CELEBRITIES VISIT OUR EXHIBITION

Otago Witness, Issue 3754, 23 February 1926, Page 22

CELEBRITIES VISIT OUR EXHIBITION

THE PICKWICK PARTY. By “M.” In the course of their peregrinations the travelling members of the Pickwick Club arrived at the Cathedral City of Dunedin. The main object of their visit was to collect information as to the early history and archaeological records of the city, and the characters and manners of the people, for the Pickwick Club of London. In this connection they exjiected that an Exhibition, then being held in the town, would furnish them with much valuable data. The party commenced work at once. Mr Pickwick was, of course, most active. He learned that a little more than threequarters of a century ago the site of the city had been covered by scrub and tussock, and that the waters of the bay had ebbed and flowed over land now occupied by tall buildings and great warehouses. This area of land had been largely reclaimed by detritus, popularly known as mud, taken from the harbour. Mr Pickwick found the citizens very proud of this mud. They asserted that in respect to the number of atoms in it (two million billion to the cubic inch) and the high quality of the nucleuses end electrons in these atoms, it was second to no other mud in the British Empire. A communication on the subject is to be prepared by Mr Pickwick and forwarded to the headquarters of the club in London. Meanwhile, Mr Tupman, Mr Snodgrass, and Mr Winkle were busy making observations in the main thoroughfares of the city. They noted various aspects of dress and deportment, made careful observations as to the proportion of persons who obeyed the civic injunction to “keep to the left,” and looked critically at anything in the shop windows that threw light on the customs, appetites, and tastes of the community. Sam Weller, Mr Pickwick’s attendant, was kept busy, but he found an opportunity to seek out the boots of the hotel. They had a pleasant chat together, and Sam and he agreed that the shining of shoes in these days of boot-polish was much less strenuous than in the time of Day and Martin’s blacking, to which Sam had been used, when employed as Boots. Sam could not help noticing, however, that the arm muscles of the modern boots were quite flabby, as compared with his highly developed ones. He imparted this observation to Mr Pickwick, who was greatly interested, and it is not unlikely that ho will forward a communication to the club cn “The Modern Degeneration of Biceps and Triceps, and the Relation of Boot Polish thereto.’’ After these ’preliminary observations Mr Pickwick and the three other members of the dub visited the Exhibition. Sam waa given the afternoon off. The party confidently expected that the Exhibition would contain many objects of local interest worth observing. Ip this they were not disappointed. Before the day closed Mr Pickwick had made voluminous notes. W’hile engaged in inspecting the •great display of motor cars, Mr Pickwick fell into conversation with a tall, spare person. “Splendid show,” said the stranger, “reminds me—London—Olympia.” “Indeed,’’ said Mr Pickwick. “You’ve been to London, then?” “Lots of times—Westminster Abbey—St. Paul’s—Buckingham Palace—King and Queen —know them all—Now that’s a fine car,” continued Mr Pickwick’s acquaintance, pointing to one in the collection. “A Flyfast —remarkable car that—speedy.” “Then you own a car?’’ said Mr. Pickwick. “Rather !—Had six once—gave five away for Christmas presents—too big to put in. stocking—joke that—ha! ha!—All Fly fasts—wouldn’t have any others—so speedy —out touring once—heard thunder — looked round—storm approaching—rain, hail—only fifty yards off—pushed accelerator—bump, bump—whizz, whizz—storm chased us fifty miles —never caught us—narrow escape though—just reached number-plate at back! Speedy oar Fly-fast—remarkably speedy.” Mr Piokwick agreed that it must be a remarkable car, and if Mr (Alfred Jinjle did he say his name was?) had no objection he would communicate the particulars of the storm incident to the Pickwick Club in London.

The members of the party had, of course, their preferences. The Southland Court made a special appeal to the poetic temperament of Mr Snodgrass. “How beautiful,” he reflected, “to sit beside those plashing waterfalls, or that bush-girt ocean inlet! How delightful to rest on some mossy bank round which the playful kiwis would play, and the frisky rabbits would frisk, and near which the mild-eyed deer would gambol.’’ It reminded him of that beautiful poem. What waa it Ah ! yes! “My heart is in Southland, my heart is not here; My heart is in Southland a-chasing the deer.” Mr Snodgrass felt a strong desire to visit Southland, and communicated his wish to the sporting Mr Winkle, who at that moment was looking at a huge stuffed wild boar. He also suggested that pig-hunting in Southland would afford Mr Winkle a splendid opportunity for exercising hi 3 sporting proclivities. Mr Winkle, however, with a covert glance at the fearsomelooking tusks, regretted that time would not allow of their making this desirable trip. When they reached the-Canterbury Court Mr Winkle’s attention was arrested by a striking view of Mount Cook, and the sight of a pair of skis suggested to him skiing on the snowclad slopes. He became enthusiastic in his description of the delights of this sport, and imparted his intention of participating in this exhilarating pastime Mr Pickwick waa not impressed. Gazing sternly over his spectacles he eaid, “No sir, no sir. As head of this party I forbid you to go ski-ing on Mount Cook. Have you forgotten the exhibition you made of yourself on the ice at Manor Farm? The whole world knows of that regrettable affair.” The work of traversing and “observing” the various courts made both physical and mental demands on the party, and it was unanimously decided, on the suggestion of Mr Tupman, that the members should ascend to the room in the Dome for afternoon tea. It was a happy interlude, and everybody enjoyed it, especially Mr Tupman, whose well-known characteristics a:e a fondness for dining and an admiration for the fair sex. The rest, the view, and the refreshment, appealed strongly to him, and he 6ighed contentedly. “Ah !’’ he said, a 9 he reached for another cake. “What would life be without lefreshmenta? How sad that these pleasures should be so fleeting ! But—‘Pleasures are like poppies spread, You pluck the flower the bloom is shed.’ ” Mr Tupmqn reached for still another cake. Then finished the quotation: “Or like the snowflake on the river, One moment here, then gone for ever.” Mr Pickwick, however, did not agree that pleasures were always momentary. With all due respect to Mr Tupman, he asserted that they had been sitting in the tea room for threo-quarters of an hour, and he would be obliged if Mr Tupman would finish his tea quickly, so they might go downstairs and proceed with their observations. The student of character would probably have deduced that Samuel Weller would spend 'a large part of his holiday in ihe Amusements Park. He would have deduced rightly. The park had a great attraction for Sam; it reminded him of the many fairs he had attended at “Home.’’ He sampled this amusement and that, and exchanged bantering remarks with the showmen. He inquired of the Scenic Railway officials if he could take the ride and the sceuery separately,-“six-pennorth of each." On being told that \va9 impossible, he marked cheerfully: “Oh, veil, you can’t have everythin’ you want, as the father said to his little boy ven he cried for the moon.” Sam won a couple of boxes of chocolates in competitions. lie presented one of them to two small boys standing Iv. “Here ye are, my young New Zealanders,’’ adding pleasantly, “It’s more blessed to give than to receive, as the judge said, ven he gave the prisoner six months’ hard.” When the party discussed their future movements that night it was unanimously agreed that the Exhibition was worthy of several visits, and it was decided that their stay in Dunedin should be prolonged. In asking Sam to obtain a fow dozen notebooks for him, Mr Pickwick intimated kia intention of revisiting the Exhibition and doing it thoroughly. Sam approved tha

idea. ‘’Quite right, sir, quite right. Vot it vorth doin' is vorth doin' veil, as the horse saTd ven he bucked the man off into the gotse bush.”