AN EMPIRE ON SHOW.

Auckland Star, Volume 55, Issue 95, 22 April 1924, Page 4

AN EMPIRE ON SHOW.

April 23, the day that has been chosen for the opening of the greatest exhibition of the Empire's resources ever organised, is the day of St. George, the patron saint of England, which country, with all due deference to the "Celtic fringe," still exercises the dominant influence in the Empire. Also, though this will be remembered by fewer Britons, the day is the date of the birth and death of a man who is infinitely more important than St. George— Shakespeare. If St. George represents, the chivalry of England and the En_pi-«, Shakespeare represents the greatest contribution of the race to the imaginative achievement of mankind. In Shakespeare's day, spacious though it was, only the first stones of the foxmdation of the Empire oversea had been laid. To-morrow there will be opened a dazzling display of wealth and power by countries of whose very existence he was unaware. The British Empire Exhibition is a survey of the Empire, or Commonwealth, if the modern expression is preferred. It is more—it is a harvest of centuries of sowing. This idea is finely expressed in one of the two admirably produced special Empire Supplements that the "Christian Science Monitor," of Boston, recently published for the education of its world-wide public. "Britain's sons*.since Raleigh," says the introduction to nn article on the Exhibition, "have gone to the ends of the earth and planted there the flag of England. . . . They cleared and planted and built until a new world came into being—the world of Imperial Britain. And now, back over those deep-sea paths, there are coming the trophies of that contest. Britain has called for the fruits of its planting.' The sons of those first adventurers, laden with the tribute of an Empire, are returning to recoi_ the achievements of these centuries o* pioneering. And camps that have become great cities, outposts that have grown to Statehood, settlements that are Dominions, are preparing now, in England, to show the picture of that progress." The object of the Exhibition is to show the world, and especially the British world, what the Empire can do— what it is, what it can grow and make, what it has to offer to the manufacturer, the wacc-enmer, and the pleasure-seeker. Not only the immense range of its products will be on view, but there will be illustrated the variety of its climate and scenery and the differences between its peoples and their cultures. Never before, perhaps, it has been said, has so vast a territory—one-fourth of the whole world—been, so perfectly compressed into the area of one day's journey. The realisation of this dream of a display of and possibilities of the Empire was retarded by the Great War, but that struggle made the idea more popular. For the lesson of unity and interdependence that the war taught, made men Tcalise that in the interests of peace as well as of defence the parts of the Empire should be hetter known to one another. Tt came to be more clearly seen that the oversea Empire was capable of immense development; that the populations of the Dominions were small indeed compared with the size of the territories and their resources; that these countries were the best potential markets for British goods, and that the Empire could be so developed ns to supply its own requirements. With this better conception of the material possibilities of the Empire went a belief in its mission as an agent of good government and peace. The Empire, standine for freedom and international good faith, had withstood the gravest assault in its history. Would it not be a noble contribution to peace to strengthen the Empire, as a Lea<rue of Free Nations under one flan, .within the League of, Nations? The Exhibition is the greatest display of their wealth and power ever made by the members of the most potent commonwea Ith of nations in the world's history, and as such it is richf in significance not only to the Enslishman and the Australian, the Canadian and the Ne— _fr"»lxn-er, but to all mankind.,

After three days of glorious weather, the conditions changed yesterday, and heavy showers were experienced throughout the day and evening. Although no fall wa6 registered in the city until the afternoon, rain fell at Takapuna, Milford and other marine suburbs in the morning with the result that large numbers of would-be picknickers returned to Auckland before noon with garments and gear soaked. The weather to-day was fine but overcast, the atmosphere being muggy and uncomfortable. The baramoter steady, the reading at 9 a.m. to-day being 30.048 inches. During the past week candidates for admission to the Institution of Civil Engineers, London, have sat for the studentship and preliminary examinations at various centres in the Dominion, including Auckland. The papers, which were sent out from headquarters, will be examined in London, and the successful candidates will, after a further course of study, including practical work carried out under qualified civil engineers, be allowed to present themselves for the final examinations. The passing of these qualifies for election as associate members of the institution (Assoc. M.lnst.C.E.), a distinction of which the most eminent civil engineers have been proud to avail themselves, and which now entitles the holders to sign themselves chartered civil- engineers, a designation which none but corporate members of the institution may use. One amusing sidelight of. the impending 6trike of yesterday was the experience of city restaurants. Their midday custom was infinitesimal, but the evening meal was a record rush. Every eating house was crowded with travellers, who, loaded with baggage, endeavoured to get a meal and an early seat on the train. Needless to say, such a rush on a holiday was too great a tax on supplies, and one after another the items on the menu cards were declared "off." This did not deter the stream of patrons who clamoured for "something to eat." In some cases the "cupboard was bare," and even bread was a minus quantity. The more enterprising among the restaurant-keepers, however, gathered in their harvest by promptly baking batches of scones, and putting on the old stand-by, bacon and eggs, and, thus fortified internally, the stream of travellers were provisioned for their homeward flight. The Easter . bowling tournament, which began on a number of Auckland greens on Good Friday, reached the final stage to-day, when the winners of the various sections met on Auckland Club gr.een. In the first-year championship competition the Otahuhu team, skipped by Mr. D. Campbell, proved the winners. Some keen play was witnessed in the ' inter- | section contests this forenoon, and the games were watched by a large number of trundlers and their friends.' The condition of the Eapiti Island sanctuary, near Wellington, has markedly improved during the last two years, the Native Birds Protection Society reports. The trespassing animals have been almost got rid of, and only a few goats, 6heep, and opossums remain. The undergrowth, once greatly depleted, shows wonderful indications of recovery, and efforts are, it is understood, being made towards the total extermination of the destructive introduced animals. Sea birds and.blue herons freely nest on the coastal rocks, showing care is being taken that the sanctuary is respected, and the forest birds have increased satisfactorily. With continued energy this island, it is antieii pated, will demonstrate the recuperative power of New Zealand birds, and forests when animals are excluded and the inroads of fire avoided. Some little time ago it was mentioned that Hector Graj*, the well-known jockey, would be seen riding "over the sticks." Although he has not yet been seen riding over the obstacles by the i race-going public he was seen in a new role in Queen Street last night—doing his be3t to successfully negotiate a safety zone. Mr. Gray was driving his car along Queen Street about 9.30, when it skidded on the greasy surface, and to prevent collision with the verandah posts he hauled his car round and mounted the safety zone opposite the "Herald" office. Getting over the safety zone the car struck a centre pole, breaking the ironwork at the base. Comparatively little damage was sustained by the motor car, which was able to proceed on its journey. The extent of the work of the British and Foreign Bible Society, the aim of which is to bring the Bible within the reach of all peoples in all languages, will be brought home to the people of Wellington within the next few days by the visit of the senior secretary of the society, the Rev. Dr. J. H. Ritson, who arrived in the Dominion yesterday from Sydney. The main purpose of the society is to translate, revise, print, publish and circulate the Bible in all parts of the world. Last year it circulated 5,679,354 copies, five millions of which were placed by the society's own colporteurs. It is maintained by sales, contributions and legacies, which last year amounted to about f357,000. New Zealand plays its part in the work, for during 1923, besides maintaining itself and circulating copies of the Scriptures, the local branch sent to London the sum of £4820. Outside the actual missionary fields, the society is supplying millions of copies of the Scriptures annually to missions, Bible classes,' orphanages, prisons, hospitals, etc., all over the world, irrespective of denomination, and printed in about 550 different languages. . A shade of mystery surrounds the' admission of a man of somewhat elderly appearance to the Wellington hospital during the week-end. On Saturday night he was found lying outside the Home for the Aged Needy, and since then the hospital authorities have been unable to obtain any particulars as to his identity. The man is described as being tall and ■ well developed,, with a grey moustache and hair of a similar shade, and at the time of his admission he was wearing a shabby navy blue suit, grey iweed cap, black and white striped shirt, and black boots minus socks. He had in his possession a bag containing a joint of beef. He is presumed to be suffering from loss of memory. An American named Spawn visited Fiji some time ago and was hospitably treated. He had a considerable experience in dyhydration and evidently expected to do business in Fiji, but left for fresh 'fields, says our Suva correspondent. In the course of his travels he visited Norfolk Island and then Sydney, where he attacked Fiji and her bananas, and went so far as to say that the bananas from Norfolk Island were much superior to those from Fiji. It is evidently a ease of sour grapes. A Sydney paper, in referring to Mr. Spawn's visit, said that an old man in Norfolk had "discovered" the art of making "coffee" from dried bananas and hoped to make a fortune out of it. This coffee is an old story, md has been made in Fiji for many rears.