A GOLDEN JUBILEE.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 967, 7 November 1910, Page 9

A GOLDEN JUBILEE.

; THE REVEREND MOTHER AUBERT ': /HONOURED. ;.•-,•■ CARNIVAL AT NEWTOWN PARK, , A PRONOUNCED/SUCCESS. ■ :.One of:tho most successful open-air carnivals: ever hold in Wellington was that organised in honour of -tho'golden • jubilee of that very worthy; lady,' the Rev., Mother Mary Joseph . Aubert, .";■ which took place.at Newtown Park on Saturday afternoon. The restful green of spring was reflected from every as- ':". pect, and the warmth :of the sun was gently .tempered by the lightest of breezes from the north, so that no ono could say that the prayers of thoso interested in tho succoss of the. arrange-ments-had been, unanswered. The park ■presented a scene of tho liveliest animation, and viewing the fair prospect from a slight elevation the thought 'occurred to the writer that it was':surprising that this fino city park was not made more of thau is the case. For a natural ■ setting it has no rival in New Zealand, yet it is mostly known as the location of the "zoo," which really occupies only a tiny out-of-sight corner of this fine ..reserve, with its backing ofeasyslop- ; -ing. hills, and dignified clumps of som-bre-clothed firs. 1 . For the purposes of the fcte;tho up§er gfeea'at-the southern end of the ig playing field- was transformed into a miniature canva3 town, each tent representing the habitat of some special attraction. All-these had to he seen, of course. It was useless fancying that anyone could walk through the'fair unmolested. Each visitor or party of visitors were attacked by full battery, in echelon, on tlie.flank-orfrb'm'the rear. .'. ■" The fire was remorseless, resistance useless, mercy an absentee .•-...: : "Fire'for the pockets and waste'no. ammunition!" seems to have been the • : general/order issued 'to' all troops. '■" Truth'to' tell, there was little resist- .' ance. . Everybody seemed to have venr ,". tured forth with spring in their hearts :--and-'a few shillings'in their pockets, and they shed both freely and mer- ■':' rily. Not that, they did not get.their n-oney's worth'. For every sixpence spent there-'wis an ample sixpeunortb. ■ : of fun waiting in the;canris pavilions. Tho Sideshows. '- "Roll up, roll'up,"■',shouted a steiitoriari: voice. "Fuller's great"vaudovillo ■'■'show, of New York and Parii is about' to begin. Mr. Fuller will turn a back, somersault forwards,' '.Roll ■ up—give -the-drum a 'wuhner'"'"'And the crowd streamed into"a tent wherei the.mom- . bers of ' the ;Fuller' Company gave an •"' excellent vaudeville performance. ; A -. few yards away somo of; Messrs. Plim- ■ mer and Deriniston's comedians . discoursed on the'iwonderful merits of a Punch and Judy show. The ■ bright . patter-of these merry 'mummers was even better than the-slip.y within, but ' ■-.; the crowd paid its sixpence and laughed with all the old zest at; the critics of j pugnacious' Punch and his jiggity Judy. A.large marquee (or father, twins, of them) was devoted- to afternoon tea. Here a bevy of'the hardest-worked, : . under Mrs:""Knox Gilmer,' were busily ; labouring in a tepid -atmosphere . to '.- '-'supply.-the requirements of _ those in need'-of' refreshment,'"at . sixpence ( a head.. -The fortune-tellers were kept - hard at work '.telling of the dark man from over, the water, or the blonde beauty with hair of shimmering gold '■■■ ■ and a tender heart, who,would eome-3: - one day;.. They .fead'by: palni;,teacup',. •-,.''■ or with the cards—or. any other, way — "'■' all at, sixpence, ahead. '•. -....' ■■" '-"'it-^-T^ ';Be.auty;.sHo*/ : : But, if there;,was one'attraction more than "another that drew the xrowd "like. •a plaster," it.-va's the ; beauty show: Finesse wasj. averted ~_iri,..gaining en- ."'. trants, but at last Mr.'lzard and Mr., H., Plimraer induced a dozen of the ' fair to-sit in a tent ns contestants, duly .-■-.-numbered-'and classified.: -Long before •'.:. ihey iwero ready a great crowd gathered .--.:. around the entrance prepared to, pay-6d. - : for. the chance of- recording a yote in. favour/of the most-fancied.. From 3 5.15 p.m. people streamed . 'through-the tent.- steadily, chivvied on . by the injunction to "Pick your beauty and get.outt",lt was curious to note ,- the-attitude-of the voters.: Some merely rushed in, noted the number, -of their' favoured contestant without :.-.' any.regard for the others, demurely : sitting jn' a row. Others came in, and. ' slowly- and deliberately noted .. the points of each beauty—the hair, the skin.tcolour of eyes, shape .of nose, expression, -etc. . One ..could almost tell ;f the character of people: by-the-manner in which-they behaved in the beauty show ..tent., , \: - ■'.

There.was one screamingly funny incident; '-. One of the candidates noted one of the others receiving a touch of powder on the tip of a very pretty nose, and loudly : protested:.; "None of your, tricks, No. 208; I'm natural, I a'ni;'noire of jour tricks I" ' Finally, when the votes were counted, it was found, that far the greater number hadbeen cast in favour of .Miss. Lizette Parkes (of the Plimmer-Denniston _ Dramatic. Company)j '.with Miss Devlin as runner-up. After the show, the prize, a handsome, silver-plated jewel, case : of chaste design (given by Mr. and.Mrs. T: G. Macarthy), .presented to Miss Parkes...by.. Sir Joseph "Ward',..', who warmly'congratulated .the little lady on. her win'.' It was, he said, another addition to the charms and. graces she had displayed on the'stage, 'arid ho' hoped that .the winning. of': the beauty prize against Wellington's .fairest .would be of benefit to her.. ".. Miss Parkes could only.'whisper her. thanks demurely.

Field Attractions. Whilst the side shows were making the nimbi© sixpence spin with.' astonishing velocity, a team of boys and girls from the Wellington Physical Training School, in neat uniformj .gave an interesting exhibition of calisthenic exercises?out in'the'middle of. the ground. This'-.was one of the features of the fete.;'- Throughout the afternoon a wellconducted sports meeting attracted tho attention of the many hundreds of people who reclined on tho-convenient-ly-sloped banks above the track. ,'The following were tho' results:— .•■;'■ 100. Yards Miidcn.'-r-P.Kileon, l] P. Proebstel, ,2.:. .'Msec.-., Boys' Race '(100 ...yards).—Stanley Hblle,.l; D.; ; Matheson, 2; A. Johnston, .3.. .This .event: drew a very largo entry, the first' half dozen being separated by only about a yard. , Time, 14sec. 880 Yards. Handicap.—J. Finn (50yds.), 1; B. W. Curry (35yds.), 2; L. E. Baxter (scr.), 3. A good finish. The scratch marker ran well, and just failed to catch tho limit men. D. Binnie,' who appeared to have an excellent chance, stopped running fiftyyards from homo. Time, 2min. G 3-ssec, 100 Yards Handicap (open).—First heat: F. C. Hubbard (sor.)j 1; A. H, Overend (55yds.), 2; W. L. Dunn (31 'yds.), 3: Time, Usee. Second.heat: G. S.'Gapper (51yds.), 1; H. H. Dawson (2yds.), 2; A.-. Cunningham (syds.), 3. Time, 10 3-ssec. Final: Gapper, I; Cunningham,- 2; Overond, 3. Timo, 10 3-osec. • • ; High- Jump (handicap).—L. 11. M'Kay (ljin.), oft. lin., 1; P. M'Namara (liu.), 4ft. llin., 2; A. Bold ■(s}in;). 4ft. 10in., 3. . ■ f . Half-mile Cycle Handicap—H. Edwards (10yds.). 1; W. H. Shore (70yds.), 2; C. Kelly (50yds.), 3. Won by three yards, the remainder close up. Time, 72 3-ssec.' _~''. .-' . Sack Race.—W. Bowden, 1; J. Nea, 8; M. Trowcr, a,

Boys' Half-mile Walk.—Sullivan, 1; Hickling, 2; Silk, 3. . One Mile Run (handicap).—L. E. Baxter (65yds.), 1; C. J. Gore (90yds.), 2; B. W. Curry'(9oyds.), 3. A splendid finish. The winner, who was lying third at the homo bond, came through in tho last hundred yards, and won on tho tape. Time, 4min. 45sec. 220 Yards Handicap (open),.—G. S. Gappor (Byds.), 1; W. L. Dunn (syds.), 2. Time, 23 3-ssec. . . Hop, Stop, and Jump Handicap.—L. M. M'Kay (scri), 43ft. 4in., 1; A. Brennan (2ft. 9in.), 42ft. 9in., 2; W. L. Dunn (2ft. 3in.), 41ft. 9in., 3. Ono Milo Walk Handicap.—G. Turner (95yds.), 1; P. Fitzgerald (25yds.), 2; D. Cashman (scr.), 3. Tho only starters. Time, 7min. 3scc. Potato Race.—J. Finn, 1; F. Wilton, 2; P. Fitzgerald, 3. Ono Mile Cycle Handicap.—H. Edwards (20yds.), 1; G. H. Pearco (90yds.), 2 j C. Kelly (100 yds), 3. Won, easing up, by a yard, a couple of yards separating second and third. Time, 2min. 35 3-ssec, 440. Yards Handicap—J. W. Coard (17yds.), 1; F. C. Hubbard (7yds.), 2; A. C. Cunningham, (12yds.), 3. Won by a yard. Time, 53 3-ssec. Obstacle Race—B. W. Curry, 1; P. Fitzgerald, 2. : Girls' Skipping Contest.—Carry Elliot, 1; Dorothy Pike, 2; Mary Elliot, 3. . Sailors' Hornpipe, Irish Jig, Highland Fling.—Mr. O'Leary, 1; Miss Walsh, 2; Miss Shaw, 3. Exhibitions we're also given by Violet Walsh, Daisy M'Leifan, Mary Reid, Flora Shaw, and Lizzie Reid. . - Decorated Bicycle.—Davie Wilson, 35years old (only one entry). The Garrison Band,' under Lieut. Herd, played an acceptable programme of music during the afternoon. Appealed to for the names of thoso. who assisted, Mrs. T. O. Macarthy, who was the head and front of the fete committee, said that there was such an army of helpers, and all had done so well, that'she-would be afraid to mention names-for fear of omitting some who did good work, but she especially expressed- her thanks to all who participated in making the carnival so great a success, and in particular the members of the Plimmer-Dennis-ton Dramatic Company and Fuller's Vaudeville Company. Mrs. Macarthy said that over £250 in cash was taken on the grounds, ,but the total figures could not be arrived at for a day or two, as a great many books of tickets issued last week had still to be accounted for, but she anticipated that the carnival would' net over £300 for the Golden Jubilee Fund. "•, Among those present on Saturday afternoon were Sir Joseph and Lady Ward, and several members of the Legislature.' • The results of the Baby Show that have as yet come to hand are: The silver mug -presented by Messrs. Gollin and Company to the champion' prize baby was won by' Miss — Fitzgerald. Other prizes were awarded to: Girls — Ruby Riley, 1; Jean Watt, 2;' Eva Parker, .3;. Evelyn Read, 4. Boys (Section A)— No. 5, 1; No. 1, 2. Section B—No. 9, 1; No. 1, 2. ~ TwinsMisses. M'Gillivray.