FESTIVAL OF EMPIRE

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 7444, 19 May 1911, Page 6

FESTIVAL OF EMPIRE

the great tidt-tjp and spring CLEAN AT THE CRYSTAL PALACE. 7000 MEN WORKING DAT AND NIGHT. LONDON. April 7. Tile great tidy-up for the Festival of Empire, -the All-Britieh Exhibition of Art* i and Industries, and the Pageant of Lon- j don and Empire has now begun. The enor- 1 mous palaces of the overseas Dominions are practically out of the builders’ hands, and all that remains to be done is to bn-, ish the decorations and put the exhibits in place. Some minor structures of the 300 in the Crystal Palace grounds still re-: quire attention, but as there are a clear five weeks to elapse ere their Majesties the King and Queen visit the Festival of Em-: piro on May 12th, there is no question that j the works are remarkably well advanced. !- The All-Red Route, the £90.003 reprosen-» tation of Empire, scenery, and life, is i even now a delight, and all the mile ana a half of electric line has been laid. This week the £30,000 worth of machinery tor ■ the power-house arrived. For the two ! bases, each weighing 24 tons, and the non-! deroiis engines a special road of railway; sleepers overlaid with steel 'plates was used) for transit purposes in order not to dam- i age the paths. ' . ' The interior of the Crystal Palace has j been cleared in readiness for an army % of j stall and stand makers. Kinking in the' north transept ceased last Saturday, and this vast stretch of floor space is now, at the disposal of exhibitors. The new 25,0C0-yard awning in the glass roof is nearly all in place, and three hundred people are engaged upon the elaborate and beautiful decorations of the interior of the Palace. It is not considered i wise to fix the gold and crimson adorn-i ments, the floral festoons,: the baskets of I growing flowers, the embroidered banners, and the other dainty draperies, until the exhibitors' workmen have carried on* the rougher part of their task. A s to the Pageant of London and Empire, it may bo said that the vast bulk of the costumes, arms, armour, scenery properties, and so forth, is now ready for u so, as an inspection of tho stores, workrooms, and pageant ground prove, while Sir Aston i ■Webb’s amphitheatre could hold 10,000 1 spectators to-day. More than this, thanks j verv largely to the enthusiasm and elo- j quenco of Mr Frank Lascelles. the Master of the Pageant, the required 15.000 perfor-' mers have nearly all been recruited from Greater London and from overseas. In some of the episodes there is still room for amateur performers to take part in the most important and impressive pageant over organised. , The Crystal Palace is having the spring clean of its history. Not only are 300 Poecia’lv trained decorators re-painting the 800 yards of exterior facing the grounds, but others have to-day commenced theta.sk ot brightening th« front overlooking tho high-level station. While the men are dis-| tributing 25 tons of light grey paint over the miles of. sash bars and iron work, others are cleaning about a million panes of glass, most of which average five feet in length by a foot wide. Tho noVe old Pala/’c will more than- ever be a gigantic diamond gleaming in the sun on Sydenham slopes. To expedite the tidy-up and mrine clean, nearly a thousand men, in addition to tho already at work, are engaged all night tnib'ng in the glare of flare lights. The public may rest'assured that a« regards ‘buildings, exhibitions, amusements, paths, lawns, flower-beds, restaurants, railways. and so on, all will be in readiness for their comfort and pleasure. Among the many novel en*ertaimnent« now being-, organised in connection with tbe Festival of Empire is a gigantic carnival to be held on July 6th. There will be fuPv thirty huge carnival cars, and each of tho overseas Dominions will be represented hv such a car. a have vrir’cle of a kind never yet seen in th ; s country: indeed, the trinmnbs Nip©, tho heme of carnivals, will be surpassed. car will b© drawn by six horses, and hundred,* of mounted masqueraders, together with twelve bands, will figure in this remarkable procession. . The carnival makers will assemble in Hvde Park and rarad© through South London to tbe Crystal Palace. 00-rpora.tions, public bodies generally, clubs, firms, and go forth wishing to be represented in rtris record carnival should aunlv to the Er*ter f n'riments Department, Dmpirc House. No. 175, Piccadilly, London, vr. Tickets for the Festival of Empire, the Pa.rea.nt of London, and for the series of Tmvcrial concerts can now be obtained at. fb© Fes +, 'val offices at the eartern junction of the Strand and Aldwvch. a n d a l so at aU the libraries and ticket' aeenries in London and throughout t-h© Kingdom. WORDLESS COSTUME PLATS. In the bijou theatre, which is Just, on the point of completion in the south transput of *he Palac©. hundred people will h© able to ©n.loy the wordless costume plays which are to be one of the nlvef attractions of the Imperial Pair of Fashions. The fvenerv which will be ro*dv in a short t ; mo is verv elaborate. The enter talnmen* in the theatre wvl of ? series of beautiful set sceros. on© \rilJ represent another the foyer of a fashionable restaurant, another tbe garden of a charming old countrv house, an'* so on. Am s d«t these surroTind-'no-e beautiful girls will walk and tk>m» \ri.th *h*> object of showing to perfect advantage tbe richest and cos*Rost of a number cy e famous EugH«h dressmakers. Great care has been in the selection of these mannequins. Tt ha® been necessary to exam s no over 600 applicants before finding tlrrtv perfect enough in tyrse and figure to satisfy the exacting demands of the dressmakers. The mannequins, the scenery, and thej

dresses will demonstrate the whole art of beautiful dressing in a manner which had never been attempted before.