EMPIRE EXHIBITION.

Press, Volume LXI, Issue 18342, 27 March 1925, Page 10

EMPIRE EXHIBITION.

♦ THE NEW ZEALAND PAVILION.

GENERAL REARRANGEMENT.

(from ora ovrs cobeespoxdbxt.) LONDON, February 6. It is rather a pathetic experience to walk through the grounds and courts of the British Empire Exhibition at. the present time. Many of the flowering shrubs and the more tender trees have be%n spirited away for the winter. All the' New Zealand plants have gone from the front of the pavilion. They will, of course, be replaced after the frosts. The silence that broods over everything is in striking contrast to the activity of a few months ago. Nevertheless, there are many hundreds of workers about during the day. but so great is the extent of the Exhibition city that they seem but an insignificant handful. Eoads are being consolidated, footpaths are being improved, and the buildings are being repaired. The grounds are perfectly tidy, and though there is a deserted aspect about the place, it is not that of something dead and forgotten, but rather that of something resting and gaining energy for a further and greater • effort. Inside the New Zealand Pavilion there is work going on. There are numbers of huge packing-cases lying about. Deer heads are covered, everything is dismantled, but the offices are just as they were during the Exhibition, and there are enough structural alterations in the eourta to give an indication of what to expect when the Exhibition opens again. After talking over the plans with Mr A. F.Roberts one is thoroughly convinced that no New Zealander will have anything to complain of this year. The New Zealand Pavilion will do the Dominion credit.

The secondary industries court will be re-arranged completely. The wool exhibit will remain in the centre, but the triangular show-cases will be taken away. In their plaees will be four artistically designed selling kiosks. The kiosks have been designed by Mr A. E. Fraser (the New Zealand sculptor). On one side is the semi-circular counter, with space behind for pacEng the goods. On the other side of the kiosk are glass cases for displaying the woollen goods, and other manufactures. Butter, honey, tinned goods, and postcairds will be sold at these four kiosks. Specialised Bays. For the rest of the exhibits in this section of the' Pavilion they will all bo shown in bays arranged round the four walls. There is the bay devoted to seeds and agricultural produce, the furniture bay, the machinery bay, the fur bay, and the timber bay. The outer surface of the partitions forming the timber bay will be covered with roughhewn logs, the inside of the walls b y the greater lengths of New Zealand planking. A. number of large paintings illustrating the industry will be placed at the back, and framed with New Zealand wood. In the bay itseL will be the selected short lengths and the specimens of the more valuable ornamental timbers. # Then there will be the mineral ana kauri-gum bay. In a case at the back of the bay will be a collection of gum lent by Sir Arthur .M. Myers. In the middle of the bay the commercial dist>lav of gum will be placed. The minerals will be s<?t round e wa " s > and just out from the bay will be another kiosk for the sale of ornaments. A large bay will be devoted to the display and sale of fruit. At the back of this is one of the emergency doors, so that the enterprising salesmen may this year do their unpacking outside and 'keep the interior tidy. Two of the triangular show-cases previously used foT wool will be placed in the fruit bay, and jams and cereal foods will be shown in them. Next to the fruit will be the sports bay. All round- the walls the stags heads will be grouped. Cases containing the New Zealand birdA will be set at the back. Fish will be shown at the sides, and in the front there will be two eases containing sword-fish. Finally, three will be two small bays on the wall backing the main hall, for leather and for hemp. One of the advantages of the bay system is that a great number of the steel pillars have been absorbed in the partitions. New office accommodation has been built next to tlie 'information bureau to enable the room which was previously used for an office to be appropriated for a kitchen handy to the large reception room. The Dominion at a Glance. In deciding to follow in the footsteps of other Dominions and to endeavour to give the millions of visitors a lasting impression of the physical features of New Zealand, Mr Roberts and his staff have been wise. There is no better way of giving the general public a lasting mental picture of the Dominion than by means of panoramic scenes. No country in the world has better material to work on, and even at this early stage one can safely prophesy that these panoramas will be one of the most interesting features of the whole Exhibition. The models have been made, and one needs little imagination to gain some idea of the largescale work. Mr A. E. Fraser and Mr J. F. Scott (a New Zealand artist of considerable ability and experience) are co-operating in ..this work. Immediately on entering the main hall, the visitors will have a clear view to the other end, where will be seen a glimpse of typical New Zealand bush, with a real waterfall in action. Through the bush spectators will look out on to a vista of cleared hill country. In the main hall, too, there will be what is called a diarama of each of the four chief cities.

The primary products mil be shown, | of course, in the same refrigerated i cases, but everything else has been cleared from the primary-product court I to make way for the panoramas. Here there will be sis, illustrating some of the more famous scenic features of the Dominion. Mt. Cook, with the Hermitage in the foreground, is to be modelled from a photograph taken from the top of Mi Annette. Thia will show the Hooker Glacier in the middle picture, Mt. Cook and Mt. Sefton on the left, and to the right of Mt. Cook a series of well-known peaks. Waitomo Caves will be excellently portrayed. The scene is a composite one taken from several photographs, and incorporating many features of the underground Wonderland, including the river and the glow-worns. On© of the most beautiful reaches of the "Wanganui river is a subject which lends itself to most effective work, as does a glimpse of Milford Sound. The water and the reflections in both these cases will be exploited to the full. All four modelg of these scenes are moat attractive, an<? the completed work with lighting effects should be a pleasure to see. Certainlv the artists are throwing themselves wholeheartedly into the work. The Thermal District. Chief panorama of all, and the largest, will illustrate the Thermal Dis-

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trict. Although this is taken for tho .most part from the actual scene a little adjustment has had to be made. One will see a magnificent view of the Lakes, Tarawera and Itotomahana, with fifty miles of the hill country beyond. This is a copy of the picture seen from one of the peaks near Botorua. The foreground in actual lite would naturally be the rocks of a hilltop. A compromise is made, however, by making the foreground a composite model of some features of Whakarewarewa. There will be boi®sg springs, and working geysers, a number of Maori whares, an imitation of a small White Terrace, natives at their normal occupations, and even some natives enjoying a bath in one of the warm pools. The length of this scene is to be 50ft, the depth 25ft, and the proscenium 25ft. Artificial light is necessary for the refrigerated show cases, and artificial light is also necessary for all the panoramas. Hence tins primary industries court will b£ illuminated throughout the day by electricity, ihe natural light being excluded. The representation of the thermal district will be placed at the extreme end of the court. A New Zealand Club. Last year New Zealand visitors had permission to use the handsome recep-tion-room, but this fact was not generally realised. This year it is intended that the reception-room shall be used as a New Zealand Clnfi, where I>ominion visitors may rest and take their friends. Tea will be made in the room adjoining, and morning-tea and afternoon-tea witb some plain food will be procurable. This should be a greatly appreciated innovation. The Club will, of course, have nothing at all to do with the restaurant, arrangements for the carrying on of which are now the subject of careful attention .and enquiry.