THE COLONIAL AND INDIAN EXHIBI TION. (SPECIALLY WRITTEN FOR THE WAIKATO TIMES BY AN OLD HAMILTONIAN.)

Waikato Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2194, 31 July 1886, Page 2 (Supplement)

THE COLONIAL AND INDIAN EXHIBI TION. (SPECIALLY WR ITTEN FO R TH E WA IKATO TIMES BY AN OLD HAMILTONIAN.)

It is not my intention to attempt a discription of 4> Tho Colindories," as that would occupy the whole of tho inside columns of The Waikato Timks for the ne.vt three months, but just give you a notice of the leading features and points most interesting to Waikato readers. I will go over my old ground and enter it by way of tho Royal Albert Hall This magnificent building in nearly circular in shape. It .seats 8000 persons, and will hold 14,000. The whole of the floor is carpeted with crimson matting and carpet, the seats aro covered with plush of the saint) colour, while the walls are decorated with pictures and guilding. The. roof is adome of glass ; enormous Venetian blinds temper tho sunlight, and the effect ot this, falling everywhere on the crimson of the floor is very soft and pleasing. Vt night the building is illuminated by 4000 gas jets. Through the lower part of tho building is one of the main entrances to the Exhibition. Tho top gallery of the Albert Hall is used as a picture gallery for tho Exhibition. A very fine collection of Now Zealand scenes, the terraces, several largo paintings of the Waikato River, King Tawhiao, the West Coast Sounds, and a great many fine paintings of New Zealand wild flowers and fruits, form a beautiful and very attractive feature in the big show. I will now take a big jump to the other side of the grounds, and enter the New Zealand Court. The first thing seen inside are somo splendid life-siza portraits of Tawhiao, Wahanui and a number of other Maori celebrities irt oil. A very fine collection of Maori carved weapons and implements, baskets and mats, and some very good figures in wa* of natives in characteristic attitudes, are iv and near to a carved whare. Further in is a very fine show of natural productions, such as timber of all kinds, and minerals ; then , samples of furniture, which in their own line, are unsurpassed by any of tho other Australian colonies. In fact, the New Zealand timbers are a very great bourco of attraction to tho visitors. Then, gradually emeriting from the old New Zealand of tho entrance, we see all manner of manufactured articlos, preserv ed provisions, &c, notable among which is a splendid exhibit of honey from Messrs Daley and Perrott, of Hautapu, while the tinned meatd from the Auckland Packing ! Company are acknowledged to ha tho best !in the exhibition. Mr E. B. Reynolds, late postmaster at Cambridge, exhibits a grand 'show of kauri gum. Among the photographic exhibits, which are very tine, and from all parts of tho two Islands, I noticed views of tho Hamilton bridges, and other public works, and recognised the manly proportions of two familiar ;md popular Public Works officers in Waikato among those engaged on the bridges and works in question. Theie is a very tine oil painting of tho White Terra co by Mr S. R. Keeping, that has evidently made, its uiaik, a.s it is aheady uiaikeiJ "sold," and for a good round sum too. A conservatory runs down tho whole length of the New Zealand Court— out-ide, but connected by several doorways with tho court— and in it is a tine collection of Now Zeal. md flora, ferns, nikau palms and flax, with many small specimens of tho foie-t tioos, aifcistically and n.it'irally ai ranged, and not looking any the wor-e fm their long voyage and strange suirounding-. In point of size, and 'style, thn other Australian Colonies have put New Zealand, in the shade by their exhibits, and the same may be. said of of the South Island and the North to a certain extent. Tho Australian Colonies aro oldor and in some respects better off, but at the same time they have .shown far more energy and ability in the management of their courts than New Zealand. This is a pity, as I find fiom conversation with many people hero that there is the most profound ignorance prevailing among the British public in regard to "(Irnater Britain," and of cour-e people can't be blamed for judging from appearances in a matter of tin- sort. As might be expected, the Indian Comts aicthe mo-t striking of any. Tho wondoiful variety of pioductions, their qi eat value in so many ways, goods, drugs, jewellery and ornamental clothing of every description, in themselves m dco an exhibition of great interest and beauty and what increases tho interest greatly, is tho fact of beirur able to see all tho variou- art- and manufactures in actual opiu.itions, by real natives in the Indian village. Their work in gold, jewels, and carving in wood and lvoiy is simply marvellous. The Cape Colony Courts are also on a magnificent scale. I can only stop to mrntion one portion viz., tho diamond industiv. Here is to be, seen tho whole process of mining, cutting, polishing and setting the diamond. The mining is certainly shown by models, but all the other branches are actually performed by tho best of workmen. Theie aie four cases exhibited containing Jb'4S,ooo worth of these glistening gems, poh-hed, but unse.t, a sight worth seeing. Tho Canadian Court is something feuEngland to be proud of. Such a vast collection of useful articles. India, with its carving, its jewels, its wonderful silk work and tapestry, seems to suggest the idea of a great population working for small w.iges, and very largely for the luxury and splendour of the rich ; but inachiuory and tools of every description, boats, foods, steam engines, and iv fact useful articles in such ondle-s variety, and such perfection of manufacture from Canada, speak of progress and solid good. Their fish breeding, fish catching, and tish preserving appliances, boats, canoes, guns, etc., form one of the most highly interesting portions of the whole Exhibition. One Canadian firm have an exhibit of 400 different sorts of biscuits. Then there are the West Indies with their own peculiar productions, Mauritius with its sugar, Montreal with its lime-juice and vanilla, Ceylon with its ciuchona and coffee, Malta and Cyprus with their lace, pottery, and wine. All the foregoing and much more can be seen under the most comfortable and convenient circumstances. The buildings, as may be imagined, cover an immense area, and are in themselves a sight well worth coining to see. They enclose ornamental grounds of the greatest beauty, with water, bridges, fountains, and flowers. Theie are two pavilions for music, and theie at intervals during tho whole day, from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., the bands of the Coldstre.uu Guards, the Royal Artillery, and the Royal We<t India regiments dis-cour-o tho best music obtainable in tho whole wm-hl, while two or more organ recitals take place daily in the Royal Albert Hull. The interior of the building is lighted by electricity, and the whole of the exterior is covered by thousands of tiny lamps of all colouis. Not only this, but the trees are full of them, in among the foliage, they are concealed among the flowers in the beds, tho walks are lined with them, and they gleam out from the very waters of the fountains, green,,olue, crimson, orange, and sapphire. There |is no gradual lighting of the lamps, but at a given time every night, as soitn as daylight has faded, with one tremendous flash the whole place is flooded with light from these thousands of electric lamps. It is a sight that has never been equalled before, and I don't suppose will ever be forgotten by those who see it. For the whole of this exhibition you pay the large Mini of one shilling. The day before my last visit there had been 2">,S")l visitors, making a total of 814,108 since the Exhibition opened. There is ample room for this great crowd. The best of order prevails everywhere, and every necessary in the way of food, &c, can be obtained on tho grounds, at prices to suit all tastes. Messrs Spiers and Pond provide dinners from (id to Is (3d per head. The whole affair is one that the British nation oiui be justly proud of, and the effect on other nations when they thus see the vvondei ful l ichness and i e-ource of the British Empire in her colonies can only be, and in fact must be, very striking. Tenakoe.

SM VT,L PROTITS AXD QuiClv itEITRNS. — The recent elections. Mmi.— Mr. Gladstone's Political Pil primage to Scotland may he resraidod a-* the latest Expedition in search of tht North Poll !" The infant class wns reciting-, and th< words kid and goat occurred in the lesson The teacher asked ono of the little girls if she knew what a kid was. " Why, yes," was tho .surprising- reply, " a kid ia a little boy." Denying the Soft Impeachment. — ' Let me see," .said a minister, who was filling out a marriage certificate and had forgotten the date, "this is tho oth, i.s it not ?'' " No, eir."