THE SPADE WORKERS.

Otago Witness, Issue 3763, 27 April 1926, Page 23

THE SPADE WORKERS.

PROVISIONAL DIRECTORS ENTERTAINED. On Thursday evening the provisional directors, men who did the spade work in the early days of the Exhibition project, were entertained by those of their number who continued on the directorate. Mr \V. IC. C. Reid, the interim secretary, was also wekomed and congratulated on the honour conferred upon h;m tor ins work «. . liehali of New Zealand at Wembley. There were present the president (Mr J. Sutherland Ross), the Mayor (Mr II L. Tapley, M.P.). the < erseas Commissioners, and many triends. The provisional directors. most of whom were present, were as follows:—Messrs William C. Burt, B. S. Irwin, S. Solomon, J. H. Walker, R. J. j Hudson, John Loudon, H. F. Nees, F. W. Mitchell. H. K. Wilkinson, James Evans, and Isaac Stevenson. Mr Sutherland Ross said that although k! might be rather lone after the arrival or Mr Retd from Wembley, He wished to extend him a hearty welcome home. Ha referred to the excellent work done by Mr Reid in the New Zealand Pavilion at Wembley, and congratulated him on the ! "nour conferred upon him. ‘‘Every concern with which Mr Reid has been associated in Dunedin has been successful,” said Mr W. R! Hayward. "In any company the secretary is really the man behind the gun. and we were sorry to lose the ser -es of Mr Reid after the 3plendid work he did in the early stages of the Exhibition. Mr fcpence las ably carried out what was commenced by Mr i Reid. I ometimee think that the provisional directors a not always honoured j as they should be. The directors at present on the board carried on the ship after it had been well and properly launched, but ' the preliminary work was done when the directors numbered 20.” The Mayor also added hie welcome to 1.1 r Reid on behalf of the citizens of Dunedin. In thanking his hosts, Mr Reid referred to the wonderful growth and subsequent success ot the Exhibition. It had certainly been a triumph. He referred in humorous vein to some of the early ipei* dents, and stressed the difficult, but iuccussful. work of the provisional directors. He was frequently asked how the Exhibition compared with Wembley, but it was impossible to make a comparison—Wembley was unprecedented in the history of the Empire; it was huge in every way. “One really cannot make comparisons,” he said, ‘‘but there are some exhibits in the New Zealand Secondary Industries Court that far exceed anything 1 saw at Wembley.” Mr Reid added that he had been one of those on the committee that selected Mr C. P. Hainsworth as the general manager for tile New Zealand and South Seas Exhibition, and he was pleased to say that the choice of the members had been unanimous.