WONDERFUL SPECTACLE

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XLV, Issue 10169, 28 July 1924, Page 5

WONDERFUL SPECTACLE

THE PAGEANT OF EMPIRE. (Per Press Association—Copyright.) LONDON, July 26. Rain partially marred the opening of the Pageant of Empire at the Stadium, Wembley. Nevertheless, a wonderful spectacle was carried out with commendable enthusiasm, as a. majority of the performers were drenched to the skin. The programme consisted of part 2, including early England, South Africa, and India. The performance was successful, and continually received an ovation from the hug© attendance, which included Prince Arthur of Connaught, Mr Ramsay MacDonald, and a majority of the members of the Cabinet. For exhibiting the scheme the Stadium was effective, whilst the Pageant master, Lord Lascelles, controlled the vast number of participants by means of a system of telephones and electric signs. Parts 1 and 3 of the pageant are being performed to-day. (Received July 28, 11.25 a.m.) LONDON,- July 27. The first performances of the Australian and New Zealand sections of the Empire pageant attracted crowds to the Wembley Stadium. The succession of brilliant spectacles and dramatic incidents evoked great applause. The performance supposedly opened on the Windsor Castle greensward, Captain Cook receiving King George the Third’s commission to seek now lands in the Southern Seas, followed by the landing of Cook and the battle at Orakau, which was a realistic, gripping display. , Australia’s initial scene was the landing of Cook in Botany Bay. Thereafter the Commonwealth’s history was brilliantly pictured in a pageant terminating with the spectacular grouping of all dominions and the colonies, the crash of bells and music, a triumphal procession of 100 delegates.