INDO-OOLONIAL EXHIBITION.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume VIII, Issue 2286, 4 May 1886, Page 2

INDO-OOLONIAL EXHIBITION.

The following is an extract from the speech of, the President (Sir Francis Dillon Bell) at the first meeting of the Commissioners for New Zealand held in London on Ist March :-So faras the site was conceded, I was able to make an arrangement with the Royal Commission which I think my colleagues here present will approve. There is to be in the Exhibition & " Colonial' Market," immediately adjoining the great dining-rooms and places of refreshment. The building will be 180 ft long, and half of its entire length was placed bythe Royal-Commission at the disposal of New Zealand. This being done I had to see that adequate provision was made for the freezing machinery and refrigerating chambers; and the result of a number of communications arid negotia*

ttons was, that Mcssrs'Hall .finally agreed to put rip an engine sufficiently'powerful 'to keep a constant supply of frozen meat in the best condition for exhibition, and to fit up..inapro'Per manner, the freezing and cooling chambers, so that the meat should be always in a fit state.for sale in the market itself.;: It was' of couise obvious that having regard- to the large growth which had taken place in'the trade itself, and to the prospsct of.its continued extension, it would be .above'-all- things good'for us to have a large sale every day of frozen meat to the crowds likely to attend the Exhibition. In the case of the " Healtheries" exhibit,' the freezing chambers had been very attractive, and. a quantity of. meat was' Bold; indeed, in the School' of Cookery adjoining, upwards of 100,000 frozen mutton chops were used, Itiß probable that at this.Exhibition ten times that amount will be consumed, These •preliminary arrangements having been made as to the exhibit itself, it became inecessary that means should be taken for, providing a regular supply of meat in tho best condition; and this required the special help of people 'interested in. tho trade, L think you will congratulate . yourself that one of your number, who was good enough to placo himself in communication with me on the subject, and to whose valuable suggestions wo aro' all greatly indebted, has: undertaken the task of carrying outj the exhibit in a thoroughly efficient way. When 1 mention Mr Larkworthy's name you will bo sure that the work will receive not only the most careful sttentiori, but be carried to a successful issue. There are a number l of details to ,be carefully attended to,/;and in regard to these I shall be very glad to place any assistance at Mr Larkworthy's disposal in order that the business may be thoroughly carried out; but the intention, which! hope you will is that the management of the exhibit should be. confided to him, and any other gentleman whom ho may name, with full authority to carry it through in the way they think most advantageous, Tho position of the market being at some distance from .the New Zealand Court, it was impossible to apply steam power to the refrigerating machine; but the Royal Commission have undertaken, to provide a.gaa engine, from which the power will bo derived, and it will be Mr Larkworthy's care, as well as my own, to Bee that the power is sufficient to keep the rofrigeratitig' chamber constantly at the proper temperature, I now turn to another matter. When Dr Von Haast arrived here, and we went.over'the details of the space, wo found that it, would be impossible to devote a sufficient amount of space" within the court itself, to an ■' object which will be attractive to visitors, namely, a propor exhibit of Maori curb, and illustrations of Maori histmy. Dr Buller, who will presently be hero, has spent a very large sum on this object: and it has become necessary, in consequence of the great demands Dr Jon Haast has upon his space, to put up an additional building for the purpose of this Maori exhibit. Presently therefore there will be a 'Maoti House" containing about 1,200 ft of space devoted, exclusively to it; and we shall remove to this new building a large part of the Maori house which the Government sent some years ago to the South Kensington Museum. You will all agree that it is important that this exhibit should bo well done, as it rill be unique of its kind. Before concluding, I will return to our fernery, 1, have told you that in order to get the additional space, and the other concessions which have been made by tho Boyal Commission I had to undertake that our, botanical display should be thoroughly effective; and I think it will be aiiionp the most attraotive'features of the whole exhibition. We have a-:great advantage m the configuration of tho ground, which lends itself admirably to our purpoßß; it slopes down! to the water, and could not be bettor adapted for showing off the treeferns and palms of New Zealand. Wo all know how highly these nro valued by the wealthy classes m this country for their great conservatories; but it is not too much to say that of the vast crowds who will visit the Exhibition, the great majority will never havo had a sight of a tree-fern in their lives, We have had 100 tree-ferns and 400 other fernß thriving well at Chmvick, thanks to the care that haß been devoted to them by the Royal Horticultural Society; the .Director of Kew Gardens, Professor Dyer, who succeeded Sir Joseph Hooker, to whom New Zealand was indobtod during so many years for true interest and help, has promised to give us a good many more from Kew ; I have visited many of the chief nurseries, where Bplondid tree-ferns will soon be in full frond, and have arranged for placing some in tho Exhibition, with palm trees, flax, and other plants, so that we really have an unrivalled opportunity of Bhowing our flora. Under these circumstances Dr Yon Haast and I are doing all we can to make savings in several ways, which we shall devoto to the fernery. Our conservatory will be much the largest in the Exhibition, and Sir Philip Owen, Mr Edward Owen, and Mr Benniaon as well as the other officers of the Royal Commission, have given me great assistance for making it a success, It will be illuminated by the electric light, in which the fern-fronds are seen in their greatest beauty; and if the Government can persuade our friend Paora Tuahera to send over the great war-canoe with which ho raced Admiral Tryon's boats'the other day, so that we may show it in the water surrounded by our ferns, the Now Zealand court and garden will be second to none in attractiveness,—Dunedin Star.