Stratford News.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 175, 23 January 1912, Page 3

Stratford News.

Stratford, Monday. OUR DOMAINS. A QUESTION OF CONTROL. It is possible, of course, but entirely useless, to find fault with the folks who ' laid out on paper the growing borough of Stratford. No town-planning enthusiast who values his reputation very highly would make the main street but a straight continuance of the main dusty road along which the prevalent winds course direct. The modern planner would have crescents, avenues, triangles, and so on. Stratford, though, is entirely on the square. Its block and streets are so regular that a map of the borough might almost do for a chessboard, with rectangles everywhere. The streets, however, are breathing space. Even the side streets are one and) a half chains wide—ninety-nine feet, or wider than New Plymouth's main thoroughfare. It is the matter of breathing spaces with which this article proposes to deal. We are well provided for in this respect, apart altogether from the exceptionally; wide streets. A glance at the map shows that only two blocks away from Broadway there are some sixteen acres reserved for recreation purposes. This is j Victoria Park, which stretches from Fen- { ton street in the south to Regan street ' on the north, and from Orlando street eastward to Cordelia street. Then, two blocks away on the other side of Broadway there commences King Edward Park, comprising soipe 50 acres. On the Warwick road, near the southern boundary of the borough, is a third recreation reserve, but this is unimproved.

DESERTED. Victoria Park was for many years our sports ground. f)n the southern side of the Victoria lake aij . the park lies a piece of ground which was used until last year by the Stratford Football Club. The Cricket Club, too, which has ever 1 and anon been established, languished and died, played its' matches here. A fe\v years ago, an energetic Caledonian Society spent fconsiderable money there, in making a track, for athletic and cycling sports. The same society, aided by the Domain Board, put some money into an unroofed 'grandstand. To-day the park stands deserted. Footballers grew tired of the unsatisfactory state of the ground and now use the A. & P. showgrounds, a mile away. Cricketers, too, have shifted likewise. The Caledonian Society is defunct. Stratford has no sports meeting now. The grandstand remains. The lake 5s »there, fringed by a belt of sycamoijes and other trees, which have managed to survive the southerly gales. Some are most unsuitable trees for the place, but perhaps they are better than nothing. The once busy sports ground is now * uSed for grazing purposes only. The grandstand is used occasionally, but in the interests of the town it would be better demolished. If it were never, used &t all it wouldn't be so bad. ■ i .

j On the north side of thej)ond, or lake, is grazing land.■ The board had a piece of bad luck here. The revenue from the lessee was £ls a year some time ago. Then a hockey club/ or "'soccer" club; or some such club, obtained the use of a portion of the gr&und. The lessee, noting the j&rfea, applied for a corresponding re'ducftion'in rent, and now the board receives only £9 a year from this source. The area given over to the match ground returns no revenue at all. i Farther on, adjacent ,to Regan street, is the Croquet Club's ground. The club has erected fencing and a small pavilion, and Das spme fiij-e Ijijwns. Though fenced* off, this area If nevej exactly closed. Tlje public may enter-at any time and watch the play. The wtiole of this Victoria Park is splendidly'^edged. It is littl'e* a pity that Victoria Park is so'.Uitle -used. The footballers would 'gladly re.-erect their goalposts here if, the. groifad were levelled' and improved: But. who is to do it? The ' Board? /Whe^'is 9 the "money to come from? We ; ijl'aTf erarn to this matter later. ■' *'■' ' "

A BEAUTIFUL RESERVE. King Ecfwardi'Pdi'k'is'a beautiful spot. Like many iQtJiejf beautiful places, it is very difficult, qfyjicicesa; l)he nearest way from Broadjw by way of Fenton street. Mr, Mcslligter referred in the' Borough' Council .thp other evening to the necessity fo.r improving the road at this point,,lpf tl;e Very purpose of giving better the pa;k. He was quite right. Dusty. -a.nd dirty in fine weather, muddy after: rain,.,blocked by heaps of gravel in places, ( this means of reaching our principal jleasyre ground is none too pleasant. entrance is from Hamlet street. Here a suspension bridge vrai erected spme years- ago as, I think, a Diamond .Jubilee JVTejnorial; or was it a Coronation memorial ? Hamlet street is level —on-the map. One would think that the Borough Council would make decent footpath from Regan street to the park gates, but it i hasn't been done. This suspension bridge is provOcatiVe of conversation. It spans the Paftea "fiver, ftf wHieli more anon. I overheard "seine' ladies' talking there the other dfcyi/'They had arrived at the bridge -With their and children. There Were? sufficient inches in the width of the'bridge when'the little procession ventured *onj and' these conditions prevailed to a certain point, but "further there* were Won# ; The bridge is unduly narrow in'its middle section, so narrow that'only perambulators that are very narrow can cross." The go-cart of to-day is too big for the 1 bridge. But the conversation of these ladies was to the point. They had returned landwards, unloaded the carts, and Wore taking the babies over the bridge. "Who on earth erected thisbridge.?" "Who was the engineer? Hadn't ;tliey any sense? Aren't there any married lilen on these stupid domain boards? ■ !<rujoy biiilding a bridge in a park so that babies can't be taken in! The very idea!"

The matter is explainable, of course, The local body had only a certain amount of money to spend on the bridge, which meant that the bridge could be only a certain size. The bigger the bridge, or the greater the width, the more it would cost. The wider the bridge the strong it must be, for the careful engineer reckons that a suspension bridge for foot passengers must be strong enough to carry the weight of sufficient people to crowd every incli of it. Were the bridge a few inches wider it would permit of two rows of people standing on it. It wasn't likely that the bridge would ever be crowded like that but in these days all sorts of freak schemes are launched, and it might be that an energetic coterie would deepen the river at this point and make a swimming bath. All these probabilities had to_ be considered. Hence the narrow bridge, and the blocked sjo-carts. and the angry ladies, and the "much-abused board and engineer. A former chairman of the Domain Board had a notice hoisted on high, notifying that persons taking

* * * * * From Our Resident Reporter, * ♦ Office: No. 3, York Chambers, Stratford. <s> ******************* *

horses or stock across this narrow, swaying, rocking thing would be prosecuted. Any man attempting such a feat should be cared for by the State!

A GLIMPSE OP THE RIVER. | The Patea river at this point is very pretty. There is a nice stretch of it visible from the bridge. The fall is fairly rapid, and the water ripples and eddies and splashes in and out and round about and over the boulders. The banks are clothed with native trees, principally sort woods of recent growth. Below the bridge the stream makes a sharp twist to the southward, and in a deep hole the small boys can be seen bathing. Below this again it spreads itself over a wide shingle bed. When Stratford was first Stratford the stream was almost as narrow here as elsewhere. Bui with settlement came roads and the need for road metal. The road crossed the river, and the stone at this spot became the property of the local authority. Continual depletion of stone from the bed has not added to the scenic attractions of the ; locality. One recalls the fact that some ten years ago or thereabouts there was a stir about a contractor entering tke river within the park boundaries for the purpose of taking stone therefrom. An j information was laid against him by J the Borough Council, which was then also the Domain Board, but when the case was called in court some bright legal mind noticed that the information had been sworn before a justice of the peace who was also a borough councillor and thus an interested party. This was a fatal objection. The case was not proceeded with.

THE BOARD. It was at just about that time that the control of the Stratford domains was taken out of the hands of the Borough Council and placed in the hands of a domain board appointed by the Gover-nor-in'-Council, its members having a ten years' tenure of office, which was in reality a life appointment, unless a member >vished to resign or became ineligible under the Donwins Act to hold office. Several borough! councillors were appointed as members, including Mr. 6. X. Curtis,,.who had for years previously and 'has ever since made a hobby of the park and "devoted inuch time and thought to its improvement. Having considerable leisure, he has been able to pay very visits to the parks, and exerciser'close and patient supervision. The change" of control caused a flutter in the municipal dove-cot, for it lost to the Borough. Council the rigjit to enter this portion of the riv ; er for stone. The Board resolutely declined, and has ever since declined, to allow a single stone to be takeii from within the boundaries of the park.

,A TIGHTENED EXCHEQUER. ' \that Tioney hag the Domain Board for expenditure? Between £7O and £BO a year as a rule, and out of this the Board; for a secretary, maintains several miles of fences, cares for and exlends.'thp plantations and paths, and so I on. This money is derived from grazing j rents. 1 • It'is insufficient for the needs of J thp -place, but it is wonderful what is done with it. A walk through King Edward Pajk shows that a great deal of Sensible 1 planting has been done. Good paths have been made, through a pretty piece of native bush. At present there arc men engaged in mowing grass and Fejn is a nuisance in more ways I thail rtnfe! It is unsightly, and it is alj ways a menace, for men are often careless with' matches, and a lighted match in A- brake' of fern in a park—is there ifes4BtsJ.»M>orate? ■ who Should control?

Should the Borough Council have control? The Mayor is of opinion that it should,'and this was one of his planks at the Mayor election a couple of years P is & standing complaint with sditte Mergfcjtic public men that the adflrtttiSflMtfife -of the parks is not progressivej thdt no active steps are taken -'rrtoney for improvements; that the grazing areas are too large; that ;the<WV<dMH'.< is too small therefrom, and r that ;this'is sufficient only to buy a feiv trees a that the Domairf Board curtly. declined to allow the Council a majority of members on the Board in return 'for or in acknowledgment of tse Council's promised contribution of a substantial'subsidy; that Victoria Park is no longer used' for football and cricket match, which entails on people a mi}« walk or, a 'bus fare to the convincing ground; and that the Board governing the people's parks is not responsible to the .people. If the Council got hold of the management again, it is urged, there would be expenditure with a view of getting more revenue. More and better seating accommodation would be provided. The ratepayers would be saved

! several hundreds of pounds a year by reason of the fact that metal could once < more be obtained from the riverbed at a j cheaper cost than it can be obtained 'elsewhere, The Council would improve j the sports ground, and so on. The mat- ) ter is one for argument, I ' A SUGGESTION. | Meanwhile, couldn't the Council assist by voting an annual subsidy, as is done | in New Plymouth, receiving in return the right to appoint so many of its members to seats on the board? Could it not make the approaches to the park more easily negotiable? Active co-oper-ation with the board in this way, and the inception of a more vigorous policy, might lead the people to see that the control of the domains should revert to the. Council. 'Meanwhile we have a King Edward Park which is something to be pleased with, and a Victoria Park about which the less said the better. Some day, perhaps, we shall see tennis clubs established on a portion of it. Whether the footballers will come back and leave the showground and its roomy grandstand, is a matter for conjecture. We have, too, ] a regrettable apathy on the part of th public with reference to the park s . Couldn't the Domain Board make some earnest effort to arouse popular sympathy and j-aise some money? A strong citizens' committee could arrange a garden party, or a bazaar, or a fete of some kind, and give the Board some money wherewith to effect improvements.

LAWN TENNIS. The Stratford Lawn Tennis Club's team to meet Eltham at Eltham on Thursday will comprise the following:— Misses Black, Mackay and D. Mackay and Mrs. Rennell, and Messrs. Don Cameron, R. B. Anderson, V. Crawshaw, E. H. Young, F. N. Fussell and L. R. Curtis. The team will leave by brake at one o'clock. To date the Stratford Club has had no luck this season in inter-club fixtures, the weather having interfered with every proposed inatch. The Inglewood match for February 8 has been definitely fixed, and there* is the New Plymouth match for Thursday week.

GENERAL NEWS. The subject of the weather has been worn almost threadbare, but still there's something to say about it. When old Egmont pushed his way through the mists yesterday morning there appeared the reason for the unusual' cold which had prevailed during the whole night. The mountain was covered with snow well' down towards the mountain house level. Fancy a snowstorm in January! Certainly the summer of 1912 is a peculiar mixture.

Mr. S. G. Burgess, an old resident, is re-visiting these parts. Mr. Spilman, successor to Mr. Sheridan as abattoir manager, arrives in Stratford this evening. Mr. F. W. Kemp,, of Messrs. Kemp and Sawle, formerly in business here but now operating in the Bay of Plenty district, is re-visiting Stratford. He has just become the possessor of Great Mercury Jsland, in Mercury Bay, and six miles off Coromander Peninsula. The present owner has lived on the island for over twenty years, and during the whole of that time neither his wife nor his two daughters {one of whom was born on the island) have ever been on the mainland. When they evacuate their island home the family will visit Scotland. , What a lot of the world those girls have 1 to see! J

Mr. ,T. McCluggage leaves for Wellington on Wednesday morning. He may go on to Hokitika, in which case he will be away for ten days or a fortnight. The Operatic Society resumes it's "Pinafore" r- '\arsals this evening. To-niglit the Borough Council will discuss the road roller question. The i'nnual meeting of the A. & P. Association is to be held in the Municipal Chambers at 1.30 p.m. on Saturday, February A good attendance of members is requested by the committee, as important matters will come up for discussion.

Most of our blessings are believed to come from above. That more than blessing may fall from an exalted sphere was proved by a party of young ladies in Broadway to-day. They were passing along the footpath when one noticed a black spot appear on another's light summer dress. Before the most expert Russia could ejaculate "Jackovsky Robinsonski," all were served alike. There were some linesmen working up aloft, 1 re-painting or re-tarring the telegraph wire conduits, and some paint had missed its mark. Unfortunately for the girls it made very pronounced marks on the dresses, but a young chauffeur proffered the use of a bottle of benzine and some ragstuffs, by the vigorous use of which > the dresses were soon rendered,once more presentable. The ladies are of' opinion j ,ft a .t. there should be some warning sign when- these operations are in progress. Miss Bredow, who was injured in the motor-car accident at Palmerston North a few weeks back, is so far recovered from the shock as to be able to return home to Stratford, and is expected tonight.