The Dunedin Exhibition.

Auckland Star, Volume XX, Issue 286, 2 December 1889, Page 2

The Dunedin Exhibition.

(by telegraph.—own correspondent.)

Dunedin, Saturday, FINIS CORONAT OPUS. Well, the inaugural ceremony of the Exhibition has come and gone. It has passed into the regions of memory, and become a subject for history. Years henco, possibly in a quarter of a century, for that is the time which has elapsed since the last Exhibition here, Dunedin may hold another on a greater scale, and the survivors of to-day will furbish up their rusty recollections of the events which are still red-hot in the minds of all. In the meantime, incited by the example, let us hope that Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch will have taken their turn, for in these days, the period of exhibitions, like a fast-contracting comet, appear to grow shorter and shorter, and the necessity for them as pleasure resorts to increase. GAUDEAMUS. The present exhibition ie without a doubt a success. Everybody say* so, and as everybody here just now comprises people from all parts of the world, and people whose home is the world, their opinion ouprht to be a tolerably correct one. Ln size, it is more than three times that of the Chrietcburch exhibition of eight yeaVs ago which was, until recently, the largest held in New .Zealand. It covers close upon thirteen acres, which is only three acres le-s than the Sydnoy Exhibition of 1879, and ivould contain any hali-a-dozen of the email colonial ones which were dignified with the name in earlier days. At this rate we may look for the next development in. tine line to bo on a scale of even greater magnitude, and as Auckland has not put forth her efforts and ia the fastest-growing town in the colony, everything seems to indicate that tlie next exhibition should be there. An judged by the history of this one at Duuedin, ifc only requires the hearty co-operation of a few patriotic shareholders. Three thousand at live pound apiece and the thing ia done. If the guarantee fund is forthcoming chore will be no lack of enthusiasts to work up the details, for even at this distance, and in spite of local lufcsWiirrunesa, Auckland has sent down a band of devoted spirits who have prevented her bcintj extinguished by more couveiiiently situated competitors. THE AUCKLAND COURT. The Auckland Court i 3 not complete yet —none of the courts are complete—and there are bays tv be filled, decorations to be supplemented, and a general process of tittivatiug to bo gone through before fcho Exhibition assumes ics final aspect. But you can form a tolerably just estimate of the comparative excellence of the difierent courts, and i say thas Auckland holds her own. I caonoc say that she is adequately represented—iar from it. If that were so, bei" court would run right; round the corner and down the Now Zealand annexe to where Wellington leriniiiuie* and Canterbury bc'uiiip. Auckland cuds just at the corner, overflowing into Hawko's Bay. Napier and Wellington. Tliia is a coiii-e queiico of not having spoken in time for ypace, and has caused Mr Holland a good deal of trouble with both fcba management and with individual exhibitors. As the Auckland Court heads the provinces, there is no possibility of extending her area without contracting the space of some other province or pushing the whole of them along. The result of this confinement has been that Auckland exhibitors have had to emigrate, so to speak, as far as tho New oouLh Wales Court, and tho department uaturallv suffers.

It is a'great ptty, for the portions between the Auckland and tho Canterbury courts are nob well filled as a whole. Ihey are the barest-looking in the whole of the New Zealand annexe. When 1 stand at the bend in tho Auckland Court, which is the acutelyprojected angle of the front of the Exhibition, 1 think what a chance has been lost by possible Auckland exhibitors. The position with thas at the corner under the wefet central octagou between the Victorian and Now South Wales courts are the two best in the whole Exhibition. From them is the finest coup d'teuU, and the most advantageous situation for displaying go~ds. Indeed, for the latter purpose I think that of Auckland is the better, Tha bays sweep round so effectively in a semicit-cle. Those of Otago run in a perfectly straight line, and hence the exhibits Idea collective effect, for they appear successively, and not in groups. What would not Scoullar and Chisholm, of Dunedin, give for such a position ? Their five;' magnificent bays would be doubled in effectiveness in such a situation, and yet here there reigns the most poverty-stricken look. The space in this part seems to have been frittered away into a sort of debatable border line. Did all the leading Auckland firms appear round here, what a fine spectacle it would be. The newly-arrived visitor would receive a first impression such that he would never forget. HOW DUNEDIN KEPT THE SABBATH. In the matter of weather the Dunedinites and those who had come to witnessjj the opening got a fright. On Friday ie began to lower, on Saturday to drizzle, on Sunday to rain hard, and on Monday to lighten up, but so ambiguously that one couid not tell what the morrow was likely to be. For those in tho buildiug the dismal pattering of the rain oa tho galvanised iron was of no importance; they were all too busy. Everybody was working as if for dear life. I wonder, however, that in a town of such traditional seriousness the opooing of the Exhibition should have been iixed early in the week, for it-has led to a terrible amount of violation of tho Lord's Day, which will-°surcly bear fruit some day, in an earthquake or an inundation, or more probably in a commercial depression. There was the sin of thought which pervaded the whole community as they sat in cSjurch. Seniors endeavouring to look as if their heart were yearning for the New Jerusalem, when they were in reality looking forward to the turnstiles of the Exhibition ; girls lamenting at the prospect of having to forego the now hats and dresses which they bad got up in order to kill the male visitors aivl confound the female ones; children tidgebting at the idea of having a whole extra week of holiday spoilt by the rain. As for the sins of action, in that day when the Universal Ledger is brought forth the workman will poiut to his exhibitor, the reporter will point to his editor, and plead vis major, " Please, sir, it wasn't me, it was 'im,' : and the exhibitor and the editor will in turn point to Messrs Roberts, Twopeny, and Jouberb as being the Jonathan Wilds of the tragedy, and endeavour to fix them with the responsibility, for have they n6t thrown irresistible temptation in the way of everybody and: made sinners of us all ? It is . OUR OPENING DAY. On Tuesday, at half-pa=,t ten, I came trotting down from the eminence of the pleasant suburb of Mornington, with the whole of the beautiful panorama of Dunedin, the peninsula and the sea before me. I could see down below the long, silvery roofs of the Exhibition arid its yellow-, capped dome, gay with flags, and the diminutive crowd of mortals thronging the streets. When I reached the level of the ground and mingled with the individual units, I could see expectancy depicted more or less on every face. In the children it was, of course,, the. strongest; but even elder people wore a cheerful look, and from many a brow the cloud of care seemed to have temporarily paseed away in face of the general epirib of contagious enthusiasm. Just then a braying and a drumming down Princes-street) caused me

to look along , towards the Octagon, and there appeared the head of the processionmoving slowly towards us. THE PROCESSION. The bluejackets and marines from the two Imperial war vessels Opal and Lizard came first. The sailor boys were lithe, dapper-looking little fellows.many of them much shorter than the marines or volunteers, but making up for that by their agile and frolicsome bearing. The marines in general appearance differed little from the volunteers, and to an ordinary eye they might have been confounded with these; but to the. eye of a connoisseur there was no mistaking the precision and solidarity which distinguishes regularly - exercised troops from amateur soldiers. Then came the volunteers, numbering nearly a thousand, in three divisions, with a band between each of them. In these the general average of physique was perhap& superior ■to the Imperial troops, and some of the uniforms —notably that of the Highlanders—more taking; but their marching, of course, could not compare with that of the regulars. After these came the Friendly Societies. Among the most picturesque and entertaining were the Foresters and the Druids, who appeared each of them in their historical and consistent characters. The former were clad in green, with dark waving plumes, hunting cosfcumesand bows arid quivers : the latter in their long robes and immense beards, and headed by venerable bards in lighter garments. Among the latter were three tableaux vivants, the lirst representing "Youth and Age," the second, " The Druids Instructing the British Youth," the third, " Caractacus Defending His Country Against the Romans." After these came the Fire Brigades, and then the Trade Societies. In between these were dovetailed four bands. THE CONCERT HALL. When the procession arrived at the Exhibition, it h;id to wait some time for the appearance of the Governor. In the meantime I had entered the bjiildiog. There, wandering through all the glories of gilded hall, handsome arches, orderly courts crowded with objects of interest and beauty, and kaleidoscopic vistas of coloured lamps, flags, and shields, which had sprung out so magically in the preceding night, I reached the concert hall. Here there were some three thousand persons. The orchestra was the sight which first struck the eye and conduced most to impress the mind oi the newcomer. There was the elegant organ in brown and light blue, rising out from a choir of some 370 male and female singers—the men on either side in dark masses, the ladies on the left in white and blue sashes, and those on the right in white and red'sashes. At the organ was Mr Barth, the accomplished organist Gf the beautiful Kuox Church, of which I told THE ORCHESTRA. Below surrounded by the choir were the instrumentalists. Amongst them I eouid , see three Auoklanders. There was Mr .iiii-mann out on the left with hia flute and piccolo ; ~i)exb to him cu.uae Mr Jackson with the clarionet on which he has so skilluliy and sweetly gurgled for years ; and further in beside the big German doublebass player was the slender euthusiastAelooking Mr Ciutsain hugging his enormous instrument. . ■

That portly contra-basso beside him is Herr Pleyei , , and might be his father— indeed ho tops the lot as a sort of paterfamilias, and like a presiding Jupiter of the catgut, adds dignity to the whole body of musicians. If one may be permitted to perpetrate a feeble pun under cover of the press, he is Pleyer by name and player by nature. Beside these gentlemen ate' the violoncellos—and a pretty" pair they are—one, is Herr Winekelmann, a German.- Hβ is, like Herr Pleyer, a tine type of his class— every inch a musician, and of the best European etamp. In his look, features, dress, and bearing.you see what the highly-, educated instrumentalist is, subdued and gentlemanly in dress and spirituelle in expression. Senor Fernandez, his - associate, is a Spaniard from Madrid, and in his olive complexion and lustrous black eyes, which wander dreamily as he plays, you seethe southern as contrasted with the more impassive Teutonic musician beside him. But" to hear the tone -of these two combined in their leading passages —say in that fiery overture " Rt»y Bias "i-is a treat. Then when you get it in all its truth and vigour you realise what the rich, piercing quality of a violoncello is. It is like an ex-: haustive glass or tremendous cataplasm drawing the very soul out of you. Then among the" second violins you see Senor Gastambide — the compatriot of Senor Fernandez—niifable and true upon the treacherous string, and taking his music internally in quite a quiet way. Away behind him are the horns with Mr Curry—a patriarch in this line—as leader. Just come and hear Mr Curry and Mr Fielden in "Der Freiachtitz" orCowen's.. "Language of Flowers" blow, their fluid echoing notes round this handsome building, and all sorbs of woodland and meadow-land images will come floating before the mind's eye. Further forward under the conductor is Signer Squarise, the rirsb violin. Hβ is an Italian, so the orchestra is fairly international in its composition. Here is another typical brother of the catgut; .but of; a, more lively order than those before mentioned. With him it'is all keenness and life, as in the timbre of his insfcrum&nt,' and when he goes scaling the heights of the ultissimo passages with the deftness of a practised mountaineer and bringing his comrades along with him, it must be a oreat satisfaction to a sensitive and apprehensive conductor. , " : .Near to Signqr Squarise sits Mr Coombes, , formerly of Christchurch and now of Dunedin, who lends able, assistance in the department of the violins; and there are ladies, too, three of them whom we have reserved, as we do the ' confectionery and sweets at a dinner, to the last.

Above the orchestra, in a pulpit bordered with crimson, stands Mr Arthur Towsey, the conductor. Mr Tovvsoy is a resident of some twenty-three years in Dunedin. He is a many-sided musician, for he will siug to you, play to you, give you a voluntary on the organ, or sit down and extemporise to your heart's content. Now, as you see, he ia wielding the baton, which he does in a firm but genial manner, and by the time tho ceremonial of to-day has come to an end you will realise that to secure the pecisidh \yith which his musicians he has not laboured lightly. During the next four months Mr Towsey and his confreres will interpret a great variety of works, some of which will make your mouth water and your hair stand on end wihh delight. Their repertoire is a most comprehensive one, ranging from grave to gay, from lively to severe, and. will attraci a crowd of attentive admirers. ' ' WAITING. : ' We have had plenty of time to make th e foregoing observations, as the Governor i 8 for some unexplained reason late. In the meanwhile we beguiie the* time by gazing at one another and exchanging remarks with our nearest neighbours. . In this particular corner the press men have been con • fined, because it is very public and .exposed, and thatia asortofguaranteetothecompany that no mean advantage will be 'taken of them by the bold, unprincipled, inquisitivepersons who constitute this useful body. At present the male members are vSi-y pleased to resign themselves to inactivity and leave their neiehbours severely alone; but there is a lady reporter near whose pencil is flying ominously. Lot us hope that she has not discovered anything particularly the matter with another lady's bonnet and is going to gibbet her publfoly and embitter the recollections of this festive occasion. , :

THE EXHIBITION OPENED. By-and-by four Highlanders and four t City Guards enter and range themselves round the crimson curtains of the dais, which causes a ripple of excitement for a , moment, and then ensues another period of expectancy. At length the strains of the? National. Anthem are heard without, and four seamen and two middies enter and take up position with the guards which have preceded them.- The sound of the music grows louder and louder, and at last the Governor and Lady Onslow enter. The - Governor is dressed in a dark uniform heavily laced in front, and Lady Onslow in light, trimmed with purple. The choir then sing " God Save the Queen," separately and moderately at first, working up ■ to a fine climax towards the "end. The ! President next delivers a prayer, in which some excellent sentiments are expressed in a sort of Johnsonese, not at all harmonising'with the words of Holy Writ appearing in the "Psalm of Thanksgiving" further on. The choir follows with €, The Old Run"dred," excellently given, and that is succeeded by Mr Cowen's "Pealm of Thanksgiving," a fugal work of boldness in the first, and considerable sweetness in* the second number. Mr Roberts now reads hieaddress to His Excellency, and His Ex/cellency audibly replied, concluding with the gracious cablegram of Her Majesty, and: then the Exhibition was declared open. . MO RE AUCKLAND EXHIBITS.. '• ■ The' Exhibition now became thronged with visitors, these at the end of the day attaining to the number of about 10,000, and we wended our way back to the Auckland Court, theie to take stock of the latest displayed exhibits, and to lament over the amount of wasted 1 space which ' might have been so worthily filled. There stood the Auckland portico—a really striking object, overlooking the Ordnance Department and distinctly visible from the Grand Hall. With a little more money both it and the Court could be made strikingly handsome even yet. The porch is of ' boid, ellective design, and the colours are well combined. The prevailing tone is green and is well in keeping with the signs which cau be seen through the curtains hanging across the Court. The one eyesore is a red sign which Hawke's Bay has sol up at the end, and doesn't agree afe ail . with the decorations in'iront oi it. The second bay on the left-hand side is that of the Kauri Timber Company. . Here is a good, solid exhibit most skilfully arranged. Round the wails are suspended planks oi kauri, plain and polished, alternating with specimens of polished lining, , perpendicular and diagonal. Cn the left) tide is a door fifty years old, brought from Kaitaia, showing the perfectly unimpaired./. condition of the wood after tliat length of titre. Further round there is a fane speci- t men of a plain mantelpiece, while right) \ round on the other side of the bay is one » in black polish, so nearly resembling , marble as to deceive almost everybody. In the centre are ten doors arranged in a zig< i zug laahion, the ;our leading ones being sashed and glazed with coloured grained glass and lighted with a crimson lamp. This, with some photographs of scenes On the Company's estates, tonus a very attrac* ;' tive feature and set-off to the exhibit.

in the fourth bay there has been added ' an exhibit of twelve saddles—both gentle- - 1 men's aiid ladies'—some fancy, but chieriy plain, by L. D. Nathan. There is also a very beautiful exhibit without a name, consisting of a table and casket inlaid with , ; native woods. In the table a border! of : flowers runs round the edge, and birds are seen rising from flowers and ferae in tfae; ceufcre. There are two rough paper labels j below, but itia deserving of proper labels and a name, and a cloth to drape the blocks on which it is standing. In this bay aisojs ' a small glass stand containing skeleton flowers worked by Mjss Alice .Bye. • :;;:;: TU'e bay of Bycroft and Co., which is the. , fifth in the lett, has a very ornamental facade, consisting of a castellated arc Ki n■■'*,. buff and red bricks, flanked by neat clay tazzas on pedestals of brick. Within tkese : are some 80 boxes of biscuits reared pyrVmidieally against opposite sides of the walls, while at the end are samples in clay of vases, gratings, yentilatora, chimneys, and tiling. There are also specimens of whab are called cabin bread any navy bread. .

The next bay on tins side, containing ex- ■ hibits by the Auckland Furniture Com* , pany, is of a really striking Character. , The walls are hung with green and brown J iiowered carpet, and the lioor laid with drugget. IVoin the front depend very tasteful art curtains, touched with flesh- <, i colour and pink flowers, and traversed with :, a gilt thread, giving them a scintillating', ( appearance. Within is ranged a very choice selection of furniture, said to be in -". kauri Wood, but of such richly variegated - and marked a character as almost to resemble other ornamental woods. There ~ are two mirrors, a wash hand stand, wardrobe, dressing-table', and some very pretty chairs —some in abrased cane, and some in i< wood and padded. The finish and appearance of all the exhibits is unexceptionable, and it conduces greatly to the tone of the Court. "' The succeeding bay is occupied Wibh tho teas of L. D. Nathan. This is also a very , tastefully-decorated exhibit, possibly the most expensively arranged of any. The floor is covered with pink and white straw i£: matting, and has on each side two tall handsome black cases lined out with gold. In each of them are ranged in, neatly J covered packages parcels of Pekoe and ; Souchong teas. In the centre is: a pyramidal case containing specimens of ; golden and silver blends. Behind these are handsome Japanese screens, with in profusion. 'There are also two very ,; beautifully flowered porcelain vasafc in front, and at tho entrace two sombre and curious, , looking jars with brown and green objects in relief. , ■ _ • Since I last telegraphed J. and T. Mason have got their perfumery set; out in a&»e--case at the end of bay four on this side. There are innumerable bottles, large and small, with- pretty labels on them, and a young lady to superintend them. Joab beside this E. Spencer, of Queenstrakbj- has his exhibit of Curios in kauri gum, quartz, chrysodolite, and pearl oyster shells, with another young lady; so. this makes quite an interesting corner judging by appearances. If ever Auckland gets up ■ another court she should make her local beauties a subject of exhibit in this quiep.-.-;-way, and with suitable testhetic surroundings, there is no doubt she would carry the palm. ; -, • ■ ,' t> j Further down, looking up the Auckpna Court, towards the dome, Mr Dannefdrd, or Queen-street, ako has a curio case ? presided over by a lady. Ah, if our sisters, our > cousins, and our aunts.only knew' the tive which prompted the purchase of those beautiful gems we scud them, perlaapstney would be sceptical about the love! , fess. Still, if thejy found us out, they. would probably hold on to the offerings to? their own sakes, if not for ours, for are not t these things useful for the purpose oi re- , „ taliating onsome other fellow 2 In Mr panneford's case were some very inte/esting Maori charms in : greenstone, which been purchased by Sir George Grey., There are pebble and vegetable ornaments, lacea with kauri gum, and some pretfcyVand etlective.jewellery in Queensland opals, wuicn are of a much deeper and brighter iridescence than the Russian J. Daltpn and Co; <have a handsome«ase with a good clofchiujr exhibit at the headol, the.long'line of the New Zealand annexe. ;? Away in the New.South Wales CourbM the really fine exhibit of Yates. It is a large, a stand with prominent oounterg, if glazed windows at the bottom full of ?*& with various garden seeds ihterspereedwite corn-cobs. In the glazed cases, eurfaco ar© email ! sqnare partitions, in'.mßOß other seeds are most testefully arran|ea, , beth as to size and colour. Behind ie a high screen deceratad: wibh loßgtitudu*»lly die-

' t snoops and corn-coba in a posed whisps of e r jf a e certific ate gained by temi-cirele. w« ' AXr j C ulbural Socieby of New South Waies in W hich the pajete are flowers ritSaa those of a Christmas card.