QUEEN ELECTION.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 11686, 1 May 1916, Page 3

QUEEN ELECTION.

CROWNING CEREMONY. i A MUSICAL AND ARTISTIC TRIUMPH. The-first step in the crowning ceremony at King Edward Barracks was taken by Mr "W. H. Clark. - chairman of the executive, who mounted the stag?, accompanied by the members or the executive, and announced tho result of the poll. The declaration of the winner whs received with great excitement, which was increased by tho statement of the sum raised—£27,l4o. Each candidate's position in turn was loudly applauded, aud tho declaration, of the total of Mrs Rhodes, tho popular Soldiers' Queen, was the signal for an ovation. At this stage it was impossible for the chairman to throw his voice to tho extremities of the crowd, and that feat was performed very ably by Mr H. Sweney. The announcement: of tho linal total of £134.781 was tho signal for another outburst of cheering, and the chairman stated finally 1 that tho total funds contributed by Canterbury since the beginning of the war for Red Cross work, Belgian relief and patriotic; funds reached £416,618 j 10s. Ho added, that in view of tho] vast number of persons who had been, j unable to gain admittance, it. had been j i decided to repeat the crowning cere-j J mony on Mouday night, at popular j prices.

PRELIMINARY PAGEANT. Tho programme proper was then pr< eeeded with, being opened by a sele< tion of nautical airs by tho Christchurc Symphony Orchestra., uudcv Mr J Worsley, after which tho choi ■accompanied by the orchestrj sang the national anthems of. llolgiun Russia, Franco and' Great Britain, ui dor the eonductorshiy of Dr Bradshav These numbers were followed by spirited march by tho Lyttelton Marin Band, which had whiled away tho war ing hour with various selections, an to tho music there marched in first squad of six bluejackets and then .succession of soldiers in various \u\ forms, including Highlanders,' Engineers, artillerymen, Cadets and ambi; lance'men. These soldiers deployed o I the stage, aud went through a nuro J her of manomvres, after which they fa 1 S into an impressive tableau, suggestiv j of tho defence of the throne, and ; ! machine gun was mounted in tho oen tre of the stage. This preliminary more ment was emblematic of the gathering of the forces. The troops then former a. tableau to tho accompaniment ol "Men of-Harlech" by the choir ow orchestra, and' then marched '"to thf front" to the strains of "Forward' the Guards," played by the Lytteltcm Band The other side of the picture was presented' a- few moments later, when after "The Minstrel Boy" had beeii sung by choir and orchestra, returned Galhpoii heroes approached tho stage in a body, the band playing; the wellknown local composition, " Sons of New ' Zealand. Bringing up the. rear were two soldiers on crutches. The. D.C.M". was distinguishable j on the breast of oue soldier., * These men. who persouified the return of thf heroes of Gallipoli. had a rousing reI eeption as they marched through the I crowd, and mounted the stage, there to file into the special seats reserved for them opposite the choir. THE CORONATION. A spectacular procession of the prini cesses. Queen and Court officials then issued from the eastern end of the barracks. It wus led by a company of northern Maoris, who were- followed by two maids of honour, and then by the princesses in turn, and the Mistress of the Robes, after whom came the trumpeter and herald and regalia bearer, immediately in front of the Queen, who wore tho crown and coronation robe, and was supported by two huge soldiers bearing standards, while the Chancellor brought up the rear. The procession wound its way decorously through the huge audience, and filed on to the stage, which war. a blaze of light. Tho Queen \i;as enthroned by the Chancellor, and on a trumpet blast and summons from the herald tho .populace rose and cried " God Save- the Queen." Obedient to further trumpet calls and proclamations the Mistress of the Robes presented to her Majesty in turn eoch of the princesses, and with the flat of the court sword the Queen dubbed them princesses of their respective followers. The j presentation of tho Soldiers' Queen was a most popular ceremony, and the re- | turned soldiers marched on the stage prior to the event. This done, the Chancellor delivered an enthroning speech, and the choir sang the part-song "Hero's a Health Unto Her Majesty," and the Lord Treasurer presented a casket containing a record of the treasure subscribed, which her Majesty commanded him to return to the trustees ; for careful administration. A CHILDREN'S PAGEANT. The next event on the programme was charming to the lust degree. It was a display by children, mostly girl*, emblematic of the rally of the' young dominions. The youngsters, draped in semi-Grecian style, came in procession from the east, bearing many tributes of peace and plenty, with .golden caskets, j huge loaves of bread, dishes clustered with grapes and apples, a magnificent j fleece, and lastly with lartie fern leaves. These children made an obeisance to the Queen, and then went- through some .delightful dances, showing a. high degree of intelligence and training. Then a company of Maoris occupied the. stage and sang two or three verv prettv songs. The Speech from the Throne, in which her Majesty thanked all the. helpers for her coronation, was entrusted j in the Chancellor to read. .It. v.-as fol- ' lowed (\v a patriotic hymn. " The Em- | pire Flag." by choir and orchestra, then by an orchestral march to which the Queen aud princesses filed out, and then by the National Anthem, in which the { large concourse joined. * i CKR KM OX YTOREIJV. PE A TED. | lo cn-.i1>!..; the hundreds who were i turned away from Saturday's crowning } ceremony to see it enacted while the j principals are in Ohrislehurch it Las I been decided to repeat the performance I to-nidit. and the whole area will be j thrown open at 2s ;nu{ Is. The box plan of tlie -2- seats has been divided bo- ! twecii Messrs Milner v.nd Thompson's j and The Brislo\ where bookings r.iay he made from ten o'clock tin's morninc. I The Queen executive invites a full attendance of returned soldiers to-night. The men will fall in at, the rooms. Hereford Street. at 7..'.<(). CANTERBURY'S HELP. NEARLY HALF A MILLION STERLING. __ The following figures, showing the J amounts raised for various war funds in I the province of Canterbury since the '•ommencemenr of the war have been ■iipplied liy Mr Vi'. 11. Clark, chairman if the Queen Election Executive-. They mow that half a mill ion of i r-r/ney has iifi'ii raised in :):* province. , M :e!i!;t .-".)' ti> loin Irf-i! >• oi -■!: ipiT.fli: - . >i !!| fi!;!f ;;!,-.| f lolii J!./. II! em o-:.' ':■■< li ' .'■ ii li '■■' ,ier- iM-evi'iec-.. uif !uii .i'v .i ei''.'

as centre-, Canterbury, on a population basis, leads the Dominion :---

Many of the amounts given above arc only approximate, in round figures, and in each case are under-stated rather than over-stated. The item "Patriotic. Funds'' inr-ludes the Queen content proceeds. -L'134,781: North Canterbury (Christchurch). .€'13.000; Thnaru. £-1.0,000; and' Ash burton, £20,000.

1 MAYOR HIGHLY GRATIFIED. s il, ' CAN VIFW FUTURE WITHOUT ANXIETY. s The .Mayor (Mr H. was askp ed last night to express an opinion regarding the position which tho Patriotic: Fund in Canterbury lias attained as the result of the efforts put forward in the Queen election campaign. Mr Holland said the amount realised had exceeded -' his highest expectations. He had been B hoping that £120.000 would be raised. * I making, with some £30.000 in hand. a. * total of £1.50,000, and bad regarded a 13 1 fund of that magnitude as being about l | adequate to tho claims which might 1 j reasonably be expected to be. made upon "the fund. A sum in excess of that I amount had been obtained, and tho | committee could now view the future without, anxiety as regards the provision - j for soldiers and their dependents. Un--jless the war were unduly prolonged, II or subsequent, casualty lists extrnordin- . j arily heavy, the. fund should be able 'to , stand the strain very well, provided' , that district quotas came forward as , expected. Tho money was in the. hands - of trustees, who were investing it at • very favourable rates of interest, and i the interest would now provide a very ? considerable annual sum. So far as he - could see there was no necessity for aift immediate continuance of the' effort to i raise funds, but the future alone could i definitely show whether further efforts - would bo unnecessary or not. : A HAPPY TOUCH. I . ' During the evening Mr H. "W. Jennings auctioned the Queen's robes. • which were, bought bv Mr Thos. Chapman, of Mount Palm, for 120<rs, and ; were presented to Miss Rutherford bv the purchaser. QUEEN OF THE HILLS. CONTEST. j Owing to the successful Queen candi-i date (Miss Rutherford) of tho inter-j county contest of tho Hills group, re-j cently held nt Amberley, continuing sis 1 a queen candidate in tho main routes-? j at Christchurob, it was impossible to j announce the monetary positions of the! four county queens. Now that the' main contest has conriudrd, the score-i tary (Mr V. J. .Rhodes) has announced! the positions, which are as follow: j Votes. Amu ri (Miss Rutherford) . 607.162) "Waipara (Mrs Lance) .' . 56L200J Kowai (Miss M'Naught) . * . 207,073 j Ashley (Miss O'Halloran) . 177.9001 Tho total votes, 1.7:53.341, represent; £19.416 15s 3d, and with £3128 15s lOd i which was not allocated to-any county! queen, but was .available for the Queen of the Hills after tbe contest, the | amount is brought up to £22.515 Us 3d. This sum represented tho total amount in support of the Queen of tho Hills at the termination of the carnival and crowning ceremony held at Amberley on "Wednesday, April 19. The quota allotted to each county by the Christchurob executive was:-Ash-ley £1453 i Kowai £2128. Amuri £4802, "Waipara £OB-55 and Cheviot £3600. The amounts raised were as follow:--

IUUI • 11 Two turkeys donated by Miss Busc and raffled for at the recent Aiuberle carnival brought in £2 I2s (3d, tho wir ncrs being Miss Francis, of Omihi, an Mr D. Morris, of Ashley. A weigh guessing competition'for a lamb, give: by Mr V. G. Lewton realised £5 10? Two competitors guesssd the correo weight. Messrs A. Boyes, of Loitidield and W. Gallagher, of Culverden. M Boyes handed his 15s (half tho pri>. money) back to the Queen of the Hill fund. NOTES. A sum of £27.000 in cash and cheqv.es ■was actually handled in the. Art Gal lory on Saturday, in addition to a. great many guarantees from local bodies. About £15.000 was voted in tho last half hour. A very successful concert was heir in the Town Hall. Little River, by tin Native concert party on Thursday, u aid of the Peninsula and Ellesmert Queen (Miss M. Birdling). There wn: a good attendance, and the excelled programme submitted was much appreciated. A sm.-ji feather which was sem hack from Belgium was sold by auctior and realised £lB 15s. The- bids were .-is follow:—Mr T. Thompson £2. Mi F. Birdling £2, Mr 11. Lontlnvailo £2. Mr F. Fahev £2. Mr L. Fahov £1 5s Mrs G. Robinson £l. Mr T. Qiieaiv £1 Mr S. Birdlino- £1 10s. Mr C. M Donah £1 10s. Mr Nottingham £1 10s, Mr S Barclay £l. Mr Craddoek £1 and Mi S. Harris ii : lorai £IS 15s. A bouquet given by .Mrs G. Robinson to tinMaori company was <vl by Mis; Annie Robinson lo the Queen of the Peninsula. The evening concluded with ,i dance. The total proceeds were £3l }:\< 3d. The following are tin 1 bids -received at the auction sale of the flag a}, ths concert on Thursday evening at tin: Theatre Royal to as.-.Ui the Wholesale and 'detail 'U'.een : -.>ir Ceorge Clifford £SOO. 11. .Mac? £2O ss, Gill ;;; U 1 Co. J „2I. A. Rose £•") ss. Mrs tTd'.in £•.) (is, Balmoral .'Jii Os. Mrs Fletcher .f.\ W. H;.ttiv!l £5 ss, .1. N. De Feu .'J-! -U. Dearsiey £3 3s, Miss Page C:i :{■;. ■- Boun £3 3s. A. Duncan £2 2s. .). Mamiol £2 2s. P. S. Nicholls £1 K W. J. Minty £3 3s, O. Anderson £3 3,. - Dryburgh £3 3s, S. Robinson £2 2s, L. B. Hart, £3 3s. C. Duggan *~3 os. Madame Poppv £5 ss. Mrs Kelh- £3 3?. P. Met?; £2 2s. Cordoax £2 2s. A. C. Hullett £2 2s. 0. MacKay £2 2s. Kitchiugkam £:? '2s, J. Lummins £2 2?, Messrs Purse and Co. £2 2s, Sartorial Service £3 3s> and Supporter, Mrs Gurney, J. Whittle, 0. E. Boon ; Mrs Mackay, M&s Matthews. A. ?*airbairn. Mrs De Feu, W. Fenner, Sirs. Rose and W. Hooker each £1 Is. ! «;:•! the- -1.-'juii-ii-Thai -.f.-lai the wintry <<■:., In', th-? »bippsv 'ioid na.l i~: u!,-:'r.! ni.v,

,C Britain and Belgium Fund . 114,000 Bolcian Consul 3.500 Belgian Christmas Gifts . 900 Veterans' Fund 2 8iM Fund 1 l!o4t Travelling Cooker l-'nnd 1.29.) T.ady Liverpool Fund ■U2S TVd Cross Fund . oO.-loO "Putvioiio Funds . 237,781 Total . 410,016

Ashley i. S. U. . 2223 1G 8 Koivai > . 2583 8 2 Amuri . 73S9 10 7 Waipara . 701o 0 0 Cheviot . 2628 15 10! Grant by the Northern a. ; and P. Association . 500 0 0! 1 ■iVt.,1 r-v>o ri: n -j !