NEW ZEALAND'S FAIR.

Evening Post, Volume LXXII, Issue 103, 29 October 1906, Page 7

NEW ZEALAND'S FAIR.

PROGRESS AT THE EXHIBITION. ■ THE LAST LAP. .. ENTERING THE STRAIGHT. (From Our Special Reporters.) CHRJSTCHI3BCH, This Day. ' The Exhibition horse is coining under the whip round the turn for 'home. Ihc floor of tho building is like a mushroom field in a way, for various delicate-look-ing fabrics rise suddenly in places that 'were bare patches just before. 1 THE "GOVERNMENT STROKE." , The Napoleon of the Plains (Mr. G. B. MunrVi, C.E.C.) is entertaining ths people hbro just now. For some weeks, according to his promulgations by post and telegraph, ho appeared to bo convinced that .everything was going along at express speed. He has now, however, confided to t a Press reporter that until Rule 2 (about tho Sunday closure) was hoisted on high the other day "exhibitors were working in. a comparatively leisurely way; they were Lcing imposed upon by local tradesmen, and a sort of •Qovornment strolco' was "being practiced. „ t . -jMoro than any one else the !ftew Zealand Government departments were behind' hand." There is a grim humo.ur'Aboa't this "Government stroke". by Government departments. They are certainly nal quite as far forward as laymen might have expected. On ' Thursday night there was some bustle in the buildings, and the workers included n man or two who were patching up the graven images that were disniemberiSd- or decapitated a few days ago. - One of tho restorers committed a sacrilege. He .was knitting the bones of Minerva with the'aid of a bicyclo lamp. Surely, , even in these utilitarian times some ancient sconce could have been found for clearing the darkness away from the r figure of the goddess. / , DAMMED. ' Everybody who goes to Christchurch has to make an excursion on tho Avon. This dear old dawdler of a river is to Christchurch -what tho harbour is to Sjydney, the Holy Temple to Benares, the dimple to a girl's cheok. It is not uafa in anj^ public place here to say anything disparaging about the Avon. .Anyhow a visitor is not tempted to detry the stream, though a good deal of drainage — some of it not too lovely-IpokirigT-fcel|>s to keep up the level of tfca wajier. 'It is a cool retreat from the dust and heat ; At the east end there; fare soriis fair reaches of decent ■water ,fpr tje strenuous who 'liko solid ! pulling, ' and, in the west thero are shallower jiut navigable curves between the Botanical Gardens, and the highly EngUshpiifk. ■ 'I took a boat along this Arcadialn course couple of evenings ago] >aitd- 1 was beginning to feel that, after alJ^ even Exhibitions arc forgivable things; : -wheb my craft started to rock »rid assert ah individuality which I had not even slightly suspected. I was half-way under a bridge, and was suddenly 'smitten by rosh of ripples. Tho river was damme I was close on the Exhibition boundary and the way was barricaded. . This dam will give a tolerable dapth of water' in the arm of the river -that embraces the forehead of the Exhibition Landing stages have been built, mooring posts have been sunk for the gay- and .giddy barges that are to flash and glitter over the river. Exhibition manifestoes gave alluring panoramas of lordly craft prancing about on this "water-front. It will be soothing if the teality comes up to specification. • A WORLD'S RECORD BROKEN. * Mr. Munrd says that the New Zealand •international -Exhibition will -be a world's record on, Ist November by the fact — all pray.it will be a fact — that" it will be further fdrward than any other fair has ever been by opening day. That prophecy, however, did not inspire fhe head;ng at, the tcp of this paragraph. The mundane record under notice waa set up by -'the Poatf s representative this morning-. ' , Voluntarily, while perfectly well ia body and mind, he rose at 6 o'clock, confident that he is the first of the wftrld'^ journalists to accomplish this feat without the 6timulus of immediate duty. Married men who have to rise to" light the fire or mind tho baby do not count, of course. But was there ever a bachelprial pressman who rolled from bis blankets, spontaneously at the uncanny hbiir of 6 a.m.? Indirectly the Exhibition -Was responsible for the memorable evenVbnt a"great«r inducement wffs the doctrine, preached in all quartere here, that .Christchurch is peerless in the early morning, before the winds rise in their ■dusty - might. Who waj it rosa early enough tp find out? Is there a monument atiywhere to the memory of the pioneer?' "He deserves this honour. This city that is girded by two rivers is indeed » place charming while the morning is voting. ' The dewy blossoms, pink and white, in the abundant suburban orchards make a sparkle of jewels that even King Solomon's mines could not outshine. All the greens that ever thrilled artists and poets, spring or otherwise, rise in refreshing bowers and arches by the white roads. Tuese than a mile from Cathedral-square a person many, cycle in country lanes, white ribbons with rich yellow insertions of gorse", and may hob-nob yith kine, cabbages, "ploughmen, milkmaids, and other old English appurtenances. IriHhe' heart ofcthe city, in Latimer-aquare, an old man ■was peacefully sleeping on a bench under a plane tree. GOLD, WHITE, RED, GREEN. At 7 a.m. tho Exhibition's 6nowy facade, glowing golden domes and towers and red turrets, with their brilliant fore ground of emerald, furnished a vision of the "enchanted castle" order. Inside, men were just beginning the day's work. One of the most prominent toilers was a fireman, who was brushing his coat at the fife brigade station, beside a couple of chemical bund-engines and a reel of ho3e. There are a couple of others of these engines,, and fire-quenching cylinders are bUflp'ended at convenient places throughout the buildingi The mam means of .prevention lies! in the high-pressure installation. • This morning this service was ■interrupted l>y a road roller which broke ft pipe, not a serious fracture. A couple of firemen are .on duty atl night, and it is just a question whether that number should not ( be increased. THE MAORI PAH. Singing a native song, a group of Maori 'children came gambolling along the chores of Victoria Lake, a pretty plot of water which makes a refreshing rcntr* 7n the circle of side shows. The smoke from th« cooking-houses in the \ pab roee •in an appetising blue haze against the vivid green of a clump of caks. Already soms of the Maoris bad I breakfasted, and were busy digging a trench inside the palisade of jtha outer! area, the lower kainga. The 'pah now looke a formidable eettlement with its double lino of palisading, uharp-pointcd •takqs; and wooden gods and heroes making horrible grimareo at the stranger. The villago is beginning to "look Tiko horns" to the native inhabitants. They have their sleeping whareo, cook-hou&es, runnnsas, canoes. They have enough open snuce to hang out their raiment and fish. C»r«at TahoroliUitikj. tht> famous Waikato-war canoe, with half a. dozen other craft of leca cespute, will bo on the water soon. Mr. A. Hamilton mentioned this morning that there is accommodation now for about 150 Maoria at the pah, and the whar«s are intfreai. ing. It is proposed to continue building

and carving operations up to the end of December or January as an object-lesson for visitors. The kninga, which extends over three acrte, is largely impressive, but the flatuses of the site, an unavoidable circumstance, Uke3 away some of the aw« that ono of the old-time f.ietecsbss on the hills could inspire. BOTTLES. Admirers of tho Maori pah arc annoyed by the presence of a hug© bottle that has been raised near the kainga. This vessel, a wooden thing, might appear to the uninitiated like come strange god, a tutelary deity of the pah, but it is merely an advertisement for some brand of German beer. It is a horrifying misfit in its present place, and is also a tantalising object, considering that tho sale of liquor is prohibited in the Exhibition grounds. 'It is a monument of uglinesa, 32ft high and 25ft in circumference. While bottles are in tho air, it is well to say that there is a picturesque assortment of preserved fruits in ihs Canadian court; indeed, tho fruit looks more seductive in death thtm it did n life. "MOREMUXRO." There is another cry of "More Munro." Tho Ceremonial Committee Lad a grievance to liy before tho Executive at- » meeting on Thursday night. Tlio ceremonial offieova liavo beon consid. ering tho question of issuing invitations to the opening festivities, and have- now discovered that tiokete, bearing Mr. G. S. Munro's imprimatur, have been distributed wholesale. It is reported that "considerably more than 2000 tickets" have already been issued, though tho accommodation in. the large corridor (where tho opening cervico will take Elace) is limited 'to 1650. It was etated ist night that some persons had received several passes, t while others, who should have been remembered, had been over' looked. It reminds ono of tho " little piggy, went to mal-kat" nursery rhyme. Air. Munro is blamed, to somo extent, for this latest piece of confusion. " Lo, thess are parts of hk ways, but how little a portion is heard of him," remarked one commentator, quoting tlie inscription that is engraved over the portals of tho Christchurch Museum."