SAN FRANCISCO FAIR

Dominion, Volume 33, Issue 69, 14 December 1939, Page 13

SAN FRANCISCO FAIR

Attendances Not Up To Expectations

WELLINGTON FIGURES COMPARE WELL

It appeared from the published figures of attendances at the Centennial Exhibition that the average daily attendance was considerably higher in proportion to the population than the attendance at the Golden Gate Exposition at San Francisco, said Mr. R. J. G. Smith, who was on the staff of the New Zealand pavilion at the Golden Gate Exposition, and who recently returned to New Zealand. The San Francisco Exhibition . was not altogether a success, Mr. Smith said. The promoters had expected an attendance of about 20,000.000, but, with the figures at slightly more than 10,000,000, the fair had closed a month before the intended time, with the announcement that it would be reopened in May next year. It did not pay financially, though it gave a temporary stimulus to trade and transport. It was nevertheless a wonderful show and well worth seeing from every point of view, in some aspects defying description of its magnitude and beauty. Americans had grown tired of fairs. New Zealand was well represented at the Exposition by an attractive exhibit, formed like a Maori hut, with a working model of Rotorua and other features showing New Zealand life. "We had a tremendous number of inquiries about New Zealand from prospective tourists,” Mr. Smith remarked, "and if it. had not been for the war we would have had large numbers coming here during our centennial year. It was amazing to see the interest which was shown by professors of economics and economic lecturers and university tutors in the affairs of New Zealand, principally our social legislation and the general economic structure of the country.” Mr. Smith said that at Suva he met an American who was returning from New Zealand to San Francisco and who had seen the Exhibition here. The American expressed his pleasure at what he had seen and his astonishment that a country the size of New Zealand could stage such a magnificent fair.