FRANCO-BRITISH EXHIBITION.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 146, 11 June 1908, Page 4

FRANCO-BRITISH EXHIBITION.

A <;KAIMII(J DKSlUiraoN. | Magic wands have waved freely at Shepherd's Uu&li of late, luire Kiralfv waved the tirs>t one, ami converted a hundred and forty acres o k ' abominable deflation. into a white city of. dream* — of flittering palaces, lovely gardens, waterways more wonderful than Venice's. The beauty of a magic wand is that l anyone may wave it. ('rv, lw»y presto! Jt is .June. The great Kxhihi- . tion is in full swing, and 70,iiN() people I are enjoying the sight*. And let us I see what is to be seen. . . .

We will 1r» through; at least we will t«ke a glance at everything. We begin | at the beginning; we pass through the Entrance Hall; we come to an isolated group of buildings extending for half a mile. At the wry gates of the white city .stands the Palace of Liberal Arts. Here we see how a book is produced, how a map is made, how a theatrical scene is set 011 the stage. Ib'iv is all the apparatus of the photographer, of the scientist and of the surgeon. We are wiser already. A llall of Food—this is interesting. Here is food from the ends «d" the Empire, in every stage of preparation. Palaces of British and of French agriculture. Here the vine is growing, and there the fruit of the vine is being made readv to drown our sorrow, as at-

Epernav and Bordeaux. Wc cross a bridge, glance in at a Hall of Science, and pass on to a Palace of Various Industrie-. Whatwould you—musical instruments, gates of iron, bronzes and marbles, leather and basket-work, touts or toys? Or do von prefer to sen ltow coats arc made from the skills of leasts, or to watch, the process of the manufacture of soap? Or would you study the question of tinfeeding of* school-children as illustrate*! in the Hall of Education? THE COURT OF IIOXOUR.

Behold the Court of Honour! It is the queen-jewel in the cluster of the white city's gems; it i* t ; he supreme masterpiece of imre Kiralfy's imagination; it is a dream of lowliness. We look on a spacious lake., spanned by a gossamer bridge, dotted with dainty pavilions. The buildings here are one and all Indian in style, ornate, but dignified in their whiteness. Down tliebroad staircase of the towered Congress Hall, a foaming cascade -plunges into t'he water; at night, the hues of the rainbow are to be refracted through t'he cataract, in a scheme of ever-changing colours. Let. us step iuto an electric launch and pass down the lake and along a canal into the next great quadrangle, the Court of the Arts. Canals encircle the court,'the four noble palaces stand in its four corners, and in the centre splashes a fountain. In two of the palace French and British craftsmen vie with each other in showing their gold and silver work, and their precious jewels; in the third, the Women's Palace, we see displayed the finest work of the cleverest women of the world; in the fourth, the Palace of .Music, a concert goes forward.

Beyond the court, to the west, is the Palace of Decorative Art. and here we see every object that can make a house useful or beautiful, from a cookingstove to a billiard table, ami we wander through a series of rooms, arranged after the style of Adams. Chippendale, or Inigo Jones. To the east is the wondrous Palace of Art, with the most notable art collection ever grouped under one roof. THE MISHIT STADU'M.

And now we leave our nvotor-boat and go to look at the famous Stadium, where ten thousand people are watching the Ohmpic sports. They say it is as broad as the Circus Maximus, in ancient Rome, and -would comfortably hold tihe Marble Stadium at Athens, or the All*ert llall seven tinier over. H cost a matter of £30,000, and will accommodate 14#.00U people; There will be fireworks here at night.

We enter another of the courts of the White City, one dominated l y a tall tower rising irom water. Here is the (harden Club, one of the most fashionable places in town just now, where lunch is served in the open air, and there is a spirit, abroad suggesting the Bois de Col<»mih\ Les-a exclusive peopl' 1 go to the gorgeous Craml Restaurant, or to tin; Parisian Restaurant in the British Pavilion. The Lr.uid KJip-Flap is now encountered—'a contrivance ol mighty arms for carrying people y n novel aerial journey* of a huudtvd yards jn length. The Court of Progress next awaits a visit. Here are the Halls of Machinery covering over eight acres, with examples of all the latest things meHi-

anieal which the wit of man lias devis I'd. If you ale interested in shipbuilding. in trains, or ill electrieity. ynu win spend tfu- rest of Uic day here: Otherwise, we will pass along lei tho (Irand Colonial Avenue. THE KMI'IKE L\ UTTLE.

Samples of all the resources of the British Kinpire are to be found in the white Palaces of the Colonies. The Canadian i'avilion cost (it 1.1)1 111, and stands typical of Canada's progressive methods. Xcw Zealand has all soils of foodstuffs and wool to exhibit. Australia. in the finest building in the Exhibition, shows oil' her mineral resources; Xew South Wales displaying a miniature waterfall, with a series oi looms built of tlie woods of her native forests, to.say nothing of an exhibition of opal cutting. At the far end of the grounds, in tilie centre of the Grand Crescent, rises a magniti' cnt white building, with glittering pinnacles. This is the Indian Pavilion, with native carvings, silks, curios, and rugs, and a Bengal village and tea garden.

I'.y t'he time we have looked in oil the wild men of the Senegalese Village from West Africa, called in at the Ceylon Village, and at the Irish Village to see the actual cottage wliere President -MiKinlev onec lived, wandered a little in the gardens, where is such a display of fruit and llowers as we have never beheld before, and viewed the Indochina Exhibition, tthe pun is setting behind the Machinery Halls, gilding the pinnacles of the palaces, and dying ruby-red the lakes and lagoons,

Ainyriad lights begin to twinkle to add to the fairy-like ciicJiantiiieut of the scene: the water is turned into a sheet of silver, and we notice that there are no dark shadows on its face. Let lis hire one of the "cliaises roulanles." and be pushed on another tour round the illuminated gardens nv these sturdy little fellows in blue blouses. And now we will dine in Ihe French rcsturant. and afterwards we will revel awhile amid a< gay a night scene as London has ever known. M.W.