A LARGE ATTENDANCE.

Northern Advocate, 25 November 1893, Page 5

A LARGE ATTENDANCE.

THfe'iinportant event of the year is iiOTr, numbered with the past. Tli( Veathfer- of last Saturday—thfe day o1 general entr'ies-^'bnof the moststormj days of the year, „a, fierce southerly gale prerailangr—had the effect of preventing farmers from coming in tc enter, and the books closed that nigh! ■with positively rib' entries. The Secretary, Mr Walker, however, started tc work on .Monday to draw^ up entries, and succeeded so well that a very good show was the result, though oi course not- as good as might be desired nor what so large a farming district would be expected to produce; The , threatening character^ of the weather —the bleak gale of Saturday and the tropical" rain-storm of Monday—had miich to do with stopping people from entering exhibits! but Wednesday, Show Day, was a beautiful day and the people soon began to arrive from/ every direction, till one of the largest crowds yet seen on Kensing_to!n hM assembled. That the Show was not; up to the nsual standard was.seqn at a glance, and:the people amused themselves with watching the ring contests, and, a _ talking politics—the latter amusement; was greatly in evidence, and sometimes it caused something more than amusement. Everything was done oh the ground to n^ake the Show a success, the Secretary, Mr Walker, as usual was doings/the iw.ork .af; two or three. Messrs' Armstrong ;and Seccombe too worked with the thoroughness they alwayl^ put into their' work. Mi H. Wilson and' Mr Cowan were equally assiduous. . The show- of dairy produce was limited, but very good. Fancy work was "also limited, but some good things were shown/ In saddlery and harness, Mr H. S. Hill as usual had a fin^ collection, which was greatly admired and;, justly praised. In plough Messrs-McMUlan & Sons showed some fine __jfprfc, for which they are notedi These ploughs were critically examine^ and farmers generally spoke of them on the'highest terms. There was nfl conipetitidii in soide classes, . and according to the rules: no: no first prizfe could be awarded, in, these classes. This is hard on competitors, but it is the rule. Mr J. Grice some useful spring carts, &p., which were well made and finishe<|., ; The worl^ put into these goods is Genual to that of any imported article. > The jumping of the lady rider»« created considerable interest. It was easily won by Miss Mclnnis on Alam. The Hack Eace brought out a good field, but the horses had not gone far before they 'fell into Indian ordei\ McAdams who was riding last was seen to be violently whipping his horse from start to finish, and when lie finished the horse was found to be cut about very badly, so much so that the police determined to prosecute, with jthe result thai McAdams was sentenced to the extremely severe penalty of one months' imprisonment without the option of a fine. A public petition was immediately got up ashing the Minister of Justice to mitigate the penalty. The Trotting Eace in harness was amusing. There were four entries, one flulky, two wliitechapel carts and a spring trap. There was no attempt to Handicap the competitors, and the sulky was naturally the favourite. Before starting, the trap driven by W. Stewart ran into and knocked over a child,' but fortunately no harm was done, though the child narrowly escaped serious injury. Shortly after the-start, W.: Stewart's horse when nearly opposite the grand stand wanted to stand !on his hind legs and finding that somewhat difficult of accomplishment, gave an exhibition of high kicking and succeeded in making portions of the trap fly. Mr Hill's liori&e also took fright at this manifestation, of temper and made a bolt straight into the carriage ground. Hilll's trap • nearly capsized and Hill was thrown out. For a moment or two, the few promised to become exciting, when both Stewart and Hill started off again- Hannam who had a long, lead in a sulky, won easily, thoiigh Stewart's horse was clearly the fastest if lie would go straight. There wias only one entry for the high [jump (Mr M. Whitelaw) and this event fell through. In the old days-this used to be a very popular event. There was also only one entry for the working sheep dog. (also Mr M. Whitelaw) and this event also fell through. The attendance at the Show, as stated above, was very large and notwithstanding that the Show was not up to even the usual standard, everybody seemed to enjoy themselves right royally. It was the first general holiday of the season, the roads are passable, and people are glad of the oppartunity of meeting together again after the long, wet winter months. The takings at the gate was £60 UJ. The takings' would have been more if the charges bad been as high as on previous occasions, but this year all members of the Club were allowed to take their traps in free, the usual charge for which has been 2/6 each. There were but few exhibits in poultry, owing to the illness of Mr Alfred Cafler, who is the principal poultry breeder in the district. The knowledge that he would not compete at the Show, caused others to withhold their entries for fear that prizes would not be awarded through insufficiency of competition in this class. The riding of the ladies at the Show was very much admired by the judges. It was a very hard matter to decide how to award the first and second prizes to the two best riders in the ring as they were so very nearly alike in points •f merit. A number of exhibits of cattle which were entered hy persons living at a distance, did not arrive on the ground in time for the Show owing to the bad state of the roads. This remark also applied to classes for sheep. Following is the prize list : — HOESES. Blood Stock. Entire." S. Dickey, 1 ; N. Clotwcrthy, 2 Mare in foal or foal at foot. B. W. Brown, 2. Colt, filly or gelding, 2-years old. D. O'Brien, 1 ; Hy. Cheesemnn, 2; Mri J. R. McMillan, highly commended Colt, filly or erelding, 1-year old. Mrs J. E. McMillan, 1; Hy. Cheeseman, 2 Foal. E. W. Brown, 2 Ha:lf- Breeds. Mare in foal or foal at foot. S. Carter, 1 Filly, colt or gelding, 1-year old. J. Fraser, 2 Foal. .'^'i-~i'- '?- S. Carter, 1 Dbatjgiit Stock. Entire. Q. Hawken, 1; Weaver Bros, 2

I Jliire or gelding. - .--- »> I YV. " Christie, 1; 11. Cheescmah, 2; W. Christie, commended Celt, filly or gelding, 2? years olfl. C. Hawktn, 1 : - ; ,* •Foal. „ W. Hawken, 1 'Pair of a^iieultural horses, mares or geldings. , John Wright, 1 Pair of heavy draught mares or geldings. W. Christie, 1 Hacks. Cobs under 14 hands 2£- inchps. H. Ford, 1 ; Eaymond, 2; A. Hilford, 3 ; J. Mclnnis, commended Hacks up to lOst , mares or geldings. -Dr Hall, 1 ; J. M. McLeod, 2 ; Steadman, 3 Hacks up to 14st., mares or geldings. A. A. Wilson, 1 ; T. J Stewart, 2 Hacks up to i2st, mares or geldings. Mrs Johnson, 1 ; Gordon McKenzie, 2 ; J. ■Rolleston, 3 Hacks bred in the County. Mrs Johnson, 1 ; J. M. McLeod, 2 ; J. Eolleston and Hugh Mclnnis, commended Best Lady rider. Miss Flora Mclnnis. 1 ; Mrs Steadman, 2: MissMclunis and Miss N. Dwyer, commended Lady's borse, -mare or gelding. ■ J. McLeod, 1; Hugh Mclnnis, 2; T. H. Steadman, commended Pair of buggy horses driven in vehicle. N. G. McKay, 1 ; J Peters, 2 ; .1 Eolleston, 3 Pony, 13 hands and not over 14. W. Cambie, 1 ; C. W. Hawken, 2 ; Hy. Cheeseman and H. Selby, commended Pony under 13.2. J. Kerr, 1 ; J. White, 2