A Festival of Empire.

Progress, Volume V, Issue 7, 2 May 1910, Page 226

A Festival of Empire.

A Festival of Empire is to be held at the Crystal Palace for a few weeks of the present year — May 24th to July 16th — on a scale of great splendour, for the purpose of making the people of the Metropolis and those of the Empire outside of the United Kingdom acquainted with each other There will be a central pageant, the Pageant of London, in which 15,000 citizens of London Town will take part after the manner made familiar to many audiences by the series of English pageants which have lately proved so wonderfully successful.

General View. The pageant is a new art, essentially modern; an art born of the spirit of "hustle," and brought up to greatness by the theatrical managers of recent times, who have discovered that spending fabulous sums of money in the accurate production of the drama is one of the "best roads to fortune. This Pageant of London is the centre attraction, round which the representation of the Empire groups itself in picturesque fashion by countries. The Pageant will show Caesar and Boadicea, Hengist and Ilorsa, Jack Cade, Wat Tyrrell, and King Richard 11., the entry of Henry Y. after the victory of Agincourt. the London demonstrations in the time of the Spanish Armada, and the trained bands raised for the support of the Parliament against King Charles. It will not forget the Gordon Riots, and the Chartist story will be introduced to the audiences together with all the episodes of municipal history from the days of the Reform Bill to the demonstrations of the Suffragettes. The whole history of the great Metropolis of Empire will be developed before the spectators exactly as its leading events occurred, so far as the patient skill of the costumier, guided by the archeologist, can reproduce them. Every week the series, which is divided into three, will be repeated at regular intervals on announced days. Branching from the great nave of the Palace are the courts of the Empire duly set forth. The chief who looks after the conduct and display of the self-governing portion of these is the veteran Canadian Lord Strathcona. Under him are all the High Commissioners and Agents-General, each specially charged to keep his own section in proper order. The products of all these countries are displayed to the greatest advantage, as also their manufactures, in ways familiar enough not to require detailed description here. The riches of the Empire will not be left to speak for themselves. Lectures are arranged for by eminent hands, and speeches will be delivered by well-known statesmen on the connection between the Mother Country and the Over-sea Dominions, and kindred subjects. In addition the music and the arts of these

Dominions will be presented to the best advantage in various ways, all of which will aim to show the proficiency attained in each country.

Patents of the Empire. Most useful to the Over-seas Dominions is the arrangement made for the introduction of their patents and inventions to the rest of the world. In fact, in connection with the Empire Festival and Pageant of London there will be held an Imperial Exhibition of Inventions and Industries. A large space has been set apart for the purpose of enabling members of all British Colonies to exhibit their Inventions and Manufactures in this Exhibition. This Section will be under the supervision of Mr. George Hughes, R.P.A., Editor of "Patents," and it is fully expected that the Exhibition will prove one of the most attractive and interesting features of the Empire Festival The chief object of this Exhibition is to bring Colonial Inventors and British Manufacturers and Capitalists in touch with one another and to enable the Inventor to demonstrate the advantages and improvements of his Invention to the greatest number of interested persons, with a view to either selling his Patent Rights or making arrangements for the working of same in this country. The space will be free to Colonial Inventors for the purpose of exhibiting their Inventions and Products, but as the profits derived from the Exhibition are to be devoted to the King Edward the Seventh Hospital Fund, the Council expect a minimum subscription of £2 2s. for each exhibit towards the expenses in connection with this Section.

Exhibition of Models. A special section will be allotted to models, and a staff of demonstrators experienced in this work will be in attendance for the purpose of explaining and demonstrating the Exhibits to all who may be interested. Any exhibitor wishing to dispose of patent rights, etc., should send particulars with application form. Medals and Diplomas of Honour will be adjudicated to those Inventions exhibited Avhich possess the greatest merit and commercial utility. All Exhibits should be addressed, carriage paid, to the Empire Festival Inventions and Industrial Section, Crystal Palace, London, England, and should be despatched so as to be delivered at the Exhibition by the 23rd May, 1910. Application forms for space should be filled up and sent with remittance for subscription to Mr. George Hughes, Inventions and Manufacturers' Section, The Empire Festival, 55, Chancery Lane, London, England. In connection with the show, the most complete arrangements have been made by the various shipping and railway companies for the conveyance of .passengers, and accommodation has been secured for visitors from every part of the world, of every description required, both by those who like luxury for which they can pay, and by those whose tastes are Spartan. Bands of the King's Guards and other regiments will make music and there will, of course, be numerous side shows. Altogether the Pageant of Empire will be one of the biggest things of our time and the most likely to draw the different parts together.