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THE AUSTRAL.
AS OTHERS SAW IT
THU TOOWOOMBA FESTIVAL.
IXTBItVIFAY WITH MB. OKO.
STUPA JIT.
WIIAT MAnVHOHOlIOH SHOULD
DO.
tin* Jliirybonmg'li '*I’lirni
.Mr. George Mupart wan oik* »»i me
Maryborough visitors to tlio annual Too
woomba Austral Festival, and upon his
return to town last week wo had the
pita one of an interview with him con
cerning Ins impression* and observation*
of the great oient. an outline of which
will doubtless Ik* of interest mid value
to a great many of our readers.
Asked as to his general experiences as
a visitor to Toowoomba. .Mr. St apart
said; I did not see the first part of the
Festival, but arrived at Toowoomba at
noon on Saturday. 11th November, and
found the city packed with visitors from
all parts, far and near. From all 1
heard l was sorry to have missed the
tir-t portion of the Festival, hut was for
tunate enough to be in time to hoar the
■truss baud contests in ihe Show Grounds,
an ideal spot. Wwutifully kept and sur
rounded by shade tree*. Tin- attendance
was about *:tOU», and the content was otto
of the finest yet held in Queensland. The
fact that in’ the grand Minted* each
b ald played its own piece, instead nf all
playing the same, added greatly to the j
pleasmv of the public, though it pro- ;
bubly made the task of awarding the
pritt* more difficult to the adjudicator. 1
in which our’ own \uud performed. ;
I dc.*:r>> to estaVUsh something of the same .
i kind is their own town, and the Austral ■
; Festivals had hws the wait. Owe ;
thing that ideawd me mere than any.
thing e!.-e w„s the geuerea* admission of ;
their indebted ness to Maryborough for,
the initiation of the scheme, and e*pe- ;
csally to Mr. A. E. Kemp for the way in |
which he had placed ail bis experience at
their disposal. Amongst many pleasant .
incidents was that of meeting Mr. G. <
Essex Evans, with whom I had most in- j
torching convert, ar.d lie above all
others spoke in the kindliest way of the ,
es-istanee that had txen afforded at the j
outset by the Maryborough Eisteddfod !
Committee through’ Mr. Kemp.
To return to the evening session. It
was presided over bv Mr. L.E. <5mom.
M.H.K., and member of the Federal
Cabinet, and the people of Toowoomba
were evidently proud of their native
born Federal Minister, lie made an ex*
rollout opening address, and amongst
otlu-r things dilated upon the writers '
and poets of Australia, with sp.cinl
eulogy of Toowoomba’s great poet, (!.
J/^ev Evans, one whose great urs? had
yet to be fully realised. These men, lie
said, were flunking out and helping us
to see the trno ideals of our national
life.
The presentation of the band contest
prizes took place at the evening session.
'J'he adjudicator was evidently much im
pressed with the excellence nf the play
ing. The winners (Invorell band!, were
almost faultless, and the second band
(Maryborough) gave n very excellent per
formance. He urged that iltc bands
should bo encouraged to still further im
prove. Mr. Groom, when giving tlio
prizes, wan good enough to convey
through myself, wlm had been invited
on the platform, to the Maryborough
Imudhiiieu his hearty congratulations at
their great- success in the contests, and
called upon me. umwjXN'todly to speak.
T wiid it had given me great pleasure in
deed to 1k> the medium for conveying
Mr. Groom’s congratulations, and of nil
wlm were nsoembled, to their bandmas
ter and his men who deserved all the
praisa bestowed upon them, 1 localise like
the Invorell band they wore hardwork
ing, painstaking, and splendid set of
men. My remarks wore well received.
Needless to say, I was delighted at the
«iums of my old employee, Win. Davis,
in carrying off tlio cornet solo prize. In
the Quick-step contest, won by our boys,
the bands marched along the main street
past the adjudicator, the route being
densely packed 'with people.
On Sunday I had tlio enjoyment of an
early drive round the town and district
through the kindness of our old towns
man Mr. -David Young, and one could
readily understand hmv Toowoomba had
become tlio metropolis of the Downs. It
is situated on a magnificent tract of fer
tile country. The striking features of
the city to a visitor are the wide streets
and the wealth of ro-es iti the private
gardens. They have a fine sports
ground laid out with cricket ground,
tennis courts, howling green, croquet :
lawn, and public hath*, which nro well
patronised, Let. mo say here that I am
very pleased to know ’that- at an early
date, through tlio generosity of Mr. 0.
A. White, the town of Maryborough is
also to bo supplied with that great pub
lic need, si swimming baths.
I must say that coming in contact with
tlio men of Toowoomba, specially those
in connection with the Austral Festival,
I found them to bo a true-hearted loyal
wot of men, who woio devoting tiiem
fotves, with others, in this matter for
tlio good of their city. They were wide
awake, and as put by Mr. Denham, they
were fortunate iu seizing the psychologi
cal moment to get a central Bit anted pro*
l»erty at a nominal price from the State.
Through tlio liberality of public spirited
men such as ,T. II. Munro, J. II. Jones,
the present Mayor, Mr. Fed wood, and
others they had seen rod the nucleus of
what will bo in the near future a grand
public resort. These were tlio men I
came particularly in contact with. The
fact that I had had something to do with
tlio Maryborough Eisteddfod seemed to
win for me especial attention, and I was
made to feel very much at home.
Amongst the men I met was mtr old
friend, Mr. Lewis Thomas, who. ns in
[ tlio past, is always to the fore to help
j forward such movements as the Austral
Festival, for which ho prefers the name
of ” Eisteddfod.” Ho was anxious to Ik*
assured that Maryborough is going to
take up its running iu 1907, when ho
will be prepared to do as in the past,
H« made HjHvial reference to the great
Kucct'fw of tlio Maryborough Eisteddfod,
and expressed a hopo that other towns
would follow in like manner.
On Monday, the last day of the Fes
tival, 1 spout the early morning in the
Art Gallery, at the Alexandra Hall, and
saw many good paintings. The science
section was held iu a hall adjacent to
the Austral Ilall. and was a marked ad
vance on the previous section. The* morn
ing session at the Austral Hall lusted
from 9 o'clock till 1, and was filled with
an audience of several thousand jioople.
Mr. Hlair. the Attorney-General, pre
sided. and commented on the fact that !
there had been four Ministers nf the
State Parliament and one of the Federal
Parliament' to preside at tlieir gather
ings. ‘Mr. H. .1. King, tlio musical adju
dicator at the Maryborough Eisteddfod,
filled the same position at Toowoomba,
and was quite one of the attractions,
owing to hm caustic and witty criticisms.
He was very hard at times, but probably
very just, but he gave a lot of valuable
information nnd bints to musicians.
I Tile Floral Carnival in the afternoon
| was a sn]x*rb spectacle, and attracted j
| fully 10.000 people to the Show Grounds. :
j but. strange to say, there was no music 1
j on the grounds. j
i The culminating event was Monday •
: evening's choral session in the Austral j
| Ilall. The hall is said to accommodate j
: S«K> people, but so great was the atten- ;
1 dance that one or tin* iron sides wns
; pulled down to allow tin* crowd outside I
to sec and hear the performance. The !
whole programme was very fine, but the •
j grand event was the choir contest, the ■
j p5eccs chosen being. "TYnrtliy is the :
jl-ainb” and "Amen.” The * Gympio
i choir, over 100 strong, led by the’ vote- I
r.m Mr. Pcrcivnl, sang first, nnd when j
they had finished the imp region made j
on myself nnd others with me, was .that j
I It could not b* excelled, and so it I
proved to be. The Toowoomba choir,
led by Mr. Allman, (Mr. Stanley Hob
son.—Ed. “ T.C."), however, came
very near Oympio, but tho
Aher choit3 were outclassed. Tho
adjudication wua awarded with bated
breath almost, so keen was the interest,
but tho award was artfully withheld by
Mr. King until the choirs had been
mas-fled together, and-under his baton
sang the choruses again. The effect of
between 500 and GOO voices singing to
gether was something to be remembered
tor n lifu time, Before delivering his
award Mr. King descanted at some
length cm tho splendid music to which
the au(lienee had been permitted to lis
ten. lie frankly admitted that seldom
had lut lua.d n.ru-h:'.> J.o.sh rendered
moro correctly or with root© telling ef
fect than it had (well by tho first and
second Choirs, Ilyin pic 50 points, ami
Toowoomba 58 points. There was great
enthusiasm, and the Oympio contingent
carried Mr. Pereival shoulder high off
tho etuge. Spwking of tho whole fes
tival, Mr. King said Toowoomba had ac
complished a marvellous success, one
that might- well be envied by much lar
ger cities. To bring the festival to a
dose the whole audience, led by, Mr.
King, sang tho National Anthem.
Mr. apart- afforded oiir roprcjenta
tive much more information about the
Toowoomba Festival, but the important
thing for us is the lesson that Marybor
ough should learn from it. On this
head Mr. St apart said: 1 want to eav
that tho time is now when the people of
Maryborough must login to gather their
force<« to prepare for their next Eistedd
fod in WC. Uundaberg claims - next
year, but it is for us at once to say that
it is our intention to hold such a gather
ing not later than 1W7. Toowoomba
has improved on our example, but I
think it is possible to eotue up. if uot
to surpass own Toowoomba’s grand ef
forts. Our town as a music loving
and wide.
eddied with the ti:
ear disposal. Toowoomba had no dilli
cuitv in fully occupying lour or live
days. and every event and every gather
ing wo* largely attended. U goes with
out saying that the.e festivals have a
womle:*fuilv educative and ennobling in
^ tiuenee. No Iw than 2X1 jvrsons were
dirvcCy interested one wav and another
! in preparing or taking part in the Too*
, wooir.ba festival. All the Chairmen <>f
! sessions emphasised the fact that such
i gatherings ww essential for the well
: being of the Com men we ivlth. Money
: was not all that was necessary to make
; life what it should be. There were
j those who had special talents for this
thing or that thing, and others again
, had *a faculty for acquiring wealth, and
i little time to spare for following tip the
higher branches of culture. But it be
comes the?* latter to support by their
means those who would give their time
and talent to produce in our midst those
evidences of higher culture in art,
science, music, and other things,* whose
elevating influence is essential to our
well-being ns a civilised people. VTe in
Maryborough have all that- is necessary
to carry out flitch a scheme on a large
scale. Many of your readers will rc
i member the Maryborough Museum and
Art Exhibition of 1S91, when we gather
ed together in tho Alliert Hall such a
collection of works of nrt, scientific and
mechanical appliances, industrial inven
tions. etc., as has not been excelled or
even equalled in Queensland up to the
fires?nt time. Wc got together then a
indy of men who devoted their time, at
tention, and means, to accomplish that
object, and succeeded. We have still
in our midst men capable of accomplish
ing the same thing. What I think is
this, that vfo must gather round us all
tho " fathers ” of the town who have
means, to establish a fund so that we can
afford to give generous prizes in connec
tion with our proposed festival. I feel
confident that, we have from 20 to 50
young men of education, enterprise, and
go who will give their times and talents
to do tho hard work in connection with
tho undertaking.
Wo may have a temporary difficulty
with respect to tho Maryborough choir
feeling that we have lost in the death
or Mr. E. It. Woodrow, olio who had loci
tho choir to victory, but the loss of ono
man gives opportunity to another, and
we can but hope that a man will lx*
found for the occasion. We have the
talent, ami it only requires to lx> made
use of. Wo old men cannot forget the
debt wo owe to the late T. T. Woodrow
and his worthy sons, and men like James
Walker, Jns. Mu radon, W. W. Dunn, A.
K. Kotnp, Kernel?, Geygcr, the Miraot
M'Ghio and tunny others who in the pest
did yeoman's services in establishing the*
reputation of the town as being ono of
tho most musical in the Commonwealth.
Tho Museum and Art Exhibition in the
Alliert. Hall in 1801 did much towards
the establish men t of tho Technical Col
lege in connection with onr School of
Arts, nml just as tho Austral Festival
Committee had high aims in the estab
lishment- of a great hall in Toowoomba,
bo r think wo can look forward to tho
timo when by successful gatherings of n
similar character wo should be able to
render generous assistance towards the
erection of a suitable Town Ilall for tho
City of Maryborough, Even from tho,
material aspect tho value of festivals j
like that of Toowoomba should not lie
lost sight of. Every hotel and boarding
house was crowded to t he door, and busi
ness was good all round. On every side
you hoard what n grand thing it was for
tho town and district as a whole, apart
together from its educative influence.
I took occasion at a recent- meeting of
tho Chamber of Commerce to commend
two of onr young citizens, sons of for
mer Presidents for the part they liad
taken in the proceedings. Now a fea
ture of the Toowoomba Festival was tho
gathering together of young men anti
women, who wore for the most part na
tives of the place. Mr, Groom very
properly urged all Ills young hearers to
lie patriotic and feel proud of their
country, and do what in them lay to
improve it in every respect. That is
just the advice every well wisher of our
town will give to our young men; to be
loyal to the towu, and while promoting
sport and amusement, not to forget the
higher things that go to make Jifenob'c
and onr people cultured.
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