The Express.
London, England, 1862-04-03 00:00:00

HOW TO DXILI Tat VALITI Of TIM GMAT
_ laHll3ll IoN.

117TO;:iy: Pros ia.,
D 0 WE WANT A RECORD OF THE GREAT
EXHIBITION / Do we not want an lutenultional Record
for the International Balobition a How to Double the Value oi
the to Exhibitors and the World. By a sa-
KIHIBITOR. _ .

To ealos : Machos Wilgus, Royal &chop.

THE INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION.

That broad muddy passage in the International
building which is architecturally known as the
central transept looks at the present moment like
an ill-kept country lane. It mast be very like
those roads which made Arthur Young so intlig-
nsut in the last century; and it is jammed up with
carts, vans, carmen, and blocks of timber until it'
looks like the interior of Pickford's yard on a
Friday night. The road is a soft, puddly yawning
gulf, but piled up on each side of it are pecking-
MOON of all shapes and sizes, ranged in an almost
impassable Alpine series. It is nut an easy task
now to get from oi.e side of the building to the
other as exhibitors' cases, partitions, trophies,
bricklayers, carpenters, and porters atop the way
in all directions. The office that you left in one
position the day before has, perhaps, been shifted
to another part of the exhibition and the passage
that was open on Monday is a goarded squame on
Tuesday. The noise of hammers on all sides is
deafening and bewildering, and every man you
meet (except the mere visitors) bears a worn,
anxious look on his face, the result of hard work,

worry, and excitement.
The deliveries of goods are still occupying the at-
tention of the superintendents on the British and
foreign sides of the building, and early and late
the cranes, the book-keepers, the luggage-barrows,
and the labourers, are employed in the work of
unloading the industrial treasures. lip to Tuesday
night the British office had received nearly thirteen
thousand cams and fittings, and the foreign office
about seven thousand. The day on which the
carriages are to be received has been fixed for the
19th al April, and it is therefore hoped that any
esimellaneous British cases will be safely lodged
before that date.
The round window in the dome entrance of the
eastern front has been filled with richly stained
&m, which increases the rich effect of the decora-
tion inside, though it adds nothing to the beauty of
the exterior. The opposite window, under the other
dome, will also be inWd with coloured glass, and
the greet northern windows at the ends of
the east and west transepts. The mezzanine' or
raised flooring under both the domes, is being rapidly
laid down, and a few days will see this work closed,
and the great orchestra, to contain thirteen hun-
dred—singers and instrumentalists—put in band at
the east cud. The ill luck which marked the emu-
esseoeinent of the eastern dome in the sacrifice of
life and limb mews to bang over it to the last.
Ou Tuesday a man was swung up to the roof—a
height o more than two hundred feet—on a bar
like a trapeze, to unfit some pulleys, and, encour-
aged by an applauding crowd of visitors, exhi-
bitors, and workmen, he attempted to finish his
task in an off-hand manner, slipped off his seat,
lost his presence of mind, and fell down like a
lump of lead amongst the jagged timbers on the
ground. Fortunately lie was an unmarried man,
and his lam thereforet will not add any more to
the long list of Exhibition widows and orphans.
The organisation of juries is going on very
rapidly in the several departments, and the number
we believe will be about eighty. The machinery
department, though still backward, promises well
for the English exhibitors, and one little colliery
locomotive—quite a work of art in its way—has
been found very useful on the railroad in the
Western Annexe. A notice has been sent out to
the exhibitors in this department by the commis-
sioners, tiling the 20th of April as the last day for
putting together machinery, and the dates between
the _dud and the 23th of April for the trial of
machinery in motion.
The government authorities seem to Lave altered
their minds about the policy of exhibiting a certain
portion of their gunnery work in the naval and
military classes, and at present it is somewhat un-
certain whether some of the trophies we have
announced as being fixed in this department will
not be withdrawn. _ .

The picture galleries on the British aide are more
than two-thirds hung with works in oil and water
colour, and about the middle of the mouth the press
will be officially admitted to give a detailed account
of this strung point of the Exhibition. The artists
generally have asked permission to conic in and
dust or varnish their works before they are shown,
and with the consent of the various owners of the
pictures this request will doubtless be granted
Of course, nothing like retouching will be allowed.
The statuary has not yet made its appearance, and
as it i s to playa new and important part in the display,
its arrival is anxiously expected. With the excep-
tion of one room devoted to the works of deceased
artists—in which many fine works of Flaxman,
Chantrey, Westmacott, and others will be found—
the whole of the sculpture will be disposed artisti-
cally about the picture galleries and other parts of
the building.
We have touched from time to time upon most
noticeable points in connexion with the colonial
part of the Exhibition, and we may now say a few
words about our greatest possession—lndia.
Any one who remembers the Indian display in
thu old Exhibition, or who saw it at Paris in 1855,
or who has visited the India Museum—now
thoroughly re-arranged at Fife-house, Whitehall-
yard, under the able direction of Dr. Forbes Wat-
son—will not be astonished to learn that the pros-
pects of this part of the Exhibition are most en•
averaging. AU the richest dreams of eastern inag-
nificence will be more than realized in the jewels,
armour, silks, and niuslins to be exhibited, while
the raw produce will show the capabilities of the
country, and the general manufactures the industry
of the natives.
The long gallery north of the nave will contain
this valuable and interesting collection. Teu thou-
sand square superficial feet have been placed at the
disposal of Dr. Watson—an area deducted from
the British half of the building—and what articles
he tiuds it impossible to display within thew) limits
will be removed to the India Museum before men-
tioned, and exhibited to the public.
The chief exhibitors on this occasion are a num-
ber of eminent importing firms, and the India
Museum. The articles sent will, of course, rx
arranged in the classification fixed by her Majesty's
commissioners ; but Dr. Watson intends to divide
them as much as possible into their geographical
sections.

Bombay will stand out with many samples of
native cotton—raw and manufactured—the towell-
ing, duck, and canvass, from Broach, being varied
and remarkable. The plain and embroidered
mouslins from Kutch, Surat, and other places, as
well as the embroideries generally on velvet, silk,
leather, and cloth, will show a high degree of ex-
cellence both in design and execution. Woollen
and silk fabric will be well represented by niece
than 20 places in this part of India.
The tea districts of India—ouch as Assam,
Sylhet, and Kangra, will send numerous samples
of their produce—their oils, gums, and medicinal
substances—with many specimens never before ex-
hibited. Madras will be well represented in raw
produce—particularly in timber and dyes. Indigo
and coffee will have their places ; also apices, dui-

filiation*, fruits, oil, and 'sugar.. - .
The fine arta of this collection will be represented
by a variety of carvings, pictures, and photographs.
The paintings on ivory from Delhi will show how
much that branch of native talent has improved
during the last ten years, and a landscape and the
interior of a temple will particularly attract atten-
Um Many of the paintings are faithful copies of
photographs taken at Lucknow. Of sculpture there
will be a large variety in stone, ivory, marble, and