THE Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY. FRIDAY, JULY 4, 1873.

Grey River Argus, Volume XIII, Issue 1534, 4 July 1873, Page 2

THE Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY. FRIDAY, JULY 4, 1873.

Except in collecting specimens of garden produce and inmates of the poultry-yard, Greymouth has not yet been seized with the 'spirit of "exhibition" which has become a chronic characteristic of other civilized communities. The representatives of the arts and industries have preferred to conceal their light ...under,.. the proverbial bushel. While Vienna and Hokitika have been permitted to vie with e ach other in the congregation of natural and artistic curiosities from all parts of the spheres of -which they are the respective centres, Greymouth is content with contributing to the. ocular, auricular, and intellectual enjoyment of its residents and visitors by means more mean. Tie instincts of the inhabitants are excellent, but they are usually exercised within what have come to be recognised as unalterable limits— in the organising of entertainments for the sustenance of ;a Literary Society, in imitating the actor's art in aid of the Hospital, in " bees" and bazaars for the benefit of a. church, or in subscriptions for a "hop," with, sherry and seltzer. "When a departure was made from this pleasing but not extensive programme, and when the Horticultural Society and Poultry Association showed that there were more things in heaven and earth than were dreamt of in that limited line of philosophy, paeans were sung, or, to put it more plainly, paragraphs were written worthy of so great a revolution in our local arrangements for public exhibitions. The practical* result was a brief break in the monotony of human thought and sympathy, as developed in a district such as this. The. bipeds who strut and: fret their hour upon the stage asamateur actors for a benevolent purpose discovered themselves to be by some, aud for some time thereafter, but unconaidered trifles! compared with a gold or silver spangled Poland, and decidedly " nowhere," even in the eyes of princes, and with regard to "points," compared with, a full-fledged male bird of the order of Brahmapootra. So with horticulture. Literature paled before it. Comparisons between authors or publishers created no such animated discussions as were caused by comparisons between representatives of the geranium, the turnip, the fuschia, the cabbage, the dahlia, and the carrot. Take a carrot, for instance; it was a source of extreme gratification to see how a single representative of that humble -auburn esculent could arouse, on the one hand envy, on the other hand pride, on the part of two rival horticulturists, awaking their intelligence to the attributes of the vegetable in its perfect form, and ! their determination to attain that perfection in its cultivation ere another year. The moral influence of the potato as an item of such an exhibition was in the same degree apparent, and was as wholesome as the article usually is itself when it is the subject of judicious treatment

alike in the garden and in the kitchen — in the hands of the horticulturist and the cook. Of course anybody knows that, in : an- ethical and poetical point of; view, more apt and pleasing illustrations than these might be made, for the purpose of demonstrating the utility of such exhibitions as we have had. It is only barrenness- of otir knowledge of floriculture that prevents us attempting pathos instead of the opposite ; but it maybe that a moral may.be pointed as precisely by a potato as by the most elegant extract from the conservatory. The moral is that, there moral was, in the way of influence, even in the diversions which we have already had from the ordinary routine of land, and water, and brandy-and-water sports to which the community had been accustomed unto satiety for a series ; of years, and that" what was may be again by another divertiaement— ■ say, after the example of Hokitika. Now is the discontent of our winter at its height, when Gorge winds blow, and coal is half-a-crown a bag; and the physical alternative of cribbage with caloric or Mawhera Quay with cold is aggravated by the absence of any sources of mental recreation. Legitimate drama departed at one and the same time with the "Colonial Queen of Burlesque." Phrenology is but a sorry substitute ; its professors feel the head, but they do not fill the heart. There is in our social fabric a vacuum which Nature very properly abhors, and he will deserve to be recognised as a benefactor who will suggest and aid in executing some plan by which, for the next few months, people may be enabled to do less penance and enjoy more rational pleasure than is at present attainable. That a Polytechnic Exhibition is the proper panacea we are not prepared to say, but certainly, ' after the example of Hokitika, the plan is worthy of a trial. Less pretentious towns than Greyraouth have found such <an exhibition' as that which the gentleman of Hokitika organised, to be a source of instruction, entertainment, and amusement to all classes and ages, and — a very important consideration — of no pecuniary loss. The subject is suggested by the perusal of a description of what has just been done in Auckland. At the opening of a new market house there, it was ; determined to organise —of course on a much grander scale than we can imitate on the West Coast— an exhibition representing local and other industries, ■ and the result far exceeded expectation — to this extent that the local papers require pages to describe it, under the heading " Splendid Exhibition of Provincial Products." Now, Greymouth is not Auckland, nor is it ever likely to be, its coal and its railway notwithstanding ; but, without being ambitious, or raising l ' odorous" comparisons, it may fairly feel itself on a footing- with Hokitika, and when Hokitika does not make a false step, it is becoming to follow, socially, the elder sister, or to walk with her " shoulder to shoulder." . If we cannot, because we should not, have her Casino, let us endeavor to have some institution which may contribute to our social well-being, exclusive of the Church or the Lodge.