PLEASURE-SEEKING THOUSANDS PRESENT.

Otago Witness, Issue 3754, 23 February 1926, Page 25

PLEASURE-SEEKING THOUSANDS PRESENT.

SPORTS GROUND MAGNET. Saturday was a breezy day of sunshine, when Logan Park was at its best. The holiday crowds came early, and from the time tne main gates opened in the morning a constant stream of visitors flowed into Logan Park. * In the afternoon the Dunedin crowds commenced to arrive, attracted by the opening of the monster brass band contost, which is now the special feature of t.h»* great Exhibition, and one which should greatly increase the attendances during tho coming week. If the attendance on Saturday is any indication of the popularity of the contest, busy bustling days may bo predicted for Logan Park—all departments anticipated a successful session, and they were not disappointed. At the present time the grounds and gardens form a setting to the pavilions that is not easily forgotten, and received delighted comments from Saturday’s visitors. They are a picture of colonrf d beauty—the lawns are trim, level, and in

jeacoelleut conditions, while the many beds are masses of gorgeous blooms. Roses predominate in the beds on the stretch of magnificent gardens along the entire front of the Exhibition, and at the present time all the blooms are in perfect condition Respite the strong wind on Saturday. In the afternoon and early evening many were to be found strolling through the Awns and admiring the beds, which can Vply be rivaded by the display in the City Botanical Gardens. What could be more delightful to visitors? j-sunshine, the sweet scent of thousands of lAossoms. and beyond the white Hi pavilion* with their displays and entertainment, ui itpe in New Zealand’s history. 01 gloi ous band of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders that Exhibition visitors have learned to love so well, was greatly mi.-- *d, but its place was filled by Slat special r traction—the massed bands’ •ontest In ' • afternoon the Exhibition Orchestra pi; d in the New Zealand Secondary lie 1 ' dries Pavilion, the concert being attended ' large numbers of visitors. In the •vcnuiL the fun continued fast |md furious in t' ‘ "sements Park the glowing cane I' electricity. Thousands paraded the v i that leads through tile iovland of th ' hibition, and every tievlcA was bow *••• '■ inr to the wants of 1 estival Hall, where motions of the cc- • t were continued, •ontained i*s full q- • f f visitors. Members of the IV "sity Senate were pntertained at supju ' v the directors, mere being a large *' :, ig in the official reception room. T 1 nmittee of the Otago Court entertain- ' '(vrates ftom the JPlumbers’ Conference other with the visiting American athloi . *. jr BAND CO?: 'ST. THE OPENING SESSIONS. First honours in tlu* oiling day’s proceedings of the Doni.n n’s annual Brass. Bands’ Contest went to the North Island, the Dannevirke Mu Vipal Band carrying off first prise in lho B Grade Quickstep-decided on i'e Exhibition Sports Ground on Saturd :\ afternoon. The weather conditions ere anything but favourable for open ■ band work, a string southerly wind nu'k ug the bandsmen’s task not only a di:i!eult. but also an unpleasant one. This apparently did not affect the attendant of the public, however, a crowd of some 7000 witnessing the fine display gi u by the nine bands which took part H the test. The deciding officials in the Quickstep were:— Military Judges.—M ior P. H. Bell, D. 5.0., N.Z.S.C., Capt-in S. M. Satterwaite, N.Z.S.C., S« 7 Sergeant-major tfW.O. I) J. Beaunu.it. N.Z.P.S.; Staff Sergeant-instructor A. Mathiegon, Judge of Music. Ml- F. J. Ricketts, ftnnductor of the Argyll and Sutherland pighlamlcrs’ Band.

Supervisor.—Mr J. D. Hunter. Assistant Supervisor and Marshal. —Mr J. Rennie. Timekeeper. —Mr T. P. Williamson. Judge of Instruments. —Mr E. Stratton. The competing bands mustered at the Octagon at 1 p.m. and marched to the Exhibition, playing spirited marches en route, where the draw was taken for order of performance. The actual test commenced at 2.30, and the programme was conducted with commendable despatch. Following are brief comments on the various competing bands, in the order in which they played, the drum-majors’ names being given in parentheses:— Winton Silver Municipal (J. A. Adams). —A good performance musically, but dressing and counter-marches weak. Gisborne City (J. M'Laughlan).—This band played with nice expression. Its tone was good, but there was a lack of brightness in it. Marching was its weak feature. N Oamaru Municipal (A. C. A. Whyte).— A good all-round display was given by this band. Its music was bright and precise, and its dressing and general appearance excellent. Had it not dropped points for its timing of the 100 yards march it would probably have secured first place. Auckland Waterside Workers (A. J. Crocker). —This band gave a consistently good performance. The music was not up to the standard of some of the other competitors, however, tempo being irregular. sth Mounted Rifles, Oamaru (A. C. A. Whyte).—A good all-round performance was given by this band. Its playing was bright and clean, but faulty intonation was apparent, notably on the part of the Greymoutli Municipal (N. Ames). —This band won the B Grade quickstep at Auckland last year. Its drill was quite of a high standard, but it lost too many points for its playing to secure a share of the prize-money. First Battalion Taranaki Regimental (W. Williamson). —This band is a newcomer to contest work, having been formed only some 15 months ago. It was the olny “khaki” band to compete. It gave a good display in the drill •-ection, but was weak musically. Hamilton City (R. Little). —This was the outstanding band in the contest musically, playing with a fine, well-balanced volume of tone and plenty of expression. It headed all the bands for musical points, but “fell down” in its drill. Dannevirke Municipal (H. Ward). — This band ; for some reason, did not figure in the official programme, and the spectators had no means of knowing who or what it was. It quickly showed itself to be well in the running, however, starting off in splendid style. Its dressing and general anpearance easily placed it first in this section, and its marching and evolutions were consistently good. From a musical point of view it was not up to

the standard of some of the other bands, but in a quickstep the points for music amount to on! one-third of the total points awarded, drill and marching being the deciding factors. Following are the totals of the points gained by the various competing bands: —

THE PRIZE-MONEY. Dannevirke takes £4O, sth Mounted Ritfes (Oamaru) £2O, Oamaru Municipal £lO, and Greymouth £5. EVENING SESSION. C GRADE, “OWN CHOICE” The Festival Hall was filled in the [ evening when six C grade bands faced the judge in an "Own Choice” test selection. The Judge (Mr F. J. Ricketts), in announcing his awards, said he was really astounded with the playing of the competing bands. They might well have been B grade, and in some cases A grade, bands. He had found great difficulty in separating the second and third bands, though there was no difficulty in placing the winner. By the end of the year, when he returned to New Zealand, he expected to find some of these bands playing in the A grade. Following are the points gained by the various bands, together with their conductor. names and the names of the selections played:— Roxburgh (M. M'Mahon), “Maritana” 128 Mosgiel Municipal (T. White), “Memories of Opera” 124 Maniototo (W. Norris), “Mercadante” 121 Dunedin Tramways (A. Gould), .“Lortzing” 117 Balclutha Boys (A. Woods), “Memories of Opera” 11l Naseby (J. Dixon), “Poet and Peasant” 97 NOTES AND COMMENTS. An unexpected—and unrehearsed—addition to Saturday’s B grade contest was provided by the bass brummer of the sth Mounted Rifles (Oamaru). On the sports grounds at the Exhibition are several piles of drain pipes, easily visible to the naked eye—when one is not strapped to a bass drum. The unfortunate player of this useful instrument in the Oamaru band, however, was unable to see this material obstacle to his progress on Satur-

day afternoon, and theie was a resounding crash as his drum landed on one side of one of hese piles aud his portly figure on the other. Moreover, when one is strapped to a drum one cannot do just as one likes, and the unfortunate drummer found himself as firmly fixed to the pile as a fly usually is to fly-paper. Two of his fellow-bandsmen, however, speedily came to his rescue, and he was extricated fr« n his unpleasant predicament with no further damage than a generous coating of fragments of broken pipes. Unquestionably the youngest bandsman attending the present band contest is Master Leonard Middlemass, who plays second cornet with the Oamaru Municipal Band. This youthful prodigy is 13 years of age, and measures 3ft lOin in height. It is a far cry, from the viewpoint of age, from this youthful player to Sergeant “Bill” Fenton, of the Christchurch Municipal Band, who is now in his seventy-fifth year, and still going strong. Sergeant Fenton has won 20 gold medals, and is a product of the famous Kneller Hall —the world-famed British band school. He has conducted several brass bands in Australia and New Zealand. He came to New Zealand in 1889 as conductor of the ship’s band on the Carthage, Lord and Lady Hopetoun being passengers.

Dannevirke Municipal Brill etc. Music. Total. 175* 76 2511 5 th It i flea (Oamaru) 167£ 81 2481 Oamaru Municipal .. 166 80 246 Greymouth Municipal 163 76 239 Hamilton City 152 85 237 Gisborne City .. .. 156 80 236 Auckland Watersiders 155 78 233 Taranaki Regimental 156 75 231 Winton Silver .. 146J 84 230J