A COMING EVENT.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1876, 9 October 1913, Page 10

A COMING EVENT.

AUCKLAND EXHIBITION. PROGRESS OF THE WORK. From tlio city's earliest days, AuckInmlcrs have bcwi familiar wttli tlio green slopes and wide fields of tlio Outer Domain. Within tho last lew months all lias been changed. Inside the high iron fence skirting tho drive, writes an Auckland "Herald" representative, great- work lias hewi going forward. 'the tea-tree grove has been cleared, iindorgrowth cut away; tall trees now rise iroin smooth green sward. In place of dingy ponds there'arc beautiful lakelets. The rugged old biuegum still stands sentinel 011 tho brow of the hill, but right beside, dwarfing it to insignificance, the huge wooden structure of the Wonderland chutes rears its lofty height. Where long lines of white tents onco marked the encampment of the Sixth Contingent, thero are now spacious buildings; where gun carriages of tho A Battery t-oro up the turf, there are wide pathways and velvet lawns; instead of bugle-call and cawing of rooks in the tall trees, thero is tho echo of countless hammers and innumerable saws. An army of workmen has been busy -within tho Exhibition grounds; over three thousand pnunds has been expended on gardens and pathways, and thero is very little left to remind Aucklanders of their old haunt, the Outer Domain. Inside the Gates. In a few weeks the public will view the wonderful transformation that has been effected in tlio old camping-ground of volunteer days. Entering tho gates, the scene is strangely unfamiliar ni its new, trim beauty, it is as if a fairy wand had boon waved over hare fields, raising up gleaming white palaces, emerald lawns and beautiful gardens. Tlio main building of Auckland's Exhibition lies directly ahead, its double towers rising high above terrace and fountain. A wide driveway, skirted by trim lav,'lis, leads tip to the broad flight of stops facing tho entrance; side paths lead off iu different directions through the trees. Further up the hillsides are the towers and domes of Wonderland, foremost among them that popular mediaeval stronghold, Katsscujamnier Castle, with its white turrets and mysterious, iron-barred windows. On tho right, tcrraco rises above terrace, smooth and green, surmounted by rustic fencing, 011 each level a handsome building. In tho corner between main building and cafo nestles a quaint little Swiss clmlefc; at the far end the permanent tea kiosk, a beautiful little building with wide pergola, where wistaria, and convolvulus will screen outside tables from view. Next in line- comes the art gallery, sot a little farther back, then tho concert hall, spacious, and of splendid acoustic properties, Beating over -1000 people. The cafe, shaded by a pant pnriri, is a striking bit of architecture, and from its wide verandah one gets ail exqusito glimpse of the blue, waters of the harbour, with St. Andrew's tower in tho foiegronnd and tho elill's of Bayswatcr in the distance.

In Shady Groves. Very beautiful is the grove of teatree to tho left of tho entrance, hardly recognisable as tho one-time wilderness of brambles and rank growth that skirted tho dusty entrance to tho Outer Domain. Smooth paths load through its shady depths, dainty (lower beds make bright splashes of colour in the green of its lawn. Tho permanent bandstand is hero—hero, too, tho Japanese tea kiosk, shaded by a group of tall pines that whisper in murmurous undertones as they sway softly to tho breeze. From tho kiosk 0110 looks straight across to tho central court and fairly fountain; a more beautiful situation could hardly ho imagined. With coloured lights gleaming on falling spray, tho glitter of illuminations, and tho music of tho bond coming through tho trees, it will not bo difficult to imagine oneself in Fairyland, albeit a big, busy {airland, with many strango noises, and quite a crowd. Just behind tho kiosk is a.cluster of punga ferns, as green and graceful as i? growing iu some sheltered nook in fastnesses of native bush. \'arious buildings lio at tho edgo of tho grove, most impossible of all, tlio big machinery court, situated where of old tho volunteers' horses woro picketed. On the Hillside. Here are tho real landmarks of tho Exhibition; hero tho great wooden structures, towers !\nd turrets of 'Wonderland. Conspicuous bv land and by sea, mounting tho crest of tho hill, is tho water-clnitc, where with a- tinglo and a thrill young Auckland will shortly bo flying from dizzy heights into watery depths. Circling the crest of tho hill is a minature railway track,- whero a tiny train will bo drawn by a 3ft. engino right round the hilltop and through several dark tunnels.

llcre on tlio brow of tho hill will be tho joy-centre, the shouts, tho laughs, the bumps and tho bruises inseparable from tobogganning, helter-skeltering— from a night in Wonderland generally. A little father over, towards tho Cricket Ground, the lingo structure of the figure-eight railway mounts high in a veritablo forest of scaffolding and structoral woodwork. Situated on the crest of tho hill, with a starting platform over 30ft. from tho ground, the view from the top will be magnilicent; a wonderful night-trip this—a ride high up in the sky, with the noise and the crowds far beneath, all Auckland's circling lights twinkling through the darkness, tho silent waterway of her harbour, jewelled red and green with Jicrlits of shipping, out beyond. Wonderland will greet tho incoming visitor as his ship comes up tho harbour ; from afar its lofty structures will fell tho stranger within our gates of Auckland's Exhibition and guido him to its portals. From the Tower. Inside the main building a stairway runs ui) through one of tho towers, and a lift-well opens out at tho top of tho other. A bridgo spans tho two at a height of close on a hundred feet, and tlio view from this bridgo is tho most wonderful sight tho Exhibition affords. Tho whole plan of tho j ground lies stretched out beneath, fairy fountain and terrace and laws directly below; down by the entrance ornamental ponds, fringed with masses of whito lilies, shadowed by droomng willows, stately poplars and Norfolk Island pines. Over in one corner is tho aquarium, sot back among tho trees; on the _ other sido Wonderland mounts tho hill. Farther off lies tlio leafy wilderness of tho Domain, and beyoiid all, encircling all, hor beauty crowning all, Auckland's panorama of homes, red-roofed in bowers of green, her circling hills, far-off ranges and matchless seas. Tlio gold of sunset rests on hor spires and far hilltops, on the gleaming white towers of her new Exhibition, and in its glow lies golden token of hopes fulfilled, golden promiso of added prosperity of still greater things in days that arc yet to , bo. ,