Logan Park takes shape

With the Harbour Board pumping in sand and building up scrub walls and the Exhibition directors levelling the ground with three or four teams of horses, Logan Park is beginning to present a very busy appearance. If the same energetic activity is continued for a short time the public of Dunedin will be able to get a clear idea of the recreation ground for the north end that 

is being made there. Already citizens can see a chance of still having an ornamental lake within the bounds of Dunedin, for once the lake has been formed for the Exhibition there is little doubt it will be so appreciated that the public will demand it should be kept there permanently.

 

Complaint comes from the Dunedin Hospital authorities that riders of motor cycles are frequently taking their cycles past the hospital buildings at a furious rate and with their exhausts open. Those showing such callous disregard for the sufferings of others may do well to remember that failing to use the silencer is a breach of a city by-law. An inspector has been specially instructed to look out for such offenders and bring them to book.

 

The district of Otago is at present going through the usual epidemic of diphtheria, which is more especially prevalent at Port Chalmers. Dr T. McKibben (District Health Officer) stated yesterday that although the fever hospital was full there was no cause for alarm as most of the cases were slight. Special attention was being paid to the schools, and tests were being taken. If a child was found to have contracted the disease he was removed to the hospital, and those found to be “carriers” were isolated. From three class rooms at Port Chalmers over 20 “carriers’’ had been isolated. Dr McKibben stressed the need for more accommodation, as that at present available had proved insufficient. Apart from this epidemic the health of the district was good.

 

The Wolf Harris fountain, which was removed from the Queen’s Gardens to make room for the war memorial, has been re-erected in the Botanical Gardens. Mr Wolf Harris has promised the sum of £100 for investment towards a fund for keeping the fountain in good order and condition. The donation will be made upon receipt of a formal undertaking from the City Council to comply with the requirements of the donor, and arrangements are being made accordingly.

 

The outing of the Dunedin Naturalists Field Club on Saturday afternoon was spent in examining the bush in the vicinity of the Ross Creek Reservoir, and the botanical section spent a very profitable time noting the individual plants growing there. Many of the native trees of New Zealand differ so greatly in the juvenile and adult forms that it is very difficult tor the beginner to recognise them as belonging to one and the same plant. A striking example of this which came under observation on Saturday was a specimen of Elaeocarpus hoonerianus, which was turning from the juvenile into the adult formThe tree was about 8 feet high, and the juvenile portion consisted of a twiggy growth bearing small brownish obovate and linear leaves, while the main trunk merged into a branching crown of glossy, dark green lanceolate leaves. — ODT, 17.5.1924