ATTENDANCES SO FAR SATISFACTORY

Dominion, Volume 33, Issue 43, 14 November 1939, Page 9

ATTENDANCES SO FAR SATISFACTORY

General Manager’s View

EVERY GROUND SEEN FOR REAL OPTIMISM

“I am very well pleased with the attendances to date; there seems no reason to believe the Exhibition will not be a pronounced success,” said the general manager, Mr. C. P. Hainsworth, yesterday. “If we can arrange for weather like today’s throughout the term of the Exhibition, attendances are likely to remain well up to this week’s standard.” The average of attendances, he said, was very satisfactory. An Exhibition, like a new machine, could not take up its work without a certain running-in period. There were minor adjustments to be made, rough corners to be rounded off, and a new staff and a large organization to be habituated to their new duties. There were finishingtouches to be given here and there. But this, was purely a matter of routine, and would soon be accomplished. The weather for the first four days had been not quite of the best; but nothing better than yesterday’s could be desired. With favourable weather, on peak days over the holidays, attendances of 80,000 to 100,000 would not be surprising. As it was, the attendances were really very satisfactory, and he had heard nothing but praise of the Exhibition itself. His experiences as general manager of the Dunedin Exhibition had led him to believe that, particularly in the first few weeks, the principal attendances were made up of local people, those of other centres restricting their visits more to the holiday period. Successful as it was, the Dunedin Exhibition had tremendous local rather than nationwide appeal; the people of Dunedin rallied round it as a Dunedin effort, whereas this Exhibition was an effort of the nation as a whole. For this reason, and considering the favourable total of attendances so far, there was every ground for real optimism as to the ultimate success of the Exhibition.

OFFICIAL VISIT ON THURSDAY

The Governor-General

The Governor-General, Viscount Galway, will pay an official visit of inspection to the Centennial Exhibition at 11 a.m. on Thursday. He will be conducted round the courts and pavilions by the chairman of directors of the Exhibition company, Mr. T. C. A. Hislop. Viscountess Galway, patroness of the women’s section, will pay an official visit of inspection to the women’s section at 11.30 a.m. on Friday.