INDUSTRIAL ASSOCIATION

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 100, 3 June 1914, Page 5

INDUSTRIAL ASSOCIATION

REPORT RE MARDI GRAS. At the annual meeting of the Canterbury Industrial Association held on April 2, it was decided to consider the question of the holding of a Mardi Gras instead of industries week. As the result of that decision a special meeting of the association was held yesterday afternoon, when Mr J. B. Laurenson presided over a fair attendance.

The chairman briefly introduced to the meeting Mr John Hopkins, who had run the Napier Mardi Gras, stating that he would explain the meaning of the term and its possibilities as far as Christchurch was concerned.

Mr Hopkins, wlio was received with applause, gave the various ancient meanings of the word leading up to its being employed in connection with carnivals. Many carnivals lia'd been held in; New Zealand, but none-of them had gone above the glorified Sunday School picnic stage. In connection with the papier carnival, ,Mr Hopkins said that he had made a stipulation not to ask for contributions in cash or goods, and it had been strictly a business proposition. The carnival had been carried out so successfully that all the business men said x it was the most successful Christmas in Napier they had ever had. so many thousands came to the town, and so many thousands didn't come because of bad railway management.

The executive of the 30,000 Club had appointed a Mardi Gras executive, all other committees having been dispensed with, and a guarantee fund of £SOO had been established to work on. At this point Mr Hopkins said he introduced the election of a carnival queen to New Zealand. The elections had been held all over Europe, England, and America, and in the case of the Napier carnival the election had been by popular vote at 2d each, and 70,000 votes had been cast. The revenue which came from the election of the queen had been sufficient to meet all current expenses, and at no time was it necessary to draw from the fund. If a carnival was to be held in OhristchurCh it should be run on the same lines, which had since been copied extensively in Wanganui and New Plymouth. The fitting up of the queen and court had cost a good deal of money. Then there had been the procession and sports. Nelson Park had been illuminated extensively by gas, and that had cost a considerable sum. . In, the kinematograph film about a quarter only of the procession had been shown, as it was a mile in length. Several designs had been, taken from the American papers by way of arranging- for novel tableaux, while various trades, etc., had also been represented. There had been the Napier Harbour Board, the Vulcan Foundry, the Napier Woollen Mills, and the Gas Company, and many others. In the Park all the exhibits were lined up, and it was the best adviertisement the tradespeople of Napier ever, had. According to several travelled tourists the procession was>the best of the kind they had ever seen. Two days and nights had been spent on Nelson Park in which were 24 money-making concerns in the way of side shows. On. the last day all the sports attractions were got off, and on the closing evening a very large fireworks display was held. It had been intended to close at 10 p.m., but it was impossible to clear the park, and so pleased were the people of Napier altogether that they have decided to hold another Mardi Gras next Christmas. "The Messiah" had also been run during the carnival by a chorus of 120 voices, and a house worth something like £IOO had been turned in, and as artists' fees had amounted only to about £4O, that had shown a profit, in spite of many gratuitous predictions that it would be a failure as it was being run on Christmas night. The festival as a whole had taken amazingly well. It was started with nothing but the guarantee of £SOO, but when it had finished £2504 8/6 had been turned over, and that during a festival established solely for advertising purposes and not expected to make a penny profit. An art union had been held, revenue £352, expenditure £180; carnival queen, revenue £499 12/-, expenditure £IBO 2/-; "Messiah," revenue £94 11/-, expenditure £80; gates, revenue of £763 9/4, and that with a charge of 1/- for adults and 6d for children, which would give some idea of the number of people attending, without accounting for those who jumped the fence. There had also been voluntary donations to the amount of £22 16/2. 'The side-shows alone had resulted in a revenue of £644. When all the expenditure had been deducted there was still a profit of £227 10/2, and seeing that much of the expenditure was in the nature of acquiring saleable property, the actual profit worked out at about £IOOO, and that on a show run not for profit, but merely for advertis : ing. The speaker then pointed out that the Industrial Association would benefit through the publicity which the different firms would receive as the result of the Mardi Gras. The whole thing was worked on the competitive system, and prizes were awarded for the best in each section. By doing something out of the ordinary in this way the attention of the public would be drawn where window- displays would be comparatively ineffective. Mr Hercus questioned the speaker as to how long it would be advisable to run the carnival in Christchurch and Mr Hopkins suggested three days and three nights, as a longer period would in all probability cause the show to drag. Mr Hercus questioned further as to the industrial advantages of a Mardi Gras. He could clearly see its attraction as an amusement concern, but was not so clear on the point of industrial benefit. Mr Hopkins pointed out that the carnival was essentially an amusement concern, but none the less one in which industrial matters could be worked in most effectively. The best time to hold tin 1 carnival would be "in February or March. Three months of hard work would be necossarv to organise the carnival. It would

take eight weeks to work the people . up, but in' the last month, of preparations: the work would be easy.

Mr W; W. Charters then moved a hearty vote of thanks to Mr Hopkins for his address, and said that he hoped a meeting of the association would be called at an early date to consider the question of holding a Mardi Gras next year. The motion was carried unanimously.

The chairman referred to the action taken by the Lancaster Park people, who he understood had decided to hold a M'ardis Gras some time in November. He had interviewed the chairman, who had said that he did not know of any effort being made by any other body -to held a Mardi Gras, and he thought they were entitled to hold theirs first. They were prepared to receive a deputation from the association'. He (Mr Laurenson), however, thought that as the association was first in the field it should be allowed to hold its carnival first, but the matter could receive further consideration at the next meeting.