NATIVE WOODS DISPLAY

Press, Volume LXXV, Issue 22895, 16 December 1939, Page 17

NATIVE WOODS DISPLAY

A Tour of the Centennial Exhibition (SPECXAIXT -WHITTEN EOH THE PRESS.) [By R. B. FAJ^QUHAR.]

Sthe Dominion court of the Centennial Exhibition, “the largest •diorama ever built in the world,” Wlent use has been made of the Aground spaces created by the flding up of hills and mountains. are located the provincial region rooms of both islands. Those tile North are under Mount Eg®t and Tongariro, and those of * South are under Mount Cook, . Southland, which is on top lit 4-tour down and round revealed South Islanders take consider-

able pride in the wealth and beauty of our native woods. The Canterbury room was' first visited. It is an attractive place with its walls panelled in several named varieties of native woods, prepared and dressed by a Canterbury firm. Interspersed are murals of Canterbury cities and scenes. Its comfortable chairs, chesterfields, smokers’ outfits, and tables piled with literature, including Christchurch newspapers, make it a desirable halting place. It was proudly pointed out by the attendant that the much-admired bowls of roses were from a Christchurch garden. The visitors’ book has been signed by many Christ-

church holiday makers, but members of the farming community are not expected to be in force till Easter Across the way in the smaller Westland room the first thing noted was a handsome show table of polished totara knot from a Westland forest. All the furniture is from Westland timbers, and round the wall lean whole and split logs against prepared panels of the same timbers. These include several kinds of beech, rimu, kawhaka, matai, and mottled yellow pine; on display was an unusually lovelv piece of wavy silver birch polishoc to high degree. A collection of walking-sticks cut from the bush is sure to create interest, but would look more effective if it were hand-polished instead of varnished. On the walls are many pictures and photographs of Westland’s beautiful alpine scenery, with some quite good studies of birds and flowers by secondary school children. Visitors take much interest in the photographs of the superintendent and members of the first provincial council, among them R. J. Seddon. The spacious Southland room is furnished and panelled wholly in Southland beech with architraves and skirting in Southland rimu. The

mounted head of a large bull moose dominates one end of the room. After seeing so much native timber displayed the visitor finds it interesting to note a great round slab of rimu knot, of remarkable beauty of grain, fastened to a pillar in the Dominion court; but the woods in all their perfection of grain are best seen to advantage in the display made by the Returned Soldiers’ Association in the general industries court. Mottled kauri, wavy rimu, totara knot, pukatea, rewa-rewa, ngaio, puriri, tutu, hihau, ake ake, taupata, and beeches, wavy and mottled and knotted, all show their beauty in remarkable pieces of symmetrical inlay, the, specialised work of a Wellington member. It will be found interesting to compare and contrast our woods with those of Canada, Samoa, Fiji, and Australia, all of which have a display. That of Australia is most comprehensive and artistic.