ANGLO-COLONIAL NOTES

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 7028, 17 January 1910, Page 9

ANGLO-COLONIAL NOTES

PEOM OUE SPECIAL COMtESPOITOENT. NEW ZEALAND FIIUIT ON SHOW. LONDON, December 3. New Zealand was ropresen'tod at fcko Royal Horticultural Society's Colonial Fruit Show this week by an exhibit»snt in by the New Zealand Government and arranged by Mr H. C. Cameron, the Produce. Commissioner. The judges awarded two silver Kniglitian medals to this exjiibit—ono being for fruit and ono for preserves. The fruit consisted of apples picked in New Zealand lost MaTch and kept in coW store in London since May.

Princess Louise, who, acompanied. by the Duke of Argyle, opened the show, took particular interest in .these New Zealand apples, plucked nearly a year ago and. still eatable. But; of course oven the best of them could not compare with the exhibit of 650 cases of fresh apples sent in by the Government of British Columbia. This magnificent exhibit from British Columbia' was the outstanding feature of the show, 'and I was declared by experta to be the finest display of apples ever eeeu in London. A point to be noted in the New Zealand section was the desirability of providing first-class corkß and the best quality ajnd stylo of bottles in.'exhibits j of wine and jam. Setae of the coTks I showed signs of wear, and inferior corks, remarked - -in expert, would interfere with' the quality of the contents. Bottles of first-class wine and jamß should have I first-class corks. In botttvng jam for [ exhibition, moreover, it Is desirable to use bottles of a fancy design instead of the homely shapes intended for the ordinary market. .'■■■' ..-WHITE. CITT TABLEAUX. The main scheme for the approaching Japan-British' Exhibition at the White City neat'year has now been definitely: decided upon. > Divided into twelve sections, the.sre*t hall will' contain an" hiftorio tabl«au. The first will carry the mind back twenty-five centuries to the time of the great Emperor Jimmn,'from whom the present Emperor is descended in. ' a, direct: line: ..''■'.: ■ ' ' ". " Other tableaux will show the Jsara period," and * the • tim e' between_ the' removal of the court to Kyoto and the fall of the Fujiwara family. . "'..'' Other tableaux will bring the history of Japan up to the present day, the

final scene being laid in Tokio, near the Imperial Palace. STONE AGE PAGEANT. London as it was in the early Stone Age is to bo the first scene in the great pageant to be held at the- Crystal Palace nest summer in connection wit li the Festival of .Umpire. Jir Frank. Lascelles, who is producing the "Story of London," with the aid of 15,000 performers, is intent on presenting a memorable spectacle. The visitor to the pageant grounn will see, not the rolling hills of Surrey, but towering mountains and pine forests. On the edge of the lake in the Palace grounds the mud huts of the ancient Briton* will be grouped. A herd of deer will make its appearance, and then the ancient Britons, clothed in skins, will go out to hunt. When they will return it will be. not with a deer as spoil, but a huge bear. It is the aim of the producer to avoid anv suspicion of theatricality. Mr La'acelles and his assistants are, therefore, proposing a "curtain" effect both picturesque and novel. While the spectator is gazing* on the ancient Britons returning from the hunt a dense ■white cload will slowly rise between him and the actors, and when it passes away another scene will bo presented. Thiß cloud curtain is a development of the steam curtain invented by. Wagner and used by him when producing his own works. At the evening performance of the pageant the cloud will be played on by a number of coloured lights. COLONIAL, NAVAL OFFICERS. In the House of Commons this week Mr ' Balfour- (.V.) asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether the . fullest facilities would bo given for training the officers of the coloniiaj navies by receiving them on board the ships of the Boyal Navy. - Dr Macnaninra ' replied that reference to the Parliamentary paper; rolatang to the recent conferences on the naval and military defence.of the Empire showed that the question alluded to by the hon. member had received, consideration, and the Admiralty would give every asfflstamco which might lie practicable in. the mjatter. ; HOW NEW, ZEALAND IS UNIQUE. | Sir Kay Lankester, the eminent natn.- ! raltst, commences an. article in the Daily Telegraph" on "Tho Strange. Story ot Animal Life in New Zealand with, the (strange -statement that the area, of New Zealand is about 200,000: square miles. According to the New Zealand Year Book, the area, is a little over jO-1,000 square milea, bo the distinguished scientifet is slightly- out in his facts! "Strange as Australia is (in its na'ural history), New Zealand is yet stranger,", eays Sir Bay Lankester. Loug as the isolation, of Australia lias endured, and archaic-and;primitive in.- essential characters as is its livni,g freight ot animals and plants, navigated »» ■" were) in safety ami isolation to our present days, yet New Zealuind. has a more primttive, a more ancient freight When we divide, the land surf aces ot ißno earth, according to their history .as indicated by "thenature' of then- living faunet and flora, and their geological structure, wad' the fossinwd remains (A their past.inhabitants, it becomes necessary to separate the; whole land surface into two primary geotiens— (a) .New: Zealand, afld -(b)- toe rest -of- tho world, "Theriogoea, or the land of the beaste. (mlammalß). ... ■"' , , j. Boaling with, the principle which do. tannines the• survival of intruders.(plants a* ivell afl animals from one region, to 'another, Sir Kay Lankester says: It ap•pears -that, setting aside any very special and peculiar adaptations to quite exioeptionaf conditions in a given area, the living things, whether plants or-animals, which arc brought to or naturally arrive at such; am" area,, survive and •.supplant the indigenous plants and animals ot that area, if they themselves..are. tend* (species) produced or formed in a laiger and moro variegated area; .that is to say, -onder eeverer conditions of competition -and. of struggle with;a. larger variety of competitors, enemies,, and adiverse circumstances in general. - -"Applying theee priiuwulcs to. New Zealand, wo see that no , no area of land, could have;a .worse chance for the survival of ite animal;and vegetable dhildren than that mysterious land, isolated for many millions of years m the ocean, the home of the Tnatara, solitary survivor .of ;.• an"- immensely remote.-; geoaoKic «ge. ;tlie ivndisturbed Inngdom of huge birds so easy going that they, have ceased, to fly, and have even lost their wings!" ".-;..,!'; .;.-':-:. ;-.,;';.,.: :';".- NEW; ZEALAND .CROWN'vMrNJEIS.:; The "report of -the New Zealand Croivr. Mines Company for the year ended August 81st states that .£IBOB,-has been •written-off for depreciation of machinery, -.plant, etc., and * .£3Bl. bsing :,the,-:whc-Io amount: expended during .the year- mi thine developments, 1 : has also- been written off,; and after making these' apportionments there remains a debit balnnc* of ~£3827. Deducting: from this the.-ba-lance brought forward, aVdeJut balance of '.£1253 .remains to , bo ..canned 'forward. The ; cash in hand at the end of, the year amounted to JMSB9-