OTHER PEOPLE’S IDEAS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 22 April 1939, Page 5

OTHER PEOPLE’S IDEAS

NEED OF SWIMMING BATHS (To the Editor.) Sir, —The recent correspondence in your columns has had the useful effect of bringing to public notice the necessity for adequate swimming baths in ( our town. The necessity was never . greater than it is today, because by no stretch of the imagination can the pre- j sent concreted hole be described as ‘’an ] adequate swimming pool." ] It is reasonably safe to say that since ( the baths were provided about thirty j years ago not even fair maintenance < work has been carried out to them, r with the result that they arc now as j far behind the times as our grandmother’s bonnet, to say nothing of being a disgrace to the town and a poor ( advertisement for our civic pride. It < is a fact that the pool has no definite ] length—one side being approximately i twenty-six yards one and a half feet ] long and the other somewhat shorter— ; or longer. I am not quite sure/which, j For this reason alone, aside from that . of accommodation, there is no hope of championship racing by the best swim- ; mers ever being staged in Masterton, j nor will good diving ever be seen if i proper boards are not provided. But ; it is not for racing or competitions that ] the baths are most needed. It is'for. ( the general physical well-being of the community in general, and of the, ; younger generations of today and the ; days to come in particular, that ade- < quate'facilities should be provided. I do not think it will be disputed ; that swimming is the most beneficial ■ of all sports, both from a physical and a humane point of view, and the need ■ for modern facilities where the art can • be learned in congenial surroundings ; is nowhere more pressing than in an \ inland town like Masterton. “Ratepayer” quite rightly points out that a swimming pool is not the only necessity on the list of public amenitities which will soon have to be provided, but I see no reason why that argument should be put forward as sufficient reason for the baths project to be abandoned. Next Thursday night the good councillors of our town will meet to discuss the plans drawn up by Mr Mabsen, and, incidentally, I think his plans have been wonderfully conceived and would be difficult to improve upon. Let the councillors remember their preelection statements upon this matter and not be turned aside from a worthy public work by financial arguments of the present. They will know how much ‘can and should be spent, and whether the baths are to be cold or tepid, roofed or open is not the point. That they should be built, and built soon, definitely is. Thanking you, —I am, etc., “BATHER.” WOMEN & SOCIAL WELFARE (To the Editor.) Sir, —In Masterton yesterday two women’s organisations held their council conferences. Both the meetings were very well attended. At one. if not ' both, social problems were discussed; j Of all the speakers who took part in these discussions not one mentioned alcohol as being a direct contributor to our social troubles, especially amongst our young people. Do the women who belong to these organisations realise ■what a'great opportunity ‘they have to strike a blow at this evil? I think, it was Lloyd George who said during the Great War that we had a greater enemy within in our gates in the liquor traffic than we had in the Germans outside! Have the women of Wairarapa got the courage to rise up in their indignation and say to the leaders of this fair country of ours: We want this evil abolished and we won’t be content until it is . I am sorry to say I don’t think they have that courage or for that matter a desire to see it swept out of this country. Is there one woman in Masterton, for instance, who will call a public meeting of women to discuss this Question? —I am, etc., ANXIOUS TO HELP. Masterton. April 21.