THE SHOW

Hawera Star, Volume XLV, 20 November 1925, Page 8

THE SHOW

RECORD PEOPLE’S DAY BIG CROWD PRESENT. ANIMATED SCENES. It is most gratifying to all concerned and to the district to be able to report that People’s Day, the second of the show, created a record in gate takings in the history of the association. Mr Crighton, the able and courteous secretary, looked up the records and found that, although the total for 1923 was ahead of 1925, the increase was on the first day, but that this year’s second day figures smashed all previous totals. There is no doubt that for an A. and P. Show held at this time of the year the essential feature, apart from the purely stock aspect, is fine weather. The show may get the best of exhibits in every section and be from that point of view the best that could be expected, but fine weather is necessary to crown that success. The lovely weather conditions therefore that prevailed on both days, but especially on the second, were, most welcome and timely, and will go a long way towards restoring a feeling of confidence among all nesponsible for the future of the association.

The quality of the exhibits was undoubted, and was most favourably commented on by many visitors and by the judges. A visitor who lias just returned from Australia remarked that the Jersey cattle were for generally even quality better, though naturally not so numerous, as at the Royal Show. All concerned are entitled to congratulation. on the results, which will hearten them to further efforts for the shows of the future. The huge crowd ments, and this will have, a good effect, testified its approval by their comespecially coming as many did from people from other districts.

THE OFFICIAL OPENING. PERFORMED BY HON. AIK AlcL EOD Both stands were filled to capacity, and a large concourse, numbering several thousands of visitors, was massed outside the enclosure when at 1.30 p.m. the Hon. A. D. McLeod, Minister oi Lands, formally declared the show open. Among the spectators were several of the’pioneer members of the A. and P. Association and at least eight ex-presidents. Appropriate welcome greetings to the Minister were extended by the president of the Association (Mr. S. O. Tonks), His Worship the Mayor (Mr. E. A. Pacey), and the member for the district (Mr, H. G. Dickie). Mr. Tonks said that, as president of the association, it was his privilege tb welcome their honoured guest, the Hon. Mr. McLeod, and the association esteemed it a great honour and a privilege to have Mr. McLeod with them. Mr. McLeod needed no introduction for he had made his mark by his activities in the administration of the Lands Department and was widely known and appreciated not only by the farmers but the whole community. Mr. Tonks said he felt isure that he was voicing the opinion of the whole of the people when lie said they were looking to Mr McLeod to carry on with the good work he had so well commenced. As the civic head of the town, Mr. Pacey expressed his pleasure in extending greetings to Mr McLeod, than whom, as Minister of Lands, no more fitting gentleman could have been procured to conduct the ceremony incident to the opening of the show. All would admit, continued Air. Pacey. that in his official capacity Mr McLeod had done good work. The speaker sincerely hoped that _ the Minister would be able to continue in his activities, and on behalf of the people of Hawera, the Mayor extended a hearty ■welcome to Mr. McLeod. Mr. Dickie, as the member for the district, joined in the greetings expressed. As the Mayor had mentioned, said Air. Dickie, the occasion was not the first on which Air. AlcLeod had visited Hawera, but he thought he would he safe in saying that such visits had never been made under more auspicious circumstances, and, as a true “son of the soil.” their guest was adimrably equipped for his duties in opening the show. MINISTER’S COMPLIMENTS. The Minister, who was received with applause, intimated in his opening remarks that it afforded him a great deal of pleasure to take part in the formal opening of the E'gmont show, and he deeply appreciated the honour conferred by the people of the district in requesting him to- officiate. He greatly regretted that his- duties in Wellington had prevented him from leaving there a day earlier, as he would have liked to have been present on the first day of the show and spend more time in reviewing its attractions. During the hour or two in which he had been present, however, lie had seen a great deal, of which the exhibitors and all connected with the show had no reason to be ashamed, and'particularly in one or two classes he had been very favourably impressed with the standard maintained. Speaking with the judges he had learnt that in more than one or two instances they had experienced great difficulty in arriving at their decisions. They were, said Mr. McLeod in humorous vein, in a position somewhat similar to that with which two of the electoral returning officers had been confronted during the previous twenty-four hours —whatever they did they could not give entire satisfaction to all concerned. DEPENDENT OX PRIMARY PRODUCERS. There was an adage which advised a person not to keep all his eggs in one basket, continued Air. Alel.cod, hut at the elections just held the people of New Zealand had ignored that injunction and had practically placed all their eggs in the one basket, but it was to be hoped that the eggs would not become addled as a result. The country as a whole was in the position of having its eggs in, the basket of the primary producer —a natural result, as the whole stability of the Dominion rested with those people. If this was more widely appreciated a great deal of the criticism levelled against the primary producers would not have the sharpness with which it had unfortunately been marked. The town and city dweller might perhaps think that the farmer was. being given too much consideration and was doing too well; hut, speaking as a farmer, lie thought the whole of the praying people of the Dominion when exercising their daily devotions should offer up a special plea on behalf of the primary producers, as there existed no more industrious or harder working section of the community, and on them the

prosperity of the country depended. If the people of the country would realise this there would be much, less unrest. In appreciation of that spirit the present was a time when party politics should be dropped, and an effort be made to carry on the business of the country in the best interests of its people'as a whole. As the Minister of Lands, continued the speaker, lie fully realised the big difficulties lying before him. He was the political head of a large family numbering about 36,000 Crown tenants, but if an earnest desire to do the right thing, irrespective of the dictates of political opinion, would bring success to his work, he could assure his hearers that success would be achieved. “DETERIORATED”. LAND. Air. AlcLeod went on to speak of the much-discussed .“deteriorated” land. Although the immediate district surrounding Hawera presented a fair and prosperous aspect, it was unfortunately not necessary to go far in order to come into contact with such land, though it was doubtful if this term should be ajiplied to it. There appeared to be great difficulty in dealing with this problem, but the Government’s duty would not he shirked because of the difficulties to be overcome. He thought, however, that rather muclr had been made of the question —not perhaps by the individuals concerned, but through the unwise publicity given. This had caused pessimism and lessened confidence in the land on the part of those who could be of assistance in financing settlers.

It had never been his wish to decry these lands, nor would such be his policy in the future; hut it would he his aim to give assistance where possible and endeavour to see that the land would again be placed on its previous productive standard. GARDEN OF NEW ZEALAND.

In conclusion, Air. AlcLeod declared the show open, and said he wished to sincerely thank the people of the district for the courteous reception they had given him. _ He hoped -to have the pleasure of visiting Hawera on many future occasions. Taranaki had been referred to as the “Garden of New Zealand,” and he hoped it would long continue to be so regarded, and that prosperity would rest not only with the people' of Hawera and district, but also with the whole of Taranaki. THE GRAND PARADE. Led by the pink ribboned Jerseys, which provided the demonstrating feature of the show cattle classes, the grand parade presented an imposing spectacle as the prize winning animals, including types of the breed mentioned, Holsteins, Ayrshire, Shorthorn, Red Poll cattle, followed by groups oi splendidly proportioned Clydesdales, beautifully lined light thoroughbred horses and prancing hunters circled the ring and were marshalled before the members’ stand. The display; which numbered approximately 200 animals, comprised one of the most notable collections which have ever been exhibited at the show. The arrangements were carried out with commendable thoroughness and reflected great credit upon the grand marshal, Mr. T. A. Winks. THE GATE TAKINGS. RECORD SECOND DAY.

A matter for congratulation is the total of the moneys taken at the gates, which sum exceeds last year’s takings by £9O. On the first day £53, as against £29 last year, was collected, while on the second day £351 was added, as compared with £285 on the second clay of the 1924 show. Yesterday’s quota, in fact, constitutes a record for any one clay. The total takings this year amount to £404, as against £314 last year, or only £9 less than the record put up in 1923.

THE COMPETITIONS. GOOD JUMPING WITNESSED. The jumping competitions at the show were of special interest this year because of the presence of outside horses, notably those from Hastings, which had been winning at other shows. But horses from this district and from Waverley more than held their own. The fine jumper from Waverley, Osprey, was once more a welcome competitor rt Hawera, after being absent for several years, and had a success which was gratifying to his many admirers. Glen Royal and King Dick, great jumpers belonging to Mr C. Paterson, Barham, a fine fencer of Dr. Simmons’, and Gilgai, belonging to Mr A. Mercer, of Patea, were in good form, and fully upheld the reputation of this district for possessing horses which could take fences with the best. The standard of , jumping was,- on the whole, very good, and one or two stood out for specially good work. The motor car contest, driving through a twisting line of tins, created not a little interest, but it was left much too late, and consequently lost a good deal of its value as a public attraction. The driving of the ladies was specially good, and the winners more than held their own with the men. SCHOOLS SECTION. Script writers received a considerable setback in the writing competitions, as the judge refused to accept anything but ordinary text hand. As many of the entries were done in script the awards in these classes went to rather poor writing. During later years script writing has crept into many schools, and there has been much controversy over it, but as yet the new style has not been officially adopted. The map drawing classes produced some very fine maps. The outlines in all cases were good, but some were spoilt by the ragged naming. The art of printing appeared to have been lost to-a large extent, having given place to the script style, which is a combination of writing and printing. The school garden notebooks in the rural section revealed a great deal of painstaking care, and although only three entries were presented in two classes the work was quite good. If more of the school pupils could be induced to enter their notebooks, and there must be many who do keep them, the classes would he rendered much more interesting. The entries in the graph section were very poor, only one boy entering at all. However, the work produced was certainly good.

In the cooker v_ classes the judge expressed herself as very pleased with the work of some of the competitors. She regarded it as being splendid for comparatively young girls. The fancy work sections produced some excellent work. The quality _of the work revealed a thorough, training in these classes. The needlework especially was very neat, and the juvenile competitors deserved a good measure of praise. The art section drew several good paintings, and the judge had some difficulty in awarding the prizes. Although some of. the attempts were too ambitious for the children’s ages, good results had been achieved, which should prove of considerable assistance to the competitors if they continue in the Work. THE JERSEY. AND MILKING CLASSES. Mr Donald, the judge of milch cows, was very complimentary on the number and very excellent dairy type of the animals in the section he judged. The animals comprised Jerseys mostly, but a percentage of Friesians, Ayrshires and one Red Poll. He considered it by far the best display seen at _Egmont in this section, and combined type with very practical utility. The standard of quality was so high that several animals which had scored heavily at some other shows had not a look in and were quite outclassed. Jerseys certainly largely predominated, but other breeds were worthily represented. It was noteworthy that Elf’s Beauty, which had been awarded the open championship, -was not placed in the dairy championship. He considers the udder is failing somewhat, and has got fleshy with age. Mr Hoskin, judge of the milking classes, said he was surprised there was not a larger entry and a stronger in point of quality. He considered, too. that the entry of young farmers could be encouraged, and that farmers should try to keep their young people directly interested by letting them have some stock of their own to work up for the show ring. TECHNICAL HIGH SCHOOL EXHIBIT. An interesting exhibit was staged by the Hawera Technical High School. This was situated in the Home Industries section, and was well set up and. splendidly arranged. Some fine work in the various dimensions were shown and should prove to uncertain parents that their pupils would receive a training at the local school equal to that in other schools in the surrounding district. The art section included a number of goon drawings and sketches and in the commercial section were displayed shorthand certificates for no mean qualifications and a specimen of shorthand written by one of the pupils at 200 words a minute. In the domestic section was displayed a large number of garments made by students of the school. The most of these were school uniform blouses, and were very neatly done. A lady, commenting on the display of needlework, said it was of an extremely high quality for school pupils. A number of engineering tools and instruments were displayed and also metal work done by the students.

PRIZE LIST. HORSES. Further champions were selected by the various judges as below: Clydesdales (entire), J. Kerrisk’s ((Ohangai) High Tide. Thoroughbreds (entire), T. Carson’s (Hawera) Sheffield; mare, Mrs D. L. Honks’ (Hawera) Perfect©. Light harness horses, A. W. Agent’s (Te Popo) Reform; reserve, Mrs G-. W. Martin’s (Inglewood) Sportsman. Harness pony, P. Collins’ (Stratford) Slippery Tom. Pony entire, IV. G. McDowell’s (Castlediff) Rata King. COWS Ayrshire cow, F. Mills champion and reserve. PONIES. (Judge : Mr J. J. Bryce, Kiwitea.) Brood mare, 13 to 144 hands: E. Ingram’s (Hawera) Nigger 1. Brood mare, 12 and under 13 hands: Jill Hunter’s (Hawera) Snuff 1, J. W. Johnson’s (Tokaora) Gypsy 2, Arnold Hunter’s (Hawera) Grethel 3. Brood mare, under 11 hands: H. Hayward’s . (Hawera) Trixie 1. ' Pony (more or gelding), under 11 hands: H. Hayward’s Tammy 1, W. H. Reynolds’ (Hawera) Pixie 2, Iris Marx’s (Mangatoki) Tony 3. Pony (mare or gelding), 13 to 144hands : Mrs G. W. Martin’s (Inglewood) Sportsman 1, T. C. Sutherland’s (Manaia) Creamy 2, C. Paterson’s (Kapuni) Nimrod 3. Pony (mare or gelding), 12 and under 13 hands: C. Paterson’s High Jinks 1, W. J. McDowell’s (Castlecliff) Trixie 2, G. Kerrisk’s (Ohangai) Blue Boy 3. Pony (mare or gelding), 11 and under 12 hands high: T. Ash, junr.’s (Hawera) Snooky 1, C. Paterson’s Flora 2, B. Brunold’s (Te Roti) Gypsy 3. Trotting pony, 13 hands and under, speed stvle and action to be considered : P. Collins’ (Stratford) Slippery Tom 1, Ray Burt’s (Tirimoana) Dolly 2, G. Kerrisk’s Blue Boy 3. Boy rider, 13 and under 15 years: H. M. Blunden (Kakariki) 1, R. Paterson (Kapuni) 2. Girl rider, 13 and under 15 years: Clare Jordan (Te Roti) 1. Boy rider, under 13 years: B. Ingram

(Hawera) 1, G. Kerrisk (Ohangai) 2, W. J. McDowell (Castlecliff) 3. Girl rider, under 13 years: Alma Lee 1, Ethel Harrison 2. Champion pony: T. Ash, junr. s (Hawera) Snooky. LADIES’ HUNTING COMPETITION. C. Paterson’s (Kapuni) King Dick 1 C. Paterson’s (Kapuni) Glen Royal 2 A. Mercer’s (Pgtea) Gilgai 3 Best lady rider, Mrs Bekker. PONY LEAPING COMPETITION. (For nonies 12| hands and under.) W. J. McDowell’s (Castlecliff) Trixie 1 F. W. Atkins’ (Normanby) Bonita 2 C. Paterson’s (Kanuni) Flora 3 PONY LEAPING. COMPETITION. (For ponies 13-J hands and under.) H. M. Blunden’s (Kakariki) De Wet 1 D. Collins’ (Stratford) Opossum ... 2 C. Paterson’6 (Kapuni) entry 3 PONY LEAPING COMPETITION, boys or girls. (For ponies 14§ hands and under.) H. M. Blunden’s (Kakariki) De Wet 1 Mrs G. W. Martin’s (Inglewood) Sportsman 2 F. Hamlin’s (Kakaramea) Comet ... 3

EGMONT CHAMPION JUMPING COMPETITION. C. Paterson’s (Kapuni) King Dick (rider, E. IV. Allen) 1 Stan. Symes’ (Waverley) Osprey (rider, S. Mcßae) -2 A. Mercer’s (Patea) Gilgai (rider, S. Mcßae) 3 MOTOR OAR COMPETITION (between two lines of tins). Ladies. Miss A. Wills :•••• 1 Miss M. Page 2 Mrs D. Syme 3 Men. Mr F. Willcocks 1 Mr Garland -2 Mr Me William 3 WEIGHT-GUESSING. INTERESTING FIGURES. The results 'of the weight-guessing for pony, cow, and sheep were made known this morning, and show that while the pony and sheep guesses were all thereabouts, those for the cow varied from 725 to 2200 and, 75 per cent, were in the nine hundreds. The figures were as below (there will he a draw for the pony for second p ] ace, for second plac e in cow and for the sheep): Pony (correct weight 2961b5). W. Shearer, Ketemarae Road, Hawera (2961b5) 1; W. G. Belton, Waverley (2961b5) 1 (draw). „ _. .Cow (correct weight 10821bs). — vi. J. McCalman, Hawera (IOSOJibs) 1; E. Collins, Awatuna (10801 bs), and Mrs Woodward, Hawera, (1080 lbs) 2 (draw). Sheep (correct weight lSSlbs). —J. Startup, Normanby: W. F. Johnston, Okaiawa; E. A. Nixon, Hawera; and R. Buckley, Hawera. (1881bs), draw. HURRELL BROS. ( The three exhibits by Messrs Hurrell Bros., coachbuilderis, give an indication of the change that is taking place in the coach trade. The. motor lorry body for meat delivery calls for special mention, and is a fine example of the class of work turned out of their factory. Mounted on a Graham Bros.’ 1-ton chassis and- designed: to suit the country trade, the whole turnout is, both useful and attractive. The driver is Avell protected, the cab having two side windows, fitted with the latest regulators to wind up and down as desired. The body top is removable, and is bordered; with wire, work and painted white. The. inside is covered with zinc, as. also are the two side drawers for sausages and corn beef. There are two side doors fori convenience in handling goods in front. Painted in Ripoliu French' gray and lettered to match, gives the desired finish. The 2-ton trailer, also on exhibition, attached to a Fordson tractor, is something new to this district, but should come into very common use for contractors and road work. The body is steel lined inside and mounted on low wheels with 6-inch tyres. It is easy to tip and quickly fastened or detached from the back of the tractor. According to t-he class of work these, trailers can bo used singly or in twos and threes. The’motor lorry for milk is fast coming into favour with the farmers, and Messrs Hurrell Bros, have on exhibition one built on a Ford 1-ton chassis, with a wide cab for passengers, and drop-sides. These lorries are gradually coming into favour in Taranaki amongst dairy farmers and proving great time-savers.*