The opening ceremony was undoubtedly a great success. The King deli red his speech in the Stadium, in which a royal pavilion had been erected and for which there had been planned x semimilitary pageant of much imposingness. There were at least 120,000 people present, though whether all who ought to have got there actually arrived is another matter, since with their genius for blundering, some of the official invitations were only sent out four days before the event and the tickets issued the night before. The King's clear voice ix suited to broadcasting, and the substance of his speech which he wrote himself frankly does His Majesty credit On this occasion hho spoke to about million people, all of whom heard him clearly. suppose there Was not seal place in the country, which had not erected on or near the pier " special arrangement, d the Royal we bhut the musie and the cheering, di the reverberation of the crowd's repetition of the Lord's Prayer repeated by the Bishop of London.
Round the World 40
The only thing the five millions missed was the little me snail telegraph boy use ending to the royal pavilion and handing a telegram to Hix Majesty, anna that the Royal message, declaring the Exhibition open had been sent all round the world in 80 seconds.
The King thanked the boy for the message and for an_ accompanying map of the route, which was prexented in a Jarge envelope, and the lad then retired imperturbably, unaffected by the tumultuous cheers of the audience. The listeners-in of course also missed the colour, though as the day was cold and the dull, women were dressed solely in black or dark browns, and there were few spring hats. What colour there was, was provided. by military men, or by Court officials the full panoply of their State tire, while there were a certain number of Overseas visitors who had donned the costumes of their respective countries. Tu any ease, the opening pageant was a complete triumph, and even impressive in its way, while there wae so much broadcasting apparatus _seattered about the grounds of the Exhibition elf, that for the whole day there were voices and music coming from unsuspected places. All the Labour Ministers were present in "levee dress, with the exception of the Prime Afinister, who by Royal permission was having a few days' holiday before the resumption of Parliament.
"ancial Prospects.
Now, a few words as to the future. I understand that the promoters of the Exhibition hope for an attendance of 60,000,000 people. This means a very great deal, since the entire population of this country is only 45,000,000. I believe the actual expenses are based minimum of 175,000 people a day. Everything turns, therefore, on whether Londoners and Over seas visitors will content themselves with three or four visits only to the Exhibition, or whether on an aver, and age they will go once a week. The man who comes up from the coun-
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.