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Hokitika Guardian, 27 February 1923, Page 2

Tin: fact that it is expected the olcctridal plant to operate Arthur's Pass tunnel will be tried out next month with the initiation of goods traffic, brings the ultimate opening of the line for through traffic very close to hand. For which relief much thanks! It is time, therefore to be thinking of the formal opening to mark the great event which will link Canterbury and Westland together for all time. A paragraph in another portion of this bsue indicates that the matter is not being lost sight of, and that the Progress League which helped so greatly to urge on the speedier completion cf the line is taking the matter up. 'lhe League will be the organising element in bringing the local bodies together, just as in former times the Hailway Leagues took an active part in marking notable occasions in the progtoss of the line. There have been many of these. There was the turning of the first sod as Stillwater in the distant past. There was the opening of the lino to -lackson— where it touched Westland soil for the. first time. There was the firing of the first shot of the funnel by Sir Josopi, Ward in 1908. and the firing of the last shot in the tunnel by Sir William Fraser in 1918. Now nearly five years later, the long overdue event of the opening of the tunnel is to he celebrated-and it should be no, mean occasion. Our friends in Canterbury are going to help again in a very practical and prominent way. The issue of a historical booklet relating to the line will be a very fine publication we understand, and is to be widely circulated free of charge. Its size in page form will be about that of a. Strand magazine. It will he properly illustrated and its reading matter will contain a liberal reference to the West Coast. All the matter for the publication will be edited in Christchurch where the l>ook will be produced, advertisements providing the income to defray the cost of the work. Apart from this the Coast should he ready to join in the celebration programme to mark the opening. Its scope is not vet fully determined, but it will require to be a large one. because all who can find accommodation on the trains on that great dav are sure to travel east and west to mark the culmination of an event of the greatest historical importance to Now Zealand—the oix-ning of the longest railway tunnel in the southern hemisphere.

Tttk parsimony of the Borough Council in the matter of gravel for Cass Square savors of stinginess in. the highest degree. A useful body attempting to do something—the Beautifying Sod-

ety—asked for a modest 200 yards of gravel to improve the Square. Actually the grounds have become so threadbare that the 200 yards will be inadequate. The Council was equally divided on the matter, and the Mayor with the judgment of a Solomon, decreed for 100 yards! Probably in the principle that half a loaf is better than none, the Beautifying Society will pocket its pride and nccept the dole. AYeie it ;not that the Beautifying Society places the town first and feelings of its members second, we would expect the Socity to disband, but we hope that never again "ill Cass Square he left to the tender mercies of the present Borough Council. Our idea is that the Beautifying Society should seek to take over the Square altogether. There is a clash of ideas as to how it should lie managed. The Borough Council so failed in its management of the Square i for so long that we would like to see the Beautifying Society in charge of ! tile grounds for a year, and note the transformation. Either that course is ■ necessary, or the Reserve Committee of the Borough Council should have larger powers to do what is required to make , the grounds— the town’s greatest asset | —more worthy still. It is impossible to contemplate the succession of school picnics to the town year after year, and the visitors making Cass Square their venue, without realising the pecuniary benefit the grounds are to the business people of Hokitika. But what is far more important is Co realise that the grounds are the lungs of the town, and that there congregate and disport themselves tin* rising generation, whether at play or at games in building up sounder constitutions so as to become more robust men ami women.

\Ye want to see the Square made mure attractive still for the young folk, more attractive to the eye, with a series of miniature gardens, and more the resort of the older people who can sit about the grounds and grow young again watching youth at its revels. Cass Square should be made what it was intended to be, a general recreation ground—so far it is only half way to that ideal place of resort.