A RUN THROUGH THE DUNEDIN EXHIBITION.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XXIV, Issue 9, 11 January 1890, Page 4

A RUN THROUGH THE DUNEDIN EXHIBITION.

[Contributed to the Obri*>t-.hutoh P-ress.\ loduoed by the holidays, and on let-fired .:•,'. by. ths- sbor:-p»ghte'd' polioy of the Railway Oomnaißsfonerß, I joined a party bound for the Dunedin Exhibition. Beguiling the rather* tedious journey wiih out-throat ; euchre, sandwiches a«d railway dtatio a ten, we r_ftohed cur journey's eud about nine Vclo?k at, nigh', had almtri d snrok an the hotel, and go. to t_o Exhibition a lit le after ten o'cl ok. It bei<ig a holiday r.iyht, -.ha Bhow did nol olosa till hnlf-pcBS ten, and we found tbo people pouring ont in gr st number., and c-sipericnoed some lit'le diffioulty ia getting in, bat once iuwh wo wero struck ' t "with the very pretty appearanoa of tie building by night. Along eaoh Bide of tte avenues is a row of many handrt.de, possibly j . iLoußaaUß, of gas baruera, oaoh of wtiioh hai ] a globe of a different ojlor from the laßt, while down tbe centra of the building, at very shorn distances apart, i.rj hcops with atout eighteen jets from eaoh. The blaze of light— the gas ie supplied at coii prioe, and oertaioiy is lavi.-hly uted— the gild d decorations of the various courts, the miscellaneous oberacler of the exhibits, the variety of the dre„3es, and the crowd of vi.-itois, lent a brii iiot effeoo to thu aoene. The statue of her Most Gracious Majesty tbe Qaeen Btood forth ia bold relief, lojkiog Btraight ont of the entrance doorv>, bui. whether we were Bleeping afer our trip, c-r whether io was from her rough pateage over from Melbourne, or the la'.eucea o£ tho hour ct which we saw her I know uot, tut thu 6tv.ua did no; look hiippy, and judging hy the expreesi-n on itr fa e ic seemed to at as if oar S-V.reigu had been _boat three p ; <r B aflleep when the eoulp or caught her expression, or else that tho Dunedin artidt* who re-

paired the damage on arrival from M lbourae atd much t> auewe for. Bui be lhat as i m»y, iha Qaeen. Ht a quarter pasi ten that Light, looked about as ro py aid dejeated as ono o aid well imagine. Wo started io walk round the battling, bus some of the attendants gave us tbe Lip to face about, so we returned to the dome to speculate on tbo objeoc of allowing its 'walls to r.maiu blaok spaces, the mo- , no ony of wnio_ waa relieved oily iy aB "far aal now remember, Latin quotations — for like ninety-eight per cent of tne crowd I could not translate them, so they have not left muoh imptession, but they were liberally embellished witb gold leaf whioh must have - been intended to make op for all other short' comings. We waited there until the gaa was turned down then sought our downies. Nest day we made an early start, and again passing the statue, whioh we were glad to eee looked rather more animated by daylight, we turned to the left into the armament court and were immediately overcome by . cannon and heavy ordnauoe— exoase tbe omission of the verses so suitable here, but really they are worn threadbare. A notice is . posted up to the efieot thatf.' the guns will be mounted and the working of lhe different exhibits explained at 8 o'olook each Tuesday and Friday evening, but I may Bay en passant that we were there at ten minutes paßt eight on one of those evenings, but beyond seeing the big gun elevated wo left otherwise unenlightened. Passing through the imaginary smoke and roar of cannon we c-.mo to a phot.* ■ graphers stuJio, wli3re you caa have your photo taken and bear it away as a touvenir of the -how, Here, as iu all the other photographers' exhibits, we see the shadows of two old friends, Arthur Tov/say and Jules Joubert, the former lookiog unchanged, the latter older and more grey than of yore, but otherwiss as chirpy and as knowing as ever. We saunter on and examine the "* hide of the equine hero Musket, and stroke it in fond remembrance of the poor old fellow that has done so znuah towards the improvement of our racing stook. We are in the ' Auokland oourt, and must go and see lhe kauri gum, so approaoh a bay divided by two small counters, a girl bshind each, one Balling Auoklaud butter scotch, the other unattraotive kauri gum ornaments, at highly remunerative rates to the makers. The assortment cons'sta principally ol birds' nests, with three eggs in eaoh. There are other things as well, but nothing that struok us as being pretty or uncommon, and we were glad to find in another part of the buildiug • i a splendid eo leoticn of gum, which en- _ abled visitors from the neighbouring colonies " io see it in all its beauty, while in one of the other courts— l think the publio workß V— a piece ol the kauri tree, with the gum attaohed, was exhibited. Nothing strikes us until we reach the Wellington , Woollen Company's tweeds. These we ex* ~ amine, but, whether from bias or not, they V do not seem to compare at all favorably with V those we have sesn turned out by the ■ -Kaiapoi Factory ; and here it may not be ; out of place to say that after seeing the very : ~ exhibit of the Mosgiel Factory, ,» . and forming an opinion of the magnificent. V ..advertisement it must have been, we - - wondered bow a sensible body of men i'orm- ■-■. ing the Directorate of the Kaiapoi Company ■"';- was deterred by the expenditure of a< few hundred pounds from erecting the magnifiA /cent exhibit that Company could have displayed, and, by omitting to be represented, , neglect to bring the Company's manufactures /before such a gathering of wearers as probably will never again visit any similar Exhibition in this colony during the present century. We glance at some very handsome furniture in a bay opposite, and come to a brunette expatiating upon the marvellous *■*«.- reduction to be effected in the housekeeping expenses by the use of the " handiest and most economical kitchen utensil for peeling and slicing fruit or vegetables that has yet been discovered." The counter in front of the stair is strewn with potato skins, and if - the ordinary coak could handle the little instrument with as great adeptness as the exhibitor did," the slicer would certainly be entitled to all the credit claimed for it. The purchase of one ofThese leads to an expla nation of "the most wonderful top ever devised, which will spin in any position, walk a string a la Blondin, and do other miraculous things." The motion of this top, according to our dark friend, has puzzled all the eminent engineers of the present age, but a3 we had seen it at every exhibition for the last ten years, we go and have our handkerchief scented free of charge at the bay wherj they were exhibiting the colonial scent. The perfume v/as very sweet, and the extracts displaced were very varied, but the prices were hardly as low as one antici pated. We now come to a huge mass of coal, running up to a point, and almost reaching the top of the bay where it stood. On it is a board notifying that it is "the coal that saved the Calliope at At a rough guess I should Bay the exhibit weighed about five tons, and afc the bottom Of it is plaoed a small box, about the Bize of an ordinary gin case, full of ashes and clinkers, with a notice attached thafc the Whole exhibit would only leave aa much refuse as was contained in the box. This Btatement in all probability was correct, but from the remarks p*'the bystanders I judged that in many qua/ters it was accepted with the customary f/T-in of salt. We are now opposite a bay fu„ of " soap, starch, and candles," to quote from the popular song, though, by the way, they had forgotten to include the starch, and filled up its place with washing powders, sheep dip, culinary essences, and vinegar. There is a life-size statue in sperm of the illustrious Captain James Cook, " Oceani investigator iwjerrimus," as the books say, surrounded by all descriptions of soap and can. dJes. In front of him stands a show ißase fil ed with candlesticks, cups, sauicers, and numerous other things made in wax or sperm. We run into fche arms of the jovial Kinsey, full of spirits, and with his whole heart Bud soul in hid court ; but we are disappointed to think bow our provinoe should be represented and see how it is— that Mr Kinsey has done so well in making the show he has out Qf the materials at his disposal surprises us, But to remember our Exhibition in 1882, our Industrial Exhibition in the drillehed a few years later, and to think that Canterbury is : so apathetic as to make the indifferent Bhow she now does, almost compels us to shut our eyes aud pass into the next court, However, we must have a look round, but see little to attract tbe attention of the casual visitor, except perhaps Mr Matson's show oase of DBtrioh feathers; tbis exhibit iB very creditable to the province.. We notice duplicates of ithe fans presented to the Queen and the Princess of Wales, but we look in fain for the [portraits of " Mr and Mrs Gladstone," the laame given to the parent oßtriohes. How isver, we see what we assume must be two of ithe little Gladstones, one iu eaoh of the • .[ront oorners of the oase ; but their lives have Ibeen short, and we trust happy ones, as they ', nro no larger than young turkeys. We peep .into the Canterbury Commissioners sanctum nanotorum, and find the room handsomely ■.tarnished by A. 3. White, and we reoeive an invitation to afternoon tea there at four O'olook whioh we aooept.

Ths best medioine known is Bander and {lon's Euo__>__xi Extract. Test its eminen powerful effects in ooug oo as, influenza, th relief is instantaneous, In serious oa ies, and accidents of all kinds, be they wounds burns, scalding-, braises, sprains, it is fche safest remedy-no swelling-no inflammation, Like. surprising effects produced in croup, ■• * diphtheria, bronohitis, inflammatioii of the longs, swellings, &o. ; diarrhosa, a>_entery diseases of the kidneys and urinary organs. In use at hospitals and medical olinios all 'i ~6i&t the globe j patronised by His Majesty ' the King of Italy; orowned with medal and diploma at International Exhib-tbD, Amsterdam Trußt in thie approved wtiole