“ALIEN’S” LETTER FROM ENGLAND.

Otago Witness, Issue 3665, 10 June 1924, Page 61

“ALIEN’S” LETTER FROM ENGLAND.

(Specially Written for the Ladies’ Rage.) SUMMER TIME. April 16. m “Summer Time” came in officially on tho 13th—but riot summertime ! Thunderstorms and snow, hail storms and rain mocked the putting on of the clock. And no one feels tlie least inclined to greet these cold and sodden mornings an hour earlier or to prolong the day. We are all about “fed up” with the long, long, dreary months of the winter and the cheating of the spring. Tlie Easter lioli-

days and the opening of the Empire Exhibition are less than a week away, and there is no indication of fine weather yet. W hen it doesn't rain it snows, and when it does not snow it sleets and blows, and when it does not do one in particular it does them all together, with the addition of thunder and lightning. It is a weird effect, with snow falling from a darkened sky, from which the thunder bellows and lightning flashes. It provoked the mirth of members going down to Parliament through April snow to discuss a bill dealing with Summer Time, to make it permanent for six months of the year. If a bill could be brought in to make the sun shine it would be most gratifying. 111 moving the second reading of the Summer Time Bill, Sir Kingsley Wood said it was supported by the majority of people, but he recognised the difficulties of agriculture. Some people thought the hour-earlier-day was flying in the face of Providence and the Book of Genesis, and one old ladyhad written to say that she looked upon the bill as a direct attack upon religion, although it is only following the example of Nature to awaken with the sun, and get about the business of the day. The time that the work-a-day world fixes for its start in no way interferes with Nature’s ruling of the day; the Summer Time Bill arranges that we shall get up an hour earlier during the light months. It is only that our clocks say it is 8 when it is really only 7, and if we want to catch our trains, and keep our business and social appointments, we must fall in and follow tlie set time. We all know we are getting up an hour earlier—at b instead of 7, at 7 instead of 8, —but after the first few mornings forget about it, for the clocks say it is the usual hour. But the workmen down tools at 4 instead of 5, and have the long, light evening for recreation. It is the chronic doleites, the sluggards of mind and body, who object that the world should disturb liis slumbers an hour earlier; he finds it hard that the first meal of the day has to bo partaken of an hour too soon. Swallows have begun to arri .-e from abroad with thousands of visitors from every point of the Empire, but the swallows are finding a scarcity of food, and the strangers to England are wondering at Browning’s rhapsody, “Oh, to be in England now that April’s here! ’ and have up to the present found the most delightful spot as close to a roaring fire as possible. Among the disillusioned are the natives of India and Africa, who have come to people the native sections of the Empire Exhibition. I saw a rather pathetic illustration the other day of Gold Coast natives at Wembley being instructed in fire drill in a heavy snow. Captain R. Ratterv is in charge of the Gold Coast natives. The Gold Coast Princess Baa of Tafto is a working princess—an expert maker of pottery, —and when the beautiful carved gates of the A\ est African “ castle ” are opened to the public on the 23rd she will be found designing her jars. The realistic African village, which press representatives have been allowed to visit, is entirely finished, and looks as though it had been set down intact at Wembley from the Gold Coast. A straw-roofed hut in the village is the Court of the princess, and an altar to the sky god is established in the village street. It is said that before the old queen would let her daughter venture overseas she was taken to the Santarin River, where offerings of palm oil and wine were made to the sky god. A son of the late King of Ashanti, Prince Ivwaku Ilrempa, a master carver of wooden stools, came in the same ship with 25 other Gold Coast natives of lesser degree. The Gold Coast building is rugged and massive, with high red walls, and shadowy galleries supported by heavy red columns and a floor of beaten earth, and in the galleries are a wonderful display of crafts of West Africa, In one alcove are hung beautiful State robes of silk, lent by chiefs, and a bewildering display of fabrics—some suggesting Scottish tartans-—woven on primitive looms made from wooden sticks. Among the exhibits of this section is the State coach of a chief—of wood, adorned with leopard skins, —canoes, a giant State umbrella, flounced with crimson, a precious collection of brass ceremonial vessels, bows and arrows, and many other treasures in this wonderful Gold Coast exhibit, which has been organised and carried out. under the direction of Lady Gugaisberg, the wife of Brigadier-general Sir F. Gordon Guggisberg, Governor of the Gold Coast. Lady Guggisberg worked steadily for two years, and the result has been to give the Empire Exhibition one of its most interesting features. Two pairs of “ talking drums have been brought from the royal collection, and parties of Boy Scouts are to be taken for instruction. The drums talk in the language of tones and by the pitch of the notes, and not by code ; messages are transmitted over long distances. The natives listen to the drums as to the human voice. Instead of the amateur sets of “ listening-in,” we shall have the boys trying their hands at the talking drum. Home-bound denizens of the Empire City will experience something of the charm of the East found in the fragrant Burma. Elephants, temple hells, and teak are met after passing through the graceful and delicately carved gatehouse to the green compound with its artificial water, with strange carved figures and terraced towers. Every effort has been made to convey the true spirit of its people to the exhibition. Its pagoda facade is framed in a facade framed in a plaster balustrade from the queen’s palace at andalay. The gate-house is a copy of the west entrance to tlie famous Arakan pagoda at Mandalay, and the carved teak towers of the main building are after tlie fashion of the old capital; the massive doors of teak were also made in Mandalay, and the columns of the porches are covered with Mandalay mosaic glass. There is a beautiful Buddhist slirine, all teak, built in Han-

goon, with the figure of Buddha. A Daily Mail note says:—The main building will house a comprehensive collection of Burmese industries. Garnets, rubies and other gems from the Mogor Ruby Mine, lacquer, silver, ivory, and jade work, silk and cotton exhibits from the Saunders Weaving Institute at Rangoon, oil products, a large model of the silver, lead and zinc mines in the Shan States, and agricultural produce will be arranged in departments against panelling contributed by the five great teak firms of Burma. The pillars of the open teak-fronted Stands will be real teak trees smoothed ftnd shaped.

Mr Ba Ilia, reputed to be the best actor in Burma, has brought a company of six dancing girls and four men and a band of four pieces for the native theatre. The band can be counted upon to furnish as strange music as has ever been heard west of Suez, and great things are promised from the shrill single pipe and the three elaborately tuned drums. The women will perform solo and duet dances of the Burmese and Siamese schools, including the peacock dance, in which they wear wings, the royal boat dance, and the ever-popular “Leap Year Dance,” known as “Hoping for a lover!” “Chiu-lon,” the thousand-year-old national game of the Indo-China- Peninsula, will make its English debut at Wembley Park. It is played with a ball of plaited cane, twice the size of a hand ball, and the object of the game is to keep the ball in the air without using either arms or hands. An expert player will do marvels wit hknee, thigh, instep, toe and heel, and even with his head. Although tickets for the royal opening of the Exhibition have only been on sale for a few days, there is a heavy demand for all classes of accommodation from prices ranging from £3 3s to 7s Gd seats, and 5s promenade. Tremendous efforts are being made to be ready for the opening day. After the unofficial and hindering strike, arrangements were made with the trade unions whereby overtime could be worked till the opening. Instead of tli'" 2000 men who have worked on the Exhibition on previous Sundays, 12,000 were employed last Sunday. A pageant of unusual beauty and historic interest will mark the royal opening on the 23rd. One wishes that every man, woman, and child of the wide British Empire might witness it. The later films will be the next best thing, and' meanwhile the newspaper reports. But those who obtain admission to the stadium at Wembley in a week's time will witness a never-to-be-forgotten sight—particularly if the day—Easter Wednesday—be fine. An assemblage such as has not been seen this side of the world since the coronation of the King. At one end of the vast amphitheatre a dais with two golden thrones lias been erected, on which, on the opening occasion will sit the King and Queen, Emperor and Empress of>the world’s mightiest empire, and grouped around against a background of cloth of gold all the principal Ministers of State and distinguished men of the realm, members of the Cabinet, of the Houses of Lords and Commons,

heads of all learned societies and dignitaries of the Church, representatives of the dominions, members of the diplomatic service in full uniforms and robes and dress, ranged about their Majesties and thirty other members of the Royal Family. At the other end of the amphitheatre will be a choir of 1500 voices from St. Raul's Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, and the Chapels Royal, conducted by Sir Edgar Elgar, and accompanied by 200 bandsmen from the Royal Aeamcdy of Music, with massed bands by the Brigade of Guards. The guard of honour will be from the Navy, Army, marines, and Royal Air Force. Fifty thousand people will be able to obtain admission to the promenade enclosure at ss, which will afterwards admit to the Exhibition. There are IGOO seats at £3 .3s, 2400 at £2 2s, 2400 at £1 Is, 4000 at 10s, and 5000 at 7s 6d. AH scats are numbered and reserved. traffic arrangements provide that the streams of motor cars will not impede each other, but move easily to their destination, so that their passage will not be blocked. The ceremonial opening will take about an hour and three-quarters, the actual ceremony before the King and Queen being preceded by a musical entertainment by the massed bands and massed pipers, who will march and countermarch in the arena. At 11.15 the Prince of Wales, president of the Exhibition, will arrive and be escorted to the dais. Y\ ith the later entry of the King and Queen will come the thrill of their herald by a fanfare of trumpets from the mounted trumpeters of the Household Cavalry. The Prince of Wales will read an address, and ask the King to declare the Exhibition open. The King will reply with the address ' 1 ■ Empire, which will be heard not only by the people gathered there, but throughout the Kingdom and the countries wherever the wireless can broadcast his words. When the King presses a button 4000 flags will be unfurled and a Royal salute of 21 guns will be fired by a battery of Royal 1 torse Artillery. The King and Oueen will drive by motor car to Wembley from Windsor, where they will be still staying at the time, and at Wembley transfer to the escort carriages awaiting them, and drive to the south-west entrance of the Exhibition. They will enter the stadium by the Royal tunnel and drive round the track to the dais. Prince George, who is on board H.M.S. Excellent, has accepted the invitation of the Prince of Wales (the president) to the opening. Lord and Lady Milford Haven will also be among those present. Among the representatives of other countries will be the German Ambassador and Frau Sthamer, the Swiss Minister and Mme. Paravicini, the Austrian and Egyptian Ministers, Lord and Lady Aberconway, Lord and Lady Peal, Lady Grey of Fallodon, Lord and Lady Devonport, the Lord Privy Seal and Mrs Clynes, and the Minister of Labour and Mrs Shaw, and a number of other members of the new Government whose names as yet have no Empire significance. What a meeting-place the Exhibition will be for friends from the dominions! The catering is on a gigantic scale, and luncheon, tea, and dinner parties will be the order of the day. Two thousand waitresses have thinned the ranks of servant girls, who are very much in demand, for the influx of visitors will keep London busy all the summer. Many people have taken advantage of the extra demand for accommodation this season, and have let their houses and flats, and will live at the seaside for the term of their let. Tremendous interest will be taken by the British public in the way their kinsfolk live in the British dominions, especially now that the question of emigration is put so prominently before the people, and women will take special note of how the women live and work under the Southern Cross. The settlers’ tent in the backwoods will be there in miniature, showing how a woman lives and works while the home is being made. To see the Maori women of Rotorua cook as at home would be more interesting than any of the late demonstrations with electricity at the Model Home Exhibition. In a “Woman’s Week,” which is to be held in July, women from the dominions will tell of tlieir lives in the Conference Hall in the morning, and at teas and receptions and entertainments in the afternoons and evenings. Women of India, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa are undertaking one day each during the week —women who will know what they are talking about. It will be an interesting and instructive course. People here will have the opportunity of tasting the New Zealand tolieroa soup, made of shellfish, and said to be tbe finest shellfish soup in the world, and, which the Prince of Wales liked so much. The tanpa cloth from the Tonga Islands, South Pacific, will be presided over by the Queen of the Tonga Islands. Queen Salote is a big, handsome woman of about 24. She was educated in Auckland, and her home at Nukualofa is furnished in European fashion. Although she is allowed to rank as Queen in her South Pacific kingdom, her ruling is, of course, under the jurisdiction of Downing street. The Bradford Chamber of Commerce invited Princess Marv to see the wonderful British-made materials which were on their way to Wembley, and gave a special Empire fashion parade at Claridge’s Hotel, which will be repeated every day at the Exhibition. Princess Marv especially admired a cloak which one of the mannequins was wearing. It was made of ravonne silk velvet, with a flared flounce edged with ostrich feather trimming, the material of the cloak of rainbow effect. The cloak was lined with imitation ermine made of pure tussore silk. The Nottingham lace appeared to include every kind of lace known and desired of woman, beautiful gowns and cloaks. One fawn lace cloak was set off by a natural fox collar, and a white satin dress was draped with black lace.

During this week —Holy Week -there are no social events worth recording. All is preparation for Easter —extra work at office and shop and in the home in anticipation of the free days off.