PICTURESQUE TASMANIA.

Otago Witness, Issue 2300, 31 March 1898, Page 58

PICTURESQUE TASMANIA.

By Cigarette.

THE JUVENILE INDUSTRIAL EXHIBITION. The summer of 1898 with its intolerable heat and disastrous buih fires has suddenly departed from the Land cf Sleep-a-Lot, and wintry blasts keener than " man's ingratitude " have driven all the Australian visitors back to their homes on the otber side ; the I streets of Launceston are quieter than a Quakers' meeting, and the Juvenile Indngtrial Exhibition is the only standing dish in the shape of amusements. Last week, indeed, a mild excitement was created by the introduction of a picture of naughty " Nana," which was exhibited "to men only, and I ladies once a week " at a room in Brisbane j Btreet. The " unco' quid " got up an agitai tion against the exhibition of the painting, maintaining that it waa not a work of art, but th's only advertised the picture and had no other result. However, presumably •' Beautiful Nana " was not well patronised, for she has since departed to some more congenial atmosphere (possibly New Zealand), and now the exhibition reigns supreme. Give me 10 minutes of your time and toI gether we will stroll round this interesting I show, and thoogh you shake your head and 1 declare " all exhibitions are the Fame," you , must remember that this is a jnvenile indusI trial exhibition, so ifc is only fair .that you ] should patronise the youngsters' work by your presence. Come witu me round the city park first — it is ali on our way — and let me show you the animals there which form the Launceston Zoo. That deer is so tame that as coon as he sees us coming he run from one end of his paddock to the other and get this piece of bread. Oar fellow-boardera save i all their toast crusts for the animals, and a | .*mal) procession starts oS for tha park ovary } Sunday morning to give the animals a treat. ! That emu is the most amusing of all. If you pub a piece of bread on the tree above him, he will crane up his lotg neck and fetch ifc down. Then there is a large family of kacgaroos who put up their prayerful little paws for a piece, and look at you with such soft eyes that you can't refuse them. Heie are the ducks and gulls? and swans and all sorts of bright. -plumsged birds, and here, in a caged corner, is a beautiful black bear. Leaving the bear with an apple to crunch, we reach the feraery, and on payment of a shilling pass through. the turnstile and enter the exhibition. There is ' music going on in various little alcoves and a whirring sound of machinery proceeding from some wood-turning works, for all this floor is open to manufacturers' exhibits, and the juvenile portion of the exhibition is upstairs. Oae of the prelfcieefc exhibits is CampbeH'd pottery. One fci;l3 LrcHned to walk off with soiae of fclaoso qur.iGt-l«fki«g art-coloured potß and j ivf, and, if yon hke, Borne day we will pay the works a visit, and you shall see how they are made. Of course there are the usual sweetmakers hard at work making peppermint stickp, almond sock, toffee, &c, aud fa^hvir on we come across Sine j&?sa eas^a**^, &&4 es«> the &B&<S&orV

chief-sellers, who etnbrol&ieryour name free if you buy a 'kerchief . Then there are trinketaellers and a beautiful flower Btall, and farther on we stand with a gaping crowd and watch the "lightning painters" at v?ork. Who wouldn't be an artist to ie9l off works of art by the yard as these men do 1 They sit at a long trestle, each with a palette with certain colours ready mixed, and an assortment of plaques, opals, tin plates, &3., &c, in front of them. The first man seizes a plaque, dabs in the sky and water, and passes on to the next man ; he takes the brushes, dashes in a few hills' and trees; and passes it on ; third man, with a fine brush, sticks in a boat and bit of foreground, and — hey, presto I — the " picture " (?) ia finished and ready for sale ; price 2s. At night the head artist, who is a man of parts, varies his occupation by walking on a tightrope. Now we will go upstairs and see the work of the juveniles. Almost every little country school has Bent something. There are specimens of .writing from a hundred different pens ; there is needlework of every description ; there are beautifully-drawn maps and badly-drawn studies. The girls have been very industrious, and some of the needlework i 3 beautif ally done ; but the boys' work is the most interesting, especially the carpentry. _ One boy of 14 has made that chtist of drawers ; isn't it beautifully done 1 Look at this little spice-box, too, with boles on top for essences, and that hall-chair" and stepladder combined. These are evidently made by two brothers. Let us hope that they will each take a prize j they certainly deserve to. Here i? an electric battery, another boy's work, and farther on a steamboat. In another I room there are some exhibits made by the J blind — basket-work, mats, etc; But you are looking weary, so come down and have .some c ffae. Exhibitions are very tiring, but they seem to be like bazaars — necessary evils, atd doubtless do a deal of good in their way.