French Exhibition Stole The Show

France’s efforts to get a better balance into its present adverse e with Australia (£9O million worth of goods bought, £ll million ) resulted in the £1 million French Exhibition, piece de resistance he Sydney Royal Show, March 23-April 3.

Exhibition, held in three odernly designed and con flicted pavilions displayed a ehensive selection of French andise —from perfumery and gowns, to heavy industrial nery, and jet helicopters— pportunity was taken to dis he tourist attractions of New >nia and French Oceania, displays by these two terri dominating the French Ovcr ’erritories’ section of the Ex n. novel and attractive manner ich the various stands were 5e d delighted hundreds of nds of people who packed the tion throughout the Show.

French Government pro te of Australian trade balanc ibraces not only the develop if Metropolitan industries, but hose of its overseas terri and particular attention is ?iven to the valuable mineral :es of New Caledonia, where lia’s Broken Hill Pty., Co., icently contracted to take iron as part of the programme, shipping and air lines are mcouraged to attract greater rom Australia and New Zea- Pierre Fabre, who is respon ir the promotion of French s territories, flew to Sydney anally direct the construction Overseas Territories’ Section Exhibition.

CALEDONIA provided the fgest display of any of the ench overseas territories, n exhibit 78 ft in length, piece of the display was one f the Pavilion, painted in pastel shades, and featuring of the island in a large re panel. The map was sur i by a number of black and Dhotographs of scenery and r on the island, while coloured aphs of marine life bordered >e of the panel. (See cover al display windows along the atured the island’s various ies, and included nickel coffee growing, samples of , products of the Ouaco Can ctory and trochus fishing, section of the wall was i by a modernistic mural de life in New Caledonia, by a French artist, Robert er, who has lived on the or the last seven years, cove at one end of the wall sd a display of samples of chromium and iron mined island, together with maps

illustrating the mineral potential of New Caledonia. There were also scale models of a small dam con structed 30 miles from Noumea to hold back water from an area where the much larger Yate dam is planned to be built by 1960, to supply the nickel smelting works with in creased hydro-electric power.

A variety of native weapons and tabus were centred around NC’s native bird, the Cagou.

Mr. A. Mornaghini, an engineer with the French Government in New Caledonia, was sent over to supervise the construction of the display, and Mademoiselle Monique Holland, of the New Caledonian Tourist Bureau,, was present to answer inquiries.

Heavy emphasis was placed on the tourist attractions in French Oceania’s exhibit. A number of windows showed items of tourist in terest and of life generally in the Group, as well as promoting its vanilla (of which Australia is an important customer), phosphates and trochus-fishing indus L ries.

Mr. Jacquier, president du Syndi cate d’lnitiative de la Ville de

Tahiti, flew to Sydney for the Ex hibition. .

Messageries Mantimes Shipping Line was also well represented, using scale models of several of its ships.

Transports Aeriens Inter-Contin entaux and Air France were also represented.