A LARGE GATHERING.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 6940, 1 November 1900, Page 3

A LARGE GATHERING.

The weather could scarcely have been more propitious for the opening of the Canterbury Industrial Association's Exhibition, with which the Province to-day commenced its Jubilee celebrations. Tho appearance of the weather last evening caused a good deal of anxiety, but before midnight the strong south-west gale had blown itself out, and the morning broke fine. Later in tie day the eun shone brilliantly, while there was just sufficient wind to render the atmosphere qpoL The rain which fell yesterday had thoroughly laid the dust, and altogether matters could scarcely have been more pleasant. It is not surprising that, under such favourable auspices, at an early hour this morning the city was gay with bunting, and a holiday crowd soon made its appearance in the streets. Most of the places of business were closed at noon, and by 1 p.m., when the initial ceremony of officially- opening the doors was performed, the thoroughfares in the vicinity of the Exhibition were crowded with, well-dressed people, all awaiting anxiously the arrival of the Covernor/s party. At one o'clock the Cathedral bells rang out, and ten minutes later the Mayor and tlie Mayoress arrived, and were received by the president (Mr Robert- Allan) and the directors of the Canterbury Hall Company. as Mrs Recce stepped from her carriage, Miss Natalie Allan, the little daughter of the President, presented her with a very handsome shower bouquet. She was then conducted up the steps to the main door, where Mr E. G. Staveley said he hod been deputed by the directors of the Canterbury Agricultural and Industrial HalL Company to ask Mrs Recce to perform the ceremony cf unlocking the portals of its new buddings. While they all regretted that Lady Ranfurly wasi unable to be present at the celebration, of the Jubilee, his directors felt gratified that it had fallen to the lot of Mrs Recce to open the buildings. It was particularly fitting that she should be called upon to do so, for it was" in a great measure owina to the indomitable energy and perseverance of her husband, the Mayor, that they were now in possession of such fine buildings, and they wished to thank him heartily. A" good deal of praise was due to the architects, who were both .young New Zealanders, for having furnished such handsome designs; while the builders were to be congratulated upon their successful completion of the buildings under.great difficulties in so short a period. He was sure it formed a record for the colony for a building of such magnitude. The foundation stone was laid by the Mayor on March 14, and on Nov. 1 the buildings were practically finished and handed over. He had great pleasure in handing-Mi _ Recce a key of gold, which had-been manufactured locally, with which to open the door, and he hoped that she would always look back on the ceremony with gratification. The Directors had worked hajd to provide the city with a suitable hall, and he hoped' that when Mrs Recce had unlocked the door and passed beyond its portals, they would be satisfied with the arrangements. If they were, the Directors Iwould be fully compensated for their efforts. The key. bore the inscription: —"I Was used to open the Canterbury Hall, Ist November, 1900, by Mrs W. Recce, Mayoress, Christchurch, New Zealand." < The visitors and those who had reserved seats were then admitted: At a quarter to two o'clock the six companies of volunteers, under the command- of Major Day, and headed by the GarrisonBand, marched into Manchester Street. The College Rifles, the City Guards and the Imperial Rifles, all in full" dress,- took up a position apposite the •buildings, while- the City, Sydenham and Linwood Rifles, under Captain Ch'arlewood, formed a guard of honour inside the vestibule and down the main corridor, ready to receive the viceregal party. Almost'ammediately. after the Premier's party, consist-in"- of the R'gh-t Hon R. J. Seddon, the Hon J. G. Ward, Mrs and M-iss.'SeddoJi, and Mesdames "Bean, and J. T. Matson, arrived, and were conducted to their seats. As the clock sltruck two the vice-regal party arrived in a carriage drawn by four grey horses, with the Canterbury Mounted' Rifles,'under Captain Snow, as am escort. The parade presented arms \ and; ■ the Band played the National Anthem. The viceregal party, whioh -included -Colonel PolePen ton was received by the President and executive, and his Exep]lency was presented with the gold comimemoratrve badge of the Exhibition and a handsomely bound copy of the catalogue. As tho Governor's party was escorted down the ha-11 tne orchestra played the National Anthem, and upnn their taking their seats " God Save the Queen " was sung by the choir, the firsJt verse toeing taken by the soprani, the second by the alti, and the third by the full choir. The ode specially written^ for the occasion by Mr 0. T. j. Alpers was then sung, the effect being very fine, and it was rendered hy an orchestra and choir, of ovpr 350 voices. At the conclusion of the ode, Messrs Aluers and M. Barnett, the writer and co-m---<pc„?r of the music, were called for, and -upon mounting the rostrum received a most hearty ovation. Lord Ranfurly, with the Premier, the Mayor of Christchurch,.and mem_-rs of 'the executive, then nsconded the dais in front of the stage, and Mr R. All^ri (the president) asked his Excellency to declare the Exhibition open. Mr Allan spoke as follows :— ; Your Excellency,* Mr Mayor, Ladies and; Gentlemen, — . : As President of the Committee of the Canterbury Jubilee Industrial Exhibition, the honour falls to me to request his Excellency to formally open our Exhibition, but- before doing so I desire- to say a few word?. I wish, in the first place, tb congratulate his Excellency on his safe return to New Zealand from his long sea voyage. He has been engaged on a most important mission, extending our boundaries and enlarging our sphere oi influence. In this great work he must have carried with him the heartiest good wishes of us all. I also desire to express our regret at the unavoidable absence of Lady Ranfurly.** It would have afforded us very much pleasure to have welcomed her here to-day. We sincerely trust she will have a safe and speedy return to New Zealand. In occupying the honourable position of President at the hands of my committee, I feel that there are many more worthy to fill that position, but there is no one who takes a deeper interest in the progress of our industries than I do. We must all re-: cognise that the basis of our prosperity is to be found in the agricultural, pastoral and mining pursuits, but it does not stop there, and I feel confident that one important factor in' the undoubted prosperity of New Zealand to-day arises from the fact of the varied emplojinent that is offered around the large centres and' the small oentres, from one end of New Zealand to the other. We have, as you will admit when you have examined the exhibits that will be brought tinder your notice in this Exhibition, a very large amount of splendid skill and enterprise, and you will agree with me that the term " Colonial" is no longer a bye^word. Formery it meant something rough and ready,; and that answered the purpose, but to-day, with the progress -that has been made during the last twenty years, to be made in' New Zealand means everything that is excellent. The question has been asked a; to the actual use of these industrial exhibitions. I say, in the first place, it is a grand thing to establish a feeling of pride in our own indtistrics, and it- makes the public familiar with what is going ori in their midst, creates healthy competition, and in every way advances industry. An answer to this question was also put into my mouth by one of the largest exhibitors in our Ex- . hibition to-day, and it is not a Canterbury firm, so there is no local colour about bis assertion. This

exhibitor stated to me spontaneously that he believed in these Industrial Exhibitions, that bis firm had exhibited on every occasion, and ifc had paid them handsomely-. It had helped to make bhe public familiar with thedr goods, and they in-tended never to neglect an opportunity of bringing their goods, through this medium, before the public. I had th© honour of being the first president of the first Industrial Association in New Zealand, twenty-one years ago, bub it wae not for that reason, alone that I was selected for the position I am filling to-day. It was felt that w this, the year of our Jubilee, the position) should be filled by a New Zealaaider, and J am proud to chum this dear, -happy littlo country, as my native land; aaid speaking as a New Zealander, and speaking for thousands of others, we feel doubly proud of .the starring octairreo/ces during the past year. A year ago ifc" came home to us for the first time- that a great' crisis had atrrived in the fate of the Empire, amd we know the enthusiasm that waa aroused from one end of New Zealand to t_» other. We saw thousands of our bravest and best Volunteers go to fight on foreign soil in the defence of the " Dear Old Flag." Some of them' will never return, bub their memories and examples, I am sure, will never be forgotten. We felt especially proud of the positionn occupied by New Zealand- in being the first colony to despatch tiroops to the seat of wax. To this faot, we are indebted to the patriotism and splendid energy of the Right Honorable the Pre* mier, whose presence here to-day we hail 4 ' with pleasure. Five years ago, at tbe close of our las* Industrial Exhibition, the Industrial Association decided that jn this, the year of our Jubilee, we wonld hold another Exhibition. In the interval, we were able to join hainda with our friends, the Agricultural and Pastoral Association, and with tho help of the friends in both institutions, we have been* enabled to erect this fine hall and adjacent buildings. We, thought that one of the most patriotic ways in which we could mark the progress pf this colony in this, our Jubilee year, was by placing beforfe the public the display we have opened' to-day". Many hundreds of old pilgrims will wander through these halls next month, and will doubtless compare the progress of to-day with the crude appliances that they had to work with fifty years ago ; a.nd possibly, at the same time, they will look upon those days still as the " Good old times," forgetting, perhaps, all , ; t_e' hardships that they endured, and remembering only the pleasant parts. Another thought suggests itself in connection with this during the Exhibition. Thousands of children- will visit us, and, in the ordinary course of events, a very large number will live to see the centenary of the Province ; and if the world progresses as it has done during the last fifty years, they may look upon our efforts to-day, perhaps, in the same way as we are looking back upon the efforts of our pilgrim fathers fifty years ago For the success of our ExhOrition, we are iirse indebted td our exhibitors, and the only trouble that we have experienced through the whole progress of our plans, has arisen from the fact that the great number of our exhibitors and" manufacturers throughout the colony have been exceedingly busy We can hardly regret this, and we feel greatly indebted to the enterprising firms,' who, notwithstanding that they were rushed with work, are represented here to-day.. Every inch of our space is occupied, and I think I am safe in saying that it is the most representatiye New Zealand display : that has ever been made. •We have actually made only four exceptions from strictly; New Zealand products within the buildings. We have allowed musical instruments to be, shown, as they were not manufactured in the colony, and we wanted their use. We have also allowed sewing maehine_j shown in motion, which, is one of the tools in constant use in our factories, also gas and oilengines and typewriters. With these exceptions, we claim that our exhibition is absolutely repres-emtative of the industries, and progress of the colony, and I think, as New Zealanders, we can be fairly proud of the Exhibition. I desire especially to thank our friends the members of the Industrial Associations, and gentlemen outside those Associations in Dunedin, Wellington and Auckland. They have treated us most generously. They have transacted* our business for us at those centres, and in the matter of our art gallery display— -which is p_rhoip_ the best ever shown in New Zealand, with the exception of the South Seas Exhibition, held in Dunedin in the year 1890 — they have contributed their pictures, both privately and from the various galleries, and in every way. have been of the greatest assistance to us, and if ever the time arrives when they require the assistance of Canterbury in any project 1 or in any other way it will be given to them, I am sure, msot ungrudgingly. I have also to thank the musical talent of Christchurch for the efforts that they are making throughout the Exhibition. They have also displayed the greatest interest, andwe felt we could appeal to them, as in as-, sisting to erect this magnificent hall, we feel that we have given them an opportunity; of singing in one of the finest balls in New Zealand for that purpose. I also desire to_ thank all the others who are contributing", to our entertainment during the " three' months. In every way they have been, most generous to us. I especially desire to thank Mr Alpers for the fine appropriate'; words he has written for our benuMful ode,' and Mr Maughan Barnett; of Wellington,, for the grand music he has composed for the' occasion. . ' ,"j I desire, also, to personally thank the; various members of my committee for. their' labours during the last twelve months.ii They have been mostly business men, whoknow how to go about- the work, and they; have lightened my duties as president very' much, and I sincerely thank them for all the; assistance they have rendered me. j I also wish to acknowledge the valnible; help given to us by the Government. They! voted us a sum of money; they have as-, sisted to make a fine display in the various; departments ; they have met us in the mat-; ter of railway traffic: and. in fact, every; request we have mode to them has been granted. We have, of course, been reasonable in our requests, but the fact remains that, whatever has been but before the' Government, they have met us at once readily and heartily ; and I cordially desire, on behalf of mf committee, to acknowledge tneir valuable help. ' I also wish especially to record our thanks to four individuals — to Messrs Clarkson and Ballantyne, the architects, who have taken the greatest interest in endeavouring ' to . urge on the completion of the buildincrs for this day ; and I also desire to thank Messrs Rennie and Pearce, the contractors. We' Were fortunate in having such capable men,; in charge of our buildings. They have left, no stone unturned to complete these build-! in?s for Nov. 1. Months asro,;a wry,- very i small proportion of the town .believed for one moment we should be ready for .Nov. 1, but I endorsed, the assertion of those ge"Memen- from the first when they, said, 1 "We shall be ready," and they have erected 1 the largest pile of permanent buildings ever erected in New Zealand in the time! They have done this not under compulsion of contract', for their contract time has not vet expired, but they have been stimulated by a keen desire to have the buildings completed for this Exhibition, so as hot to disappoint us and the public; and for tTieir variable efforts we desire to sincerely thank j them, and wish them every success in their ! undertakines for the future. ' In conclusion, ladies and gentlemen, I feel that there are many who have contributed larerelv to our Exhibition whom i have not, especially mentioned. I ask them to accept my thanks as though made to them direct, as^we fully realise the valuable assistance we have received froni the Press and from the public ih every direction. I now have very much pleasure, your Excellency, on behalf of the committee, in' "requesting ybuto formally open our Exhibition." • !