THE CHILDREN'S PAGEANT.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 874, 21 July 1910, Page 3

THE CHILDREN'S PAGEANT.

' A BRILLIANT SCENE. . - -' The children's performance at the Town Hall began. at eiglit 1 .o'clock last night, but tho small performers had to report , themselves an- hour before that, and during the -hour any; visitor -incautiously, losing herself in the corridors met with strange, beautiful sights,v a ..briar 'rose wandering by herself, all pink pclats and green calyx, with, a huge, Obviously real briar rose serving •, her , for iliat, . its 'yellow ' streamers;, turned upwards... /Grit would be a slim brown-Puck, or. a.pale . green' butterfly haps- a grey butterfly, shimmer}-;"'with' silver sequins, or a. dusky moth, with tinted wings. Here a coat thrown- off would reveal a little .yellow.kowhai, with quaint peaked hat-.pjjied'.-with. velvety, ved, or a stately iris, with painted skirts and graceful head-dress. ' it. was quite worth while to go wandering in the corridors before, eiglit o'clock. • 1 By that-time the children were ■ ready in their places awaiting the arrival of his Excellency, and ■ as soon as he took his seat the Grand March began, and the spectators, filling . the gallery, and crowding into the. alcoves below, looked on with critical and admiring eyes, as rank after rank the 'flowers, wentby. Miss Sybil •Tohnston designed most of the costumes, some of which imitated, while others rather suggested, the flowers named. . In mafes.the costumes were very effective, and the colours harmonised beautifully. It was difficult to know which beautiful costume to admire most, but perhaps the red and .white fuchsias came in for most admiration, with the gold, and scarlet of the: ripe corn set running them very close. .The purple irises were very handsome arid .effective, and much admiration was expressed for the simplicity of the lilies-of-the-valley, the originality of the kowliai's • costumes, and the pretty' variety of the butterflies, while, certainly the slugs looked very fine in their grey suits and horned helmets when they made war • against the vivid scarlet runners. , . When the flowers were all massed-one noticed that Miss .Johnston had avoided tile inost glowing flowers, giving -preference to rich purples and blues of different shades, with a good deal of green, and. dull browns, so that the'gaily-coloured costumes had'their full effect. There were, marches, waltzes, and fancy dances. First the elder children danced the lancers in very carefully-arranged sets, the blues and purples forming a wide band down the centre of the hall tlw bright colours on the outskirts.. The polka that followed, was pretty to ' )U ' ; distracting, so crowded was .the floor, so adventurous many of . tlio tinier dancers. One midget of a brown butterfly, too small to dance alone, was steered successfully round the hall by an elder sisterly briar-rose, but her course was almost too perilous. Slugs and roses, irises and winged butterflies danced valiantly, and no doubt enjoyed the fun', but the set dances were really prettier to watch,, and the tinies' lancers was charming. ' Each of the teachers helping in tho pageant had arranged a special set. Under Miss Borlase's direction the purple irise's carrying crooks . with green streamers did . a gavotte picturesquely. Half a dozen girls trained by Miss Campbell danced a scarf dance charmingly; and a set of ripe corn did a step dance under Miss Putnam's direction. Miss Beers had arranged an elaborate roso ballet, in which roses were wooed by elves, and scorned, them, yielding later to j the darts of the sweetest .of white-satiji-frocked cupids, crowned with roses and armed with a silver bow. The tiniest children took part in this, and each one carried her part through triumphantly. A contrast to this was the fight between ] the scarlet runners and the slugs, fought : to the strains of funereal' music, and strewing the floor with happily-wounded I slugs and scarlet runners, who were car- ' ried off to be bandaged by the ladies in attendance. The most effective part of the pageant was the marching,' which, was marvellously successful considering that the children had only rehearsed for tlireo days. The crowning achievement , was the march in which all the children took part, when, led by two Highlanders playing the bagpipes, they gradually spread out into the shape of . a gigantic thistle.>. Supper for the children was served in the Concert Chamber, and here the same careful attention to detail was shown as in the pageant itself. Each table was decorated with the flowers for which it was set aside, some of them being most effectively arranged., .The Fuchsias had a table decorated with red and white fuchsias, specially made for tlio occasion, and the ■ children must have been delighted to' find the. frosted cakes decorated with sugar fuchsias, and tile sweets in fuchsia boxes. The Briai Roses found their table adorned, with sprays, of briar roses, most beautifully made, a table-centre painted in rose design, and briar roses decorating tho boxes of sweets. Ripe corn and poppies adorned the table for . that set, while scarlet ribbons were turned round'' tho yellow stands from which little sheaves of corn nodded. The Forget-me-nots had a. table all pale blue, ribbons and blue

flowers, and so..with, other sets. The dresses of the children were made with the idea of artistic, effect, but the pretty supper-tables wero''decorated solely to ploaso the children. , On the whole,, the. children had a very good time, either dancing or looking on with critical interest, while the others danced, and they seemed to enjoy it. 1 , His Excellency the Governor, who expressed his admiration for ; the result of the committee's ofl'orts, was accompanied by' Lady Beatrice Kerr Clark, Captain Shannon, and Captain ChrichtonMaitlund. Others present were:. Lady Ward, Jtiss Ward, the Mayor, and Mrs. 'Wijford, Mrs. Wallis, ■ Mrs. Newman, Dr. ' and Mrs. . Fell, Mrs. and ; Mrs.' C. Crawford,- Mrs. Findlay, and Miss Coates. Miss Richmond, who, with the membors of the' committee, received Lord Islington, was presented .with a bouquet of pale' pink (lowers.' '■ After the children's performance <was over, and the performers had gone home, the evening finished'" with a grown-up dance.