NOTES.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXXIII, Issue 8822, 19 March 1914, Page 4

NOTES.

"It is always hard to guage tli-e at-, tondimce at the Ashburton Show, but it, was harder than usual this afternoon, | by reason of the fact that the crowd had spread' itself out to an even greater extent than usual. The side shows were keeping people from the ring, even, •when the chief event of the exhibition —the Grand Parade—was in progress, but at that time (3.45 to 4 p.m.) there must have been over 6000 people present. , ' The crowd was as usual very orderly, and few, if any, of the class known as the undesirable, were/to be .seen, lhe police had a good staff present, including three detectives, but they were not

called on to exercise their authority. Among the visitors to-day were Mr W. Nosworthv, M.T., Mr W. J. Dickie, M.P. ■ .*. . ; . . The Ashburton Temperance .Brass Band was on the ground early, and provided a good programme of music, j their efforts being much appreciated by the public. Tli® Ashburton branch of the St. John's Ambulance Brigade had a corps on the ground, but fortunately their services were not • required. Messrs Hay wards' Enterprises, Ltd., had a biograph operator engaged today taking photographs of many of the most -attractive events, including the jumping. , In the afternoon various local auctioneers offered. ,for ■ sale- by sheep,, cattle and horses. The sale was an innovation as far as the Ashburton Show is-concerned and. judging by the grumbling audible, the auctioneers and some of the public did not view the sale with favours Fat sheep were offered ' first, and these brought prices equal to those,obtained at recent local stock sales. The sale of cattle and horses did not eventuate until late in the afternoon. A surprisingly good exhibit was that of a collection of vegetables sent forward by the Mayfield School. It included most of the commoner kinds of i vegetables, which were all well-grown. Most ©f those who inspected the exhibit were favourably? impressed, and the Chief Fields Instructor for the Agricultural Department (Mr A. Macpherson) was so pleased , that to-day he purchased the collection.