A Day at Wembley

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XIV, Issue 201, 2 August 1924, Page 11

A Day at Wembley

A NEW ZEALAND GIBL’f IMPRESSIONS

The following delightful story of a day’s visit to vVembley is written by a New Zealand girl who is at school in England It is contained in a letter to a relative living at Havelock North, and the girl’s impressions of the vast Empire Exhibition, given with rare descriptive art. will appeal to young and old alike She says:— . “I expect you have heard a good deal about Wembley. I thought perhaps you might like to have an account of our visit last Thursday. Our headmistress took ten of the seniors and another mistress. We left Enfield by the 11.13 and arrived at Wembley at 12.15 We had lunch as soon as we got there, at the Lyons 1 had ham and salad, cheese and rolls, New Zealand butter, lemonade and an ice—for two shillings. I think that proves that people who grumble and say that prices are ridiculously high at Wembley are entirely wrong. Of course, if one likes, one can pay £3 3/- for a Chinese dinner of birds’ nest soup and snails etc! The restaurants are well decor-

ated and beautifully clean and airy. After lunch we strolled through the pleasure gardens which are a mass of riotous colouring. There were huge beds of golden, red, and purple tulips, and great trees of azaleas and hydrangeas We first explored the Palace of Industry, which was fairly interesting, but confusing, as they had shuch things as cloth manufacture next to pottery, and scents next to th© motor industry. Queen Mary’s Dolls' House. The Palace of Arts is quite close, and here we saw the Queen’s famous Doll§’ House. It really is marvellous. They have every conceivable thing there that is to be found in an ordinary, house, on the most minute scale. Among the things which especially took my fancy were copies of the “Daily Mail” and the “Ladies’ Field,” about the size of a thumb-nail, a croquet set that would easily fit into a match-box, tiny tins of preserved food, a knife cleaner, baby’s weighing macliine, crested note-paper, a sewing machine, thermos flask, thermometer, opera-glasses and a strong-room with exact replicas of the Crown jewels. The hall was crowded with people waiting to get near to the glass case which surrounds the dolls’ house. Via the Red Sea. New Zealand is the next country, but, most unfortunately. Miss — decided not to visit that. I was extremely disappointed, but I hear that it is nowhere near completion yet. so T hope to se it when I go with Daddy. From New Zealand we went by motorboat to India and Burma, via tire Red /Sea. We floated along the lakes, between banks covered with glorious tropical flowers and shrubs, under delicately arched bridges, past state!v domes and tapering minarets, which stood out dazzingly white, against the cloudy sky. I could have remained there the whole afternoon, listening to the distant bands, and watching the fascinating crowds of people from all countries. It seemed so strange to hear French. Russian. Italian. German. Arabic and even Chinese tongues chattering all round one. Indian Pavilion. India is a dream of beauty. The courtyard is of white marble, and the whole building itself is built to resemble the Taj Mahal at Agra. The exhibits were gorgeous, comprising all kinds of work in metals, ivory and jewels. The shskris from Kashmir were said to be priceless, but I liked the carved ivory goods best. At Assam we were invited to enter a tent which was in absolute darkness. Suddenly the sun rose on a mine: the machinery hummed and the work in the mine went on steadily, as the light grew stronger. and midday was reached. Then as evening came on the sun set behind the hills, and lights were lit in the little houses in the valley. Gradually the moon rose and one by one the lights in the houses went out, and the moon slowly set. leaving darkness once more. We were s'o fascinated that we had to stay to watch three performances. Burmese Temple. Burma was next. It is a magnificent building like a temple of carved wood, and on the tops of the minarets there are dozens of bells which jingle in the wind with a pretty tinkling sound. Lovely carpets, tapestries and gorgeous materials were shown here. From Burma it is ordv a short walk to Palestine. We hourht Joffa oranges there and sat on the stone steps to eat them. The Great Dominion. The next country, Canada, was the general favourite. We did not go in at the main entrance, but by a side way which took us straight into the main hall. The sides of the hall are divided into partitions of about thirty feet each. One showed a grain elevator at work, with trains puffing to and fro, and steamers travelling backwards and forwards. The next showed a scene in the Rockies, with a real waterfall tumbling down the mountain side. Then there wag one of the Niagara Falls where by the aid of "lighting effects one seemed to see the water pouring over the falls and foaming in the pools beneath. The others were scenes, showing the different seasons in Canada. Of these the autumn was the best. Great World Dotted Red. From Canada we passed Australia and, crossing Old London Bridge, reached the Government House. We found, on entering, that we were in a balcony running round each side of the main hall. Leaning over the edge we looked down on to an immense map of the world. It was raised above the water and red lights, concealed beneath the surface, indicated the extent of the British Empire. It gave me such a thrill to see how large and widespread it is, and 1 felt so thankful that 1 am British and not a German. The map also showed the Empire’s trade, and little white boats were sailing to and fro, controlled by electricity, on their different routes. The rest of the rooms were filled with plans and reconjttxuetions of famous battles of the great war. The Amusement Park. We thought Newfoundland extremely interesting, but as it is hardly finished it is not quite fair perhaps to give an opinion yet. We had tea at Lyons Cafe West, which is part of the Hall of Engineering. By this time it was six o’clock and we decided to make our way to the station through the Amusement Park. Th© Amusement Park has no attraction for me whatever. Dozens of roundabouts with noisy music, yelling children and heated showmen, made it seem blaring and tawdry, after the beauty of the rest of"the exhibition. The scenic railways are amazingly high, and look dangerous, but 1 hear they have been thoroughly, tested. Home Again. We reached home about seven o’clock. I was so tired and my feet were covered with blisters. We made the mistake that most people make—we tried to do too much in the short time we were there. I thoroughly enjoyed everything until about four o’clock, and then things . seemed to become wearying and gaudy. I expect the fact was that we had seen so much, that we could not take anything else in. Still it is something to be able to say that one has “Wembled.”