GAPPING PROCESSION

Evening Star, Issue 22953, 10 May 1938, Page 12

GAPPING PROCESSION

BIG CROWDS VIEW IT SOME STRIKING EXHIBITS SOCIALISM LAMPOONED < To the vast majority of Dunedin citizens “ Capping Day ” means not an occasion of academic speeches and the conferring of degrees, but a day of fun and frolic, with opportunities for the expression by “the students” of wit and humour! And so Dunedin turns out in force to watch the procession, which is,one of the big events not only in the life of the young people who attend University, but of the community as a whole. , This morning the route which the procession took was lined with spectators from end to end, and in some portions the crowd was a densely-packed one. It was obvious, too,_ that the representations of events which have recently been of topical importance were greatly enjoyed by these onlookers. Obvious, too, was the fact that some at least of the students had gone to considerable trouble in working out ideas and constructing the tableaux, and while those ideas were not given a particularly wide range, there were many which might be alluded to as palpable hits. Taken altogether, the procession was quite a good one; There have in the past been better ones, but there is a possible explanation why in late years the standard _has fallen just a little. In the past it was customary to hold the big event in the spring, some time in August, and this enabled the newer students to become better acquainted with local affairs, and also gave all concerned opportunities to utilise the winter nights in working out schemes and ideas. The Board of Control’s dictum that the carnival should take place in the first term is decidedly a handicap. 13c that as it may, therewas no lack of enthusiasm among the participants in the procession this morning. “ These students are characters ” was an expression frequently heard among the bystanders, and it was an apt phrase, for there were many well-sustained characters both in the floats and in the streets.

Heading the procession was a band of red-shirted musicians (or more-or-less musicians) playing brass instruments, while behind them marched a number of Scottish pipers ready to carry on so soon as the brass-banders had had, or had delivered, their blow. An “ official party ” came next in what was described as a Guildhall coach, but which was really a five-seater motor car, not of the latest model, bearing what represented to be the two candidates for the city mayoralty. Each was smiling and bowing in a manner fitting the close proximity to polling day. The most striking exhibits were those of a Maori canoe some 50ft long filled with warriors in full and correct costume. Lord Galway and his aide were also represented in the canoe, and surplus 'warriors acted as escorts and occasionally broke into a haka. Another exhibit representing “ Government Housing Through the Ages ” w-as also prominent. It was in three sections, the first showing a cave-dwellers’ habitation, the second a huge shoe such as the old woman of tradition is said to have inhabited, and finally a structure which purported to be a replica of a Government house at Pine Hill. • This last appeared to be easily the least desirable, or at any rate the least safe and habitable.

Mr Savage, Mr Semple, Mr Webb, and other prominent Labour politicians provided abundant material for humorous “ hits,” and Labour’s policy, both national and municipal, came m for considerable attention. There was, for instance, “ Labour’s I-run and Steal Works,” the “ Nash-ional Superannuation Scheme ” in which life, “ beginning at 60,” was shown to he not so bad after all. “ Jones’s Air Defence ” as represented on this occasion, clearly warranted the motto so prominently displayed under the guns upon the muzzles of which doves of peace, or rather canaries of contentment, snuggled. This motto was “ God Defend New Zealand.” In the rear of the exhibit was a ’bucket announced as containing “Mr Semple’s Stink Bombs.” The Government oil development scheme: “Savage’s Stealth Scheme,” and the “ Fitter New Zealand ” idea—which was described as one which would make the Dominion “ a land of socialised bodies,” and the women police were also satirised. Indeed, the whole turn-out served to emphasise with considerable force the fact that the Otago University at any rate, did not unduly favour Socialism. Local topics were rather disappointingly neglected. One would have thought that the deep interest in the municipal election would have served to inspire some clever shafts, but, apart one or two exhibits depicting “ Mirth’s Circus at the Council Election ” (in -which there was no point), and the near-to-life representations of the mayoral candidates, a rich mine was left undeveloped. Recent visits by diet specialists and the growing tendency towards herbs as medicine, however, received marked attention; one placard bearing the legend; “Eat Hay and Pay the Price.” The Russian scientists were shown “up the Pole,” and the-recent predicament at an Auckland hosoital

in respect of night wear for male patients was seized with avidity. That this is a mechanised age was demonstrated by the fact that in all the length of the procession, which was considerable, only three horses appeared. These were attached to sulkies, but were of such quality and breed as at once to dispel any idea that Indianapolis, Parisienne, and Pot Luck had been lent for the occasion. Some of the individual characters depicted were quite good. Swaggers, savages (real, not political), “ Iron Guards,” traffic inspectors, and Chinese were amongst the best, while, flitting here and there, particularly round some ancient cabbages and cauliflowers which adorned one of the floats, was a deadlv-lookum human white hntterflv