STREET NAMES IN SHANNON.

Shannon News, 8 April 1924, Page 2

STREET NAMES IN SHANNON.

(To the Editor.)

Sir,—-Will you kindly allow me a liUlo space in your paper to draw uttciiiioii to a ma'iiiU' wnicli I think is of great importance to the people ol Shannon and also to visitors to Shannon, viz., the tack ol names or name plates on the streets. On. a recent visit to Shannon while watting for a train 1 called into tlio Shannon Library and while reading tlie .Shannon News I noticed where Cr. Beard had proposed at a recent meeting of f the Borough Council that name places be placed at the street comers.

As 1 know to my sorrow that there is not a single name plate on any of the streets of Shannon I thought this was a Very good , suggestion from Cr. Beard. But I was simply when 1 saw that xm less a person than the Mayor was reported to have said that he was'strongly opposed to the placing of name plates on the streets (On the motion being put it was lost oil the casting vote of the Mayor). On reading this 1 thought he must belong to the stone age, and the reason he gave was that the people wanted footpaths, more than name plates on the street corners. Now, sir, I think the Mayor is quite wrong in this, for what is the good of footpaths / to a person if he does not know where he is going, and as. I have already said there is not a name on. any street in Shannon, and I have.found it very hard on many occasions to find streets, especially a-t night. None of the people in Shannon, can tell the name of any street as 1 have found from my experience, the best they cun do is to tell you the corner where Mr Flannigan or some person lives. Through the medium of your paper L would like to suggest to the Mayor fthe person on whose vote the motion was lost, that if ’.it is too much expense to put up name plates it would be a good way to number the streets instead and it would be much cheaper.

I think this is not a matter h> be treated lightly. It is in my opinion just as important to have names on the streets us it is to have names on the railway stations. . If there were no names on the railway stations the Mayor might get out at Koputaroa or Levin some night by mistake; coming Ironi Wellington to Shannon. Tins is supposed to be the age of advancement, and we should advance with the times. It should only belong to the past when men were content to poke about in the dark and struggle home and find their own houses and not bother about anyone else.

Trusting I am not taking up too much of your space.—l am, etc., COMMERCIAL TRAVELLER.

(The Mayor stated at the meeting he was in favour of name plates being pjaced at the street corners, but would vote .against it as 'lie’considered the formation of footpaths in the thickly populated area was more urgent.—Ed. “News.”)