Coming back: to Lambton quay at this 'Y~ Point, near the Midland Hotel, and tuhir the ing his eyes northward again, the .visitor ■ ' in" will be confronted by the latest and, . se' indubitably, the finest office building in iight Wellinston. 'This'is-the. new .Stale Fire "°" liisurance office, at the corner of AVarins have Taylor street,' and the Quay, .'a worthy yen- occupant of one of the most commandaugh i n? sites in, tho city. Built in steel frame' ajid iaceij \*jsh the cool grey-

blue marble . from Collingwood, which lends sucli charm to the new Parliament House, this ei'irht-storied 1 massive pile, with its two frontages to the two thoroughfares and a, portal at the angle, is an outstanding ornament to Lnmbton quay. and,_ like Parliament Buildings, the. Dominion Farmers' Institute, the Union Company's offices,.' the new G.P.0., and, in its own class, the huge cube of the Colonial Motor Conipany's premises in Cpurtenay place, sijjnalises the hdvent of / the newer Wellington climbing skyward and .likely to transform within another .(jefteratiori the aspect of the central areas of the city.

In this leisurely way the progress; of our visitor will bring him. to the /point where Lambton: quay begins rather suddenly to narrow for its junction with Willis street, taking in the straight Featherston street'on its course. It was in this quarter that the great fire took place in 19C6, which swept clear .the whole of the triangular 'block between the streets,' arid "that' part of Lambton quay from where Garhble and 1 Creed's restaurant now stands, right'to.the Bank of New South Wales, which was gutted. The fire_ did damage amounting to soriie- • thins like a quarter of a million. ; It

seems a pity, to-day that advantage was not taken then to widen this bottleneck of Wellington's principat-thorough-fare, but this city. like others in New Zealand, has .always lacked, and still lacks,- a plan,'and the opportunity was 'lost: New and lartrer and more permanent buildings took the place of those destroyed, some ,of which had been relics of the past wooden ate.

„ The. Bank of Now Zealand comer —the junction of Lambton quay and Willis street—-is considered the heart, of the city and its centre, though there are citizens who hold that the axis is shifting and that the centre would be nearer

the crossing of Cuba and Manners streets. Possibly this may be right in reeard to the shopmnff district,'but it does not seem likely, with the creat developments ,to take place to the, north end of the ■■ city, when the Greater Thorndon Reclamation-, is completed, that the real commercial centre will shift, and that centre is undoubtedly in the • vicinity of the General Post Office to-day. To the southward and eastward of that in the Btreets between, Willis street and Lower Cuba strqet-^Victoria and its' neighbour streets—lies 'the .wholesale (Warehouse quarter. ..while Willis street,

Manners street, Cuba street, and Courtenay nlace. apart from.Lambton quay, comprise the chief retail shopping' and place of amusement -quarter. Nearly all the theatres and picture houses are in -.these stMets. The municipal centre of Wellington is the Town Hall in Lower Cuba street, a fine building already mellowing under the action of time and weather.' It is well worth the visitor's attention for a little, while in the course of his ramble which has now brought him to its vicinity. • Though it has only been built about twenty years. Wellington's Town Hall is already inadequate to house the

staff of the City Council, which has grown with the growth of 1 the city, and premises across Mercer street have been taken to accommodate the important department of the City Engineer. Extensions to the actual Town Hall building are srreatly needed,, and the site affords ample room for such necessary expansion. The Town Hall plays a great part in the life of the city. Here in the' large hall, which; will seat more people than any other single chamber in Wellington, are held all the more important civic, political,! social,_ and public functions that take place in-the city. 'Here have -■ ■ ■ .. ; -.

spoken on momentous occasions < the Prime Ministers from EichardSeddon to William Massev, as well as other Par-

liamentary leaders and local members or candidates for Parliament. Here have been received distinguished' visitors to the city, many of whose names are household ' words throughout - the Empire. Here lleiba has sung and Kubehk_ played, and a host of other great artists in the musical world entertained the Wellington public. Here are. held the principal social functions, the balls, the bazaars and the gatherings for philanthropic and religious,objects. Organ recitals by the City Organist and orchestral and choral concerts, in which the local societies take part, help to make ud Wellington's musical season, and, when the hall is not occupied for such purposes., there are frequent boxing tournaments under the Wellineton Boxing Association,-where the leading esponents of the art of self-defence-show their -prowess with the gloves. The Town Hall is truly the centre of civic life. ' -

For the minor functions, such as lectures, .entertainments by amateur or pro,-' fessional companies of artists, receptions, and dances, the smaller Concert Chamber is much used. The Council Chamber, where the City Council meets peri^ odically to" transact the business, of the city's administration, is a spacious, dignified .room, with-walls adorned by -por-traits-of former City "Fathers. Wellington's Town Hall is'gathering its associations as the scene of the city's greatest public activities. At the apex of the same triangular block, of which the Town Hall is. the base, stands a castellated brick buildinc: —the City Library. The building, is comparatively old and becoming inadequate to the needs of a. growing community in its accommodation, but contains a representative collection of books in the reference .department, to which additions are constantly being- made, and an admirable magazine and periodical section, covering a wide field of subI ject and publication. The children's library section is very popular, and ■■ the school library system, organised by the Chief Librarian (Mr. H. Baillie), is. a rcost successful experiment. There is a large branch 'library at Newtovra and smaller'branches elsewhere.

For those who take an interest in machinery and ■ engineering, the. two power-houses—for the tramways and electric light systems—in the neighbour-

hood of the Town Hall,.should be worth a---visit. Wellington was the first'city in Now Zealand to have electric light installed—indeed, one of the fii-st in the world, foT the lighting of towns by electricity had not proceeded -very _far in 1889 when a syndicate introduced it Jo Wellington. When the City '-. Corporation took over the system in 1907, the machinery in the old power-house of the. company was a perfect record of pro--gress in the generation; of electricity bysteam power. There were many varieties of dynamos and .engines of different dates, illustrating developments up to date. - This' miscellaneous plant has since been dispersed, and two Parsons: tuboalternators now do the work. : -'

■This plant and that of tlie tramway power-house in Wakefield street will soon in their turh be superseded- by the sreafc new power-house at Evans Bay. now approaching completion. .The new powev-liouse will embody the verjr latest ideas for. the> economical generation of .electricity-by" steam, and, though designed to act as a standby plant for Wellington's share of the current generated by tfap hydroelectric-station.at Mangal\ao, near Shannon, ■will, doubtless, be fully used to meet the enormously-in-creased demand, {hat is rising from the city's recent great industrial development. • - '

■• The mention of -this will explain much to the visitor of what he ', sees as he progresses on his way from the Town' Hall to the busy scenes about Cuba street and Courtenay' place. The land on both sides of Courtenay place—the old, original Te Aro Flat —within the last few years has become the centre of .great building activity. Here is the principal home of Wellington's motor industry, and there are now many fine buildings connected with it, notably, the huge cubical block of the Colonial Motor Company's offices and warehouse. .Close to it rises the • new . four-story steel-frame factory of Messrs: Bryant and May, match manufacturers, andJnot very far in the other direction, to the rear of Cuba street, is another large factory for Messrs. E. Hannah and Co.< boot and shoe manufacturers, while all over the Flat from among -the unkempt wooden dwellings of Wellington's' earlier days are springing ui> big structures in brick and concretep-factories'of all kinds— ominous-of the *rend of development jn that locality. There has been considerable speculation in the land hereabout, and it is the' opinion of those 'whose business it is to studl' these things, that *not!w t-n vcars will «cc this district almpst entirely transformed: into a iac

Tory 'area;"--In the meantime, 'this.is. a very -ugly, quarter of the cityj',where' little or no improvements have takenplace in" house property on account of these impending changes. Most citizens, woujd be-'glad to .see this area, which, contains Wellington's nearest 'approach:; to slum conditions, entirely swept clear of the type of dwelling that now/ exists. i--:-; . '■-'.. .-:

At Courtsnay- place, the' visitor stands at the parting of- the ways. He is, as it were,',at the other end of the city 2>roper from'Thorndon, where-he started. From 'Courtenay place he can take a car on the tramway system out to Newtown, Island" Bay, Lyall Bay', Seatoun, Kilbirnie, .Miramar, or any other of the southern or < eastern suburbs. , A pleasant wallc wonld: take him j,'.on^ the Oriental Bay Esplanade, with an in-, comparable view of-the harbour, out to Point Jerningham. Or he might ■ pro.longjiis. ramble . southward along Kent terrace to the Basin.Reserve, and", itsneighbourhood, reserving Oriental Bay for a sunny afternoon, when it is 'at its best.

The-spacious thoroughfare, 'comprising: Kent and' Cambridge terraces, with the long narrow reserves of grass and shrubbery between them.,.will, no doubt, "iur--prise the-visitor, who. by this time, may have.come to regard Wellington as a city: of decidedly narrow streets in its older portions. The buildings along the" way to the Basin Reserve will assure him that the;lay-out.is not new.' 7 '• • : Why,- then, the -makings of a noble.highway in this wide perspective? The Wellingtonian will smile. The founders of the city, the men who laid it out, did not contemplate., here., a .magnificent.approach after the manner of the Bois de Boulogne or Pall, Mall, or anything of:, that kind. They had no such views for Wellington then, for the Basin Reserve was a- swamp- in the 'forties of the last: century,, and. Kent' terrace, ..showed; a' stream coneeting" the .-.swamp.: with tlie harbour.- "No, .th'ese'utilitarian' surveyv ors thought to. make-the swamp a' basin for shipping, and, the stream a ship canal -for access, to'; deep- water, and that is how the Basin Reserve came to get its name. The great earthquake, which shattered wooden ■Wellington in ; 1855, raised the level of the Te Arc Flat, and the "basin". drained itself, and the project of-an inland waterway was dropped, for which■• the citizen of to-day' looks mildly on the ->ccasionai: shake as a memento of a, great-blessing.

Round about the Basin Eeserve, which is. Wellington's oldest playground and !the best cricket,-field in'New;Zealand; are several features of interest: "■ Imniediately - overlooking the Beserve on _ its western side'is-the/ugly masspf brickwork on the .crest .of. Mount Cook, the best site ; in jihe city, at present the Defence Barracks, but formerly- intendedfor one wingi.of'a. great; gaol, aiid built by.an earlier; government, -about .'.thirty, odd years .ago,' and so- built that nothing but explosives':could>shift.it:.-..'Just to the .rea^or-soiitliward-.of-it,.is-a si_m-'----ple but' .impressive . building, •■ which a grea-t-'deal 't6'\Wellington,. and'i over which there was a. controversy for years—the new wing of the Technical College, j:-he rest of which is housed in miscellaneous buildings .Rear, the' Town Hall. Work is to be resumed on the Technical College, and some day Wellington, will have,an institution worthy of its needs." :''... .'"." :.'■'',■ .••■•■'.: .1 ' ;-'

. .Opposite the further, corners of 'the Basm ; Reserve,' where the trams;;!'go round, are the entrances to two important institutions—Government House and Wellington College..; Government House is a fairly recent building, but its architecture has never -appealed to Welling--tunians,. nor, -perhaps, to our Governors. The main building of the Boys' College is ah ancient, wooden structure of Gothic design, built about fifty years, ago, and beypnd restoration, though with many happy associations-to the old boys all over the'world. New . buildings will eventually take its place, and a start has been made in that direction. Opposite the Basin also sites have been chosen for , importantV ecclesiastical edifices for t!ie. Anglican and Roman., Catholic Churches, but it will probably be long before the cathedrals are erected. '.. y

From the Basin Reserve the visitor may return -to town by a, cross-cut; to upper Cuba street, and eventually to upper Willis street. He will sco on his way older Wellington in an earlierstage of transition than, is visible nearer the waterfront, hut still, nevertheless,' conscious as it were of coming changes. \He will need mo guide to note these -phenomena, nor.:to. take in the particulati and "peculiar aspect of' Upper;; Willis street as a.street.of physicians. ■'■■-.'

There is- not the space here for a comprehensive and detailed description . of the city after the manner of Baedeker; one can only suggest a few" features that may or.may not interest'the jisitor. . It. is not exactly whatyou- see-in such'ranibles, but how you sco it.. "'From' tbo rifht point of view, haxdly anything is ..without some suggestion pi intsrtfst.. It

would /be possible to dwell on Wellington educational institutions, its churches, its facilities for recreation, its hill suburbs, and* its seaside resorts. Perhaps •:those aspects may be the subject of -subsequent '.treatment. In the, meantime; tha visitor'will-be.able to see much forihimself thus started'on his.'way. '..' ':

Any account of the aspects of the city of Wellington would be incomplete .without some, reference.,tp" its tramway system,- - "of: which? Welliiigtioniaris are justly proud.- There-is-ho system in the Dominion which has been faced with greater • engineering difficulties in the course of construction and similar difficulties in working. To expand and nccommodate" its rapidiy-increasing population the city had to take-; possession of the heights around it and'of the. areas beyond barrier ridges which had■•• either to be climbed or tunnelled. In reality both processes' have taken place—both methods have been adoptd—climbing "and tunnelling. ■ To reachthe hill-top suburbs special routes have had ?.to be engineered in order to get 'a, grade that .will he feasible for tramways,, and thi3 has meant':"in,most cases deviation from the original high road, which was too steep for safe operation by trarncars. The outstanding examples^of. this* rapid transit Ticcess to the higher levels, rang-" ing from 600 to 800 feet are the Brooklyn and Wadestown lines. ". . i

Of a similar type, but with a longer ascent ~is the line to Karori with ife tunnel through the ridge at the crest;of its chmb. Similarly, there is the- surmounting pf the Mount Victoria ridge at its lowest saddle ivhero Constable istreet crosses over to the eastern.side. It does, not'needan expert engineer to iecognise that such natural obstacles to its growth as confront the city' have- beeii most successfully overcome by-these tramway routes. At' the same?time steep grades.inevitably increase the cost .of. running. tramways. ■- . •' v 1 While by. the' very nature of its' situation - Wellington is essentially a "tramway city-^a .place where people-i have practically:.: no option but'Cto use' the cars—there; are three directions where a ..considerable suburban growth •is served Joy .other, means/oKtrahsport^. The railway does the rapid transport work for the-Hutt Valley suburbs and for the smaller residential areas of Ngaio, Khandallah, Johnsoriville*,' and beyond; Absolutely, .accurate figures, for the. number of suburban passengers ■ carried by trains

on these two lines of railway •' are. ' out of the question, owing; to" thq-wide u|e of'.season,?and other -^periodical -tickets'.; ■Estimates ■by railway n6fficia]s,-who. watqh the traffic in and out of their stations, kindly ■. furnished ....to Jtho';:-'writer,. place theinumber of passerigefsi.in.. and out Tot : Lambton: Statipii-at spme;'.10;000 a: -.■6QpO\&ch;,.iyay,':andl't9-,an"d^from.:-Xlior-§■4o'n..about:Jialf.:that;numT)er^pur'ely supurbanv;traffic/^^o^pubtj^wfen these lines ;cpnie to .b.e'.elec'trined: ;and'a more' frequent, service';-, of is inaugurated, the.saihe" pherip'meno)i:pf supply creatingf(deniaiid will-:b'e''£een^ as Jiji the case, of.ithe: city, tramway serVide;. The greater comfort and ease of railroad, travel.will probably present an add. ed'induceraenty '.'■'*&■ . . •J»

is iot like Auckland §r . Sydney,' much'dependent on ferry sefc ■ vices on its harbour for its daily movement ,of population. . But :the >; .sul>url)s across the harbour a^'Pay's^BSy an"d Eastbourne "areS'growingji and} <~w]th £& .newer, aiid ferry *;bqat; \vill. no doubt---go ahead still more" ' fapidlyj Here, again, speed of transit is a great consideration...For..the .year .ended 3lst March. 1921, the.Eastbourne ferries carried' 704,000 passengerßy-'or*. on• an- averi age, nearly 2000 Aa;day^;. ; lhe: figures are probably sweUe'dto a ma'ta'rial extent by summer and week-end:traffic, but the real daily movement .of .residents ; mugtx exceed '1000,., and reach-515OO.; ~ There remains; the oneexample in Wellington of a transport system muchmorp used in; Dunedin.:arid;-:eiistent in many cities in America—the"cable-car line for, quick, direct transport from the level to - heights ' about: the city. - The. Kelburn cable-car service in 1920 carried 1,949,978 passengers—roughly 2,000,000—a daily average of 5345 passengers. There ajr# also^in Wellington over 6000 motor vehicles registered, and no doubt many of them bring.passengers into town of ■> morning. There are 180 taxis, but the fares prohibit! general'use as a means of getting to and from business.- The motor- bus has just. ma<Je its reappearance: in,the" city, but not/as", a competitor to the trams, whicbr, in Wellington jnore ' than any other ' city tin New. i'Zeeflaria. constitute the main means bfthe people's locomotion. When, somewhere near 150,000 people are riding about in various ways every day, it seems a wonder thatanybodyAvralks. .But- people still continue ,to use ;tlieir,_legs, and.it.is^a :g6sd;(Mng-rfoi: lie people/if-nbirfor "the tramway revenue, that they still continue to do so.- Thei-eis no better exercue for keeping §t than -jvallring. '