THE EXHIBITION.

Waikato Times, Volume LVII, Issue 8098, 9 January 1907, Page 2

THE EXHIBITION.

THE PYROTECHNIC DISPLAY. BESSES 0' THE BARN. (B^TELEGRAI'H. —SI'ECIAI, SERVICE ) CHRISTCHURCH, This day. Over 18,000 people visited the Exhibition on Monday, of whom it is comp.if.ed more than 10,000 were p ■esent at the display of fireworks in tiie evening. Special trains from tlie country brought crowds of visitors to see this spectacle, which for variety, brilliance and novelty won the admiration o? all. Startling lightning erects were reproduced with wonderful fidelity; rockets of different designs delighted the vast assemblage, and the set pieces, including a clever representation of Niagara Falls and a cyclisc endeavouring to loop a blazing loop, were as beaitiful as they were novel. Excellent portraits of the King and Queen were shown in coloured fire, and in later displays portraits of New Zealand's prominent public men will be similarly represented.

The organ recital given by Mr Massey, organist at Bathurst Cathedral. on Monday night, proved a most enjoyable performance. Mr Massey's technique and phrasing are brilliant, and he exhibits a tine appreciation of harmony and insight into the more subtle shadings of tone. The programme was of a fairly light character, and was listened to by an audience of over (>OO. Mr Massey's second organ recital was given very successfully yesterday afternoon before a large attendance. The carnation and pea show will be held at the Exhibition to-day and to-morrow. Elaborate displays of these popular flowers are expected.

Wonderland's floral fete, on January 17th. promises to be a very special function. Valuable prizes are offered for the best floral designs floral costumes and decorated bicycles. A sensational act will be performed, representing the destruction by lire of a seventeen storey building 150 feet high, and the rescue of a woman from the falling roof. Forty-three answers were received from all parts of the colony to an advertisement for a " Plucky and pretty girl, about twenty years of age and fairly light weight, who must have good nerves," to play the part of the rescued lady in this act.

Mr White, the representative of Messrs Pain and Sous, of London, commenced yesterday morning the work of illumination of the Exhibition sports grounds for the Besses o' the Barn season. Some three thousand coloured lamps and lanterns will be employed, and it is proposed at a later date to festoon and light fap the whole of the trees and flower beds in front of the Exhibition. This will be a special feature of the Exhibition and will last for two nights. The Besses' first programme is on Thursday night.

The bubble fountain has arrived by the Gothic, and will be erected at the rear of the buildings. Mr Brace, Mayor of Adelaide, who has spent three or four days at the Exhibition, states that he is very pleased with all he has seen. He is very much charmed with the British Court, particularly with the pictures. The Maori pahs proved most interesting and the haka and poi dances he witnessed yesterday afternoon were equal in energy and aptitude to anyhas seen in the King Count!'*/. The view from the Exhibition tower is one of the most beautiful that could possibly be imagined. The side shows are splendidly managed, and admission charges very reasonable while numerous denizens of New Zealand streams to be seen in captivity in the aquarium must make the mouths of anglers water. The trip in the motor launch on the Avon, he also says is an especially delightful experience in the hot weather now prevailing.