A CLEAN CITY.

Gisborne Times, Volume VII, Issue 441, 13 June 1902, Page 2

A CLEAN CITY.

A SWIMMING BATH FOR GISBORNE. (To the Editor of the Times.) •'Mv.—lt is with much interest that I have read the various letters that have appeared in your paper giving suggestions lor a suitable memorial of the Coronation of our Most Gracious Sovereign King Edward VII. Of the different schemes advocated, three stand one

prominently as being well fitted tocommemorate so momentous an event-, viz., the erection of an Old Men’s Home, the building of a band rotunda, an improvement in the lighting of the Borough by putting up more lamps. Now, any one of these three might well form a permanent memorial of the Coronation year, but is there no licttcr way of expending tiie money voted for the purpose ? Could it not be spent with much more profit both to the people of Gisborne t o-day, and for the future inhabitants of the town ? Surely there is something wanted in Gisborne even more than a band rotunda or an Old Men’s Home. Is it not a disgrace to us townspeople who have large families growing up in our midst that although we have every facility in the way of rivers and the sea, yet, we have never prov ded any fitting place for tiie youth of the district to learn the noble and valuable art of swimming ? 1 venture to state that no more suitable memorial could he erected in a country like ours, where dangerous rivers have frequently to lie forded, and sea voyages,made, than by constructing a swimming hath where both our girls and hoys might receive instruction in so useful an art. It is a mistake to think that there is no necessity for a bath when the sea is so close at hand. It is almost impossible to teacli anyone to swim in the surf, and beyond the limit of broken water there is a two-fold danger, as the water is generally too deep for learners, and moreover, sharks are too common for even the boldest swimmer to trust himself far beyond tiie breakers. Our rivers, again, are regular death traps for any blit an accomplished ‘swimmer. Many drowning cases occur annually through bathers getting in deep water by stepping into holes or over sudden drops while bathing in them. It cannot therefore he urged that the children have at present ample opportunity for learning to swim. How many of the eight hundred and ninety youngsters at present attending the district school can swim even one hundred yards ? Not more than fifty at the very outside. Yet i! a proper bath were built as many more could easily he taught in the summer months. And what more healthful form of exercise can one indulge in ? A five minutes’ swim is worth an hour of any other form of exercise for expand ng the chest and strengthening every muscle of the body. Every athlete knows that there is no better method of developing powers of endurance than' by takng a long swim regularly every day. : Apart from the physical improvement gained, there is the much greater value of the art as a means of preserving life to he taken into accoimt. It is impossible to travel much about New Zealand without continually having to ford dangerous rivers, and every year some unfortunate accident happens wh cii might have been prevented had the traveller been able to swim. Swimming, then, should be a part of tiie education of every child. And this has been recognised by the education authorities, for at present it is one of the subjects for which, under tiie Technical instruction- Act, provision is made. Is not the present therefore, a fitting time for us to move in the matter, and by erecting a a hath provide a. lasting memorial of the coronation of our King, and at the same time the means whereby many valuable lives may be saved.—l am, etc-, VISITOR.