METROPOLITAN SHOW.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 10304, 8 November 1911, Page 3

METROPOLITAN SHOW.

FIRST DAY. SPLENDID WEATHER CONDITIONS AT ADDINGTON. The weather conditions under which the Canterbury Agricultural and Pastoral Association's metropolitan show opened at Addington to-day are as auspicious as the. most exacting and fastidious person could wish for. There are clear skies and a cool, refreshing breeze, from the east, tempered by a warm sun. These conditions give the grounds a very bright appearance. They have never looked better, in fact, than they look at present. This, of course, is a work-a-day day on tho grounds. The sound of the .hammer and tho saw is heard on all sides, and men in shirt-sleeves are as busy as they can be erecting temporary buildings aiid stands and displaying all kinds of from motor-cars to tenpenny nails. The paddocks are dotted with whlto tents and marquees, and both sides of the long avenue leading from the. main entrance to the secretary's office are lined with them. In some cases there is shown an attempt at variety, the clear whiteness being supplanted by gaudy striped patterns. To-day, also, saw the beginning of many side-shows. This department of tho show seems to increase out of all proportion to other Every year sees more side-shows. Although the general type is fairly uniform, there, is always something new and novel amongst them, showing that it is an age of many inventions in side-shows as well as in other things. This year there will be more- side-shows than there have ever been before, and tho evidence supplied by the preliminary arrangements to-day proves that they will be more insistent, more clamorous," and, probably, more popular with the public than on any other occasion. It is clei»r that the fribbles and foibles will not be found wanting when town and country flock into the. grounds on People's Day. In othor respects to-day's display, although of quite a preparatory character, marks the extraordinary rage for all kinds of motor-cars. These vehicles are present in largo numbers, in great variety and in all types, from the "run-about" to the luxurious car in which Prosperity loll* in .infinite ease. In another direction the show is disappointing. Tho importers and manufacturers of implements, as a body, have held aloof again. By this action the implement department has been robbed once more of most of tho attractions it affords to visitors from both tho city and the country districts. A fow of the firms have come forward, and tho part of the ground set aside for these exhibits resounds with the whirr of machinery in motion. There are traction engines, fences, gates, windmills and devices for saving labour in tlie. home, tho workshop and the field. In spite of tho attitude taken up by the implement firms generally, therefore, the.ro is a fairly good display in this direction. Its most conspicuous feature is an immense exhibit made by the New Zealand Farmers' Co-opera-tive Association. This firm lias engaged 300 feet of spaco along the whole frontage of the implement department, and there it has made a, display which is a large and interesting exhibition in itself. It has big and little tents, temporary cottages and individual exhibits, and has placed on the grounds tho largest and most comprehensive display ever made by a single firm. Tlie Cooperative Association has stepped into tho breach made by tho lack of implements, and has succeeded in filling a large part of it. Only a few stock arrived on the grounds to-day, but there are sufficient to indicate that in this respect the show will be worth going a long way to see.

To-day was devoted officially to the display of motor-cars, motor-cycles, carriages, implements, machinery and manufactures. To-morrow, cattle, sheop, draught horses, pigs and, dairy produce will he judged, there will be a pedigree stock sale at 2.30 p.m., and in the afternoon there will be the military events, the hunters' events, and pony jumping. Friday, of course, will be People's Day, with all the. title implies. Visitors will spend most of their time looking at the side-shows, the exhibits and the displays, and also at one another, and when they are tired of doing that they will have opportunities of seeing the judging of light horses, the Grand Parade, the hunters' events and the leaping. IMPLEMENTS AND MACHINERY. Although the implements and machinery section of the show is very disappointing in regard to the number of exhibits, it cannot be said to be poor in other respects. It was understood after last year's show that the large manufacturers and importers of implements and machinery whoso splendid displays in bygone years were amongst the most attractive features of the exhibition had made up their minds to come back this year, but, unfortunately, that seems not to have been the case, and it may now be assumed that the old glory of this department of the show has departed for ever, unless tho guiding minds can devise some scheme to lure back the wayward exhibitors of the past. The comparative paucity of exhibits in the section under notice is keenly disappointing to both the farmers and the visitors not connected with agricultural pursuits, but an hour or two can be pleasantly and profitably spent in an inspection of the display made. The exhibits are now very largely specialities made locally or imported to fill defim'to wants on the farm or station, and as such they present many interesting features that attract critical inspection and not a little admiration. Of novelties there are not h feAV, and tho exhibits generally give ample_ evidence that substantial progress is still being made in tho evolution and mounting of agricultural appliances. CARRIAGES. In the carriage section only two firms aro exhibiting this year, but the twen-ty-eight exhibits which comprise the section show a. notable, advance in finish and in style upon last year's productions. Messrs Steel Bros.'show nine, teen vehicles, all beautifully finished, including Ralli carts, Ralli 'gigs, tray gigs, pony tray gigs, governess cars, Whitechapel carts and spring drays. One of the . most interesting exhibits on this stand is a governess car built on American lines, with smooth-sided body and rounded cuds, motor-car fashion, while a tray gig with seat in motor style is also 'a novelty in construction, and has a very "handsomo effect. Several of the vehicles on the stand are fitted with rubber tvres. Messrs Moor and Co. show 'nine vehicles, in a variety of attractive styles, including dog-carts, Ralli dogcarts, governess cars, commercial gigs and "Whitechapel carts. An especially handsome exhibit is a Ralli doer-cart litter! with the Champion seat slide and electric lamps, and finished in vermilion, lined blade, with brass fittings.