Maori statue to go

A disused flume, built along a bench above the Waipori River, proposed to be replaced by a road. ...
A disused flume, built along a bench above the Waipori River, proposed to be replaced by a road. - Otago Witness, 1.7.1915
The Maori figure which stands as an inanimate sentinel at the top of the rise near Beach corner in Hagley Park must go.

It has been standing there for some years, and has been left alone more on account of historical interest than artistic merit.

At the meeting of the Domain Board on Tuesday (says the Christchurch Sun) the chairman stated that he had received numerous complaints, more especially from ladies, concerning the figure, which had been erected in Hagley Park to mark the site of the Maori pa during the time of the Exhibition.

The figure was anything but an ornament, and people objected to the nude figure being placed in such a position.

The board subsequently resolved to have the figure removed.

• The Picton correspondent of the Marlborough Express states that the whalers secured two monster whales on Sunday afternoon, one of which showed some fight and caused anxious moments and much excitement. This brings the total up to date to 13, against two for the same date last season.

• The unique sight of a cyclist riding up the avenue on Saturday night with his coat well on fire was witnessed (says the Wanganui Chronicle). A good many people saw the conflagration, but one of the last to discover it was the cyclist himself. He promptly shed the garment in the vicinity of the Post Office, where several enthusiastic bystanders assisted him to jump on it. The amount of damage was represented by a hole about a foot square.

• The origin of the name of our town may not be generally known among the younger folk (says the Winton Record). There arrived in the Philip Laing in the fifties a young fellow named Thomas Winton. He followed the occupation of a butcher in Invercargill in the early days. While after stock he camped at a place now known as Winton Creek. He made this spot his usual camping place. The late Robert Grieve, of Oporo, gave the place the name ''Winton's Creek'' - now Winton.

• A notable tribute to New Zealand rural journals is paid by Mr Walter Williams, dean of the School of Journalism, at the University of Missouri, who, after visiting 2000 newspaper offices in a world tour undertaken by him last year, has issued a pamphlet, ''The World's Journalism''. He writes: The New Zealand country newspaper (excepting the more influential ones in the United States) is perhaps the best representative of rural journalism to be found in the world. It has news facilities beyond those ordinarily found in American offices, and covers its field of news presentation and interpretation more thoroughly.''

• There came before the Opotiki Licensing Committee at its recent meeting a report from the police in connection with the Native prohibited district on the Coast containing allegations that Natives were securing quantities of liquor for consumption. The committee decided to communicate with the Minister of Justice urging legislation in the direction of prohibiting Natives from entering licensed premises in prohibited areas, and also of compelling hotelkeepers to keep a register showing the sales to any person for consumption off the premises. It was also decided to recommend the hotelkeepers to keep such a record in the meantime. - ODT, 29.7.1915

 

 


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