AUCKLAND EXHIBITION.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1969, 28 January 1914, Page 8

AUCKLAND EXHIBITION.

WHITEWASH AND GLITTER. AMERICANISING THE CITY. [BY STIiTIDS.] Auckland is something more- than Auokiaud at the present time. It has an Exhibition on its hands and one nuist not bother it with anything extraneous. Nothing matters now except tho Exhibition, and the delight! ul strains of tho Royal Artillery Band beneath the trees in the grounds of tne "littering White City that crowns the Domain, aro more- alluring to tho Aucklandcr than anything else. As a matter of personal principal one must approach an exhibition with an open mind imbued more with the idea of benefiting by what one sees and hears aiul enjoying to the full tho amusements provided, rather than pace the corridors and walks with a severely critical eyo, and a cynical mind born of tho memory of other and greater shows. Tho Auckland Exhibition is purely a provincial enterprise, and pre-tends-to be no moro, and as such it reflects infinite- credit on its promoters. Probably there has never been an exhibition favoured'with a better site. No matter where one n&y'be in Auckland the Exhibition structures may bo seen. Away down the harbour, south of old Rangitoto, at Devonport, the heights of Bayswator and Chelsea, and away over towards Onohunga, the white tips of the buildings may bo seen by day, and at liight the ' coruscating electric lights outlining each - structure', and the searchlight playing upon the tower, guide the human moths to laughter and music. A Good Show. Quite.a number of people say .that they do not think much of tho Exhibition, and speak of it as being greatly inferior, to the Christchurch show and the Glasgow Exhibition. It is useless -to waste words with such' folk. Their sense or proportion has been shattered by some shock,or strangled at birth. It is really a very creditable Exhibition, . representative of local industries and . businesses, favoured■ in the north. There is aipaucity of working exhibits, perhaps," and'that, I believe, is to - some, extent at least responsible for the neglect by tho public of tho Exhibition proper. Then there is the Royal Artillery Band.' Who is Roing to look at somebody's pickles, etc., or soap in brilliantly-fine weather when they can Eit under the trees listening to the gunners' band playing-a "Faust" Jantasia or Tschaikovsky's V 1812" (with firework effects) ? The- seat of tho trouble—and it is a trouble to the exhibitors—'is that overything is wholly detached. The "Palace of Industries" is what tho Exhibition building proper is grandiloquently called/but one lias no need to set foot insido that buildine to hear the B7X Band, or visit "Wonderland City," the Fairy Fountain, the Art Gallery,' the Machinery Hall, or the Aquarium. If the "layout" had been so arranged as to allow that all visitors must ■ pass through the Palace to reach the other attractions, the selling exhibitors would havo been more pleased. To tho general public tho existing arrangement is perfectly satisfactory, and the grounds are a sheer delight. Especially is this so at night, when one need not notico the advertisements proclaiming that the lawns and flower beds were raised from seeds provided by Messrs. So and Co., the steps wero donated by Mr. Blank, and tho entrance tile's by Messrs. Blink and Co. -The advertisement shrieks' at you'from every-cor-ner, and lends a rather tawdry ,I ' teiie' to the beauty of the-mise en scene.' ; -"' r The Fairy Fountain and "Wonderland." In front of tho Palace stands a great circular pool of concrete, cobwebbed with pipes, and with groat plate-glass windows looking np from the waters to' wio sky above. Thia. is the- famous Fairy Fountain from tho Glasgow Exhibition', which, when operating, entrances all beholders. Out of each pipe jets of water aro forced by machinery to varying heights, and at varying angles, and when the coloured windows shoot their delicately-tinted rays on tho sparkling showers, tho effect is exceedingly fine, and on. a warm evening the splash of the water is as refreshing as iced passion fruit. "Wonderland" is the best of its kind seen in Now Zealand; and the first ever erected in Auckland. At tho end of the Pilco is a huge laughing mouthopen, to let all through -without money and without price.. That is all yoji get for nothing. Once insido tli'o joke begins, and if one is to do tho thing properly it moans a deal of pocket-dip-ping. ' For thoro is the water-chute, ] tobogan, figure-of-eight, tho laughing! fiallery, scenic railway, Katzenjammei\ Castle, the. "Ha-ha ,, game, Captain Scott's Expedition G'yclorama, Jiu-jitsu, and Picture Entertainments, Merryj-go-Tounds, and a dozen other attractions. There, as well as elsewhere, it strikes one how Auckland is becoming Americanised. About the streets one meets tho gentlemen with the irresponsible-peg-top trousers and long coat with ag-gres3ively-.padded ' shoulders at every turn, and tho accent of the Forty-Second Street is loud in the land. The Amorican doctor exists in Auckland, with tho American block-toed.boot, and "Wonderlandi" is full of him. Hear him— "Come along, people—hit him on the ha-ha!. Tho seventh son of a seventh son of a Cannibal King! Six balls for sixpence! Bβ a sport ' for sixpence! J Ins am't no Sunday School picnic— this is tho gigantic Ackland (ho misses oU L th e """) Exhibition. Hit 'im on the ha-ha once and you get this magnificent fifty-guinea walking stick, twice and you get this five hundred guinea, upright grand piano "(a small lacquered box), and th'ree times—well, you can 'avo tho whole derned Exhibition. Come on. cherubs; six balls for sixpence!" Tho whole of "Wonderland' , was laid out under the supervision of Mr. Henry E. White, structural'engineer, of Wellington, who under arrangement with , the cooipany , is managing tho business. Empty Concert Chamber. The Exhibition Concert Chamber is almost superfluous. It was not used onco during the whole eleven days I was m Auckland. Who is going to organiso anything so comparatively dull as a ballad concert, when tho R.A. Band-can Bo heard for nothing a hundred yards away in the cool, open air? The'baud was to havo given an orchestral concert in tho hall a few nights ago, and that would bo tho first nso made of it this year. Tho Concert Hall, like tho other buildings, is entirely detached, and stands on tho same terrace ns the main building, Tho Government Departmental exhibits aro hidden away in a remote corner of tho grounds. Hundreds of people return to town without having discovered the place. This is unfortunate, because some of the exhibits there are very interesting Neglected Art Callery.

Mr. John Baillie brought a very fine collection of pictures from England for tho Exhibition Art Gallery, but so far they have not received much attontion from tho Auckland public, and Mr. Baillie (who has. been poorly in health) laments tho lack of appreciation of art in the northern city. A shilling is charged to enter tho art gallery. That is a mistake. Tho doors should bo thrown wido open to the public throughout tho day, if tho object is to interest them in art. Auckland is keen on fireworks. Tho largest attendance during my visit was on a Saturday night, when there was a pyrotechnic display in tbo grounds. Tho turnstiles that evening registered the massing flf 17>O.0Q.MPB,le.