THE EXHIBITION.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLII, 14 March 1907, Page 2

THE EXHIBITION.

(By Telegraph— Special Service.) CHRISTCHURCH, Wednesday.A crowded excursion train from the • oufh was responsible for an unusualli lar<?«> attendance of country folk at the Exhibition (his moruing. The General Manager, Mr Munro, supplies an in. terosting comparison of the attendance returns for the present Exhibition and 1?j Tj? n , n j ßl lnt< *nat ! onal Exhibition held at Melbourne in 1888-89. The total admissions to tlie Melbourne Exhibition, which was open for a peiiod of six months and two days, were 1,963,430, and the total number oi admissions to the ftow Zealand International -Exhibition, which will be open fUe months and fifteen days— closing on April 15th —is estimated to reach 1.900,000. The largest daily attendance at the Melbourne Exhibition was on the Saturday preojd:n? the closing, when the number ,of admissions registered was 42395, and the largest weekly total was during the concluding week of the Exhibition, fop wnicn the total attendance was 142 wt The average dafly attendance at the Melbrurno Exhibition was 12271 The avenge daily attendance at the' .New Uoml Exbmioa *** The exhibit of horticultural glasses now on view in the Agiicnlturfl Dapartments Court is of a very complete and instructive character, including hell glasses of various sizes, vases, number glassa, globes, and other forms of horticultural glassware, all fflnde by .* St. Helens firm. There are aleo large specimens of crude gl asa f rom hi « h the articles are manufattorej Theex hibit occupies a large stand in the Court A series of specimens sh<iwin r different methods of. graftine frn/t trees, on vanour other tress and shrubs prepared by Mr W. J. WmS^ffi ment Pomotogist fortbe North Island have also toon placed in tie Agricultural Department's Court. They show stock andscion separately, and also the graff. The number of .visitors to this Court, which h complete enoueh to *?j; m . a . ve ?y satisfactory farmers' exhibition m itself, increases as the weeks go by. It is expected that a further detachment of North Island Maoris will arrive at the Exhibition at «he end of this week. Any visitor who had not been welt aware of the fact-must have found it difhcult tc 'believe if he had seen the crowd at the Exhibition tonight that the great fair had been in progress over four months. The farewell pFogiamme of the Besses oh Bam, combined with the fireworks .display, was the «reat event, and from an early hour of the evening the people thronged the mam approaches and corridors of the building, and crowded onto the spo:t3 erou d in an increasing multitude, bmart showers fell at intervals throughout the evening, acd the sky threatened * heavy downpour at any moment, yet the crowd, estimated at over ten thou-" sand, fat or stood out the programme of i he Messes, sheltered only by their umbrellas and thousands of " others watchol the fireworks when these »ommenced from the {.rounds outside the enclosure. The band were at their best for their tarewell performance, which was received with great enthusiasm, seveial ot the selejtious being encored. The fireworks display was of a specially brilliant nature. ' At th© conclusion o£ the combined programme seven local bands played Auld Lang Syne together. The atten. dance for the day reached the splendid total of 20,023, which bringe the aggregate up to 1,498,040. If the present rain continues the Exhibition gardens, which are still the theme cf general admiration, are expected io afford a most magnificent display of autumn flowers, particularly of dahlias, begonias, ap4 others. These flowers Tiave been late in blossoming, owing to the dry weather. Experts place the cost of the maintenance of the gardens in their present condition at fully 4500 a year.