THE NEW ANNEXE.

Auckland Star, Volume XXIX, Issue 284, 1 December 1898, Page 37 (Supplement)

THE NEW ANNEXE.

The fifth Court, generally known as the new annexe, runs at right angles to the other Courts, and extends from the Rotorua Court to within a few yards of the Choral Hall. It is 150 feet long and 60 feet wide and is approached by three entrances from No. 4 Court. At the northern end are the exhibits of the Public Works Department, comprising photographs of typical New Zealand scenery in ornamental frames of New Zealand woods, and also articles of furniture in native timber. Alongside is the Armament Court, in which the Defence Department have an interesting exhibit, comprising submarine minefield and plant and Nordenfeldt and Maxim guns, with rifles and ammunition. Next to these is the wattle-bark exhibit of the Agricultural Department. A very varied and comprehensive exhibit of minerals has also been placed in this annexe by the Government Mines Department, including specimens of gold, silver, copper and other ores. Capt. Hodo-e, manager of the Hauraki group of gold mines, has placed on exhibition a splendid collection of combined specimens, this exhibit being one of the most attractive in the whole Exhibition. The Auckland Chamber of Mines and Coromandel and Thames Schools of Mines also exhibit specimens and models, the whole forming

c a very instructive object-lesson in New . Zealand's mining 'industry. At the- ; southern end of the annexe a Samoan I Court is being organised. There will i be a comprehensive display of Samoan 3 and Tongan curios, weapons, native - dresses, and a great variety of intert esting objects from the sunny South r Seas, and it is intended that two _ Samoan young ladies in native cost tume shall be present in the Court as; . an additional attraction to visitors. ; I At the northern end of the new annexe, will be found the exhibits of i the ? PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT. • The aim of the Department has evil dently been to direct attention to the • timber resources of the colony, for New i Zealand woods form the main attraction of their exhibit. An the exhibit I certainly conveys a splendid object- • lesson to the most indifferent visitor; - it is, to use a colloquialism, an 'eye- '■ opener' in regard to the beauty and - the value of native woods and the extent of the timber industry in this colony. The value of the timber from New Zealand forests which has been used in the building of prosperous provincial cities and in other directions during the past fifty years is not easily estimated, though it must represent an almost fabulous sum. In their exhibit the Public Works Departhent have estimated the value of the colony's timber export trade since ISBO, 'eighteen years ago, and this is shown at a glance by means of an obelisk. This is constructed in bands of various timbers, each representing one year, indicating to a vertical scale of £20,000 to an inch the value of the colony's timber export trade for each year from ISSO, as well as the progressive values. The. obelisk is triangular in section, with two sides, meas--ining two feet in width, the back being three feet wide. It stands 10 feet 8 inches high.. A striking exhibit shown by the Department is a magnificent combined mantel and over-mantei, standing about ten feet hig' . and beautifully executed in New Zealand woods. It was made at the workshops of the Department, at Wellington, and contains no less than eighteen hundred pieces of timber of thirteen varieties —puriri, totara knot, totara burr, black maire, mottled silver pine, pahautea, honeysuckle, rimu, totara, mottled kauri,' towai, wavy kauri, and akeake. Supporting the mantel are four carved pillars of puriri, two on each side of the fireplace, and this dark-coloured wood has been used with good effect for all the carved work. The front faces behind^ the pillars are of polished wavy kauri and totara burr, and at each side the faces are inlaid chess-board fashion, with alternate squares of rimu and totara. Panels of beautifully polished totara, and mottled kauri ornament the over-, mantel, which holds a mirror with.shelves on either side. A drawing, accompanies the exhibit, one-fourth, the full size, showing by means of dis-' tinctive colours the class of timber of which every portion is made. Yet another exhibit has been sent' by the Public Works Department in the shape of a splendid series of large photographs, enclosed in frames of New Zealand woods, and representing typical New Zealand scenes. The colony is jnstlj' famed for the natural beauty' of its scenery. .The 'Wonderland^ vfi*%gnOr'ttn; ~;^fe*s_^|>«i weird geysers £my thermal' sprmgs;fthe Southern Alps; the West Coast. Sounds, almost rivalling in grandeur the famous fiords of Norway; all ' these are fine specimens of Nature's handiwork. Scenes such as these are depicted in the above collection of photographs, which should do much towards making known to visitors from other shores the natural beauties of the colony. At th. Wellington Exhibition the Department had eighteen of these photographs on view but on the present occasioa the number is close on sixty, all beautifully mounted and framed. One splendid, view of Mount Egmont is vety noticeable. It gives a fine pictute of the snow capped peak towering above the level country side. Some pretty views on the Wang'anui River are yell reproduced and give a good idei of the beauty of a New Zealand bush scene with its wealth of undergrowt. an( £ .graceful climbing ferns. G,min°nearer home, there is a view oip or^ Fitzroy, at the Great Barriei _\_ strikingly good photograph g V "?t ,-nikau palm grove at Wanganui •w_n7 attract attention, and there are many% others of equal excellence, too nume- \ rous to specify. Th e frames are designed to set forth the characteristics of New Zealand woods.Each frame consists of three different kinds of wood, forming respectively the outer edo- e ' flat, and inside bevel, and each carries a label giving the names of the woods The photographs are hung in rows along the jorthern end of the new annexe. With them ar e some twentyfive panels of various sizes, made of polished timber, and beautifully, finished. The 'fancy' timbers are not) m great demand, on account of the expense of preparation. The remainexhibit of the Department is a collection of blocks of New Zealand timbers, showing the difference between the polished and unpolished surfeits** Mr.A. Cumming superintend^.'^ arranging of the section devoteaV the Public Works Department's \. hibits. - Situated in one corner of the No 5 Court is the exhibit of i THE AGRICULTURAL DEPARTMENT. The exhibit has little or no pretension to spectacular effect, but nevertheless, is interesting and instructive. It represents the production of tanning bark from the black wattle tree (acacia decurrens). Probably few people outside those directly interested in agricultural matters are aware of the interesting experiment which the Government have successfully carried out in establishing a wattle plantation for the supplying of bark to "the tanneries. The unpre&tentious exhibit under notice may therefore be the means of drawingpublic attention to the good work done in this direction by the Agricultural Department. The wattle from which the bark obtained is grown at the Governnrf Wattle Farm at Wairanga, near I giriri, Waikato. This plantation eupies an area of 1400 acres, the ~" "7 , iest trees having been put \vj r' , eleven years ago. Four of i j . year-old trees are exhibit.- T . stem is about 12 feet 3 iKday , and is stripped of its bark ; I tanee of about a foot . show how the stripping ■•' Jime? |7 Tai [ dies of the bark just sH . shown, together wit 1 .k^S?* I'"' . sacks of powdered ba J^ p ,l nr ! dering is done at th *■}'■'<■' i means of a Carter ,d. fg. J • dried bark being fed in^ ,| • where it is quickly '^-.7

fHust by a wh j Trin # r}m g %:}** rate o| jToo^rSS* mute. The powdlP? ;-«P in sacks, and sold to" -», to boused in tanai^g 0/ pTjton, the highest price of/any .j. Fk m the colony. It i s nQ t, *owi Vof,H m Pe°umary motives that fhe ■•r cultural Department have&ffd i nba plantation as that/at AVajnor is with a view pf eonjpet,.e j with private growers /n the pr 0--7" gon of tanning bar_c. But the b on which th^ es/eriment has low 1S of a c^s vrllich was At upon as worthies for profit- , -ultivation. By showing, as has ]ar pbe, that suQluiand (of which a r{i& exists in'the district) can ' Vafe utiliyed/in this war, a tauo-hf^''-a«'nctic|/ lesson has been to P.T.-' aiif3 a commercial value given § W?d?o W,"ft^ °therwiseW \ come and JUA!ltlvated for years

the «S2 rt 'ieet H1 iei)B-th. Is under I Chief S?n IT/i 0U °f Mr E' Clifton, S land diS^ lnsPc. oto? foi" the Aiickcfe t, rw'p uf. isted by Wa chief •reports in V- Ilobm! on- Leaflets and pSwJ .^" nection with the debar S, 'i V'? + be on the table h Y the tie Jr£u lblt ±0r distribntioa among fe^Jl i?. 1' B', aT. d a collection of mw p n a ]so be shown, represent . • ut the Wairanga planta--motuihi, where tne depart-;(-an experimental poultry

,>lmds in front of the ExLadings will be found a ~., -ucecl f portion, subdivided into =V;v areas of/oout two feet by three In each is ilanted a different variety of grass o forage plant, exhibited by .the Agicultural Department chiefly for the benefit of farmers who may ; visit te Exhibition. Some thirty varieties are exhibited, all showing j well aove the ground. The attenj tion 6 farmers may be confidently ; directd to the Rich's or Chewing's I fescue a grass which is proving itself J to be of inestimable value on the : poore: lands of the Waikato. It has ,f been demonstrated that this grass *"^*iU_, „9 rry an average of two and a halfshcep to the acre on secondclass land in the Waikato; and that in te seventh year after being laid dow. Te following is a brief descriptor of the varieties shown, in additio; to Chewing's fescue:—Johnston j grMS,which during the -warm months ~ivJ>ws an enormous quantity of fod-mjt-ill?iijadow fox-tail, a pasture grass, OfFmtlic/a favourite in parts of the I'TVaikp: birdsfoot trefoil, an early prin/pasture grass; danthonia semilimfris, a valuable indigenous «frirf, one of the few native, grasses, ft \ pc which appears to be. increasji' /--.Tp-itaved (sheep's) fescue, vnlur 1 for permanent pasture; blue ,s.o<., a favourite fattening grass, .peciuy in Central Otago; may be. j iulndidaptable. to the dry Taupo Upjlj^. .ustralian salt-bush, a variety :. Silly b.»cly introduced into the colony for trial in the Taupo country; microlaena stipoides, a well known grass found in a large part of the native pasture lands on the East Coast; tree lucerne, or tagosaste, a forage plant lately introduced; Louisiana grass, a v.variety which throws an enormous j amount of forage; was introduced and grown by Mr Wren, of Remuera, ancJ,is highly recommended by him; A^-Semoralis, a permanent pasture , .>*^^^'<»^bv- ' 'in. a tro-^ , *jfr"w].ich has laTely npp./.?*. ■*$» -en-. - f°4ngc're district, and attracted a '^deal of attention by the way it . & snread; meadow fescue red 1 JaS 5 sheep's fescue, and hard JSut £our P varieties which are

j^ ;chiefly for comparison wjth s -/jj /h's or Chewing's fescue; red%pT :-^'»ss, the area of which is increasing very much on the poorer lands of the north; and lastly; trioaia decumbens, or moor-grass, a common grass on the poorer lands of England; it may adapt itself to land Of similar description in this colony

THE MINING COURT

As might have been expected, the, exhibits in the Mining Court form a most interesting feature of the Exhibition. These are located in the new' annexe, near the centre of the building. The visitor's attention is first drawn to a large obelisk resplendent in gold leaf, which represents the output of the precious metal from the Auckland goldfields from 1554 to 1898, a total of about £ 8,500,000. The obelisk is built to scale, the gold being calculated on a22 carat basis. Prominent amongst the exhibits in this Courtis the collection forwarded by Captain Francis Hodge, manager of the Hauraki group of mines at Coromandel. In the centre is a splendid model of the Kathleen Company's mine, showing the formation of the country, the buildings, poppet legs and winding apparatus, as well as the inner workings. The latter effect has been attained by removing the earth from where the shaft goes down, so that the visitor can see all the timberings, etc. This is of itself a most interesting exhibit, but is not so striking as the representation of the bullion won from several of the leading mines under Captain Hodge's charge. Foremost amongst these is the Hauraki, represented by a pyramid iea.l pile of golden ingots illustrative of the £240,157 12/S taken out of this property in about two years. Next in order of value is the Kapanga pyramid, showing that since ISS(S no 'less than £03,461 8/5 was won from this property, and the sensational finds of tributers during the last few months prove conclusively that there is still much more of the precious metal waiting to be taken out. Then there is also the Royal Oak, of Hauraki, with a pyramid of ingots, showing that since 1597 the English company that acquired this property took out £32,280 as the result of treating about 350 tons of ore. This return, however, docs not represent the total output from the mine, for 25 years ago the old Royal Oak was paying dividends, and out of the Tokatea ground now included in the area held by the. English company no less.than £159,----535 worth of gold wa.s taken out by a local company in the early days.. These, however, refer (o past results, but in order that the visitor may gather some idea of the richness of the Coromandel ores Captain Hodge has placed on exhibition — under a glass case—a collection of very rich specimens taken from the Hauraki, Golden Pah, Royal Oak, Kapanga, and Success mines. It is safe to predict that Captain Hodge's admirable collection will be remembered by all who visit the Exhibition, being an excellent object-lesson of the practical result of systematic mining-. In various parts of the Court have been displayed large blocks of ore from the Crown and other Ohinemuri mines, which serve to convey some idea of the complex styles of quartz, which, under modern systems' of treatment, can be treated so as to give a profit to the company. Another exhibit, of interest from a geological point, of vjew is the. 400 specimens of various ores and country rocks forming the collection ,j)wned by the Auckland Chamber of Mines. These have been ail carefully prepared and named, and flic locality from whence they were obtained also mentioned, so that a vast amount of information may be trafhered from these geological exhibits.

Of a different type to some extent is the exhibit forwarded by the Thames School of Mines. It is true that in the glass cases may be seen another interesting collection of ores, but the ordinary visitor's attention i& calculated to be mostly paid to the models shown. In one glass case is to be seen a model of the underground workings of a mine, showing the system of timbering, the quarts, pass, stopes and general formation of the country. Another shows the constuction and timbering of a shaft and chimney at a mine, while near at hand is a model of poppet legs and winding gear. A double-acting man engine is also on exhibition here, together with models, showing how sinking can be accomplished through what is termed floating ground. Another model shown is that of a plunger pump. Altogether, the Thames School of Mines shows an interesting collection.

The Coromandel School of Mines has also forwarded exhibits typically representative of that mining district, including all kinds of ores and country rock, rich gold bearing, and also barren quartz, all of which have been scientifically classified by Mr J. M. McLaren. The exhibits from the Royal Oak mine show that the country rock encasing the golden quarts- at 400 f- from daylight is totally different from that found around the self-same reef at 1000 ft from the crown of the hill, the one being an nndesite, the other a slate formation. Specimens are also shown from the various levels in the Kapanga mine, also several long cores of rock cut out by the diamond drill from below the bottom of the 1000 ft shaft. Specimens, too, are on view from Tokatea, Harbour View, and Hauraki Associated Reefs. One of the most striking exhibits is a sample of the beautiful work of nature in the form of a golden butterfly obtained in the last-named mine, the body, head and wings are of pure leafy gold. Its whole appearance is calculated to remind the visitor of the wonderful lucky insect, to whicli Gideon P. Peck pinned his faith. Included in this collection is also exhibits of ores from Opitonui, Kuaotunu, Mercury Pay and Cabbage Pay. Most of these samples of ore are not rich in gold, but still are valuable as samples of the reefs now being exploited. Prom Opitonui is shown a magnificent block- of crystal quart/, as well ns gold-bearing ore. There is also a. gilded obelisk to represent, the output of gold from Coromandel mines alone, whicli is a good object lesson. The, exhibits are not, however, solely confined lo mining. Cabbage Pay shows samples of coal and polished slabs are on view of all the various timbers found in Coromandel County. Kauri gum is also shown as a product of this district, and there are a series of views of Coromnndel as it. appeared in 1866 and as it is at the present, time.

On the other side of the Court is located the collection forwarded by the Mines Department, which form a valuable addition to the exhibits connected with this important industry. These have been placed in «, rlass cases and comprise over 1800 samples of various ores, and reef casings, and country rocks, collected b.v the Government Oeologisf, Mr McKay, some time ago when he. made a most exhaustive examination of the whole of the Hauraki Peninsula. The casual visitor may not fully estimate, the value of this exhibit, but from a geological point of view it a most interesting collection, and one that adds greatly to the completeness of the IMining Court.

THE ARMAMENT COURT. At the end of tlie annexe court is a space^measuring about GO feet long and 25 feet wide devoted to the display

of armament exhibits, artillery, small arms, projectiles, and submarine mine hekls. These military exhibits were supplied by the Defence Lepartment of the colony, some portions being sent up from Wellington by the s.s. Elingamite and the rest brought over from Ports Cautley and Takapuua. The guns, etc., were placed in position by members of the Nos. 1 and 2 Service Companies (Permanent Force) under the supervision of Captain Coyle and Sergeant-Majors Carpenter and. Pacey. Here is located an excellent collection of arms of all kinds for offence and defence, and the exhibits give a good idea of the defences at the chief ports of the cop ony, although of course the big 8-inch, 7-inch, and 6-inch guns on garrison mountings could not be shown. The first object that meets the visitor's eye is a gun with a long tapering barrel and an intricate breech, mounted on a field carriage, with limber. This is a G-pounder Nordenfeldt quickfiring gun capable of firing sixteen shots a minute . It was one of the field pieces which 'say service' at Hokianga during the Hone Toia scare there last May. Near it stands a smaller two-barrelled machine Nordenfeldt gun from the Auckland forts, which fires inch ammunition. There is also a Maxim gun on field carriage, a murderous machine gun which pours out a continuous stream of small bullets at the rate of six hundred a minute; and there are projectiles for all sorts and sizes of guns, from the 'big 8-inch rifles in Fort Cautley to fhe little rifle-bar-relled Nordenfeldt and Maxim; and there are cartridge, cases and segments of shells showing the interior and general appearance of shrapnel and common shell. In fhe sub-marine mining departement. there 1s a Whitehead torpedo, a bright shining object with a very pointed nose and bright brass-coloured twin screws, which can buzz round at 500 revolutions a minute, tn the head is put a charge of 70 lbs of gun-cotton fr- action; and in the rear portion is the machinery which propels it for some, nine hundred yards at arete of over twenty miles an hour. Pe;ond the torpedo are some red buoys, which are ground mines to protect flic entrance of our harbour, :i".d there is a buoyant or floating mire, a great darlc coloured buoy covered with knobby rivets. Tn all these mines are gun-cotton when they are charged, and a number of these magnets are banning here like small electrical batteries, with their red cases looking not unlike drain pipes.

Further on again the visitor will find the shutter (or electrical apparatus) which communicates from the shore with ihese suit-marine mines, and by means of which they are fired if necessary. This is from the- submarine mining station at the North Head.

The small-arms collection is a varied and interesting one. There are old flint muskets, including one of I7J18; there are rifles nf all dales aud makes, includiufr fhe Lancaster, Whiiworfh, Jacobs, Henry, Martini-Henry, Terry, Tranter. Snider and the htcs*. MarfiuiKnfield rifle used in New Zealand, Ti.ere are Terry. Spencer, MartiniHenry, and Colt's carbines; the old fnshioned percussion truns: all sorts of pistols from the old muzzle-lond-ing navy flint pistol and a Hint duelling pistol to the latest pattern of service revolver. Amongst the miscellaneous exhibits are a scimitar and scabbard, a boa rdintr- pike head, a runge-linder, and varieties of rifles and bayonets. Besides there tire racks and rows nf Snider rifles ("about sixty of which were sent nn here from fhe defence stores at Wellington), in addition to the more, modern MarfioiEnfield, and there are samples of am-

munition for every arm in the service

The Colonial Ammunition Company also show an excellent collection of their Auckland-made ammunition, and illustrate the various stages in the manufacture of cartridges.