THE GREAT EXHIBITION.

Otago Witness, Issue 17, 13 September 1851, Page 4

THE GREAT EXHIBITION.

The United Kingdom supplies 8,200 Exhibitors, who want about 600,000 square feet of space. The Railways have agreed to bring the labouring classes up to London at less than half the usual price. The United States have arranged for excursions at about a fifth of the present cost, and these eases are specimens not exceptionable ; all the intending visitors being busy making arrangements for their excursion. A code of rules relating to the reception of goods for exhibition has been issued, and the arrangements for the admission of visitors have been specified. In looking over these, we observe that there are four principal entrances to the building, one at the east end for foreign exhibitors, &c. 5 another at the west, connected with the department for the exhibition of British goods ; those on the north and south sides being respectively for carts, carmen, &c, and for the officers of the building. A system of passes and checks is to be brought into operation, and a body of police connected with the exhibition, while a police court will be temporarily established near the building. The restrictive regulations appear to have been framed with a due regard to the safety, and at the same time, the convenience of the public. The exhibitors are necessarily required to unpack and arrange their own goods. On the first day of exhibition season tickets only will be available, which are to be issued to gentlemen at three, and to ladies at two guineas. The price of admission on the second and third days respectively, was fixed at £1, on the fourth day 55., and to be reducad on the twenty-second day to Is., with the exception of Friday and Saturday in each week, on the former of which days it is to be raised to 2s. 6d., and on the latter to ss. No change would be given at the doors, and the Commissioners reserved to themselves the power of at any time rescinding or altering these regulations, should it be found requisite. The French have made extensive and systematic arrangements for competing in the great show. They obtained an extension of time for the entry of goods. A Commissioner-General had arrived in England. Specimens of the woods of Trinidad are to be exhibited, including the bois d'orange or fustic , the sapadilla, the green poui, and the capai. The Sultan of Turkey has decided that the products to be exhibited as specimens from that country shall be bought and paid for on his own private account. The following objects are set down for collection : — one or two specimens of ore from each of the mines known as YenyToprag, manufactured metal in every stage of completeness, various earths used in the plastic arts, essential oils, Morocco leather of all colours, Russian leather and parchments, skins of the panther and other wild animals, furs of the fox, wolf, marten, &c., shawls, stuffs, carpets, velvets, taffetas, embroidered work, linens peculiar to the service of the Turkish bath, works in palm leaf and reed, and in straw, odorous woods, valuable stones, marble, alabaster, and limestone, gold and silver ornaments, tobacco, snuff, opium, &c. A report (ably discussed and translated by the " Morning Chronicle") on the contributions from the several States of the Zolverein, has been published by the Royal Prussian Commission, respecting the first great division of their contributions, namely raw products. In the mineral kingdom, wrought and unwrought zinc, which is largely exported frornV Upper Silesia, will be sampled in considerable variety pig-iron, bar and rolled iron, rough steel-iron, and iron-ores, from the Rhine, Bonne, Westphalia, Silesia, and Nassau are set down ; lead and antimonial ores from Aubault, Westphalia, Cologne, and Coblentz ; copper from Saxony ; cobalt, gold, and silver wire from Munich ; coal, anthracite, salt from Westphalia, Hessen, and the Rhine ; together with local clays, chemicals, and dye-stuffs from Prussia and Saxony, appear in the list. Clays, bricks, pottery of Northern Germany; earthenware from Bunzlau; with the crucibles and fire-bricks of Cologne ; glass and porcelain from Saxony, Berlin, and other places; together with all kinds of stones, marbles, granites, precious stones, agates, meerschaum, and amber. In the vegetable kingdom — flour, groats, barley, vermicelli from Munich, Berlin, Stralsund ; chicory, coffee, cocoa, and chocolate from Brunswick, Saxony, and Berlin ; mustards, oil-cakes, dried and preserved fruits, vegetables and preserves from Erfurt, Tilsit, Berlin ; with wines from Wurzberg, &c. ; balsams, perfumes, specimens of wood, madder, indigoes, &c. ; and d.yes from Cologne, Erfurt, Dusseldorf, and Mulhauseri ; and, indeed, most materials used ip dyeing, tanning, and printing. Flax and hemp from Silesia, sponges from Berlin, tinder from Friedeberg, and sounding-boards or pianofortes from Bavaria; various descriptions of pJfoduQts employed in clothing and building are ajaq- mentioned. Westphalian hams, Saxony and - Silesian wools and fleeces, together with

raw silk and substances employed in spinning and weaving ; leathers, skins from Baden and Bavaria; Frankfort, &c, and the eastern provinces ; with parchment, sadlery, harness, with processes and ingredients in tanning. Glues, charcoal, dye-stuffs, and substances used for domestic purposes in the manufacturing of tools and colours, close the list of contributions in the first department. Throughout Germany, the officers of state, the art and trades unions, and the special commissions in Berlin, Munich, Stutgardt, Dresden, Brunswick, Wiesbaden, and Frankfort have zealously promoted the interests of the Great Exhibition ; and it appears there were 1572 applications from the artistic and industrial producers within the Zollverein. Holland contributes naval models from Rotterdam; Delft sends its well-known earthenware and carpeting, the Hague promises carved wooden furniture, silver embroidery, &c. 5 and Leyden, says the " Art-Union," forwards blankets and woollen manufactures ; velvets, wax candles, painted glass, railway improvements and machinery, &c v are to come from Amsterdam ; pipes, terra cotta articles, tables, chairs, cast-iron and zinc ]>roductions, -woollen baizes, linen, calicoes, and glass are named from other districts. Space has been granted to the Bible Society to exhibit specimens of their Bibles in no less than one hundred and fifty languages. Messrs. Schweppe and Co., of Berners Street, the soda-water makers, are the successful competitors for the contract to supply the refreshments at the Chrystal Palace. The Commissioners have restricted the charges for these to the usual rates at any respectable London establishment. By the terms of the contract, glasses of filtered water are to be supplied gratis within the precincts of the building. Mr. Eingham, of Ipswich, has executed a piece of carving for the Exhibition, representing a natural group, consisting of a poppy-root, leaves, and heads, out of which spring three ears of ripe "wheat, with several blades. The group is so delicately carved out of a piece of limewood, that on the slightest motion the ears and blades of corn and the flower-heads shake as if they were as fragile as vegetable life. Mr. Paxton's sweeping machine is to be brought into operation within the building. The " Ladies' Caipet " is one of the curiosities to be exhibited. It contains 600 feet superficial, divided into 150 squares, worked in Berlin wool by 150 ladies. This carpet was on view at the Society of Arts in February last. A " Shoe-black Brigade " was in course of formation from the Ragged Schools of the metropolis, to supply the visitors with bright shoes during the Exhibition. The uniform is to be scarlet woollen jackets and black aprons. Each lad is to be supplied with a set of brushes, foot-stand, and blacking-box, by subscription. The Royal Agricultural Society have determined to choose a separate location for the exhibition of cattle, &c. It is reported that Bushey Park has been offered to them for the purpose by the Commissioners of Woods and Forests. Agricultural implements will be included in the Hyde Park Exhibition. The Rev. R. Mitchel, 8.D., Public Orator, of the University of Oxford, and the Rev. R. Walker, M. A., F.R.S., Reader in Experimental Philosophy, Oxford, have been appointed adjudicators for the Exhibition Prize Essay (100 guineas) ; subject — " In what respect is the union of all nations at the Exhibition calculated to further the moral and religious welfare of mankind, and thus conduce to the glory of God ; and in what respect may we, as a nation and as individuals, most effectually promote this object?" The Rev. Dr. Emerton, Hanwell College, is named umpire. The" Galdsmith's Company have offered rewards, amounting to about £1000, for the best specimens of gold and silver plate, to "sustain the character of England at the Exhibition." Sheffield is active in contributing articles of its industry for the Chrystal Palace. Messrs. Spears and Jackson are having a circular saw made with segment joinings of 5 feet diameter, to be the centre of well finished smaller satellites of starry-edged teeth. This will, it is supposed, be the largest circular saw ever manufactured. West "Wemyss has long been famed as the -principal coal-field of the east coast of Fife. The parrot coal of this district can be converted into articles of household furniture, such as looking-glass frames, writing-desks, chairs, and tables. Accordingly, Mr. Thomas Williamson is at present making a sofa wholly composed of coal, for the Exhibition. It is nine feet long, with three compartments or divisions, and is sufficient to contain, seven people sitting on it. The front standards are beautifully ■ carved, displaying three curious mongrel animals.. Mr. G. H. Ramsay, of Derwent -Villa,, also proposes to exhibit various articles made from his celebrated canal coal in the north of England.

An ingenious townsman of Dudley is at present engaged in constructing a very curious clock for the Exhibition, its chief peculiarity being the length of time it runs without winding,. The clock occupies in standing only eight , superficial inches y. the motive power is only 281b., and yet the machinery is so nicely constructed tfyat it will take 426 days to run it down. Consequently the second hand will make 613,440 revolutions, and the balance 147,225,600 vibrations in the above time. As each van load of cases arrived it was placed under the surveillance of the CustomHouse authorities on the spot. They were roughly examined, numbered, and registered by the officers, and transferred to .their appropriate hoardings. The marking out of the spaces for the various classes of British and Colonial produce was proceeding. The particular spots to be occupied by cotton machinery, in motion, were all indicated, and included stations for every kind of machine used in the manufacture of cottons. The spaces for flax, linen, and woollen manufactures had also been denned ; house furniture, contributed by the provincial towns, will also find a place in this immense show. "% The number of packages of Colonial articles received up to February 24 was 352. Of the British dependencies,, the East Indies claim the lion's share of room. The safety of the galleries in the monster building is to be tested by the weight of a large quantity of shot. Fourteen waggons, each containing one ton of shot, left the Woolwich Arsenal on the 23rd of February. The building, which is, as far as relates to the external work and decorations, almost complete, is to be enclosed by a handsome iron railing, 6h ft. The ravages of fire are to be carefully guarded against. A six inch pipe will run round the outside of the building, with sixteen branches into the interior, by which, with one length of hose, without a fire-engine, the whole area will be under control. And yet, under such precautions as these, the various insurance companies have fixed extraordinarily high rates of premium for the insurance of articles in the Chrystal Palace. The " Mechanical Gazette " suggests that the exhibitors should form a Mutual Insurance Fund.