VARIED SCENES AT EXHIBITION.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17698, 19 November 1925, Page 7

VARIED SCENES AT EXHIBITION.

ORGANISERS DELIGHTED OVER FIRST RESULTS. (Special to the ‘ f Star.”) DUNEDIN, November 17. Dunedin is now recovering from the breathless excitement of the opening of the exhibition and the city is settling down to a period of abnormal normality which will exist for the next five months. The second day of the exhibition demonstrated that it is going to be a greater success than anticipated. Large crowds again attended yesterday, when the public settled down to a more thorough inspection of the exhibits than was possible on the opening day. Visitors from all parts flocked into Dunedin by every train. Canterbury and Southland supplying the greatest number. The takings at the exhibition on Tuesday amounted to £1765 os 3d, exclusive of payments for season tickets bought at the exhibition. It should be noted also that the amusement devices did not commence running till after four o’clock and then there was an hour oft' for tea. None of the amusement# will be running in the mornings. The starting time is 1.30, and they run till five o'clock, resume at 6 and continue till 10. “like all exhibitions this one will naturally take a day or two to settle down,” said Mr G. P. Hainsworth (general manager). “It is a new organisation with a new staff and new conditions, and to my mind it is settling down very rapidly. Tuesday’s experience showed us as only experience can where various small weaknesses existed and already we are adopting methods to remedy these. So far as the results go I am delighted, and considering the population of this city I am more than delighted. It is a wonderful achievement that over 46.000* should pass through the turnstiles on Tuesday, and judging from the results so far I feel that sucoess ks assured. I might add also that support independent of the actual visitors has been very pleasing and this applies to the attendance at the festival hall.” Mr Hainsworth has spoken to representatives of the firms in the secondary industries pavilion and he says they arc all full of optimism at the prospects to keep vp the interest in the exhibition. It is his intention to introduce /new features from time to time and generally to keep up the freshness of the lay-out. Much cleaning up yet remains to be done and in nearly all |he pavilions workmen are busy erecting late-comers’ stalls and evolving order out of chaos. There is much to be seen and, interesting as all the exhibits undoubtedly are, some are of merely local interest whilst others carry an ap-* peal to all. Amongst the latter the British pVvilion must take priob of place. No description could adequately convey the charm of it all, not only as regards exhibits, but the arrangement of the court itself. Here one is carried from the very dawn of British history to the heart of modern industry and may trace eras in the life of the Empire in a thoroughly complete, manner. For those interested in comparisons it is interesting to note the models of the “ great ” ships of the Elizabethan era and then study the sunken model of the British trade routes on a relief map of the world with its oceans carrying the ships of the British mercantile marine. \Hitber and thither they scurry, moved by an invisible agency, each keeping to its portion of the all red route with uncanny accuracy. Students of British history may gloat over such historic treasures as may never again come within their ken and lovers of the beautiful and the antique may pore over treasures which are rare even in that home of rarities, London. The Canadian Court again is of totally different type nd though magnificently appointed is more of a commercial than an artistic display. It is realb- an industrial exhibit in severely artistic setting, although a scene featuring a piece of typical Canadian scenery incorporating a thundering waterfall is a magnificent conception which attracts intense interest. Nevertheless Canada’s record of achievement ,as shown by her court is nothing short of marvellous.

PAVILION SHOWS HOW GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS RUN.

Fer Press Association. DUNEDIN, November 19. Further reference to the work of the New Zealand Government Departments may be permitted now that the hurlv burly of initiation is over and everybody'is getting "settled in.” A first peep inside the pavilion dis-. closes purposeful activity. Results have been produced at eery little financial outlay (compared with some other displays!. The pavilion is designed with the object of showing the activities of each Government Department as nearly in actual operation as possible. In most cases, the Department concerned has succeeded ingeniously, especially the Post Office and the Department of Agriculture, which in bringing an experimental farm to the very grounds has accomplished something never attempted before in any part of the world. In the months of preparation that preceded the launching of the court, the Department of Industries and Commerce was responsible for all the negotiations that had to be made with the consulates private concerns and different institutions that were concerned, and its chief officers have personally supervised the building of the court and the arrangement of exhibits. Of these there were so many that the spacious pavilion proved inadequate. The important education court takes up a big area in the motor pavilion and in No. 2 pavilion, already rather crowded with provincial courts and the trade exhibits associated with them. Each departmental display is arranged to tell its mission forcefully, “education" being the inspiring motive of the whole pavilion. jn the remarkable plot at the rear of the pavilion the Department of Agriculture shows the correct methods of farming, the results that follow the application of expert advice, and the facilities the different fields divisions offer for imparting that advice. The Census and Statistics Office in actual operation with intricate calculation machines educates the onlooker in the methods by which the figures that compose the nation's barometer are compiled. ... The Defence Department with its photographs and war trophies tells the official story of New Zealand's part in the Great War. The Government Observatory enters a sphere wider even than the national with its practical lessons in astronomy and New Zealand's part in that im- | portant science. The Department of Industries aud Commerce,'- realising

that not by figures alone can man learn, has arranged some fascinating diagrams and mechanical devices to drive home the economic lessons that the statistics reveal. Humane factors in industry and the history of weights and measures are attractively explained in the Labour Court. An actual camp is the central figure in the Lands and Survey Court, which shows so precisely the functions of the Department that blazes the trail for the farmer and the constructor. The Prisons Department, with its examples of prisoners’ craftsmanship, needs no other recommendation of the wisdom with which it guides the unfortunate men mid women who fall by the wayside. The Post Office, with such of its activities as are not confidential being conducted in full view of the onlooker, affords a unique demonstration of the operations of a great department. The Railway Department, with model railwavs and signalling systems that are exact replicas of the real thing, made to scale of course, clearly explains much that is understood by few indeed of the public for whose benefit the trains are rjin. The Public Works Department has its working to demonstrate the tremendous engineering tasks that the difficult nature of the country has involved. ' The State Forestry Department has only three exhibits, but even a cursory glance reveals at once the serious situation that would face the country if its timber resources continue to dwindle and the possibilities that are opened up by a sound afforestation scheme. The Department of External Affairs holds the interest of the visitor with its exhibits of nature craftsmanship and then drives home the lesson that there are ways of diverting to New Zealand the Island trade that hitherto has been America's monopoly.

SPEECHES AT DINNER.

Per Press Association. ' DUNEDIN, November 19. At the Exhibition dinner Mr R. W. Dalton (Trade Commissioner), responding to the toast of “Our Guests,” expressed appreciation at the encomiums passed upon the British court. He declared that Britain’s display “stood for honesty, truth and dignity in all our commercial and international relationships.” He hesitated to speak on behalf of other Empire participants, but he could say after his experience of a number of such displays that the various representations revealed an amazing capacity to promote secondary industries. Some people feared that Britain did not wish to see the dominions engaging in industries in competition with her. That was not so. She welcomed every such development amng the countries of the Empire. Mr Boyle, United States Consul at Auckland, paid a generous tribute to the wonderful achievement typified by the Exhibition, and regretted that his country was not more fully represented. * American manufacturers had uot realised the scope of this enterprise. He hoped it would result in increased tourist traffic to New Zealand, leading i to augmented purchases by America ■ from Zealand, so that the balance j cf trade now so much against the Do* i minion might be more equitably adjusted- _ .