THE MUSEUM

Evening Post, Volume CXXIV, Issue 58, 6 September 1937, Page 10

THE MUSEUM

POPULAR" ON SUNDAYS SOME RECENT ADDITIONS There are those who claim that the Dominion Museum at the Mount Cook site' is somewhat out of the way from the point of view of convenience, but whether or not there is anything in that contention the fact remains that the museum has many patrons, many more than when the treasures it accommodates were housed in the old wooden building in Sydney Street behind Parliament House. Sunday is the popular time; more people pay a visit on a Sunday afternoon than at any other time during the week, and that this is so hardly requires confirmation from the custodian or the director (Dr. W. R. B. Oliver). Matches, cigarette butts, cigarette packets, and empty match . boxes dropped by visitors on or near the steps in front of the building tell their own story on a Monday morning. The arrangement of the exhibits and the method of display are held by Dr. Oliver to constitute an important f ac-. tor in the increased patronage the museum has been accorded since the transference to the new building. People like to walk around and look at exhibits from all angles. There is the space- to do this, and the floor showcases, as distinct from the old style wall cases, also provide greater facilities. . < The tact,'too, that the National Art Gallery is housed in the same buildi ing constitutes added drawing power, with the National War Memorial Carillon immediately in front another attraction, particularly for visitors to the city. The shrubs in the grounds, have now got a good start, and there is a good carpet of grass on the turfed slopes leading up to the building on either side of the Carillon. The museum collection has been added to considerably this year. To date about 130 new exhibits haye been received, and some of these contain many pieces. Among the bigger exhibits recently obtained is a very valuable complete skeleton of a moa—one of the smaller kind and one previously was known only by the existence of a couple of leg bones. This skeleton was discovered in a limestone cave near Takaka, Nelson, and is entirely complete and in a remarkable state of preservation. Other recent additions include two Royal Doulton ware loving cups, which were presented by Doulton and Co., Ltd. The larger of two,, which is also more ornate, was presented to celebrate the Silver Jubilee bf his • late Majesty King George V and her I Majesty Queen Mary. The other, bearing a replica of the head of King Edward VIII, is ; much less elaborate in design. It has not ye.t been placed on exhibition. -