THE EMPIRE EXHIBITION

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19205, 23 June 1924, Page 7

THE EMPIRE EXHIBITION

STEER-ROPING CONTESTS, THE COMPETITION SUSPENDED. piss* Association— By Telegraph—Copyright, LONDON, June 20. The Daily Express says that Mr Cochran (organiser of rodeo) and Mr Tox Austin, at a conference last night, decided to suspend the steer-roping contests ulncL have been held privately at the Wembley stadium pending the summonses which are duo for hearing on Tuesday. Mr Cochran said that public perimmances of rodeo would continue, it was admittedly a rough game, but it was a genuine sport played by men and women who counted for a good deal in the development of the British Empire.—A. and N.Z. Cable. PROHIBITED BY AUTHORITIES. LONDON, June 20. Mr Cochran, commenting on the decision of the Empire Exhibition authorities to prohibit steer-roping contests at the Stadium, declared that they were not entitled to stop private competitions. He said that he alone liad the right to decide whether the contests should ho continued or not. Under the terms of the competition every cowboy would lie entitled to claim the first prize if the competition was slopped in this way.—A. and N.Z. Cable. THE MAORI HUT. STRONG PROTESTS BY THE NATIVES. LONDON, June 20. “Our party is disgusted with the Maori hub at Weniblev, because only half of it Ls of Maori workmanship. The carvings are a poor example of Maori art, said Moka Katana. “In comparison with Burma, the exhibits at the Maori Hut suggest to the public than we are low down in tire scale of the native races. This is because wo have been treated so badly. Our party refused to enter the New” Zealand pavilion.” —Sydney Sun Cable.

THE NEW ZEALAND COURT. AN AUCKLANDER’S IMPRESSIONS. SEVERE CRITICISM. IFeom On® Own ConnESPONDnHTj AUCKLAND, Juno 21. The following description of the New Zealand Court at the htnpire Exhibition at Wembley is extracted from a letter jvst received by an Aucklander from his son, a Cambridge graduate, and now r at St. Thomas Hospital, London: “I went to the. opening of Wembley to see, among other things, what New Zealand had to show for herself, and I must confess I was very disappointed. To be wise after the event is as easy as it is unprofitable, and destructive is always easier than constructive criticism. “Nevertheless, 1 shall give you my impressions. Of what Imperial interest are our local biscuits,, our chocolates, our mouldy-looking attempts at engineering or furniture? The market for these is not in England, but in New Zealand. It is right to exhibit leather, timber, granite, grain, and so on, but what on earth is the use of wasting space on the work of children at schools? There is a large stand of tawdry-locking rubbish under this heading. No one doubts the intelligence of our children, and it will not farther the trade of the Empire to show England such puerile tilings as chessmen turned on a lathe by a pupil of 16, especially when they are badly made, of bad wood, badly varnished and badly exhibited. My chief complaint with all these things is that they are badly displayed—no sense of advertisement, no imagination, no appeal or assistance to the observer. It is all so commonplace, mixed, and jumbled, and so l)ke the village fair. They should have concentrated on the really important things —the tilings that are to advance our prosperity—and they should have shown them to the public in such a way as to attract attention. The form of the appeal does not matter—curiosity, admiration, humour, or anything else—so long as the people stand, look, and remember. Sheep models that do duty for wool are absurd, both in modelling and dignity. A efieep in a glass case conveys no impression to anyone, and when that sheep has bow legs and looks to be upon the point of death, the effect is not helped. Th© presentation of the cheese is conventional. Piominently displayed in the case is a notice, “The New Zealand dairy industry is built up on chemistry,’’ and then some remarks in small typo explaining that chemistry is to maintain a standard quality and to ensure purity. This notice shows' an incredible ineptitude. Ninetynine people out of 100 who read it will get no further than the largo type. People never do. Chemistry to the average mind represents, when associated with food, dilution and impurity. It means the putting in, and not the removal, of rubbish, and this will bo the impression conveyed. The restaurant is a magnificent opportunity absolutely ruined, though the decoration of the with its bold red and black Maori designs, is a triumph that has excited some very favourable comment. I found the tables full from 12 to 2.30, and a constant stream of people asking the way to the New Zealand restaurant. They were obviously under an impression, perhaps erroneously created by the press, that there they should find New Zealand food. I myself understood that oven if 1 were not offered pipis and kumaras I should at least find a decent selection of New Zealand products. I went in, and was amazed to find that it was an ordinary Lyon’s place, no better than the common or garden London type. Standing out in large letters in the printed menu was one specially marked New Zealand dish. It was lamb, but what lamb! I have sampled many varieties of tough, unpalatable meat during the last six years, but for tastelessness, toughness, and gristle this lamb has had no equal. What an advertisement! What a wicked blunder!”