THE CENTENARIES.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXI, Issue 2515, 23 August 1888, Page 2

THE CENTENARIES.

[j'liO.M OUR OWN OORREBPONDENT]. Thk Exhibition is still the great subject of discussion in town, for its novelty has not yet had time to wear away, and Melbourne folks are, just waking up to the fact that it is a social duty to attend it. I might, therefore, occupy my weekly column this time in jotting down a few particulars that may prove interesting to those who have not seen the show. Most of our distinguished visitors have gone; things are settled down to their usual level after the abnormal gaiety the city has been plunged into, and everybody now is beginning to feel the reaction, and has time and leisure to consider and examine the huge pile and its accessories, which pessimist critics have already dubbed the "Carlton White Elephant." The attendance so far has not been anything very surprising in the way of numbers, and for very accountable reasons. We have had, ever since the opening, what the Americans call a "snap of cold weather," and the huge draughty Exhibition building has been in consequence anything but a pleasant resort. It is perishing] y cold there, and even the attractions of Mr Oowon's music are not enough to condone for cold feet and blue noses. The Exhibition won't offer its full attractions until the warm woather sets in, and by that time, I am afraid, its novelty will be gone, and its charms somewhat faded. Another drawback patent to me is the dull and even melancholy silence that reigns throughout the building. With the exception of the concerts there is no music. The concert hall is shut off from the main building, and the music cannot be heard outside it, so that no enlivening strains come to the ears of the promenaders, and they walk along and examine the exhibits in solemn and melancholy dullness. The Grand Avenue of Nations is a favourite promenade, and if the management understood its business it

would have a good band stationed in a central position, so as to dispel the prevailing dullness. I must confess to being disappointed with the Colonial Courts. To my mind they do not compare favourably with the English, German or even French. Most of them are exceedingly small, the Queensland, South Australian. Western Australian and Tastnanian being almost miniature. The Victorian Court is of the colonial ones necessarily the largest, but it is run very closely by the New South Wales. In the latter are two typical exhibits, which, to my mind, are among the best in the building. One is a model of part of the Jenolan Caves, wonderfully picturesque and like the original, and the other is an immense ailvered column with the figure of Atlas bearing the Globe on top, representative of the silver won from the Broken Hill mine. Both these exhibits are truly Australian m character. As for the Victorian Court the most prominent i'eaturo of it is beer. There are beerbarrels everywhere, beor-trophies, beerkiosks, and beer-pyramids, and any stranger visiting our Court would come to the conclusion that Victorians drank and thought of nothing else but beer. There are, how aver, other fine exhibits of course—the best, I should say, being those of the Apollo Candle Co. and the Red Cross Preserving Company,