FOURTEEN MILLIONS.

Shannon News, 3 October 1924, Page 3

FOURTEEN MILLIONS.

TOTAL WEMBLEY VISITORS. LONDON, Sept. 14. On Saturday 128 provincial trains travelled to Wembley, carrying 100,000 passengers. Ihe (aggregate attendance since-toe. opening is 13,847,000.Tne question of re-opening the exhibition in 1925 has not been settled, as the British Government's guarantee of £60.0,000 was limited to 1924. •If it closes uown, the Government will be compelled %o pay part oi me losses, and it i§ not willing to extend the guarantee" unless it is convinced that a re-opening in 1925 would be successful in reducing the <lebt.

A high official at Wienibley states that it would be .madness to close tne exhibition in tne iheydey oi its success, and then grumble because it has noj paid. THE wk-vtf ZEALAND PAVILION. AN INTERESTING REFERENCE. Ln view of the divergent notices that have iappeareu regarding the juominian display at Wembley, the loilowing reference from the Mercantile Guardian, an authoritative London trade journal, brought under our notice by Mr F. E .Parker., of Levin," will oe read with interest:—

"Tne Pavilion is, as seen from the outside, a long, low white building oi fine proportions,. It is business-like and the exhibits in tne interior are, tasteiuily arranged with plenty Oi open space and long views. There are lew if any individual stands, groups of industries being represented. This has one advantage; it advertises a people's ■ industries and'not those oi competitive firms; on me other hanu, it does not enable., the latter tq do individual catering.* In a country lhte New Zealand, wnere the co-operative movement is as strongly developed as it is, for instance, in Denmark and Scandinavia, such a policy is possible and has its economic advantages. MEAT. AND DAIRY PRODUCE.-^

First and foremost among exhibits are the natural products oi the Dominion. * Meat, both beef and iambi, is contained in double-glass refrigerators registering in the interior 1,2. degrees of irosti In one of these are stfieep in natural positions on a farm; they also are frozen as they stand or lie. Tiie interest shown in this section by the visitors is so great that, without an extensive wait, one is unable to get near enough to appreciate the care and skill which 'has been used in presenting this wonderful display. 1 heard one English visitor, a typical farmer, remark to a New Zealander that he was surprised at the fatness of the sheep shown in tthe pavilion, and was told that land and pasture was so very much in abundance that these and other annuals were continually being moved .from) one 'grazing''to another, and this, it appears is the -key to the .quality oi New Zealand meat. Anyway, the exhibits are an elegant testimony lor the country and its farmers.

It is,, of course, lor one to go into file question of the exportation of these meats, for who amongst my readers has not, time after time, extolled, even silently, the name of New Zealand from his seat at a dinner table. Suffice it to say that there was an export of. meat last year to the value of' £8,785,000.

New Zealand's next most important products are those of the dairy and poultry yard.- The refrigerated exhibits of butter, very cleverly fashion ?d into cows flowers, etc.. are quite asj enticing as those of lamb, and 'beef. A] map showing, to. scale, the area of New Zealand and the British isles, made in. butter, is well done, and vividly conveys Dhe fact that we have a very unequal distribution of population Whilst the British Isles harbour over 40,000,000 people, the Dominion thousands of square miles larger;'has only 1,350,000 inhabitants.

Fruit growing is a rapidly increasing activity, and the exhibits of apples to vveinbiey go far to shQW that wie prospects ior world markets is a very m-ignt one. To popularise these apples visitors can buy even single iruit, and the demand keeps the assistants ousy iroinj opening time onwards. Another very popular product which is easily winning its way in. the United ivinguom, is New Zealand honey, arid tne uispuiy_9f cms commodity will go lar to induce the housewiie to. asK her grocer to stocks it for her tea table. TIMBER.

There is a fine: show Qf Dominion luuuer, and visitors have been amazed at yie enormous size of some of the frees. Furniture manufactured m i>evv Zealand from these woods is very ii.ctraccive. One of the many clever ex-hunts of this class is a large picture irame, inlaid witn almost every kmo oi w.qod grown in. the country. a massive mantelpiece, made of me xaiiious kauri wpou, is-aiso a very hue example o.f workmanship. 'limner exports, which a-re almost wnoliy comprised pi soft wood, amquhted to £490,954 in 1922. The. reception room in the pavilion is paneled entirely with New /.eanuiu limner, and furnished wi th ver y cne specimens Qf chairs and higniy poitsiied tables imported from tfie* uu- , minion. It is, perhaps, the handsomest room at Weirnhley, large enough tQ seat a hundred with ease, and a note of quiet thoroughness anu solidity is its chief characteristic. Mr W. E. C. Reid, the Assistant Commissioner, in the absence of Mr a. f. Roberts, the Exhibition Commissioner, { was good .enough to. accompany me 'round the various.exhibits ana .lied me with enthusiasm for the huge jo- [ tentiaiities Qf the "Brighter jtmtaiii oi the South." He pointed out tnat industrially New Zealand tuouy±i youngj was on the high road to ing uungs. Raw. materials abound,, anu with cheap local coal, manuiacturing is one of the spheres of activity uiat promises well. There is always room, he continued, for the skilled workman, and for men Qf the right type and fully skilled New Zealand has a warm welcome. WOOL, ETC. As was only to have been expected, the wooi exhibits are very fine indeed, and in this connection it is omy i auto comment favourably on sucn New Zealand home productions as blankets, rugs, etc. There is no doubt that progress in essentially home industries, nas been substantial during uie past decade, for which, of course, the war and its aftermatn- have been mainly responsible. -'line greatest strides nave been made„ I think, m'*iiese woollens, in I'uasnitune—or generally speaking woodwork—and in leatherware. The manufacture of casein • goods is also being developed to some - extent.

Turning from trade commodities to the amenities of life in the Domimo-i, I am laced with a longing to "go and see," The country, as already remarked, is beautiful. It is fish and game stocked. In the reception-room are heads of New Zealand deer, the largest and most superb head* being that Qf an Minimal shot by Lord Jellicoe. Lucky manl Mr Reid, whom I take to be an enthusiastic sportsman. —I should imagine he hails from Dunedin by the way he extolled the virtues of that cltyl—-waxed eloquent, and I listened eloquently. Now, I am a convinced man and even should my destiny not take me to the Pacific, my memories of New -Zealand at Wembley will always be pleasant. Nor will the cinema hall with its animated Pictures of life in the "Brighter Britain of the South" ever be forgotten. "ALL BLACKS" SCORE CARDS. Retailers who display Q-tol or Fluenzol should send a pos'-card to Box 1018, Wellington, to that effect. A supply of itinerary cards will then be sent for issue to their customers.*