DESCRIPTION OF THE BUILDING THE VARIOUS COURTS.

Te Aroha News, Volume VII, Issue 424, 30 November 1889, Page 4

DESCRIPTION OF THE BUILDING THE VARIOUS COURTS.

The newly aiuved visitor who is in hasLo to reach thy Exhibition, will luue no dilh'culty in succeeding. He has meiely to walk out of the railway station, and bearing to the left on the level giound follow his no»e for the space of live minutes, and J.e i« there. It is reared upon the .site of the Public Itecieation Uiound, within tlie in collection of tour etieet^ Tho most con\enient approach along Craw foid-&tieot revealt. the building giadimlly as you proceed. At the distance it presents the appearance of a high dome, Hanked by luo turiets, between which rises a portico ; anil without which are two smaller tuirets, while from each sido of this facade e\tend the main avenues right and left, and complete the front elevation. This fayade is drawn to the one side towards Ciawfoid-stieet, so that the right a\enuc extending between it and the coinei is four times shorter than that extending in the other direction to the coiner of Cumber-land-ctreet. From these two corners there lun back the two sides of the Exhibition known as the Craw foul-street and the Cumbei land-street annexes. As the left or Cumberland-&treeL annexe is eleven hundred and fifty icet long, while the tight one in Crawfoul-sticet is only nine hundred, the front of the buildinir slants foiward to the left by the dilierence of two hundicd and hfty feet, foiming a huge and eosey corner, in which are grouped the sections oftheNoith Inland. Her.ee the fiont elevation ih four bundled and fifty feet, or Hfty cet moie than the average bieadth ot the building. These lateral annexes of the Exhibition foi ty-iive feet broad, are divided, so that, c peaking roughly, New Zealand occup •* the left and Australia the tight. A htt'e moie than half-way down them you can a.-c on each s-ide a prominent octagon. The-e indicate where tho cential a\ctmc, i mining across trom octagon to octagon, divides the body of the Exhibition into jWO inner pait-. The fiont part comprise^ the ornament d gardens ; the rear pottion the <--oticerb hall, the ait galleries, and the dining-ioouu — i \ery reciealivo dej)aitmenl. Neither of these subdivisions, however, occupiea the w hole of this s pace. Between them the central avenue, together with the tran.-iveiso avenue, bisect an area of three hundied feel by two hund.ed in the heart of the building .so as to foim four quadrangular com ts. Those on the NewZ- alancl bide of the Exhibition are the Biitieh and Foreign ; tho&o on tho Austtalmn side are devoted to New South Wales and Vic toiia, in addition to the annexes with which they communicate. Jn between theso and the lecicative depaitment, aie dit-por-e-l the implements and heavy machinery. At the end of each annexe stand, in the terminal angles of the .sti ucture, two other octagon?, between which runb the ieni annexe, de signed lor the leception ot the daiiy ex hibits, and that complete; the extent of the Exhibition building.

THE GRAND HALL. As you near the door, you note the dome with its cupola rising to sumo 85 feef, and the two turrets Hanking the portico, which rise to about 54. On pa&iing in you lintl yourself under the dome in the grand hall, which ie? of octagonal shape, and 50 feet in diameter. l'a-eing in by the porch and travel sing the \estibule, the geneial tone of which \b a light salmon, you lind yourself confronting a pede&tal bearing a full-length statue of the <iueen. On raising your eyes to the roof they Fall on a surprising scene of lich and mingled 1 ornamentation. High up, at a distance ot some (33 feet, aie the jollow lights ot the dome resting on a deep /one of filigree woodwork ot the Alhambric order; in its upper portion of a light salmon colour, in it? lower ot a soft terracotta hue, the whole being upheld by sixteen light blue conveiging crossbeams. Beneath this projects the bold line of cornices, which is of similar hur with the lower part cf the dome, streaked with vertnillion and other shades of green and brick, and suppoited by a circle ot multitudinous brackets with iticets of burnished gold and touched with red a^ they enter slices. Below this comes Ihe ftie/e, which is a deep golden band of eight side?. Tin alternate sides, which fall across the fom arches mounting the dome, have upon then burnished facge tlje following "mottots, woiked in elegant wis^s) wjdkj'Jo of gold

and blue letters :—": — " Labor vincib omnia improba," " Pax mentis iucendium gloria,',' 1 "Virtutem sequitur gloria." It is the first of the&e on which your oyes alight directly you enter. Between the mottoed faces of tho fiieze come other four faces letting on the walls of the arches. Thero in a golden ground aie worked arabesque designs interlaced with imitations of tho flora of New Zealand. Below those last stand the blue walls on a foundation of black and green marble lined with gold and bounded by the dark green pilasters and mouldings of the arches. At the bnse of the wall stand lofty minors overhanging baskets of fern? and having on each side a bust of the younger members ot Royalty ; while from the pilasters on tho outside depend lich and graceful duapcries of deep roan. To the decorator, Mr Willis, is due the execution of all the varied magnificence which I have been trying to depict. When you have made your obeisanco to the SoNOieign, paid your letpects to the lesser lights of Royalty, and surveyed the one you love best (to wit, .\oursclf) in thoso handsome minors discover that you have crossed tho (s rand Hall and arrived in put of tho fornciy. That there is any connection botwecn thirstiness and ferns i 3 nob apparent, but the management have, probably on account of its seductiveno«s, selected this position for tho establishment of tho first of a largo class of vcfieslum.nb baitf.

THE MAIN AVENUES. Taking your posit/ion under the dome and looking to your left, you see a long vista of tiirce hunched iect, the first half of which includes the ovi .anco exhibits ot the 001 \einmont ; thofiulher poition, the Auek- , laud t'ouit. Tlio management appear to have ai ranged tho ditlerent provinces of New Zealand in their geographical order i mining north to south, and by virtue of its position on the s e lines, Auckland leads the van. Its neat poi lico is (he first object which strikes the vigitoi'b eye on turning, as he naturally does, to look down the longer main avenue to the left. On looking the other way, he &ces the phorter vista of the north main a\enue, in which are other (lovemment exhibits, and lound the corner of which tho Victoiian C'ouifc commence.". Though the natural inclination is usually to move round to the right, the probability is that in consequence of Auckland tlvs " bobbing up "' in sight befoie her compeers arc visible, and the ordnance department being large and con a picuous, <he public will make their stait of the Exhibition along the New Zealand wing. Mo\ ing, then, down in that direction, tho visitor reaches the end of the Auckland Court, where at (he Cumberland-streetcorncr the Exhibition makes its turn into the New Zealand annexe.

THE NEW ZEALAND ANNEXE. Heie yon obtain n line view of the whole of the main avenue up which you have come, and fche annexe clown which you are going. 700 feet beyond, the vista is somewhat contracted by the central octagon on this side. Between ib and where you are standing, come the provinces from Auckland to Otago. You can see their names indicated on artistic feigns, swung at a height ot 20 feet above your head. There are Ilawke's Bay, Napier, Wanganui, Wellington, Nelson, Canterbury, and Otago, but none of them has a poich as Auckland has. On either &ide of the middle passage, you see the " bays " into which each court i.i di\ided. They are partitions 15 feet wide and 12 feet deep, intended Cor the reception of the exhibits, but in places wheie a single bay has not pioved sufiicieut tor these, several have bee merged into one of larger dimensions. Most ot them are beautifully decorated, some with handsomelygilded drawing room vail papers, others with dados in paint or paper, and their walls dibcoloured. These arc those vho.se (exhibits are of a ncliar/w character, articles dc /u.ie, &o to tpeak, and which ate set out in polished and glazed cases of black or ornamental wood, In the bays wheie the exhibits aie of a more homely natuic, the piepaiiitions for them have been les& elabotatc. Jn fiont of many of thoe about heie, hang feigns showing the towns or di»fci ict< in that paiticular pio\ince contributing the exhibits within them. A* you pai»s along to the octagon, the gardens lie ouUide on the light., with the bays between. There is the ru&tio band rotunda, and a& brass bands will be playing in it several times a week, the visitor will often be able to make his processions along this pai t of the Exhibition to the bound ot mubic. On reaching the oetjgon the view at once opens out to the right into the British and Foreign (Joint 0 , which are spacious and broad, contracted with the annexes, and have quite a kaleidoscopic appearance. Aeios3 the centi.U avenue, which you now face, and which sepaiatothe Foreign and the British Com is, lie& the subsidiary Aufctialian CouiL, ami bejond that the conesponding noithcrn octagon, whicli bisects tiie Au.-tialian annexe. Continuing down the -econd half of the New Zealand section, just as j on ate catch ing tight of the mincial castle which marks the terminal octagon, 3011 icacli the entrance of the conceit hall

THE CONCERT HALL. The Concert Hall is the chief ylory of th Exhibition, and if the tmibic should pro\e to be as good as it inomij-c^, thU, with the art galleries and the diniug-iooms adjacent, will probably form the most-frequented portion, 1 can understand how that, when Mr llislop, the comteous architect of. the Exhibition, looks up at this embodiment ol i ia ideas, he feels icwaided lor much of the in appreciated elioib sunk in piactically \* < rkingout the construction ol a tempoiary building. Here is something to show foi \ our pains. Here id a something which at once prompts the question " Who designed this ?" And as it i& not dcetmcd to \anish in the general demolition which ovei takes all exhibition structures, thcic will be tome monument of his powers oiuvivincr. It is a bundled and firty-eight feet long »>y pi.\fcy-eiglito broad and iifty-h've ioet in heighl. This, however, can give no adequate idea of the impieseion of space, light, tesonance, and general brightness which pei\ade ir. The arched 1 oof, with numeions lateial skylights and ornamental ventilator gratings, spans the walls? with quite a lofty grace. Halfway down tbo sides* is a glaucous^ fiic/c, lighty ornamented with purple embellishments and .surmounted by j a led cornice, The doois aie painted drab, and capped \\ ith solid and deeply-moulded pediments. It i& lighted by clusters of triplet gas jctb at tlie *kles and three sunlights depending from the roo). At the end if: a deep galley ;at the head an orchestra capable of holding 400 ii a'rumentaliefcs and elioristcis, \\ith a good -sized oigan in the middle. The ctntenfc of the auditorium is said to be 2,600 petfoiH. We have here, therefore, for tlie first time in New Zea'and, a fit temple in which to per foim .symphonies, oratorio?-, and cantatas as they ought to be gneu, and the means oi doing so ib alt>o forthcoming The musical director, Mr Aithur Towioy, has been for months labouring at organising a stali suitable for (he interpretation of both great instrumental and choiai works. A complete and select orchestra of about 45 instuuncnbalifcts drawn from all jjaits? of New Zealand and Australia, has been for vveekb

rehearsing some of the promised 150 works j in anticipation of tho early peifoimances. j This orchestra will play in tbo hall every afternoon and evening, while on Saturdays there will be two vocal and instrumental ! concerts. At intervals they will, in conjunction with 375 singers and the organ, give the following oratorios and cantatas :—: — "The Messiah," "Elijah," "The Creation," Gadsby's " Lord ot the Isles," Gade's , "Camaia," Gaul's "Joan of Arc," and the Soup; of Thanksgiving. Surely this pro gramme will movo musical enthusiasts to the uttermost parts of the land ! Passing out al the back of the concert room, the visitor finds himself in the rear annexe or back of the Exhibition. At each end ot this is a terminal octagon. In the one on the left he can &cc the gold-turbine ot the mineral couit at the end of the New Zealand anne:xe ; before him are the daiiy exhibits. A little distance up is the entrance to

THE ART GALLERIES. The Alt (iallerics are six in number. The lii bl consists of water oolouis by Now Zealand artist=. I am taking thorn in fcho order in which they are approached for they aio numbered diffeienbly. The second, third, fourth, and fifth comprise what is known as the British and Australian Loan Collection. The sixth contains oil-paintings 01 initiating in .New Zealand. It is not possible jus>b now to go through them bcriaInn. I may mention, however, two notewol thy pietuie?. One is of the Coronation, (he other is lent by the Earl of Onplow. It ifo a pictiue painted by Sir James Thoinhill 160 jeais ago, in the reign of George- 11., and touched up by the great Entrlibh aiti-t of that day — Hogarth. 1b represents the founder of the Onelow title acting in his capacity as Speaker to the then House of Commons. By his side is Sir lloberfc Wulpole coming forwaid to addiess the Hous-e. Beyond aie some membeis of the lloufee, all in three cornered hat*, full, bag-wigs, goigeously-coloured coats, and deep waistcoats. Tho Speaker is a good-looking man, bub Walpole has a coaisc hewn, expressionless* face. The other honourable member?, whom we may at this distance ot time safely ciiticise, are quite a "rummy-looking lot of old boys." Under it is a letter 105 years old, in which tho then Karl ot Havdwicke thanks the then Earl of Onslow for his courtesy in letting him havo the very pictme you aie now looking ab to copy. The writing ia a terrible &ciawl, and either the Earl must have had tho gout in his thumb, or else the aristocrats of that day were abo^e the necessities of a common school education. It ifc decidedly an ace of great considerateness on the part of our (rovemor in allowing this valuable pictiue to go out of his own keeniny ab all.

THE AUSTRALIAN ANNEXE. I will not ask my readeis to accompany me lo tho dining rooms, as, at present, there is nothing there to eat. The better plan will be for them to come down and " sample '" the exhibits in that department themselves for which diversion they can amply fife themselves by exercising on the hills, without. When you arrive at the end of the rear annexe, you stand under the toiminal octagon in Craw lord -street, and look straight up the Australian section. Half-way ie the other central octagon, with tho avenue leading into the additional Australian courts in the middle ot the Exhibition. You follow this anne.Ne, which in its tout <)i~-rmblc and design resembles that of New Zealand, on the other side ; and after proceeding about 300 yarde, you see again the main avenue, with the dome and the Auckland Com t coming round the coiner, which tells you that you have completed the circle ot the Exhibition.

The Fernei y. Here you can stand most agreeably absorbing and absorbed in contemplation of the graceful family ot Jilices as they intertwine in a network of green and delicate tiaceiy behind the expansive glass which runs across the coimlor fi on liner the fjrand Hall ; but it is not necessary to content \ouisclf with looking merely. The door is on the opposite tide, and you have but to enter to enjoy a siceno akin to that of fairyland. For the enthusiast there id enough and to spare in a lofty conservatory of some hundred and thirty feet by forty. Creeping waving, bwinh.g, and hanging afc your feet, or around, or depending to your iiead with a drip, drip, drip, and the sound of tailing water, aie innumerable ferns and plants allied to or harmonising therewith. Yonder aie lockeiies, where a soft mass-like verdute dabbled with moisluie creeps inbermittenth over the calcaieous and vitreous beds which fotm for them hiich an admirable betting. Theie are filmy kidney-shaped feins, tender maidenhair, great silver tree ferns, and the esculent fern off which the Maoiis used to dine when commons weie fchott and there was no mi?tionaiy afc hand to roast. Ovei head, like green spreading nautilus 3helU or giant snails, sib perched, near the root, the elk and stag hovn ferns of (Queensland. There are grottos or tinuous lissurcs smothcied with delicate feathery mantle of smaller varieties. Theie is the double ciape or Piince of Wales' feather fern ; there aie bocarpas and the New Zealand OfJchvehs ; tho rare cottony celunsias or mountain daisies, with their margueiite llowcis, and the luetiousand lovely mountain lily. There are the celery topped pine with it^> abortive branches like maidenhair, and the spear grass with its edible root and aromatically resinous leaves. Others also which would be tedious to enumerate aie there, all combining to form that impression of coolness, moisture, intricacy, and \eidure which ii 5 * so grateful to the eye and .soothing to the spiiit. And should it be evening, then aslill more captivating sight awaits you. Shining with an intense but carefully -proportioned brilliancy are small globular incandescent lights. Peeping between tho vegetation spreading about the 1 oof wit'i a mild bub searching brightness they illume e\eiyfching around ; while hero and there in grottos and recasses similar lights beaming their colpured lanterns of various hues give khe scene an aspect of quite Oriental rojnaniic character.

The Grain ana Wool Court. If after exploring the fernery you do not go out into the outer gardens but return under the dpnie, you will have (o decide whether you will proceed to the right or the left. If you turn to the right you will pafcs through the Early History Com t ot New Zealand, and the Maori and the South Seas Court, which are succeeded by the Victorian and Australian annexes. If you turn to the left you see in front of you the gieat arch of the grain and wool court. It is composed of double rows of bales for the columns, and a pyramidical pile for the apex ; and rises to a height of thirty feet, so that the Auckland portico find Court are vi&iblo down the vista beyond it. Between it and the Grand Hall on the letb is an arcade of f-maller arches composed of sheaves ot corn, under which are ranged the glass cases holding tho samples of grain and vool which testify to New Zealand's excellence in the&e dopaitments. On the other side is a miscellaneous English Court, at present in a voiy inorganic condition, its only exhibit being a mognifi-

cent one of seeds by Sutton and Co., of London.

The Armoury Court. Emerging on the other side of the grain and wool arch you ee6 ranged on each side of 3ou the shining and ominous apparatus of war brought together by the Ordnance Department. To your right is a gun with a long tapering muzzle and an intricate breech capable of firing sixteen shots a minute. This is the Nordenfeldt field piece. Tsiere, too, are a couple of Whitehead torpedoes, looking like attenuated porpoises with very pointed nos-es, and blight, brass-coloured tails. In the head is put a charge ot 701b of gun cotton ; in the rear portion is tho pneumatic: machinery which propels it for feome nine hundred yards at a rato of twenty three miles an hour. The bright tails are twin bcrews which buzz lound at 500 revolutions a minute, and would cut your lingers ofi if they should touch them. Itayond tho Whitehead torpedoes arc some red buoys, and some led objects not unlike buo\s with great lines of knobby rivets. These are ground mines to protect the entrances of harbours. Hanging up is an objectlikeagreatgreen gourd coveredjwith knobby rivets. It is a buoyant cr floating mine for the samo purpose. In all these mines are gun cotton magnet«, when they are charged. You see a number I of these magnets hanging here like small electrical batteries, and their red cases like drain -pipes on the floor below. Further on against the wall is the shutter (or electrical appaiatus) which communicated from the phuro with these hubmaiine mines, and by which they aio lired if necesbary. There too is a telephone and a miciophone combined, which so intensities &ound afc a distance of four miles that you can hear a watch ticking or a iiy walking on the vibratory plate, or distinguish the voice of a friend. On the other side a;e several kinds ot guns and some models of gunu. There is a 64 pounder Armstrong on a running carriage; there is a repeating Hotchkiss with a complicated bretch ; theie is tho liflebarrelled Nordcnfeklt to shower large bullets by turning a handle ; there is the Maxim gun, which pours out a continuous stream ot small bullets as a mouthful of peas fly from a peashooter ; there is tho extiaordinary disappearing si* -inch Aimstiong,which rises up to fire and sinks back to be loaded under a great round platform wheie the gunners are concealed ; there is a thiity - two pounder of fifty year? ago, the simplicity and clumsiness of which contrast strongly with the extraordinary complexity and lightness of the modem artillery. Besides these, on the wall is a model of the great 16-inch gun with which the latest ironclads ai-e armed. It is 40 feet long, weighs 111 ton?, and throws a she'l of I,Boolb. Besides these there are stands of small arms tastefully arrayed, and all kinds of interesting book?, plans and diagrams connected with the subject of warfare, the whole showing the wonderful ingenuity displayed by man in preparing to kill his feilowman.

The Auckland Court. Wo now icach the Auckland Court. Ifc is placed by an arch or rather a Grecian portico of 25ft high. The two columns .stand on squares, and support an imposing pediment. The bases are of coal, swathed round with wool. The columns aie coveied with pieces of whitish brown kauri gum, and crowned at the top with Hat capitals set round with yellow corn cobs and draped with olive-green curtains, and the pediment of a puce co'our along its framework, with a bluish-green, centre, on which arc painted the provinces of New Zealand. Below the bluish-green ftie/o appears the name "Auckland," in large gold letters. All round the pediment extend lines of corn cobs and twi&tcd wool. Just inside to the light, is the studio ot the Exhibition photographer ; and opposite, outside Mr Holland's office, the piize photographs of jSI r Martin, which seemed him the gold medal at the Parisian Exhibition. These comprise views of Tarawera, Uotomahana, the Terraces, Te Avoha, and otheis-, which after the commendation they leceived at Paris require no further mention from us. The first exhibit on the right is the conjoint one of McArthur and Co. and Ireland Bros. It is displayed in a triple bay supei intended and arranged respectively by Mr Jamiepon (for McArthur and Co.) and Mr Morley(for the Irelands). In the centre is a handsome black case standing out from a variegated back ground of black and bull" leather and routing on a neat drugget of red and straw stripe. In this case are a hundred and fifty ditfeient varieties of boots and shoes — facts and fancies in the sutorial, art and splendid samples of the skill and imagination of McArthur and Co. There 13 the football boot, the crickeoing boot, the Lady Onslow, with others named after our leading men, which it would be superlluous to describe, for have they not been -.viitten about before in the columns of tbi-* journal ere they were sent down here to surprise the people ot the South Inland '.' A fit and characteristic setting <o this fine exhibit are the skins by Ireland Bros., which cover the walls of the bay for a space of about thirty-six by twenty-tour, and ten feet deep. There aie all the diiierent kinds of leather used in saddlery and bootmaking. The first most prominent feature is a stand beside McArthurs case hung with tourteen hides of lough sole leather ; and on Ihe opposite to this is a framewoik bearing Ihe ekin of the renowned &iro Musket. On the walls the leathers range themselves with the black neatest to the eye and the lighter varieties at a distance. There they ire in all their mysterious variety, kip, split tweed basils, deerskins, goatskins, and harness leathei ; skins of kangaroo, opossum, Australian cats, iats, bandicoots, platypus, walleioo, paddy melon, and Tasmanian wallabi. The task ot arranging these hundieds of skins tastefully has been most successfully discharged by Mr Morley, and the situation and geneial aspect of the bay is such as to give a good send off to the whole of the Auckland Court. In the next bay to Ireland Bros.', which ' is al&o triple, we find a miscellaneous collection of exhibits. Here are three perambulators by 0. Smith of ingenious contrivance and neatly finished ; there is a spout protector by Williams and Hewitt, in which a wavy moulding of perforated zinc is brought over the gutter so as to intercept all sorts of obstructive rubbish ;* bags of Hellaby& loot blood and bone manure ; specimens of galvanised, corrugated and curved iron, designated "The Southern Cross," exhibited b\ S. Parker ; a very neat case of hats by Fenton, cf Queen-street, IJarle and Co. '3 teas are a prominent feature in this bay. In thsir case you can see samples of sovcial of their peculiar brands. There is the Ceylon, the Blended, the Orange Blossom, the Old Indian Pekoe, and the Russian Caravan tea. In front there ri.°e two towering pyiamids of rope set about with coidage, between which lie specimens ot •stout cocoanut matting, all coming from the , Auckland Fibre Manufacturing Company. Here too are eight bales of flax fiom the titm of Heekoth and Aitken. Well to the oie in a handsome dark case is a very taking e>> dibit in colouied and mottled soaps by Warnock Bros. In the centie j riso the seAeral pyramids in graduated

blocks of mottled blue, pink, yellow, aijd grey. Hound these are arranged cakes of washing soap, shaving soap, and, wash balls. Un some of the bars may be seen the dates of Lho occasions (five in number) on which VVarnock Bros, have gained certificates crcviously, including the Dunedin Exhibition of 1865. The last exhibit in this bay is that of Hope Bros., and consists of a largo number of churns, cream- holders, dairy utensils, enamelled within ; and enamel lined boxes for purposes of export. In the first single bay on the left, fronting that of Ireland Bros., is the exhibit of jSluchelson and Co., of the New Zealand Varnish Works. Though not so large as borne otheta, it us exceedingly refined. The walla of deep chocolate are set ,round with all sorts of wood and useful objects beai ing specimens of the fui faces brought up under the different vaiiefcies of varnish. Of these various quantities aio raised in tubes and phials, in front of glass cased filled with polished lumps and carvings of kauri gum. The general aspect of the bay is that of a great many different glistening shades of amber brown, and with its red and white ttriped canopy it forms a unique and attractive point in this neighbourhood. 'ilie fouith bay on the left side is quadruple, an i contains a mixed assoitmentof exhibits. Here in a neat case are speci mens of the porridge and semolina meal of the Auckland Roller Mills Company ; rhere the vaiktie* — Piemier, iStandaul, Houeewife's Pride, and Daisy —in packets and bags, ranging from t\vcnty-fi\e to a hundred pounds. Near this is a collection of photographs in two cases by Robinson of Queen-street, and two portrait photos; some of which have a very soft and clear tone. Then there is an exhibit of four dozen of marmalade from the Wairere Orchard, Whangarei ; and a dozen of Cook's codlin moth and scale insecticide, also from Whangarei : and a pyramid of Waite's fire-lighter by means of a kerosene ripper ; five models of yachts by 0. Bailey, one being that ot the champion yacht Rita, and another of the celebrated yacht of Dr. Haines ; and a fine exhibits of Ralph Robinson's disinfectant. Two fine pyramids of preserved foods are from Masetield Bros., Kaipara ; including roast mutton, mullet and canned fruits. The other is from R. and TV". Hellaby, including roast, boiled, and corned beet and mutton ; soups, sausages, brawn, tongues, mince, and venison. Here also are a specimen of concrete made from Craigs hydraulic lime ; a kerosene tile made by Roberts, of Albcit-f-treet; a stand of Ehrenfried's beer and mineral watery : W ilkinson's steel plates and heel plates ; some of Sanford's jellies, and smoked schnapper ; infants and invalids' icod by the Golden Cetn Manufactiuing Company ; Copeman's cairiage perambulator balls, and rhets by Hall, of Newton Road ; Williams' tinned fish, schnnprer and mullet ; fiefeh mullet, Ewing and Co. ; two models of yachts by Hane and Brown (one of the schooner Maile, the other of the Britannia). In this bay in a handsome case, is a fine exhibit of Pond and AJason's perfumery : and in another, specimens of crushed loaf sugar from the Colonial Sugar KeSning Company. But the exhibit in this bay which is likely to draw universal attention is the case containing samples of publications and the jobbing wor.v done in the establishment of the Stab at Auckland. The case with its central coign and swinging sash, and its piettily grained, light biown wood, and handsome glazing, are alone sufficient to attract the passers-by. When, however, they carefully examine the tasteful arrangement of the jobbing work and the patriotic and extensive character of the publications, they will realise what a great and upciul influence must be exerted from the centre of Auckland to both instruct our people and our youth, and consolidate the traditions of New Zealand into authentic history.

The Art Gallery, The approach to the Art Gallon 7 is from the near annexe not far from the mineral court, where you turn round a corner and find yourself in the main corridor leading up to them. The entrance is there, a fine grey arch with graceful Doric columns at the side or a deep frieze and massive pediment on the top. Thp structure, which is intended (o remain permanently, is bui.lt pf brick and i« fireproof. As you come in sight of this arch at the beginning of t.he corridor you have on your left a pictorial map published by the (.iO- \ eminent for the benefit of tourists, which indicates the chief topogranhioal characteristics of New Zealand, its mountains and its plains, together with its railway lines, and is altogether a useful a r )d interesting guide. On each side as you pass are arranged in glats frames the collection of etchings and engravings presented to the colony of New Zealand by Bishop Monrad, foimeiiy Prime Minister of Denmark, On passing under the portioo you enter the water-colour room, where are the works of both New Zealand and English artists. Both are very pleasing, but those of New Zealand seem to include the larger number of landscapes, and landscapes of a much bolder and more beautiful character, aa might bo expected in a country where the light is fco pure and the natural features are cast on such magnificently continental lines. In this room are noticed five pictures by Kenneth Watkins, four of which are sta subjects, and one a fore=t scene. Of the former there was one entitled, "The Gale," which can:e out very prominently on account of its truthfulness and skilful treatment ; and another of similar naturo was also noteworthy. Mr Frank Wright also had three exhibits here, entitled, respects ely, "The Banks of the Waikato Ki\er," ''A Squally Day," and "The Close of the Da}'."' The next four rooms are devoted to the Anglo-Australian Loan Collection, of which moie anon. Beyond that is the sixth and last room, in which appear the oil paintings of New Zealand artists. Among these we remarked the following by Aucklanders: — " A Maori's Treasmes," by Miss G. Pupkey ; " On the Waikato," " The Old Engine House," and "In Summer Time," by Mr T. L. Drummond ; ct Blue Milk and Porridge Pots," " Morning on fche White Terrace?,"' and " The Mountain's Grown," by Mr C. Blomfield ; •« Windsor Castle," "Old English Inn," and " Afc Obinemutu," by Mr Pay ton ; "Wreck off the Coast of Auckland " and " Early Morning off' Cape Biett," by Mr T. Ryan "; " Caswell Sound," by Mr T. Ball; and "The Slovy of a Saddle/ by Mr J. L. Steel. I must now wind up briefly for the present all else about the art galleries. With regard to the On slow picture, whiph ig inserted here, I may add the following :— As shotting the "value thi* picture has as an original the catologue states that the copy made for Lord Harvweke was recently sold by auction in London and was on the point of biinging £1,500, when a connoisseur produced the above letter, proving it was a copy, and it fell immediately in -, alue, so as to realise only £100,

The Rear Annexe. This lies between the Southland and New South Wales Courts, and the two terminal ! oetueons. The»e octagons are a great j feature in the Exhibition. At the end of

the Southland Court is a mineral octagonIt is about fifty "feet high and as many broad. The two faces looking into the adjacent annexes have each a high castellated arch of deep red framework set with pieces of the ores and minerals of New Zealand in white, black, grey, and golden. Everywhere on all sides and in all attitudes are gaily-coloured flags, and in the centre is a hugo burnished turbine representing the gold which has been hitherto extracted in New Zealand. All around lie in piles, cases, pyramids, and blocks, other specimens of stone and ore, models of kits, geological maps of New Zealand, and parts of Now Zealand in relief. At the other end is the Public Works octagon, whoie ranged round, as in a continuous counter against the wall, are specimensof thewoods of New Zealand, all highly polished. In tho centre is an imitation of a great kauri pine, and all around are models of the most remaikable railway bridges and viaducts in the colony. Like Its companion octagon on the other s"ide, its pUkas are painted as well as the converging beam? of tho roof, and it is also gaily hung with bunting. Between these two octagons is a mixed collection of exhibits great and small — dairy exhibits, brass founding, twine binding, and brewing. Half way alon-jf is the door which leads out into the playground. At the back of tho Exhibition ground there are to bo the switchback railway, the waxworks, tho Punch and Judy show, the performing lleas, the gipsy's tent, and last, but not least, the Eiliel Tower. In a place like Danedin to rear a structure of a bundled and iif ty feet seems like cairying coals to Newcastle, seeing tluvt outside there are eminences of twenty-live hundred ; but the attraction of the Eillcl Tower is not to be its height, but its light. After dark it is to be illuminated with incandescent lamp 3 from summit to base. At the top is to be an electric light of seventy thousand candle power which ran be flashed all round the hills of Dunedin at wil 1 . The sides are to be hung vvith festoons of coloured lamps, while the light as it passes up and down will display others of a different hue. All the electiic lights as well as those of the fernery aie under the management and direction of Captian Falconer, of the Ordnance Department. The Come across to the octagon that bisects tho octasron court and bo seated in front of the handsome bay of the Mosyiel Tweed Company. It it not a charming sight? Everything around heie is richly beautiful in colour. The bays are of rich brown or chocolate red o<* of black touched with gold ; the furniture, the musicil instruments, the photographs, che clothes, the drapery, have a markedly tasteful chaiacter. Yonder to the right of the New Zealand annexe between the intermingled tone 3 of various lights and flags and neutral tinted woodwork, you see che exquisitely delicate decoratious of t!ie Canterbury Court as they depend in light rosy lines across the line of vision. Down at the other end you can distinguish the deep red of the mineral octagon with its vaiiegated intertiled filling. Once when I was a boy, I was taken to see a pantomime entitled " The House that Jack Built." In it a house was seen to rise out of the stage, and ascending ! with a crowd of small people, imps and gnomes, clattering ana pattering upon it emerged from its soa'Yolding a perfect i structure. With the last twenty-foiu-hours preceding the opening this was the way with tio Dincdin Exhibition. Like the enchanted palace of Aladin or the panorama that emerges at a magic lantern seance, it seemed to grow up all at once. Where all was vacancy or barrenness or 'disorder there suddenly came a rush J of workers, and without any maiked con- ! fusion a fairy-like asp.ct appeared hourly j to tteal ovci what louked but a few clays ! before a wildeines* of planting or hopelessly I irreclaimable, by the clay appointed for the j inauguration. I In the concert hall, described in a previous portion of my copy, tlnio aie twenty - six skylights, but these have been referied to before in a few words. Besides the skylight 3, a change i 3 necessary with respect to the number &f sunlights, which has been, changed from three to tive. I have touched on this part of my work already, but before propeecling iuitherthe desciiption might be amplified by a few words more, as it was in this part of the j Exhibition that the inaugural ceremony | took place. Therefore, I think I cannot do better than give a fuller description of the appearance it presented ! at the time the Go\ernor delivered his address, On enteiing the hall the objects that first struok the 030 were the ciimson daisand thecrimson canopy \\ hi^h ovei hung. The crown of the canopy was of a dark green and upheld by ciirnson spears projecting obliquely from the deep chocolate led wainscotting which sweeps around the base of the. walls. Fiom the side 3 of the canopy depend drapings of rich crimson tape&tiy, with ornamented tioweiings, lightened in front by airily di-po^ed pink and white chenille hangings. Everywhere below ciim&on was the colour of the dias, except thB balusters, which weie of black touched with gold and connected with a gilded handrail. Abo\e the whole on the wall appeared the royal coit of arms. Everywhere around the hall pairs of tlags could be seen in the gallery and above the orchestrn. The organ in itself with its oaken colouied face and light blue variegated pipes, conduced not a little to the general imposing aspect of the hall, while the massive pediments of the doors heavily touched with led, did much to support the general aspect of impiesnvene&s. Higher up the light salmon walls, the purplish frieze, and the deeply vaulted roof of greenish white with its numerous windows formed a suitable corollary and conclusion to the combinations prevailing nearest the giound. In the Grand Hall, the fir3t motto that strikes the eyes is Ti omne solum patraia ; and tlm is put in a conspicuous place. In the quarters between the Piince of Wales' feathers and tho arches appear tin birds, etc., etc., and on a gold ground a labyrinth qf ferns and ilowers aVoun'l, depend salmon-coloured medal: Jipns. The walls are highly ornamental and have festoons of smqll leaves at the sides of the medallions.

Australian Annexe. In addition to what I have previously cent under thi& heading the following will be of interest. On leaving the Public Works Court you see sti etching before you about a hundred and fifty yaids the annexe of New South Wales, which extends half-way up thissido of the Exhibition as far as the central octagon, As the best exhibits of Australia are disposed in the central courts of that octagon, you are nob struck with the display as you proceed, until you are nearly reaching it. There you suddenly come upon the magnificent exhibit of New South Wales in mineral ore?, which stand piled up in pyramidal heaps, and stiotch away down the right into the heart of the Exhibition. From this point you obtain a splendid \iew of tho extent and dimensions of the Australian sections. Everywhere are hanging flag?, flags, flags, in pairs of every kind

of colour and device. High up in the cross beams at every twelve or twenty-four feet they spring as if from shields which you see tapering away in a long lino under the point, of the roof. Lower down, too, here are Hags, larger Hags. Ab every reasonable coign of vantage up goes a flag or group of flags. Heto arc a whole cluster of them gracefully bowiner over the arch of sweetly delicate shading leading into the Victoiinn annexe Under that arch you see between twenty and thirty cross sign 3 each with a stone coloured centre and a brown border, on which appear the names of tho c'lief towns of Victoria, receding systematically in aline. Looking back you observo (ho cross signs of N. S. W. under which you have come, broad blue or broad red, with here and there one of rich russet, swinging at unequal heights. It is much tho same down the elutheran avenues between the cenltal octagon.