A BACK-BLOCKER.

Rangitikei Advocate and Manawatu Argus, Volume XXXI, Issue 8733, 6 February 1907, Page 4

A BACK-BLOCKER.

At the ExSiibsiion

Those who have not the good fortune to see Hie sights at the great show may well be -said to he behind the times. It is truly a wonder and an education and a great delight rolled into one. It is a place the child can enjoy and never forget its new sensations, and the sage man of science bo carried sky-high in genuine satisfaction. The first thing that strikes the traveller to Ohristchujch is that everybody is as eager to get there as himself, for railway and steamer are both crowded and the only label is “ Christchurch.” Most people must return home with increased vigour in the elbows, for the elbows have heaps ef exercise here and there. The next thing that strikes the traveller is the eagerness of porters and stewards and (cabmen to help him to get there, and their kind attentions help him to go lighter from day to clay, especially in the pockets. If he is a wise man and has his wife with him he will secure accommodation before he readies the City of the Plains, and ho will also make his terms beforehand. For alas I at every corner they lie in wait for the simple and invite him to turn this way, and if lie heeds their cry he returns home sadder, wiser, and poorer. There is no doubt a great many have their enjoyment spoiled by the unpleasant experience of being unscrupulously overcharged; but this can be avoided easily by a little forethought. Once at the Exhibition, the grounds in front with the green grass and blazing ilowers are a delightful sight, and the beauty is conserved by the visitors heeding the instruction to keep off the grass. Still, the writer went on it to get a nearer view of the flowers, taking a lady with him, and after about twenty minutes’ enjoyment of the sight a dozen throats shouted “ Off the grass }•” 'J.'he pictures of the Exhibition buildings give opo no idea of the magnificence of the buildings. The dome ami towers have to bo seen to bo appreciated. The mam entrance hall is spacious and grand, almost to an extreme. Hero and there one thinks ho can see a waste of space; but , everybody is wise after events. It is a mistake to hurry round the Exhibition. Look out for places to rest in, and when tired return to these and I I rest, and go on again. There are some delightful places to rest —the Tourist Department’s corner in the main passage, the Canadian Pacific Lailwiiy’s place, out under the trees at the hack of the buildings, or away at tho I northern end in the railway carriages, If you want to see anything special, look up the catalogue; if it doesn’t t f tell you, then ask, and you find everybody very ready to help you to sac and hear with profit. Hidden away in corners are some delightful exhibits, and for most people plenty of new tilings'. I quite understand that a man may hurry through and thou say it is no better than an agricultural show, or others may go with no intelligent interest in anything except the punch and Judy and other side shows, or they may find the most wonderful sight in tho two fat children from Foxton; but lot one go to tho art gallery, the fernery, the Department of Agriculture’s exhibits, see the fruit canning, take an afternoon in the Canadian court, the Victorian court, or a host of others, and with a little earn and interest, I don’t care how much a man has already seen, he will see plenty of things he never saw beI fore, borne of the machinery exhibits j are marvellous, and those in charge- c.i‘,s very v. tiling to show things at work, | whilst in the region of musi‘ the Ex- ! hibition has been a feast. Ju these I few, brief, disconnected notes one call only hint at his impressions, but on the whole the Exhibition has given the I writer very much pleasure, and ho | would have been sorry to miss seeing j it. There are in it a great many sideI shows, and the showman is without doubt too much in evidence, and there (is also too much of a “shop” inside j and a good deal of advertising, aud ; some lose no .opportunity of doing | business with you, and even “Cheap j Jack’s” voice can be heard along the passages bawling out that ho is giving 1 jewellery away for nothing, mid the | like. Still, it is easy to turn a deaf ‘ ear to that and go in for the more pro- | Stable aide of the show. No doubt | the little nonsense of “ Wonderland” j relieve* for many the tedium of walking along corridors and passages. One j has many thoughts as he looks at Canterbury in its burnt up state lo- ( day and sees the lavish expenditure nt j the Exhibition, The country with its I scanty crops, its dying sheep, its cattle | like Pharaoh’s lean kine, its blazing »un and relentless north-west wind, and lands blackened by devouring ■ fires, all these things are a strange ! contrast to the beauty and interest and ' surroundings of the Exhibition, and it is little wonder that some prophets say j that Canterbury is going to have a bad I' time of it after the Exhibition is over. Bo that as it may, it is having a great and gay time of it now, gathering the flowers while it may. Anyone in search of a holiday and a striking contrast to our even way of life in liangitikei ought to take the trip to tho i Great Exhibition.