CORRESPONDENCE

Hutt News, Volume 1, Issue 5, 21 June 1928, Page 6

CORRESPONDENCE

(To the Editor).

Sir,—l was pleased id read.your editorial in last week^s:"News'' stating that the bus authorities are looking aft ! ter the interests of their passengers and as a regular patron:of the service I feel indebted to you, s4r, for taking the niatter up so impartially. It is reassuring to learn that the Government is out to improve "the efficient service which we had under private control. Probably one of the greatest factors in building up the old service was the fact that the proprietors and their staffs were in personal touch with the whole organization. When I boarded the bus" in the morning I was greeted with a smile and invariably addressed by name; being a regular traveller the driver looked out for me and I know of occasions when he has actually pulled up and sounded his horn when I was not at my gate.on time. These are the little things that count and are much appreciated by patrons. Can the new management provide such a service with so many new. drivers? I srnceroly hope they will sue- i coed. May I offer one of two suggestions, which if carried out would add to the efficiency. Many of the buses havo no bell cords or press buttons. This is a great inconvenience to those wishing to attract the driver's attention from the Tear of the bus. There should be regular stopping places throughout , the run and not only in the main streets. This is most essential on the ground of | economy to say nothing of the comfort of passengers. Last Monday morning I I noticed a bu.s coming through Hautana Street at 8.5 a.m. Is this a new timetable? i On several occasions, to viy horror, I have noticed buses stopping between the two railway lines at the Grand National Hotel crossing for the purpose of changing drivers. lam only sorry some of the gentlemen who interviewed you were not present to hoar the remarks that were made on those occasions. This is a matter that I feel sure will be corrected now that it has been pointed out. —I am etc., J. G. A further suggestion has been made that a parcels' depot should be established in the Hutt where parcels may be left if the consignee should happen •to miss the bus on which his parcel is carried. It might even be a better plan if all parcels were left at the depot and the charges collected there. This quick service for parcels to and from the city is: a great convenience to the business people of the town. —Editor.

(To the Editor) Sir, —Might I crave the privilege of a few inches of your valuable space to comment on the perfectly deplorable condition of the books in the Municipal Library? I have travelled fairly extensively in New Zealand and it has been my misfortune to see the insides of many libraries and the books on their shelves. Never in all my experience have I seen so dilapidated a collection as adorns the Public Library in Lower Hutt. Up and down New Zealand are many libraries, some good, some bad' — some very bad indeed, but the bad ones appear to suffer from three principal defects. First and foremost, the books actually on the shelves are torn and dirty, and usually out of date. They require the services of a paste pot, or possibly of a destructor. Secondly, the [ new novels as they appear are not added to the library. One would like to ask how many copies of a popular work are placed on the shelves of the average library, and how long after the date of publication it is before.these new books are in circulation! A great deal can be done by a good selection or reading committee. So frequently the committee allows itself to be hoodwinked by big booksellers who trade their outworn stock cheaply to a gullible reading committee, the members of which do not usually keep abreast of the times by reading the book review? in the English and American papers. Fnally, no attempt is 1 made to encourage interest in the library. In many up-to-date libraries the names of new books are placed «n a board together with a synopsis of I their contents; talks on new books are given by some person qauified to do so, and the public is invited to hear the lecture, which is very informal, and perhaps for that reason, all the more interesting-; nil books should be well boimd, clean, and properly classified, •while newspapers should be kept in such a way that they are easily found. In short> the library should be the literary I centre for the borough, and I do not

think that it would'be long before 'the whole adult population would , be subscribers, but people to-day desire to read up-to-date, novels, and will not join a library which does not possess, them... .Verb, sap.-—I am, etc,. A TMVELLBE.