SYDNEY SHOW.

Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 87, 14 April 1941, Page 6

SYDNEY SHOW.

CITY WITHIN A CITY.

VISITORS ON CAMELS.

SYDNEY, April 10.

Oiicc. again the Showground, city within a city, has come to life for Sydney s I'ova 1 Easter Show, one of the world's great fairs. This year it is being held only by special arrangement with the military authorities, who have been using the showground as a camp, and it is known as the. lluyal Empire Show. This is not merely a matter of giving it a .new name; the title is justified by special displays on an exhibition scale by Britain, Canada, Fiji and other countries, and Fiji lias sent natives to act as attendants at its show.

The British Government's display, which is staged in the Commemorative Pavilion, is the result of years of planning. It cost £10,000, and cost the Ii.A.S. about £2000 in the erection of the

mechanical equipment and the two storey staging which contains it. Main feature 5s a huge detailed relief map of the world showing broadly the main physical features, countries and large cities. Tiny ships driven by electricity move across the seas, illustrating main British trade routes, and neon tithes mark out the world's main air routes. Surrounding this novel working map is a •'Cavalcade of Transport"—a remarkable collection of scale models showing the evolution of aeroplanes, locomotives, motor cars and ships, in each case from the first crude beginnings to the. latest streamlined modern example. The aeroplane models begin '"navigable balloon,"' which was to be rowed through the air with oars, and end with thei Mayo composite pick-a-back of '38. Locomotives begin with the Rocket and end with the L.N.K.R. streamlined flyer which does the run from London to Edinburgh in six hours. Motor cars start with the '"horseless carriage" of 1827 and end with Captain Eystou's Thunderbolt, which covered a Utah salt flat at 357.5 m.p.li. The shipping section begins with a coracle and ends with the Queen''Mary.

War Effort Display. Another feature of this year's show which also justifies its new title is an impressive display by the. Xavv, Arinv and 1i.A.A.1-. of Australian war equipment. The background consists of huge photographic murals depicting H.M.A's. Sydney in action, A. 1.1". troops advancing over the Western desert and munition workers toiling at lathes and furnaces. The motive of the. display is a huge Vectorial sign headed "For the freedom they lost and the freedom we defend." Dominated by a huge photograph of Mr. Churchill, it depicts the miseries of Europeans under the dictators and ends with the words: "This is why w e are at war." The display contains a sample of almost everything in war supplies that Australia is now manufacturing—anti-aircraft and antitank guns, Bren guns, artillery, shells and much naval equipment, although.

of course, it can hardly include sample* of the naval ships which Australia is building. Australia's new aeroplane manufacturing industry is also well represented. Two interesting feature* are a sectional working model of the £3,000,000 naval dock construction which lias begun at Sydney, and a working model of the dc Gaussing apparatus for neutralising magnetic mines. A light tank is also 011 display. A third prominent feature of the Royal Kmpire Show is a new idea in fashion presentation—the Temple of Beauty. This has been built in theManufacturers' Ilall in two sections. One is a theatre seating 2500 people and the other a series of courts for a remarkable range of displays covering all feminine interests, 'i'rie displays include an ideal Australian home with a facade of glass bricks, flat roof and interior patio with fountain; a cookery theatrette holding 400 people; an ideal garden complete with lisli pond, lawns, flower beds and trees, and an artificial swimming beach seene with a liujae glass and concrete tank in which girls give swimming and beach fashion displays. The main feature of this Temple of Beauty, however. is the Stairway of Beauty on which 12 girls, selected after exhaustive competition, give mannequin displays of everything down to the innermost garmc.nt. '1 liese displays are not open to men. For the children whom mothers may wish to leave somewhere while they inspect the Temple, the famous "Kiddies' Korner'' in Hyde Park, London, with itiS statue, of Peter Pan, has been constructed. In the background are Walt Disney characters and a gingerbread cottage lifted from Grimm's Fairy Tales.

1400 Mile Camel Trip. Two of the most interesting visitors to the show are Dick Wilton Halgh and his mate, Mr. J. Cummins, who have comet 1400 miles on camels to see it. They parked their four camels in a farmer's paddock on the outskirts of Sydney at the week-end. Next day Mr. Halgh came to town and received r a telegram from his mate saying that hehad had to shift the camels because they had frightened the farmer's horses, and had found another paddock quite handy —Hi miles away. The two visitors left their station 100 miles from Alice Springs 15 days ago and travelled via Mount Broun (Queensland), Barwon River, Namoi River, Walgett, Coonamble. Coonabarabran and Baradine.

On their station they live principally 011 damper and meat. Having had no lish for years. Mr. ITalgh said he was going to cat nothing else, while he was in Sydney. Once a year they go to Adelaide for store*. Mr. Halgh has not been in Sydney for 3o years, and has now soon lii<= first film, "Gone With the Wind."' "My place is called 'Struggle.?,' and it lias been a long struggle," he said. ""My wife died 40 years ago from shock after we were burned out one night. Our only child died with her.''