OTAGO QUEEN CARNIVAL

Evening Star, Issue 15892, 26 August 1915, Page 9

OTAGO QUEEN CARNIVAL

COUNTRY QUEEN ELECTED. A MAGNIFICENT RESULT. OVER £126,000 RAISED. A DOMINION RECORD. SOLDIERS’QUEEN FLAG REALISES £825. As was expected, the immense new Drill Hall- at Kensington was packed last night with a. good-natured, enthusiastic crowd, who had assembled principally to take part in the final acts connected‘with the Otago Queen Carnival. The number actually in the hall at one time, is difficult to estimate, but it may be confidently stated at not less than 11,000. , The committee had made very complete arrangements for displaying the results, and sjhortly after 10 o’clock the returns of votes accorded the various candidates were posted up. These were altered as additional returns came to hand, and cadi candidate was cheered when her total was increased. The Country Queen’s total was not shown until a minute or two. after 11 time of the closing of the poll. When the figures opposite this queen’s name were shown to be 5,959,000 a ringing cheer went up. All attention was then given, to the result board, and although the crowd had commenced to thin out about 10 o’clock, there must have been quite 5,000 present when the final results were posted shortly before midnight. The final result of the voting, which was known shortly before midnight, is as follows:—.

Totals 15,136,082 £126,134 0 7 This large sum does not include £559 10s 8d cash takings at the doors and tea rooms at the carnival. Other small amounts have yet to come in, and these, together with the receipts from the coronation ceremonies, will considerably augment the grand; total of the wounded soldiers’ fund. The Otago Patriotic and General Welfare Association have a sum of £15,381 iin hand for the Wounded soldiers’ fund, «o that £145,000 is not considered to be too sanguine an estimate, seeing that £142,074 11s od is already in hand. At midnight the Mayor (Mr J. J. Clark) made a few remarks concerning the result. He said that the Otago Patriotic Association mow had £141,000 in the wounded soldiers’ fund. (Loud applause.) That, he said, was a Dominion record, and one of which any City in any province should be proud. The carnival was not over yet, and the generosity of the, people of Otago was not exhausted. They were confident £145,000 would be received, and they hoped for £150,000 before the carnival was wound up. Though the generosity of the people had been eo great, there was not one of them bnt felt that the object was worth it. We could not do too much for the men who had done so much for us. (Applause.) He paid a very special tribute to the ladies who had given themselves so generously as queens. .Successful or unsuccessful, our gratitude was- due to them all. To all the assistants, also, we were deeply indebted; bub’the queens must have had a great deal of arduous and disagreeable work. . We appreciated very much all they had done for us and for our soldiers. ■At the call of the -Mayor hearty cheers were given for tho queens, for the workers, for the Country Queen, and others, and the National Anthem was sun". Miss M'Lean (the Sports Queen) had a great reception at the conclusion of the speech from her supporters, being given three hearty cheers. She mad© a short speech, in which she heartily thanked those who had helped to place her so high on the list. She was again cheered,- those present then singing ‘For She’s a Jolly' Good Fellow.’’ The disposal of the flags which had flown on the flagpole in the Triangle during the past two or three months attracted a great deal of attention, and no small amount of enthusiasm was displayed. Mr E. C. Reynolds kindly undertook the dunes of auctioneer. The first flag to be offered was the Sports Queen’s flag, which 11 * by Messrs Speight and Co. for £SO. The Retailers’ flag went to Mr J. F. H. Hamel for £5, and the Queen of Commerce flag to Mr R. Hudson for the same sum. For the Commercial Travellers' colors Mr E. Hallenstein paid £ll. Great applause greeted the bid froni Messrs R. Hudson and Co. of 500 guineas for Our Soldiers’ Queen flag. By the request of the purchasers it was put up again and bought in by the executive of Our Soldiers’ Queen Committee for £3OO, a total of £825 being realised for a “ bit of bunting.” Mr R. Hudson was also the purchaser of the Queen of the Allies’ flag for £5. The Retailers’ Queen flag was rodonaled by Mr Hamel, and was privately bought 'ater for £SO. Several of the flags did not find purchasers. The volume of . business done in the way of disposing of goods during the night was not large, the congested state of the building being conducive to ‘‘salesmanship.” During the afternoon, however, a large number of ladies were present, and a deal of business, both by direct purchase and by means of raffles was transacted. The result wi« that practically the whole of the stalls were denuded of stock when closing time arrived. Some eatables—principally cakes —were left over, and these will bo donated to the orphanages in the city and suburbs. Side shows were well patronised, for-tune-tellers arid the Ferris wheel being accorded liberal patronage. The tea rooms and coffee counters did excellent business, and so must the soft drinks stalls, as the supply of tho latter was completely exhausted before 11 p m ihe tramways department had made excellent arrangements for the conveyance of passengers to and from the Drill Hall and cars ran Up to 1 a.m. ’ The Kaikorai and 4th Regimental Bands were rn attendance, and delighted their selections Wlth popular and a PP ro priato The sum raised by the supporters of the North Otago Queen is equal to over per head of the population of the whole county.

Queen. Votes. £ d. 1—Miss ,E. Smith 3,973,937 33,116 2 in (Country) 2—Mrs J. C. 5iichoIs 2,097,600 17,480 0 0 (North Otago) 3—Miss M‘Lean 1,371,602 11,430 0 4 (Sports) 4—Misa 1). Stewart 1,203,600 10,030 0 0 (Commerce) - b—Aliss M. Emery 1.187,994 9,899 •19 0 (Retailers) 6—MrsF. Mitchell 1,068,000 8,900 0 0 (Travellers) 7—Miss Joan Burt 978,480 . 8,154 0 1 (Queen of the Allies) o —Miss E. Carson 967,143 8,059 10 7 (Govt. Service) 5—Miss Sargood 854,281 7,119 0 3 (Queen of the Seas) 10—Mrs K. Hudson 637,620 5,313 10 0 (Our Soldiers’ Queen) 11 —Mrs Gordon 423.234 3,526 19 0 (Tramways Queen) 12—Mtss Mill 372,591 3,104 18 6 (Harbor Queen)