Waimate North.

Northland Age, Volume 3, Issue 16, 20 November 1906, Page 5

Waimate North.

(From our own Correspondent.) As usual we have had a rather unpleasant day for show day—or rather, to be % more correct, unpleasant weather —but still a fair number attended and almost every face carried a smile, so we may say the majority were satisfied with themselves, if not with the show. The inside exhibits were generally good, and I can say that the needlework and children’s classes were well filled; in fact the steward of the children’s class said he never had such a time at any previous show. The cattle and sheep pens were fairly well filled with good specimens, and the horse exhibits were up to the usual standard. The jumping caused a little extra interest—at least, I think so, considering the way the crowd lined the ropes on either side, and the cheers which were so very frequently heard. To my mind the more interesting items of the day were the chopping and sawing matches, the former being von by Mr. Harry Alexander, with Mr. Harrison a good second and Mr. Lewis close in his wake, while the sawing match was won by Anderson Bros. Continued cheers * followed both events. November 10th 1906. [The above, intended for insertion in last week’s issue, arrived too late for the purpose.] In mine of last w eek I referred to the usual “scjually weather luck” of show day. It is almost always the same—occasionally we have a fine day, but very seldom. lam beginning to think there * J must have been some wrong done in the early days, or probably the usual quietness of tne place is more or less disturbed and the clerk of the weather (who always has the corner of his eye on us) objects and tries to keep people away by wetting them. Show time is generally looked

forward to as a time for rain to fall, so much so that a few years ago (the last real fine day we had) quite a number of people in a township not so very far away from here washed out their tanks because they were sure it would rain show day. Well, the weather played them false—show day was a beautiful cloudless day. Good idea to get these people to wash out their tanks again previous to the show—we might thus insure fine weather. Probably those parties would object to a second trial, however. While the show is fresh in our thoughts I think it not amiss to point out where I consider improvement would greatly assist the working of the inside part of the show, not with the intention of causing any unpleasantness or lil-feeling between parties but with the hope that in future the committee will see that the stewards of the various classes are perfectly well acquainted with and thoroughly understand their work. I have served my time at it and can say it is simple as a.b.c. after once explained, but to the uninitiated one it appears rather difficult. Before I go farther I must say that the success of the show depends greatly on the ability *of the stewards, and should they fail in that, or to speak plainly, get muddled and make mistakes, it causes the judges trouble, and the exhibitors (not knowing the why and wherefore) most probably go away very dissatisfied and with a firm * resolve not to exhibit another time (which resolve we hope is forgotten by next show). I happened to meet two ladies, both of whom are deeply interested in the welfare of the show, and they were much distressed to see that in the children’s needlework class there has been a slight mistake, not very alarming in itself, but to girls of tender years the •nor greatly troubled and disheartened them, aoSlf such things are allowed to be repeated without any notice being |. taken they my probably cause the comL. *■ lag gmtaHoa to beoesne rery shy of ex-

hibiting for competition. I may as well stile the affair as I heard it, and I hope the stewards of the class will not think me hard on them, as I have no desire to be so but wish to guide them for the future. There also is another matter omitted: The usual placard giving names of judges and stewards of various classes was not as usual tacked up in view. I suppose our new Mr. Secretary forgot a minor item while busy with the more important ones. Hope he won’t forget it again. This is his first experience and therefore can reasonably be excused. The facts of the previous complaint, it seems, are that two young ladies under fourteen years of age (that age being the limit of the class I am referring to) entered one article each; another young lady, aged 17, entered two articles (similar to those of the former ladies) but which were intended for the adult class of needlework, and when the judging was over it was found that the elder lady of the three had been awarded first and second prizes in the children’s class, while the two younger -ones were ignored altogether. Now we cannot blamo the judges nor yet the exhibitors, for the rules state plainly that the age of the exhibitor must be given, therefore for a seventeen-year-old girl to get exhibits into the children’s class must certainly have been an oversight on the part of the stewards. Comparing the parties I may say it is almost like putting an amateur to work with a tradesman at the same class of work, and however smart the former may be the better finish would most assuredly be with tbe latter. I think I have placed the matter plainly before my readers and also am sure that all interested parties, as well as the members of the committee, are with me in trying to assist to put things in fair working order. I remember the rule at school was order first, then iuorl\ after which we could reasonably expect progresss, but in this instance instead of progress let me substitute success. I hear Mr. Halliday’s flax mill at Oromahoe is now working and that cutters are scarce, hence the supply of flax is rather scant.

By the way, some persons were going to have a turkey (cooked) for lunch show day, but I am told the bird is still alive, so I presume they did not get it. November 13th, 1906.