THE ROYAL SHOW

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21717, 5 February 1934, Page 10

THE ROYAL SHOW

THIS WEEK'S FIXTUBE

SEVERAL INNOVATIONS ATTRACTIONS EACH DAY With record entries and a number of innovations, tho Royal Show, to be held at tho Epsom Showgrounds on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, promises to be the most successful show yet held in the Dominion. A novel feature will be a comprehensive programme of ring, athletic and other events to bo staged under floodlights on the evening of tho first day. Everything is now in readiness at the Showgrounds for the stock exhibits, tb.c first of which will arrive from the South Island and the Hawke's Bay and Wellington Provinces to-day. Those from Taranaki will arrive to-morrow and the remainder on Wednesday. Very large entries have been received, and in the majority of sections previous records have been eclipsed. In the cattle division entries total 735, as against 638, tho previous Dominion record established at Invercargill in 1929. At the last Auckland show there were 310 head of cattle, and at the last Royal Show in Auckland in 1926 therp were 620. Large Horse Section Horse entries total 616, compared with 155 at last year's Auckland show and 384 at the last Royal Show in Auckland. There are 351 entries in the pig section, compared with 160 at the last Auckland show and 204 at the 1926 Royal Show. The previous record was 227, established at Palmerston North in 1932.

The official opening ceremony will be performed by the Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. G. W. Forbes, at a luncheon to be held in the grandstand of the Auckland Trotting Club on the second day. The president of the Auckland Agricultural and Pastoral Association, Mr. S. Austin Carr, will preside. Among the visitors will be Mr. M. J. Savage, Leader of the Opposition, the Hon. C. E. Macmillan, Minister of Agriculture, and other members of Parliament. The Minister of Finance, the Rt. Hon. J. G. Coates, will bo unable to attend tho luncheon, but will visit the show on Thursday. The first day will.be occupied principally with the judging of stock exhibits, commencing at 9 a.m. The show will close at 5 p.m., but will open again at 7 p.m., when a gymkhana will commence, concluding at 10 p.m. Novel horse events will include dual jumping, a potato race, musical chairs and a Gretna Green race. There will also be athletic events for men and women, a display of physical culture, Highland national dancing, and a treefelling competition. Children's Day

The younger generation will be specially catered for on Friday, '"children's day," when there will be pony class competitions and a parade of children's pets. Sheepdog trials will be commenced and some events in the hunter section will be conducted. Judging of stock will be completed, and special awards made. The grand parado of show stock on Saturday, "people's day," will be followed by a parade of motor vehicles. Blank shells will be fired from two guns in a military display to be giveu by the 18th Medium Battery, Northern Coast Artillery. Heavy artillery will be thus seen in action, and spectators, by means of loud-speakers, will also hear the orders sent down to the guns from an observation post in the grandstand. A gymnastic display will bo presented by pupils of the Seddon Memorial Technical College, and other attractions will be the finals in the sheepdog trials, an exhibition by the Pakuranga Hunt Club's hounds, and steer-riding competitions.