FRANCO-BRITISH EXHIBITION

Evening Post, Volume LXXVI, Issue 144, 17 December 1908, Page 8

FRANCO-BRITISH EXHIBITION

THE NEW ZEALAND COURT. INTERVIEW WITH AN OFFICIAL. (From Our Own Correspondent.) LONDON, 6th November. The White City season lias ended, and the crowds that knew Shepherd's Bush during the whole of the summer know it no more. A good deal of adverse comparison has been made betv.een the £7000 New Zealand Court and the £100.000 Australian and Canadian Courts. But the newer Dominion seems to have had good value I'or its money. At any rate, that seems to be the opinion of Mr. JR. H. Hooper,' who has been at the court right through th'j season, and who had no mean share in laying it out- in the first instance. POPULARITY OF THE NEW ZEA- " LAND PAVILION. "Yes, we have had a great season right up to the finish, and certainly we have had the worth of our money," said lit. Hooper. "The difficulty lias not been to attract visitors to the New Zealand display, but rather to accommodate the crowd wliich became quite the regular state of affairs. No official returns of attendance have yet been published, but I estimate the number of people who have visited our court as between 5,000,000 and 10,000,000. New Zealand visitors have numbered about 3000, some 2000 of whom registered their names in the book kept especially for the purpose. The great majority of these have, I think, been favourably impressed with* the exhibit, and it is a pity that a number of New Zealand visitors only saw their pavilion when the building and its arrangement were ir complete, owing to the exasperating delays and breaches of agreement on the part of the Exhibition authorities. The finishing touches made a great improvement, and the photographs of the exhibit which have appearH in the New Zealand illustrated papers bear witness to the generally-admitted fact that good use herd been made, in the circumstances, of snat-e and resources. I would rather not "go into matters of comparison with either Australia or Canada — various issues being involved." ENQUIRIES FROM ALL CLASSES. Turning to the topic of settlement and general prospects in New Zealand, Mr. Hooper tells me that queries were received from all sorts and conditions of men. The fa?ming class figured largely, and mechanics were much in evidence, also domestic workers considerably. Enquiries from tourists and sportsmen were pretty constant, while questions received through the post were many. " The Exhibition just closed was my seventh exhibition during the past four years," said Mr. Hooper, "and my impression is that the British public stiil reqrire almost as much as ever good striking obj jcl-lessons of the resources, conditions, etc., of New Zealand and other colonies. A large number of callers, by the way, had relatives or friends in New Zealand. Good reports were said to be received from the latter in nearly every case." "What was done in the way of disseminating •nformation regarding the Dominicn ?" '"We distributed literature concerning New Zealand by the hundred-thousand in the aggregate, and, judging by indications, lpinarkably little of (his was watted — practically none in fact. The literature mostly took the form of handy illustrated pamphlets. Large number's oi Year-books, hand-books, guide books, illustrated papers, maps, etc., were also distiibuted judiciously. It is worth noting that a great many applications were received from school-teachers for panels of literature for distribution to their classes." j EXCELLENT SITUATION OF THE COURTS. "All through the Exhibition period,"' continued Mr. Hooper, "the colonial lection v.-ns very popular. The principal Slde-shoW at>.i'.Bnfirm» <w<

in the neighbourhood, and these helped to draw crowds to the colonial courts. The New Zealand pavilion was, as you know, situated in the full-tide of the life of the Exhibition." COSMOPOLITAN ASSEMBLY. "Of what class or classes were the visitors?" "It was interesting to observe the vaiious shades and changes in the attendance as the season proceeded," said Mr. Hooper. "In June 'society' fignred largely. Later on came a French invasion, also there were multitudes from other Continental centres. August bi ought the provincial contingents ra stiercgth — for London this year, with the Exhibition, was the objective of everycne who cor 1 - 1 manage to take a brief holiday. . during the last two months cheap rail excursion tariffs kept up a steady stream. London itself filled up all gaps, of course. The season has been a most fortunate one as regards weather, beginning with a heat-wave in May and ending with abnormally mild and genial conditions in October."

Yesterday the District Hospital Board adopted a resolution expressing admiration of the work done by Sisters Catley and Reeves in the management of the Otaki Sanatorium. It was decided to send to them this sentiment, accompanied by a Christmas bonus. The Picton correspondent of the Lyttelton Times telegraphs: — What is believed to be Captain Wakefield's sword, or that of one of the officers of his illfated party, has been found on Massacre Hill at the locality at which the fam ous Wairau incident occuned. The weapon is much rusted, but is as pliable as in its original state. The guard piece of the hilt is up and there is a deep dent in the handle, suggesting that the sword was in action when it was dropped on the hllside.,The finder, a neighbouring resident, expresses the wish that the sword should be handed to the nearest living relative of Captain Wakefield. ' ■It is stated by Southern exchanges that' early varieties of potatoes have been attacked by a mild form of blight in the Ashburton county, and that the roots of potatoes thus affected are already showing signs of decay. The officers of the various branches of the General Post Office have presented Mr. D. Robertson, the Secretary of the Department, on the eve of his departure on a holiday trip to Europe, with substantial tokens of their regard in the shape of two solid leather travelling trunks and other accessories of a travelling outfit. Complimentary speeches were made by Mr. J. K. Logan and Mr. W. ,R. Morris, the Superintendent of Electric Lines, and the Assistant Secretary. A medal for prowess at any particular branch of sport is not usually bestowed on the successful competitor for its intrinsic value, but at least one individual — a prominent Ghristchurch swimmer — found that when '" he was on the rocks" the inscribed gold discs he had in his possession were an excellent asset when handed - over to a pawnbroker. Thisphase of the question was brought prominently before the Council of the New Zealand Amateur Swimming Association by Mr. Walter Johnson (says the Press), when he stated that certain medals which had been presented by various centres to a winner of many championship races were now being displayed in a pawnbroker's shop in Christchurch. He thought that the council should remove the stigma that had been cast on swimming by assisting to redeem the -pledges. The price asked by the " present holder" of the medals was £10. Tho hardhearted council could not see its way to grant the request, and consequently swimmers will, unless some philanthropic person comes to light, bear tho reproach of not attaching sentimental value to their trophies. An application from the Ha%vkes Bay Rugby Union for a further sum of £70 to meet the cost of laying down a new football ground was considered this afternoon by the Management Committee of the New Zealand Rugby Union. The request was provisionally agreed to. A ten-year-old prodigy of learning, Willia»i J. -Siclis, has astonished the intellectual world of Boston by passing the entrance examination into the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, t.ho highest institution of its kind in the United States, where the average ago of entrants is 21. The boy is attracting the attention of psychologists, who considers that ho gives support, to the theory of inherited characteristics. His father, Dr. Boris Sidis, is a Russian of exceptional^ intellectual attainments, and his mother is a physician of unusual skill. The youngster could read and write afc two years of age, and at four he spoke fluently and read at sight four languages. Now he is capable of holding his ovyn in discussions on tho nebular hypothesis, or debating abstruse problems in trigonometry. A special lino of articles suitable for Christmas presents is advertised by the management of Pringie's, Lambton-quay.