EXHIBITION COURTS

Dominion, Volume 19, Issue 46, 18 November 1925, Page 7

EXHIBITION COURTS

BRITISH GOVERNMENT’S DISPLAY A PAGEANT OF EMPIRE CANADA SUPPLIES A FEATURE By Telegraph—Press Association. Dunedin, November 17. A pageant of Empire, dignity, repose and graciousness, are characteristics of the Imperial court at the exhibition. It is not a mart; there is nothing for. sale. It is an elegant suite of chambers in which past and present doings of the Empire are brought to view pictoriallv. The Imperial Government has behaved bountifully in equipping and furnishing the court, and Captain Graham and his aides have carried the scheme through with refined taste. The visitor must be impressed with the liberality of the space. The items are fewer than in a merchant court, but all are rare and choice and distinctive, some being beyond price. The court is not quite ready in all its details. Two of the chambers as yet sealed are reserved for army and air force exhibits which could not leave Wembley until the exhibition there finallv closed, and of the eight large friezes depicting the history of the Empire Irom the landing of the Romans, three are vet on the way out. These delayed goods are expected to arrive next month. Meanwhile, their absence u not made a secret of, nor is there any attempt at temporary makeshifts, lhe colour scheme of the court is soberly rich, and the designing is on broad lines that are majestic rather than merely pretty. Everything is uncommon—the quaint looking lamps remindful of past centuries, partitions suggesting ancient buttresses, and stands of pikes and suits of armour recalling Hastings and Crecy. Thinking men and women will linger over their inspection of the gallery that is set apart for a portrayal of the rise and progress of England’s sea power. This at present is in the form of an ocean panorama showing representations of ships that harried the Spanish Armada. Each vessel is named and identifiable by historians, and to each is appended a narrative of its doings in the great fight. These models were made for Wembley, but not shown there They were put aside in favour of another Lt of models of all types of war vessels from the days of Alfred down to the 1925 Hood, this set of ships is now on its way to Dunedin, and will replace Drake s fleet in the course of a month or two. . Intense interest is already shown in another Empire novelty. On a large sunken pool floates" a mercator’s projection map of the world. Electrically driven mechanism propels tiny steam ships on .the various routes. Bv a most ingenious arrangement several components of the Empire are by night coloured red in turn. lhe pictorial effect is peculiarly satisfying. The water is dyed black so as to hide the machinery. . , Another feature of tire Imperial display is a collection of rare originals of expensive costumes that were fashionable in past centuries. One of the silk dresses dates from 1780. Unique examples of roval and corporation plate are also set up in locked glass cases for the delight of antiquarians. Reproductions in miniature of railway locomotives make a special. display. George Stephenson’s engine is there, and the successive improvements upon it, until the eye is brought to the enormous locomotives now operating. These things are not toys, but actual replicas of models. Pleasing memories attend an inspection of Dickens’s old curiosity shop on a large scale. One can walk into it. The structure is faithful even to the crankiness of the place as it is known now, and the windows are dressed as D.ickens saw them.

CANADIAN COURT A visit to the Canadian court discloses something to challenge admiration. The elder Dominion’s magnificent contribution to its younger cousin’s enterprise comes as a hearty hand-clasp. Canada supplied adequate funds and sent capable men to direct its representation, and the outcome is a great feature of _ the exhibition. Readiness in meeting difficulties marked the doings of the Canadians from the day they arrived. Mr. J. O. Turcott, acting-commissioner and architect, declared confidently that his court would be ready a week before the opening, and Mr. D. M. Ross, the commissioner, can point to a verification of that promise. The doings in the 27,000 square feet of space allotted to Canada in the forepart of the No. 4 building have stimulated the representatives of other courts to hasten on their work. A few little things have yet to arrive, but nobody sees any blanks anywhere. Entering the golden gates of . this court, which cost £lOO each, the visitor hears the noise of rushing water, and looking ahead gets a glimpse of the Rocky Mountains. The panorama of this mountain ’ range is impressive ! n daylight, and more so when lit at night bv 650 electric lamps, that disclose heights under all succeeding conditions of light from dawn to sunset. The waterfall is a real cascade on the greatest scale ever put into any exhibition, discharging at least 10,000 gallons per minute. Between 200 and 300 real trees are in position, real sods are there, and visitors get the aromatic odour of pines. Tile public will also be much pleased with the magnificent series of coloured photographs which as transparencies depict the life of Canada and its great natural resources. They are not imaginative pictures, but actual products of the camera, and, in addition, enlarged photographs are placed in all available positions about the walls. A more elaborate advertisement could not be planned for any country. All the structural trusses cf the court are hidden by some artistic or useful device. Canada is strong in manufactures, and it needs a book to describe all that are here displayed. No fewer than fifty-three exhibitors are represented in this section of the court. Their goods include paper, fur, candy, chocolate, tires, motors, kitchen equipment, electric appliances, locomotives, pianos, phonographs, steel products, carbide, agricultural implements, varnishes, paints, boots and shoes, leather goods, textiles, wool, roofing, paper, salt, canned fruits and fish, and a great lot of tilings representing the timber industry. These are but some of the headings in a most comprehensive collection. The Canadian _ Government lias sent a very fine exhibit of minerals. Aliout a dozen bison heads are adorning this court, and stuffed bears and other representations of Canadian game are also to be seen. It is a court to linger in.

NEW ZEALAND SECONDARY INDUSTRIES No. 6 building is occupied to the last inch with a display of New Zealand secondary industries. A preliminary look round sets one inquiring whether anv of them are in default, and persons who have put the question can find, if thev knouj of whom to inquire, that only three or font lines of our

secondary products have failed to seize this opportunity of advertising. io effect the bringing together ot tins vast collection of merchantable goods is a great credit to the Dunedin Manufacturers’ Association, which body organised and is controlling the couit, and visitors are already heartily acknowledging the efforts in that direction of Mr. James Hogg (chairman of the association), and all associated with him in the colossal undertaking. Most of the structures are wood ’ ra, .”’!’R s various designs, manv of distnictivc beautv. Three are of brick, and these are worthy of a palace. One, constructed of cement, has the £ la ”' l « I '- of a temple. Sonic of the wooden (tamings are covered with 11011 ' 1 ” ni ,' inable plaster board. Not much has been left to hick in the desigmg and development of this court, nor part of the big exhibition, but k stroke of good.fortune that gjwe the lead in stand designing to t"” 0 firms who could command the monci and find the men to se erections. The standard being set loftily, nobody has. followed on ,a shabby scale, and visitors are deeply impressed with the pieturesqueness and elegance of what may be styled the shopping centre. The S e «« a r l q 4 isp of taste goes far to counteract the crowding of exhibits. 1 IOU Sv Q th P are ten aisles and six cross walks, the floor is really as fully occupied as h can be. Anything like or niggardliness on the part of. cxlnb tors would have made interior look commonplace, but as it is v . something to admire at each turn. The number of exhibitors m the secondary industries court proper 1i 130. Then there ii the southern l’ orl^' a °' the court allotted to New ' > manufacturers who are . also f .®S cn .‘ s overseas firms. 1 Inrty-fhc is the count of such exhibitors Ihe line between them is a PPF°l , . riatc J Y e cupied by the massive display °f the Dominion Eederuted t ark exhibits range from logs with. the ba k on up to highly finished timber pucii as joiners’ and cabinetmakers’ work. THE GOVERNMENT’S COURT

A court that will undoubtedly a tt both New Zealanders a P d / ls * t0 G o outside is the New. Zealand Govern ment court, which is situated 11 central group of buildings behind the overseas Dominions’ pavilion. Here are housed the exhiibts of a ev e nte eu D £ - partments of State, viz., ’ Census and Statistics, Defence. Government Astronomer, Health Industries and Commerce, Internal Affairs, Labour, Lauds and Survey, Mines, 1 ost and Telegraph. Printing and Statonery, Prisons? Public Works, State Porests, Tourist and Publicity The Go Y® rnn is also represented by the. Education Department’s exhibit in pavilion No.. 4, and by the Navy and Railways, machinery exhibit in pavilion No. 6. It is confidently asserted, and the claim. 18 backed by the opinions of men of wide exhibition experience, that this display by the New Zealand Government constitutes in scope and magnificence, a record in Australasian Government representation. While the object of the Government has been to demonstrate the functions and worth of various State Departments—and an inspection of the court certainly shows that this, object has been attained—it does not claim to have set out to make a spectacular show. Yet there is not the slightest doubt that the display is one to which not only residents of the Dominion but visitors from'abroad will be attracted. One of the many special features of this court is the establishment of a General Post Office, at which all the conveniences usually found in a central post office are at the disposal of the public. This includes a toll telephone system, and a long distance telephone. The provision- of a kinema for . the screening of New Zealand and British Empire films will also be appreciated bv the public. The bulk of the films have been prepared by the Publicity Department and deal with all phases of New Zealand life. These screenings, all free, take place daily, mornings and evenings. Then again there is a fine range of films Supplied by the British Eederation of Industries, and these will be screened at regular, intervals for the information of the public. But, after all, these are merely side shows. The big features of the display are the departmental exhibits, the artistic decorations, and the general lay-out of the court, which, by the way, covers an area of 52,000 square feet. The decorative scheme is of' the national colours, red, white and blue, and is carried out throughout the pavilion with pleasing effect. A general post and rope design has been adopted for enclosing the stands and exhibits, while a Maori frieze runs around the entire court. All the sections are numbered, and the avenues are named after New Zealand mountains. The main avenue, which is named Aorangi Avenue, is one of the broadest and most imposing in the exhibition.

- Comfortable, artistic, and in every way inviting is the Ministerial reception room. A striking feature in regard to this is that every article in the room has been made in New Zealand, and of New Zealand timber, with the exception of, perhaps, 10 per cent, of the material, which is of timber from other parts of the British Empire. Not an inch of it is of foreign workmanship or foreign material. The walls are of pannelled rimu, beautifully finished, while the soft yielding carpets on the polished floor were made in a northern city. New Zealand visitors to the Exhibition will have no reason to feel anything but pride in the made by their Government.