THE AMUSEMENTS.

Otago Witness, Issue 3764, 4 May 1926, Page 27

THE AMUSEMENTS.

A VITAL PHASE. v Over 3,000,000 people have entered the Exhibition gates, some with a definite purpose, others just to “see what they could see.” But whatever their aim, it is safe to assume that none have gone away without a visit to the Amusements Tack, which has been referred to as the Exhibition bait. It cannot be denied that it is responsible for a great portion of the attendance. Then there have been other diversions, many of a more aesthetic nature and for the purposes of entertainment rather than amusement. These have been found in the famous Festival Hall, where memorable performances have been given by the equally famous Exhibition Choir, the Dunoclin Choral Society and others. But the lighter side has not been peglected even here, for all of us will recollect the visit of Pat Hanna’s Diggers, and even a boxing contest. This great phase of the Exhibition has been under the control of Mr Scott Colville (Director of Amusements), who has managed this vitally important department with great credit to himself anu to the management and directorate. A review of the results achieved in this department was given by Mr Colville to a representative of this paper. Dealing first with the Festival Hall, Mr Colville recalled that the choir’s first per-

formance was the “Dream of Gerontius,” followed by “Faust,” “II Trovatore,” and then “Tannhauser.” The Dunedin Choral Society presented “The Messiah” and the choir then gave a repetition of “Tannhauser ’ and “II Trovatore,” concluding with “The Rebel Maid.” “As far as the hall is concerned,” said Mr Colville, “the result has been just as I first thought it would be; that is to say, I was of the opinion that the counter-attractions in the open-air were so great that they would kill anything in the hall. The cost of the production of ail the various attractions we have had has been necessarily high, as it was the wish of the directors that the best soloists and artists should be obtained and that everything should be presented in a high class manner. The charges of admission had, of necessity, to be kept low, and the result was that even with capacity houses, the profits, if any, were not great. “ The Diggers,* who were booked in Australia, were known as the most popular entertainers of their kind in the Commonwealth but their season here was by no means a financial success. Yet when they continued their tour throughout the Dominion they played to capacity houses ac higher prices than were charged here. It was generally admitted, both in Australia and New Zealand, that the choral works and operas in concert form, as presented by the Exhibition Choir, have not been equalled anywhere in the Common* wealtn or the Dominion. The heavy cost of securing high salaried workers meant that to present more works than wo did would have entailed a very serious financial risk. When the original programme was drawn up it was of a most diversified nature and for the 22 weeks every night was booked up. Where you are catering for the general public you must place before it a variety of attractions. A great many prefer high-class concerts, and on the other hand a very large proportion prefers something of a lighter nature. So far as the Festival Hall is concerned no one can deny that whatever was put on was put on well. “Even the boxing was very thoroughly arranged. There was a double bill, good purses, and first-class boxers, and the prices were lower than usual, yet it resulted in a loss. lam still convinced, however, that had we put on another fight there would have been a capacity house. We lost on that fight, though the loss was certainly not great.” Speaking of the Amusements Park, Mr Colville declared that it had been an unqualified success, and had proved a powerful attraction for the Exhibition. “I am positive,” he went on, “that had we not had the devices, side-shows, games, etc., the attendance would not have reached anywhere near the 3,000,000 mark. Nothing like it has ever been seen in the Dominion before, and many of the devices and games are the first of their kind south of the Line. Everything has worked smoothly, though this has been the most difficult of my portion of the department to handle and there have been comparatively few accidents, and those mostly of a minor nature. The general freedom from mishaps of this kind must be attributed to the care and attention of the officials and attendants. It was necessary that everything should be conducted in the very strictest manner, and although at times I have felt that I have been a little hard, I have had to take into consideration tin fact that I was directly responsible for the safety of the public. “For the staff,” Mr Colville added, “I have the very highest esteem. They have worked hard, and have always been at their posts, and I don’t think I have had six complaints during Ihe whole period. These, when looked into, were found trivial. Most of the staff are returned soldiers to whom preference was given, and they certainly have been excellent employees. Mr Colville also paid a warm tribute to the the conduct of the public and to the manner in which the side-show proprietors had conducted their businesses “Those chaps must be given every credit,” he said. “Of course, they have had their own little grievances, but generally speaking they have conducted their shows in a splendid manner. Also, I would like to give my personal thanks to the police for their great assistance and co-operation.” The speaker mentioned that he had made an attempt to ascertain the total weight of the chocolates that had passed through “Chocolate Alley.” but after dipping into the figures he found that it was impossible to do so, ns many of the stalls had changed hands, and there was no record of their business. He remarked that it was an interesting fact that although very valuable prizes in merchandise were offered, the public much preferred to take even a small box of chocolates. “Some people say it is a bad form of gambling,” Mr Colville added, “but it seems to me that it is anything but that. It is just a harmless ambition to win a box of chocolates from the Exhibition, and I have noticed that very few of the actual winners seem to eat the chocolates themselves.” As far as the sports ground was concerned, Mr Colville said that they had been singularly unfortunate. Before the Exhibition opened there was a spell of very bad weather, during which it was impossible to prepare the ground, and with few exceptions every outdoor attraction was spoilt by rain or bad weather. “Take the band contest week, for instance,” he said. “Given a reasonably fine day for the A grade quickstep competition we should have had a record attendance. Even then there were approximately COOOpeople sitting and standing in the rain. As admission to the sports ground entailed a separate charge it meant that additional money came to the Exhibition through the main gate, *»o that although the ground may not have been payable through actual attractions, It might show a profit when the figures from the turnstiles are added.”