The New Zealand International Exhibition 19O6-19O7

Progress, Volume II, Issue 2, 1 December 1906, Page 57

The New Zealand International Exhibition 1906-1907

PAST EXHIBITIONS OF NEW ZEALAND. In 1865 New Zealand made her first attempt at an international exhibition — Dunedin being the favoured locality. For so young a colony the event was considered highly creditable, there being 29,831 admissions during the 102 days it was open. We have to pass over fifteen years before we come to the next exhibition, the Industrial Exhibition in Christchurch in 1880. This was visited by 23,000 people, the profit from it amounting to £400. Two years later was held the Joubert-Twopeny Exhibition in the South Park, Christchurch, which was a private enterprise, organised by Messrs. Joubert and Twopeny. It was a much larger affair than the two previous exhibitions, and exhibits were sent from all over the world. The area under cover was 114,200 square feet, while that of our present International Exhibition is 500,000 square feet. The affair was a great success, 226,000 people paying for admission during the six months of its career. This was followed by the Industrial Exhibition at Wellington in 1885, which, though successful, resulted in a deficit of nearly £10,000. In 1887 another Industrial Exhibition was held at Christchurch, but it was not so successful financially as the first one, there being a small loss. Seven years later a third was held in the same place, and resulted in a profit of £2000. The New Zealand and South Seas Exhibition, held in Dunedin in 1889, was much the largest affair the colony had seen. The exhibition was due to the energy of a number of Dunedin citizens, a company being formed with a capital of £10,000 to carry it through. The public subscribed readily, so readily that the directors speedily took steps to Increase the capital to £15,000. The Government gave £10,000 and helped the affair in other ways. The building was erected in Crawford street, and covered about 9^ acres, the area of the whole exhibition being 13 acres. During the five months the exhibition was open it was visited by 625,000 people, or 18,000 in excess of the population of the colony then. The cost was £54,670, and there was a profit of £579. In 1898 a very successful Industrial and Mining Exhibition was opened in Auckland, which resulted in a profit of £2000, whicli was devoted to building a Chamber of Commerce. In 1900 another Industrial Exhibition was held in Christchurch. The exhibition which was held in the new Canterbury Hall buildings has been described as the best display of local manufactures ever held in the colony.

THE EXHIBITION OF TO-DAY. All past efforts, however, have been eclipsed by the magnificent international event of 1906, the 14 1 acres of buildings being all too small for the merchandise and machinery which have been assembled from all parts to silently testify to the progress of New Zealand and the nations.

The floor space is about 500,000 square feet, of which about five-twelfths is taken up by corridors and avenues. The value of the exhibits, independently of the pictures, exceeds half a million sterling, and the pictures are valued at a quarter of a million. The Premier, Sir Joseph Ward, in the course of his speech at the opening ceremony, said :—": — " When the last exhibition was held in Dunedin, the exports from this country amounted to £9,400,000. Last year they were £15,500,000. The imports at that time were £6,200,000 ; last year they were £12,800.000. The depositors in banks and savings banks have to-day £30,316,954 of their own money in this New Zealand of ours. The financial position of the Exhibition, briefly, is that already the colony has paid £73,000, and it may be reassuring to those of my brother members in Parliament when I tell them that I am informed upon the authority of the Chairman of the Executive Commissioners that the £64,000 which we voted during the session will not nearly all be required, so that there is every prospect of this great undertaking turning out more favourably than was originally anticipated."

THE VISITORS. The opening day was a notable event in the history of New Zealand. Over 37,000 visitors passed through the gates, and amongst this vast assemblage were the distinguished representatives of the over-sea countries exhibiting, together with the members of the Legislative Council and the House of Representatives, and the judges of the Supreme Court. So great has the attraction of the Exhibition proved that for the first week-ending upwards of 150,000 visitors passed through the turnstiles.

THE EXHIBITS. The merit of the exhibits is of a high order, and. their range far exceeds in comprehensiveness that which ruled at any former exhibition in New Zealand. The seven-and-a-half miles of avenues are flanked with the products of our colonies and of foreign nations. Every care has been taken by the Exhibition authorities to provide ample lighting and good ventilation, and this, coupled with the general desire on the part of firms to show their exhibits to the best possible advantage, helps materially to make a tour of the Exhibition an educational, as well as a pleasurable, one. The Machinery Hall, which forms the northern annex of the main building, contains, in addition to working and stationary machinery, numbers of exhibits connected with building construction and the allied trades. Here, also, the lighting and ventilation are perfect, and the visitor is enabled to examine the exhibits with a maximum amount of comfort. Conspicuous in this section are the many gas-producer plants, nearly all of which are working ; while the exhibit of the Railway Department includes two locomotives and four or five carriages, not to mention signal boxes, motor tricycles and railway apparatus generally. The motor cars, it might be said, take first place as

regards pleasing and effective show. All kinds of machinery made in the colony are to be seen, and the representation in this respect serves to demonstrate the resources of New Zealand as a manufacturing country. It is no exaggeration to say that the Machinery Hall is an exhibition in itself. The Agricultural Department have a quarter of an acre under cultivation outside the main building, and here nitrogen inoculation and other experiments are being carried on. The Department's exhibit in the main building is very embracive, as it shows in some form every subject treated in the interests of the New Zealand farmer. The Education Department presents a very representative display of work from the various technical colleges and schools of art in the different centres. These displays are very tastefully arranged in different compartments, and comprise illustrations and models in connection with all the leading trades. Some very fine engineering and plumbing work is shown, and some excellent models of various parts of vehicles. Many of the designs for tiles and linoleums exhibit careful thought and study, and considerable technical ability. Particularly fine collections have been sent in by the Canterbury College School of Art and the Wellington Technical School. The Canterbury College School of Art exhibit is shown to better advantage than the Wellington exhibit, being better lighted and arranged. The beaten copper work reflects great credit both on students and instructors. A large portion of the work which would ordinarily come under this section is included in the section devoted to Home Industries, which is in the same gallery as the exhibit of the Education Department. It is a good sign where healthy emulation is existent between the Government and private concerns in helping on the New Zealand International Exhibition to success, and the complete fruition of the most optimistic hopes, as the natural outcome of such emulation, is inevitable, for the people will come to New Zealand from afar, and they will not be disappointed, for the reason that the Exhibition is the largest, most complete and most interesting ever held under the Southern Cross.

THE GREAT EXHIBITION OF 1851. The illustrations of the first British international exhibition, which we print in this issue, tend to show the rapid strides which England had made amongst the nations half a century ago. This magnificent event, which has since become familiarly known as the " Great Exhibition," was really the outcome of a proposition made to the London Society of Arts by Prince Albert, who sketched the outline for a great exhibition of all nations, and proposed that such exhibition should be held in London in 185 1. In July. 1849, th e prince, in the name of the society, applied to the government for the appointment of a Royal Commission to organise and manage such an exhibition. As a result of the agitation then set on foot, the Commission was appointed early in 1850, with the prince at its head ; and the exhibi-

tion was opened by the Queen, in Hyde Park, on May ist, 1851. It was held in a vast structure of iron and glass planned by Sir Joseph Paxton, and called the Crystal Palace, which, as everyone knows, is now located at Sydenham. The building was 1851 feet long, by 408 wide, with an additional width of 48 feet for half the length ; the highest portion was a centre transept 108 feet high ; the area covered was 19 acres, equal to seven times that of St. Paul's. The exhibitors numbered nearly 16,000, about equally divided between British and foreign contributors. The cost of the structure was £170,000 (for use and waste, not for absolute ownership), which, in addition to the other expenses down to the close of the exhibition, made a total outlay of £292,795. The entire number of visitors was 6,039,195, averaging 41,938 per day. The total receipts from admission and other sources amounted to £505,107, leaving a surplus of £200,000.