CAPPING CARNIVAL.

Otago Witness, Issue 2996, 16 August 1911, Page 41

CAPPING CARNIVAL.

THE PROCESSION. TJio main thoroughfare of the city presented a kaleidoscopic pit bur© on the 10th, when the students oi tiie Otago University, dressed in ail the pomp and panoply of paint and wonderful costumes, paraded the town on the occasion of the annual celebrations which arc a time-honoured corollary of the capping ceremony. The procession of students, which was preceded by a band, ’was a long one, and crowds of sightseers derived vast . amusement watching the antics and dresses of those taking part. As was only natural in a Coronation year, a mock King George V and Queen Mary, in a State coach, with a largo retinue of outriders, took a prominent part in the proceedings, while seated in a lorry were individuals representing the advance of New Zealand’s Prime Minister from an office boy to “ King of New Zealand” — the “ King,” in dress coat and top hat, lolling on the top tier of seats, responding to. the cheers and salutes of the bystanders with courtly grace. Another lorry bearing a. large placard carrying the words “ The ratty degeneration of Auckland,” had reference presumably to the discussions in the northern city with reference to the number of rats said to . be in evidence there, and fearsome ■ imitations of thee© rodents were held aloft by grotesquely dressed students on all sorts of instruments. In the lorry given over to “ Domestic Nonsense” a number of students —male and female—were observed to be busily engaged in demonstrating the various phases of cooking—large strings of sausages being much in - evidence; in fact, the sausage loomed large in the celebrations—a result no doubt, of the somewhat disastrous consequences which have arisen from the untimely appearance of a sausage at the ciapping ceremony held last month. The students evidently consider that prohibition has been killed by. Dr Salmond’s pamphlet, and a number of impenitent-looking youths followed a lorry on which a ooffin presumably containing the remains, was placed, while a small, flag-adorned, canopied cart drawn by members of Sir Joseph Ward’s Ministry contained another double of the Prime Minister, whose headdress was alternately a silk hat and an imposing-looking coronet surmounted by a Dreadnought. A “Labour” lorry conveyed banners proclaiming “ Labour for Ever,” “Down with Aristocrats,” and “Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity," and was headed by a tip dray, from which perfervid orators harangued their followers and the crowd on their alleged right's. A large number of other features calculated to amuse were most ingeniously got up, and when the Town Hall steps were reached the double of royalty bestowed some rather doubtful honours on various well-known Dunedin citizens. THE CONCERT.

i His Majesty's Theatre was packed in the ! evening, when a most interesting and di- ' verting programme of choruses, skits, songs, etc., was presented. “ The Chamj ber .of Horrors” scene introduced to Dunedin theatre-goers by the recent production i of “The Whip,” was excellently repro- | duced, and the gentleman who took 1 Ambrose Manning’s part discovered some I entirely different personalities in Madame 1 Tussaud’s from those in the original pro--1 duction. These latter tenants of the famous { chamber, it is sad to relate, were in every

instance citizens of Dunedin. A parody on “ Peter Doody’s” well-known sons', “ I’ve got a mottcr ” was given with splendid! effect by a woe begone looking - jockey, who was imperatively recalled three times, ; while in the skit on the Imperial Conference the audience was introduced to Mr Asquith, Sir Wilfrid La-nrier, Mr Botha, Mr Fisher,. Sir J. G. Findlay, and Sir Joseph Ward, and enlightened as to what really did transpire at this historic gathering. The Modern Milo, as presented by five artists bearing marvellous noms do theatic, was done in very good style, though the lady—who was too evidently a gentleman—was.either obsessed by the unaccustomed surroundings or the unaccustomed wearing apparel. “ The G.0.M.” (sung to the tunc of “ Good Old Jeff ”) was rendered in a very hearty manner by the chorus, and at its conclusion Professor Black got up and bowed his. acknowledgments from the circle, and was rewarded by an encore, as it wore, and then ■vociferously cheered. An auction sale, in which a huge bottle, bearing the label of a well known firm of bottlers of beer, was allegedly keenly competed for by a wellknown local advocate of prohibition ancl a gentleman who has published his views on the opposite side, created much amusemen t. The auctioneer stated that thd bottle had been secured by the formei gentleman. A number of other topical, songs and a large number .of choruses the whole company went to complete a highly enjoyable and amusing entertainment. Music was supplied by a full orchestra