CENTENARY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22024, 5 August 1933, Page 18

CENTENARY

MELBOURNE’S PLANS A LONG PROGRAMME. (From Odk Own Correspondent.) SYDNEY, July 27. It is doubtful whether any city has ever arranged a programme as elaborate as that being prepared by’Victoria for the celebration of the centenary of Victoria next year. In Victoria they have been talking and working for months determined to make the celebrations an outstanding success. Business firms and the State itself are contributing to the funds, and the official organiser is a paid official who has a big staff. The outstanding contribution, of course, has been the munificent gift of £IOO,OOO from Sir Macpherson Robertson. The celebrations will commence in October, 1934, with special services in all the churches, and these will usher in a round of gaieties that will last Well into 1935. It is specially desired to attract overseas visitors to Melbourne, and to that end various conferences and athletic gatherings are being arranged. The Victorian Chamber of Commerce will hold an All-Australian exhibition from October 10 to November 13. An international and inter-State conference will be held by the Adult Deaf and Blind Society, and a great reception is promised a Scottish delegation, with pipers, which will arrive in Melbourne on October 15. An international photography exhibition is being arranged, and an inter-dominion and inter-State athletic meeting for schools will be a feature of the programme in the early part of November. The Philatelic Exhibition will open on Novemtber 17, and the Army, Navy, and Air Forces will hold a competition on November 10, at which date'the annual congress of the British Medical Association will begin. International golf competitions will begin on November 12, and it is expected that contestants will be attracted from all parts of the world. Fire brigades from all over Australia and New Zealand will be invited to take part in a special display which will begin on November 14. The Congress of the Australian and New Zealand Society for the Advancement of Spence will be held about the end of the year. The date for an exhibition of Australian paintings and fine arts has not yet been fixed. It is likely that aviators from every part of the globe will be attracted to Melbourne as a result of the special centenary air race from Great Britain, and while they are there they will be given special opportunities of taking part in pageants and competitions of a thrilling and novel character. Among the athletic fixtures special attention will be given to a relay race from Adelaide to Melbourne over a course of more than 500 miles. A special operatic season will be run for eight weeks.

As part of the centenary attractions, the Melbourne Cup next year will bo the richest race ever held in Australia and the prize money of many of the other events will bo increased. The famous Henly regatta will be on a larger scale than ever, and the social events during the centenary period will be on a grand scale. A y Pan-Pacific Scouts’ jamboree will be among the attractions early in 1935, and Rotarians from every country in the world are expected to attend a special conference. The Centenary Council has already been in existence for seven months, and a great deal has been accomplished, hut much remains to be done. Every effort is being made to turn the celebrations into a community effort, in which every section of the community will have an interest and a part. It is hoped that, by following such a course, the celebrations will be a true reflection of the pride of the citizens of Victoria in the achievements of their State during the last 100 years. In a special appeal to the citizens the Premier lias stated that the success of the celebrations means more work and greater prosperity generally. Thousands of people would he attracted to the State, and the State would benefit by the money the visitors would spend.