AT THE EXHIBITION

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1141, 31 May 1911, Page 5

AT THE EXHIBITION

KING GEORGE'S APPRECIATION.

ATTENDANCES KEEPING UP.

BOWLING IN THE STADIUM,

The following message has been receiv•ed by his Excellency Lord Islington, and was forwarded by him to the ActingPrime Minister (the Hon. James Carroll) :-

His Majesty the King commands me to request you to express to the citizens of Wellington his appreciation of their loyal sentiment, and his wishes for s«cce:s of Exhibition. HAHCOUET.

The Acting-Prime Minister sent the message to Mr. Thomas Balhnger, the Chief Commissioner of the Exnibition. The message is a reply to that sent to the King on the opening clay ot the Exhibition, advising his Majesty of the opening of the Exnibitiou, stating that it is the most representative and complete Industrial Exhibition yet held in this country and assuring his Majesty of New Zealand's continued loyalty to the Throne. Tho wet weather continues, and as a consequence the attendances are not so large as they would be were the sun shining by day and the stars by night. Still, no one is downhearted at the Exhibition—the dominant noto is one of cheery geniality from the Commissioners down to the small girl assistants in the stalls. It is a good Exhibition and they alt manage to have a very good time on the whole. Among the most persistent salespeople in the show are the vendors of ruby glassware.who meet one at every turn. , "Engrave your name, sir; only a shilling!" asks a bright girl holding a rubycoloured mug under one's nose, and it seems almost rude to refuse. Besides they are pret,ty and cheap souvenirs of tho Exhibition and their colour reflects the warm glow that affects most people on visiting the pnjace of light on Waterloo "Other specialities peculiar to the Exhibition are glass-bead bangles, chean "microscopes, and gold-wire trinkets which make a gay show under the brilliant lights. One stall is devoted to the display'and sale of shell-work boxes arid ornaments, arranged with wonderful ingenuity and taste. In another lollymaking is in progress—nice lolly it is, Moving pictures are to be exhibited in the Coronation Theatre this afternoon. The innovation should not be an unwelcome one to visitors to the Exlnbi- ' Captain Stopford. of H.M.S. IWer, was among the visitors to the Exhibition yesterday. He exoressed himself, pleased with the display from first to last. TURNSTILE FIGURES. Up till 10 o'clock last night the number of people who had passed through tho turnstiles at the Exhibition was 18 2 ,7 3 The number who passed through yesterday was 2351. A big attendance ie expected to-day on account of the weekly half-holiday. THE ART GALLERY. ■■AN INTERESTING COLLECTION. • The Art Gallery is well worth a visit. It is- a great joy to renew acquaintance with some of the late John Gully s fine water-colours, so delicately coloured, so atmospheric, and marked by such admirable draughtsmanship. Gully's work as a water-colourist has never been approached by any other New Zealand artists, and an effort might be made by the Council of the New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts to secure a specimen for its permanent collection. • Another dead artist well represented is- J:- ~M. Nairn, whoso draughtsmanship and lively colour-sense were seldom at fault. Inere is a verv fine sample of his work in a sunset view of Evans Bay (taken from somewhere , in the -vicinity'"of. Martin Bav), with soft shadows glooming the near water, and the departing sun bathin" the Miramar hills with a few vagrant clouds beyond in a roseate.- light. It is a beautiful mVoJ\\vortt, oi great -value to students. ■ . '~,'-, There are several portraits which show good workmanship and fair insight into this most difficult form of art. One of the bes? is of the late Mr. D. M. Luckie, and another is that of Mr. Barraud. There are also portraits of the Hon. 1. W. Hislop and his father (hung side by side). Mr.- A. T. Bate has contributed liberally to the gallery from his excellent collection. His pictures will be noticed in detail as soon as the catalogue (now being prepared) is issued. Mr. H. M. Gore's painting of a bit of S»verslream adorns one of the bays, and there are several of D. K. Richmond's paintings moro remarkable for iheir weirdness of method rather than for their truth to nature. Miss Hodijkiiis'.s work has a touch of the eerie in it that makes its appeal to the artistic somewhat doubtful in instances. Gco. Butler's well-known figure of the bather—a study in anatomical painting—is "on the line," and there are good samples of Miss AVarn's excellent work on the scrim walls. In a corner was noticed an excellent water-colour sketch by Signor Nerli (at one time of Hydney, now of Eome)--ancient stone cottages (and steps leading to them) in Southern Italy. Professor Loria, a Neapolitan artist, is represented by a nice bit of clean, well-drawn coloursome work —the sea from Naples.

The last bay in the Art Gallery is devoted to the entries for the photographic competition. Here are some really excellent products of the camera in mezzotints various. The harvesting scones are very fine, as are also some views of the big railway bridges, north and south. One study of kittens and another of a family of pups aro good to look upon. All the photographs are not yet hunt;, but there are enough on show already to indicate that the task of the judge's (Messrs. 31. Euss and Higginbottom) will bi/ nu sinecure

An exhibit of interest to natives of Wellington is the display of photographs of old Wellington that is being made bv Mr. Henry Masters, the possessor of a valuable lot of negatives of the late Sir. Wm. Bragge. Among them are good photographs of the old Wtsleyaii Church, which stood opposite, "the the Opera House in Manners Sheet in Hie 70's, and was destroyed by fii-e. The photograph shows a corner of the cattle saleyards of Jiessrs. Bethuiie and Hunter, formerly located on the site of the present. Opera House and Bank of New Zealand. There are also general views of the city taken from 30 to <f0 years ago—full of interest to those whose memory goes back'to Wellington's knickerbocker'days. THE WEATHER PROPHET. AND HIS PARAPHERNALIA. . One of the most interesting corners in tho. Exhibition is that occupied by the Meteorological Department's display, wherein are disclosed to the layman the paraphernalia of the weather prophet, the Kev. D. C. Bates. With the development and perfection of the instruments of science, added to n complete- system of information from every centre, meteorology is becoming a more or less exact science, though it can never be mathematically safe till the science of telegraphy and an indulgent Treasury make it possible for the meteorologist, sitting in his oilice, to have at hand reliable data covering the weather comlilons all over tho globe. Alrpad.v, with limited information,- it is possible to invest the prophet's prognostications with considerable probability, though courageous inferences, as distinct from mathematical conclusions based upon incontrovertible data, aro still a major factor in his daily routine. An intelligent inspection of the meteorological bay in the Exhibition gallery affords an instructive insight to the work of tho Department. From the scientific point of view, the most important items in the collection are tho charts—the surrounding instruments arc merely the means to tho end—and these are worthy of more than n passing nate. First, there is a large chart, showing the mean annual rainfall of the Dominion, coloured according to the variations of the fall in the different localities, and pointing to the indisputable fact that Central Otago is the driest spot in New Zealand, while the county

on the other side of the Alps is flic wettest. Central Otago .shows . under 20 inches of lain, while over on the humid West. Coast the fall is over 100 inches. Last year wa> a very dry one, a» n M'purato chart shows.

Three next caleli the eye. The iirst. show-, the ramifications of the storm of April 2S last, a westerly disturbKiieo which so di.-orgmiistvl (he normal condition of the atmosphere that while tho North Island basked in comparative Hiushine, the South experienced rain, snow, and fierce ."-outhcrlies. Tho second chart shows tho course of the storm centre, which appeared off East Cape on April 111. This disturbance, in ronlrast with the storm of April 28, behaved in an exactly opposite manner; southerly winds and rain visitvd the North Island, while the South Island experienced dry weather. Chart So. IS shows a condition of fair weather generally, with a low pressure approaching from the north. These three charts represent what may be tennrd the dominant features of New Zealand weather.

The meteorological instruments are very interesting, the collection including a sunshine recorder, an'anemometer (for recording the velocity of the wind for 21 hours), various "wet" and "dry" thermometers, a "Stevenson's screen," for taking shade temperatures, standard barometers, a frost: recorder, .rain-gauge, barograph (for denoting the weight ,of the atmosphere); and a thermograph, a delicate instrument for recording the rite and fall of temperature. The display is well worth an intelligent and careful inspection. '

THE ENGLISH PIERROTS. Tho English Pierrots are gaining in popularity with every performance and last evening saw a very numerous audienco present who thoroughly enjoyed themselves. The public are not, perhaps, aware that the Pierrots are constantly changing their programmes, not in toto, but each artist substitutes new encore items nearly every evening, which freshen up the entertainment even to those who have- already seen this satisfying little show. Last evening dainty Elsa Langley. with Messrs. Dakin, Turner, 'and Chapman, introduced a quaint littlo musical sketch which might" be called "Choosing a, Husband," in which some excellent comedy business was introduced, Mr. llaynard Dakin was in good form last evening, and evoked much laughter with his song, "Why Don't They Write Songs About Father?" and his nursery rhymes up to date. The entertainment will be repeated this evening.

MOVING PICTURES. Messrs. Thomas and Dakin have arranged to inaugurate their continuous picture show at 3 o'clock this afternoon, 'die windows of the Coronation Theatre have been darkened, and the conditions appear to be quite ideal for the display of kinematograph pictures, which in the rush of sight-seeing should be a restful innovation. A good programme has been arranged, including many films not seen in Wellington before. The iugiish Pierrots will perform as usual at night. BOWLING TOURNAMENT. Section Finals. The following games were played last evening:— Miller beat Sloane, 26—7. Brackenridge beat Miller, 17—7. Williamson beat Norwood, ID—IC. Grey beat Ferguson, 25—18. Roberts beat Jones, 12-11. Semi-Finals. The semi-finals will N be played in the Stadium to-morrow (Thursday) evening, commencing at 7.3 p. The following games have beeii drawn, .to be played that evening:— ■ . . . ••.:'■' Gray plays Williamson; Brackenridgo plays Roberts. .' ' The result of this draw will be that the final will be 'fought out between Newtown and a Kelburne team. The final will be played on Friday evening, when ladies will be admitted to the Stadium free of charge. SPORTS TO-NIGHT. A good deal of interest is being manifested in "the sports meeting, which is to take place in the' Stadium this evening. The entries are quite satisfactory, aud the attendance promises to be a large one. Among those to be present are: ■'•She Act-ing-Prime Minister (the Hon. James Carroll), and the Mayor (Mr. T. M. Wilford). The programme includes a 50yds. race for hockey and lacrosse players, a twomile handicap, 1J miles handicap walk, a one-mile skating race, a half-mile slow, bicycle race, and a potato and bucket race. A string band will be in attendance. The sports will commence promptly at 8 p.m. As the seating accommodation is limited spectators are asked to come as early as possible. Entries close to-day for the tennis tournament to be held in the Stadium on Saturday starting at 10 a.m. Play will begin early as it is a holiday (King's birthday). There will be bowling as well as tennis in the evening. The attraction for Thursday, evening will be skating. There will be a mile race to brighten the proceedings.