The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1888-05-19 00:00:00

ITALIAN EXHIBITION.

Fine weather favoured the formal opening of the
Italian Exhibition, at West Brempton, by the Lord
Mayor of London on Saturday afternoon, and if the
large crowd of persons which thronged the building
and grounds during the evening may be taken as an
earnest of the interest felt in the undertaking, the
promoters need entertain little doubt as to its lila-
mate success. From two o'clock, when the doore
were first thrown open to the public, until three, a
continuous stream of visitors flowed in at the gates,
the majority of them possessing passes of admission
to the spacions marquee in which the inaugural cere-
mony was to take place. Here the preparations con-
sisted chiefly in the erection of a dais at one side of
the tent, while from the roof hung a profusion of
Union Jacks and Italian flags. A guard of honour, com-
posed of the Tower Hamlets Engineer Volunteers (450
members of which regiment were present under the
command of Lieut.-Col. Sir .I.lCirby) had been drawn
up at the main entrance of the Exhibition, where the
members of the Reception Committee, headed by their
president, Colonel J. T. North, were also waiting in
readiness to receive the Lord Mayor. Shortly after
three o'clock a fanfare from the official trumpeters
announced the arrival of the civic procession, the
Lord Mayor appearing in full state, attended by the
civic officers. After the formal reception, Common-
datore Ruggero Bonghi, the Special Commissioner sent
to represent the Italian Government at the opening
ceremony, advanced and presented the Lord Mayor
with a cordial letter from the Prime Minister of Italy,
introducing him as a worthy representative of the
culture and intellectual activity of Italy, expressing
regret that his Royal Highness Prince Victor Emanuel
wat unable to attend the formal opening of the Exhi-
bition, and referring to his (Signor Crispi's) admira-
tion from his earliest youth of England and
her free institutions. A procession having
been formed, the Lord Mayor was conducted through
the Exhibition building, between a double line of
volimteera, and, on arriving at the dais in the
marquee, the formal opening ceremony was at once
commenced. Among the members of the Reception
Committee and others present were the Spanish Am-
bassador, the Spanish, Portuguese, and Hawaiian
Ministers, Commendatore T. Catalani (the Chargé
d'Affaires to the Italian Embassy, who attended,
in the absence of the Italian Ambassador, with seven
members of the Legation, the Earl and Countess De-
La-Warr, Lord and Lady 'Walsingham, Lord Eshet
(Master of the Rolls), Lord Windsor, Lord Aberdare,
Lord Churchill, Lord Greenock, Baron Heath (Italian
Consul-General), Viscount Lewisham, M.P., Lieu-
tenant-Colonel Sir A. Kirby, Sir Algernon Borthwick,
M.P., and Lady Borthwick, Sir J. Heron-Maxwell,
Lieutenant-General Sir M. Biddulph, Sir Julian Gold-
smid, M.P., and Lady Goldsmid, Sir J. Dorrington,
M.P., Sir D. Galton, Sir Victor Houlton, Sir W. Guyer
Hunter, M.P., Sir S. Wilson, M.P., Sir S. H. Waterlow,
Major-General Moncrieff, Lieutenant-Colonel Sewell.
Captain E. M. Shaw, Dr. W. R. Gowers,
and Mr. J. Barran, M.P. There were also present
representatives of the principal cities of Italy. Brief
addresses having being delivered by Mr. J. R. Whitley,
Director-General of the Exhibition), and Cavalier
L. I3onacini (President of the London Committee),
Commendatore Bonghi spoke at some length in
Italian. The Lord Mayor, in responding to the ad-
dresses, after referring to the absence of the Prince of
Naples, said he was convinced that this Exhibition
would prove not only a very great attraction in the
coming season in London, but a valuable means of
infusing increased interest in the arts, sciences, and
manufactures which were associated with the realm
of Italy. He predicted a great success for the Exhibi-
tion, and with every good wish for its prosperity and
for the future of the kingdom of Italy and its august
rulers, he formally declared the Italian Exhibition
open. After the Lord Mayor and the officers of the
Corporation had retired, an inaugural hymn, specially
written by Antonio Ghislanzoni, and composed by
Signor Tito Mattel, was admirably sung by Madame
Nordica and a chorus. Telegrams were subsequently
despatched to the Prince of Naples and to several of
the Italian Ministers, announcing the successful open-
ing of the Exhibition.