TRAFALGAR CENTENARY.

Auckland Star, Issue XXXVI, 21 October 1905, Page 7

TRAFALGAR CENTENARY.

PATBIOTiC I_^_--^AIN__ENTS. 3000 CSILDBEN AT THE DEILL HALL. The day continued fine for the cele'taation of Trafalgar Centenary yesterdar after vie went to press, and in every wav as * patriotic celebration it \va3 a access. 1 H addition to the eventß at • rt« Metropolitan Ground recorded yes- ' trtday, cheers were givien on the call of L Mayor for tbe King, and then, «hen the 'signal had fallen fluttering to L ground, the British and French en.,ij_J were hoisted to the yard arms ' sinniltaneously, the brigade saluted and vjjg Mayor called for cheers for "our «T m friends, the French," which were riven with enthusiasm. Then the armed - marched .out with the Garrison Band at its head, the Prometheus crew opening u p to absorb the naval veterans . their midst—a compliment the crowd !.'. noticed with pleasure. Down Shortlandgtreet and along Queen-street they and '. A*/cadets marched in imposing array, "jnd-the event described in part yester4ay and in remainder below took place. The Trafalgar centenary celebratfons' commencing with the hoisting of ' sd* oll ' 3 signal in the Metropolitan Ground, were continued yesterday afternoon at the Drill Hall, Rut-land-street, where quite 3000 children from the elementary schools gathered at the patriotic entertainment arranged hy the Centenary Committee. When the doors of the hall were opened, there was a sudden overwhelming invasion of the seats "by cheering happy children, who impatiently waited for the opening item on the programme. with the brilliant capacity for mischief inherent in youth, a few minutes' ■wait was occupied by many of the children hi making grotesque shadows the limelight operator's screen. With '. ,'ffoite 3000 children crammed into the building the heat became much too un- ' comfortable, and the occupants of the

plationn, especially the Mayor in furedged robes, must have longed for the coqt treeze outside. The "Mayor (Mr M, Myers) was supported on tie platform by Captain Wooleombe, of H.M.S. Prometheus, Colonel Davies

(of&eer commanding the district), Col. hoyefcy. (officer in charge of the cadets), the Revs. C. H. Garland, J. A; Luxford, Rabbi Goldstein, Messrs W. JR. Waters (hon. secretary of the Centenary Committee), H. C. Tewaley, L. J. BsgnahV G. L. Peacocke, P. E. Cheal, aid W. B. Leyland.

Owing to the unwieldy size of the gathering it was with difficulty that a hearing for the Mayor's opening speech could be secured. As the limelight news and. cinematograph pictures which ioUowed were not under the disadvantage of requiring silence, this part of the programme went off with a fair amount oi success, though quite 25 per cent, of the children present could not see the screen. Nelson's birthplace and many incidents in his career were shown, and the modern invention of animated photography was called into requisition tven to depict a lively representation #f the famous naval fight of a century Igo. Mr Abel Rowe effectively sang •the Death of Nelson," and another display of pictures followed. About 4 a'clock, when the cinematograph ceased and Mr Tewsley was called upon to speak, the cadets numbering quite a thousand, who had been. ; marshalled where they could see very "little. of the pictures, unanimously decided that the fresh'air outside was preferable, and their departure caused so much noise that pr&gress with the speech was impossible. Mr Tewsley wisely decided not to make the attempt, and the Mayor prematurely closed the entertainment by leading in the singing of the Miiohal Anthem. The majority of the children, who had passed a fairly pleasant afternoon, joined heartily in the singing,