THE GLASGOW EXHIBITION.

New Zealand Times, Volume LXXI, Issue 4467, 21 September 1901, Page 3 (Supplement)

THE GLASGOW EXHIBITION.

SOME COLONIAL CONTRIBUTIONS. THE GRACE OF THE IRISH MINDNo n. The great boast, or at least one of the most confident claims,. which the Glasgow Exhibition authorities make is that the pursuits and energies of the colonies are admirably displayed in the Kelvingrora Buildings. . 1 think that the claim is something more than idle *ud vaunting pride. It is justified by an examination of the Exhibition itself. In : th© Industrial Hall almost all the great colonies nave a court in which products of their leading industries ar e exhibited. Australia exhibits wool and gold and mineral ores, and other things which it produces. Canada sends gram, and fur, and tinned fruits. The latter colony 19 the most ambitious of all the daughters of the old British house, partly perhaps because this is a Scotch Exhibition, and Canada owes so much, to Scotland, and partly perhaps because Federal Government is more deeply rooted there than it is in Australian soil. Not content with their court in the main buildings,the Canadians have built a, pavilion ,m tno grounds. Tho pavilion itself, with its two towers and its bold lettering, is a notable object, and anyone interested ip Canada inevitably strays into it in the hope of seeing the main features of Canadian life. It Is. however, only a show house, where the products of the country are gathered together. There is no aiming at spectacular effect and no bitempt to reproduce the active life of the Dominion.' The pictures on the walls, however, showing the mountains and the vast prairies, form a background for the_ Exhibition, and in that way some reality is lent to the lifeless collection of goods. The visitor,; walking roun,d the pavilion and observing how the exhibits are divided into three main classes, soon discovers the place of Canada in the commercial economy of the world. 'Wood, grain, and fruits are its chief contributions to other nations. The preserved fruit, enclosed in bottles, eaoh with its label on it,, testify to the richness of Canadian soil, and to the skill of jig people, but they do not convey to the visitor much of the romance and glory of the country. A far more attractive exhibit, and one which enslaves' the eye, ij the row of pjateg crowded with great r e d apple®. It 13 the kind of thing to. make a boy’s teeth water, and older people, equally addicted to the pleasures of the palate, will cast a longing glance on these glittering fruit s . The display of woods ig very fine. There are greatportions of the trees, jugt as they were after they were out down, and there are fine panels of the woods after they have been sawed and polished.' The with his axe and team of horses, felling anti cutting in tho remot© forest, has ibis share’in tho pride of inony a great building; ho is the servants of , the : carvers and all the guilds which work in wood, i In th© centre-of : the pavilion, as if to emphasis© the unchallenged supremacy of the/farmer, there is a kind of bower, bristled and pointed with bunches of arain, and quite near it there is a splendid exhibition of agricultural implements. ' THE IRISH INDUSTRIES.

Almost within a stone’s throw of the Canadian Pavilion is the - thatched house where the Irish industries are exhibited. It is called asquireen’s cottage, .and presumably it is intonded to represent a more comfortable dwelling than the Irish peasant generally inhabits. It is low-roofed, and it has only one story, bttt the ample room* and the general air of rusticity which it has would make it an, ideal homo 'for tha Irish peasants. An Irish politician, recollecting the misery of his people, would look longingly to the white walls md the ©loan thatch o n the" roof, and perhaps.he would begin to dream how such a house would shine on the hillsides. A walk round the various rooms reveals the limited range of Irish industrial activity. Linen weaving, v tho cloth-weaving, and the homo industries of the i women, seem to be the chief employments, of the people, to which must be added the manufacture of spirits. But if the range is limited, there ig a promise in the work which encourages hopes; though it algo breeds a kind of do-soair. The- samples of tweeds and cloths which are to bo seen' disappoint one somewhat. Tho > colouring is not always effective, and the artistic sense feels that it is cheated of its _ satisfaction, but the grace of the Irish mind finds another outlet for itself in the erouigite lace work of , th* women. A feminine mind, expert 1 in womanly arts and versed" in all the delicacies of needlework, 1 ig the best judge of " thege rare pieces of lace, but _the mere man, if he understands anything at ell of tho "subtle art of lineg and stars, and all the wayward' and fantastic figures of the needle, will recognise beauty and charm in these Irish products. Art is the mother of many daughters, all of them with some part of her own spirit in them, though they differ in majesty and power. Music, 'painting, sculpture, architecture, the use of words and resounding speech are all' arts, but we must add to .these lighter gifts such as needlework. In these Irish products there is much of the-grace and the elusiveness generally attributed to the Celtic mind, and the wonder of it all is that they are not , the work of delicately fingered women.. They are the work of the peasant women in the poorest counties, in Ireland. An instructive legend is. insribod over many of them,, “made ■ uiadw the supervision of' the Congested Districts' Board.” Women, always in love with lace for the sake of its. beauty, and men dejighted by its art, as well as attracted by itg use in enhancing womanly charms, will look long at these samples of Irish skill, but the politician distressed by the state of Ireland will linger quite as long, ami he will go away, marvelling that poverty and the pressure bf a sordid life have not extinguished the Celtic grace of* mind and the cunning of the hand, reflecting; too, what a people like this night accomplish in a better condition of things-

OTHER FOREIGN EXHIBITS;

The international character of the Exhibition is ■ fnllv rinditated by the French, Indian, Japanese, . and other foreign, sections* In the French ■ section the prevailing note of rcfipeihent and luxury* ■ Jewellery, - furniture, ladies dresses, and the accessories of fashion, all display the same daintiness, fineness of ingenuity, and. inclination todnxury. In the Japanese section there is nothing at all out of the usual rnn of Japan* ese exhibitions. Morocco has a small house, built by Moors themselves. It is A particoloured building, and inside it there are great heaps of Moorish goods,.swords, saddlss ornamented with gold, all kinds of embroidered work; Mia in another wart exhibits its typical products, carved woodwork, elaborate needle work, jewellery. < Persia has shader exhibits. Russia has _ just eagHaeneed to arrange her stalls in. the Industrial SMI, but one can see.how typical they nra ef the Rumien mind, fke raHaionis pkUmnt, painted on gold wr en gilded euhstanees, shew the crude colouring and the artless tfiperstitioa of a simple people. THE ART GALLERIES. Competent critics-Mill all agree fe

commending the design of the Exhibition buildings, but the fullest praise is reserved for the art galleries. It is even claimed that they are most splendid in Europe. Praise, when it appears as boastful comparison, -is something of a venture. It is ( better to limit oneself .to simple statement. _ If one does that there heed be nothing niggardly or starved in-his'.commenda-tion of these galleries. Outside they look supremely well. -They face the University. now growing gray, as if mindful of the antiquity of the great guild of which it is the home, and their situation vindicates the right of art to associate with knowledge on an equality of culture. But the University, set on the hill, maintains its superiority, and claims to be still the great light-bearer in the city. Inside the buildings harmonise with their purpose. There_ is nothing meretricious in the interior, and equally little is there any undue sumptuousness. Chasteness is the great characteristic, but it is not cold and unbending chastity of architecture. Dignity blends with grace. No more fitting home could have been made for the great treasures of art. At present it is tenanted by hundreds of pictures of the very finest and choicest kind. To many people they will bo the moat charming part of the Exhibition. .. ■ * . Downstairs , the art; galleries are chiefly occupied by an archmological collection illustrating the history and manners of Scotland. . I « afraid that I hare left myself too little space to deal with this fascinating collection, and. I must confess, too, that I had too little time to examine it in detail. To. do justice to it one would require to be an antiquarian well versed in Scottish history, and even then one'would need to spend hours, if not days,- in examining it. ' AN HISTORICAL COLLECTION.

The collection includes memorials of all the great epochs in Scottish history. Tha wars of independence, culminating in the victory at Bannockburn, the stern struggle of the Covenant, redolent at once of the saddest and noblest memories in. history, and tho iil-iated venture of the haplesg Pretender, 'all have a place in the collection. Relics of Bruce, swords which he wielded are there, and torn, faded banners of'the Covenanters, some of which floated at Drumclog ,or Bothwell Bridge. ,"■ There aj-e plentiful reminders of the dark ages in the shape of instruments of torture and great prison keys. The busy life of the trade guilds is represented by flags, and other symbols of these once; important bodies. Old chairs and tables, made of tho. darkest and grimmest oak, and all of them severely- plain; recall the stern conditions of Scottish life a century ago.'and some Sedan chairs remind one how far life has travelled, nines tho gqiden days of Edinburgh’s literary fame, when great ladies wepe carried in these up the High street to the rccoritions and; dinner parties of that Athenian time. Other sides of Scottish life have not been omitted.:' The tokens used at Coinraunion services oall 'up a host of ecclesiastical memories; and the curling stones and the pictures of the roaring game worthily represent one of the most 'typical' of Scottish amusements. Glasgow people, proud of their groat city, will be interested in tho room devoted to pictures and memorials of old Glasgow." ]The former are. especially interesting. One finds it hard to - believe (says a representative of the .“Daily Chronicle”).' that" Glasgow was once like that, that, the cathedral stood in the fields, and that the* Clyde" flowed r through :meadows where the furnaces of-:the city now.are. But pictures do hot lie, and th© Glasgow, citizen who bankers'after green fields and the open life of - a small city will perhaps regret-.the old times, howeverproud he may 'be of his city’s place in the world as a great port and forgo.