THE EXHIBITION.

North Otago Times, 2 November 1906, Page 2

THE EXHIBITION.

By Telegraph; Christchurch, Nov. 1

Only once in its history has the , City of the Plains heen so thronged and enthusiastic as to-day. The previous occasion was the relief of Mateking—a joyous ending to:a sanguiiiary struggle. The present,one was entirely joyous and peaceful, and signalised the progress of a new land of which history gives no example. It is scarcely two years ago that the late Premier (Mr Seddon) visited Christchurch to set his exhibition scheme on foot, and when one looks at the magnitude of the undertaking and the success from an illustrative point of view which has been achieved, the self-gratulations which are so freely expressed are held to be not undue vanity. The undertaking ]ias been gigantic for so small a country, and its magnitude under existing cqndUions tormed tie subject ■ of special reference by the Governor. The opening ceremony was satisfactory in everv respect, and was carried out without a single hitch, and was witnessed by a gathering containing more prominent men of the Empire than probably any function which has been held in the southern hemisphere. The Governor of the colony and his Ministers, the representatives of the Mother Country and the sister colonies, proud of the spirit of the I youngest daughter in the family, the committees which have worked for the promised success, the army of workmen and exhibitors, and lastly the crowd of the uninvited citizens outside the gates, eager to lend all the assistance in their power—all these combined to form a gathering that will > long be remembered in Ibe annals of the City and the colony. The exhibition could 'have had no more auspicious start it life than the worm send of! that has gone far towards securing its , success. i

At quite an early hour this mornI ing volunteers in their gayest uniforms commenced to move- about in town and to congregate at the King Edward Barracks. By 10 o'clock most of them had paraded, and they movrd off to the exhibition. The various corps on foot formed a guard on pait of Kilmorc street and, over the bridge at tho main enhance. Three brass hands stood inside the entrance, and other corps guarded • the way from the bridge to the main doors. The rest ot the volunteers and the various mounted corps anived in a long procession as a guard to his Excellency the Governor, and as tficy reached the entrance gate ■ turned to the right along Park Terrace. The arrangements were nicely timed, so that his Excellency arrived at the pre-arrang-ed lime. While the opening ceremony was being performed a fair number of the public found their way to the sports jiioiind behind the buildings, where a' military display was given by the mounted men and a contingent of men-of-wavsmen from the warships in port. The attendance of the public 7 as comparatively small, because the number admitted to the grounds prior to the ceremony was very limited. • ■ • . The proceedings opened rather tamely, as the mounted men-tow liable to- teach the ground at • the . proper ' time; The men-of-warsmen , provided the first sign- of the show i by dragging a field gun round the |

grounds to I lie accompaniment 'of, music fiom 11.M.5. band. .At the first nnnouiiccmcnt-'6'f'the vice-regal approach, Sir Joseph and Lady Ward, the Executive Commissioners, Chairmen of Committees, aiKl.Ccrtmoni.il Committee had advanced to the fountain attended by the naval and military officers and • other notahilia. Meanwhile the guard of honor furnished by the Canterbury Highland Rifles bad been spread in two diagonal lines converging on the main entrance, and the troops lined the approach with fixed bayonets. The Governor's approach was heralded by the appearand) of two outriders, followed by the handsome green uniforms of the No. 2 North Canterbury Mounted Rifles, as the vice regal escort. " Guard-—the royal salute-present arms," camo the staccato order from a kilte'd officer.' There was a double clap as from one man as the guard came into saluting position Ihe Gi'irison Band buist into the inspiring strains of the National Anthem, and the-official reception followed. As the party; ascended the steps and filed into the grand hall the choir and orchestra rendered a verse of the National Anthem. The No. '1 and 2 battalions of the North Canterbury in. 'antry lined the passage at the salute, and the procession passed on to the reserved scats, ; Outsidq the entrance there was a tremendous army of photographers and eincniatograpliists, hut they in no way disconcerted his Excellency, and he appeared to 'be very highly pleased with the whole train of events. The ceremony was a very brilliant one. The main corridor in which it took place was well suited to the purpose. Quite an luur before the hour fixed for the reception of his Excellency the corridor was well filled with invited guests, many of whom took an early opportunity of sccurine their. seats. The men from the Imperial men 'of war were marched into the corridor, and Kurd one side of it,. while the local vo'miU'cn lined the other side, making a picturcsdiie background. Several of the notabilities also arrived earlv, and took the seats allotted to them immediately in front of tho platform erected at the end of the corridor for the orchestra. Amongst these were Ihe officers of the men-of-war. the Deputy Mayor (Mr ft. Payiine). several of the Executive Commissioners, Bishop Julius and Archbishop Redwood, and representatives of the legislature and the, educational institutions, and the judicial bench, who were applauded. As they walked up the passage the National Anthem was played. There was a ripple of excitement in the gathering when Sir Joesph Ward, accompanied by Lady Ward, the Minute is of the Crown, Sir John Goi'sl (representative of the British Government), Captain Ailken British Commissioner), Col. Bauchop, Lieut.-Col. Slater, Mr A. 1 A. Langden (representative of the 1 British Government in arts and ' crafts) arrived, and a few minutes 1 afterwards His Excellency and Lady ' Plunket took their scats.

Ihe ode written by Johannes C< Amlcrsoi and set to music by Alfred Mall, was then rendered. It was written in seven distinct phrases, and opens with a chorus of welcome, which is rather dramatic in character. The music is intended to he descriptive, and the way it was played indicated that the orchestra will he a ray pronounced attraction of the Ex-' hibition. The soloists and chorus were excellent. At the conclusion of the ode there was a round of loud applause, which was continued for several minutes. Mr Hill was introduced to his Excellency, who shook ihim by the hand, and heartily conirralulatcd him. Mr Kavc also introduced Mr Johannes C. Anderson, and he also received his Excellency's concrntulations.

liis Excellency, amidst tumults of iinnlause, rose to address the vast concourse. He said it was with fcclintrs nf deenest wide and satisfaction ih.it he rose to carry out the honoraide duty wlnVli had been conferred : iivon him. That satisfaction was. ■ however, tempered with sorrow that the New Zealand statesman and British Imperialist, who laid the foundation stone fieurativelv and actually of the undertakimr. was not here to comulete the largest Exhibition ever held beneath the Southern Cross, and to witness the response which the Mo-li-cv Country and her children had nude to New Zealand's invitation. "Vers.) "We pall this the New '/calami International Exhibition." said the Governor, " Proud as I am to be associated with so important an undcrtokincr. I am ever more interested in the obiect underlying its contention. That obiect. if I interpret it riirhtlv, was to show to their fellow citizens of the Emnire what New Zealand, with a history of but ' man's lifetime, has aecomnlisliwl. 1 Tt was also to demonstrate to the l world that there is living here a • voting nation which, though furthest from the Mother Country, and nine hundred miles from her nearest neighbour is British in thought and blood happy and prosperous, standing only on the threshold of her splendid future. It may bethought by some that it is presumptuous if not ridiculous for less than a million of people, living on a mere speck in the Pacific Ocean, to anticipate becomimr the new England of the southern seas, or for a land of but vesterdav to expect to compare with the greatest maritime and manufacturing nation of the old world, but it is in no such douhtinir spirit that the New Zealander regards his future. He points to the thirty-seven millions of Great Britain, and proudly tells you that bis own country is as large, as healthy and as fertile; indeed, nothing has impressed me more during my visits to the different parts of the colony than the fact thai beneath the surface of their general content the pioneer and the farmer, the merchant and the artisan arc looking forward confidently to their children's heritage," Proceeding to refer to the colony's natural resources, the Governor said if their country had materials to build her ships she had also men to man them, for the New Zcali n'ler had eminently the seafaring nature of the Englishman. Was it, lie asked, difficult to believe that with humanitarian legislation for the workers and wise treatment of capital there will arise before long manufacturing towns differing only from those at Home in that grinding poverty, over-crowding and dirt, smoke and fog will he absent ? Ho did not think that the people of New Zealand will consider he had over estimated the »i obable future of this land, in which tliev take so much pride, and it seemed to him that an epoch, such as this Exhibition was likely to prove it was a fitting occasion to dwell upon her future, The Governor then welcomed the visitors in the name of the King, and expressed annreciation of the honor the neonlo of the colony invariably 'aid to the representative of the sovereign. His Excellency sat down amid annlausc.

Sir Joseph Ward expressed deep regret at tho absence ot the man who started the Exhibition. He had that day received the following telegram from Mrs Seddon: "To-dav our thoughts turn towards Cliristchurcli, and we sincerely hope everything will miss off satisfactorily, and that their Exhibition will be the success that Mi' .Seddon would have wished it.JANIE SEDDON." (Applause.) He also expressed regret at the absence throueli illness of Sir John Hall. He extended a warm welcome to the visitors naming primarily Sir John Gorst (representative of the British Government, and then mentioned those of the Commonwealth representatives. The Premier concluded as follows: " The late Premier intimated in Cliristchurcli that this great imclcrtnkintr was to be gone on with, and later on Mr Munro, the Chairman of the Exhibition Commissioners, was annotated hv the Government to initiate the work, and on him' tlu oi'iranisatlon at its inception was cast. It is due to him to sav that

he has carried out the enormous mass of worlf and done work which reflects H'c bin-host, credit uoon him. (ApI dns'vp.to S'lv. ladies and "niitlemcn. (hat it, is known oniv to tlinso wi'o are acHvp'v ewraircd in "Onnectlnn wil.li flip EvMbition tlm mass nf „'nrk f.l*nf h,i boon donn by Ho-nmirman of <im nnmmissioiws Mr M-mrn ond T UW fbis ntinirtnn'iv rtbe first, time, since, tb. TCxliihi-j tmn has been inauiruratfifll of ■savin? that tbn Government recognises tfcst

■Sjafi?'* SS?* difficult task to dis, fv llio Hundredth Psalm was ti,„„ suiiK and Sir Joseph then iA •.icwelled fibjd purses' to Lady Ward and the Hon. KathtaT Pinlw on behalf of the Exhibit?™ '#' that his Excellency fia°t tt,„ T? eC Mbition open, and desStSSl ?SnS r * Warn to His Majesty ffi Kh,V able ' nounclDß the fad Y " e Kin *' a "' ciSra'Sitrae^- 0^ '"ttoNtUonalAntaXaJlf turn bells were run E , the flaw of a J nations were unfurled and £ „ w" were admitted. ' tllD mK