The Express.
London, England, 1851-02-01 00:00:00

,
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115

No. 1,385.1 [No. 6, EXHIBITION EXPRESS.]

THE
EXHIBITION
t
EXPRESS,
FOR THE WEEK ENDING

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 1.

PROGRESS OF THE GREAT EXHIBITION.

To-night the Crystal Palace itself is to be com-
p! ted. The work of construction will, it is stated,
be.bro.ught to a termination this evening. On Mon-
day next visitors will be afforded one more and only
opportunity, between this time and the let of May,
for inspecting the complete omelet semblance of the
wonderful receptacle for the industrial products of
the world, which during the last few weeks has grown
up before them with an almost magical rapidity. On
the close of this last stow-day, the building will be
dosed, sad within it next week • series of tasks will
temmecce, the successful socompliahment of which
will involve the application of an amount of skill and
Wiser soarcely interior to that required to rear the
bedding itself. AmeasitimeinelOrdsee
the wcacs which
yet numa ' te he peeps-
masa of the interior of the building for tee
reception of the articles of which the Exhibition will
be composed—the arrangement of three articles in
the places assigned them—the decorative piOnting of
the structure, internally and externally, and the com-
pletion of a multitude of minor details. The Execu
five Committee have already completed the division
of the area of the building into the spaces in which
will be arranged, in their various classes and locali-
ties, the articles sent in for exhibition, and have also
minutely subdivided theme apsoes in accordacce with
the requitement' of iudividual exhibitors. Oa and
after 'lee edgy next, as we have already stated, the
pubic lett' be rigidly ,:eluded from the building;
and on the 111th of February it will be consigned to
the keeping of thu officers of customs, who have re-
ceived ir structions to regard it u a banded
warehouse, and to make their arrangements
accordingly. Having made this announcement, it
is scarcely necessary to point out to exhibitors the
amusity of observing strictly the rata which have
been laid down for their guidance by the Executive
Commihee. Inietention to these regulations, will,
under the custom-house regime, be followed inevita-
bly by disappointment at d inconvenience. Tempo-
rary hoardings are at present in course of construction
round the various sections on the ground-tier, and
several men belonging to the uppers and miners have
bees engaged for some days past to marking out in
red paint the various passages which are to be lef:
clear. 'fee counters and fittings for the display of
goods will be set up within these hoardings. The
workmen who are to be employed, with the arrange-
moat of the articles mot in for exhibition, will be
plated under a rigid surveillance; each man
will have a special duty and place as-
signed to him, and the most trivial deviation from
the regulations which it has been deemed ne-
cessary to devise for insuring the satisfactory carrying
out of this arduous and responsible portion of the un-
dertaking will all down severe punishment on the
offender. The great advantages which would be con-
ferred on visitors who arrive in carriages if an
entrance from Rotten-row could be secured, have been
already stated. There are many other obviously
useful improvements upon the present means of access
to the building, which might be carried out early,
and at a trifling expense. The strip of ground whine
runs from Prince's-gate to Knightsbridge barracks,
and which at present is an utterly useless incloeure,
should be appropriated for the puerile of
widening the approach to the building. An
opening from Bromptou-square to Prince's-
gate would also have the effect of relieving
the Kensington-road from much traffic which
It is feared will encumber It. The Executive Com-
mittee have received deputations during the week
from I tuddersfield, Paisley. and other manufacturing
towns. Amongst the topics discussed on these occa-
sions was that of the arrangement for admission to
the Exhibition, and • universal feeling wee mani-
fested in opposition to any plan of gratuitous admis-
sion. The arrangements for the printing of the
eatelogues are completed, and the Executive Com-
mittee are desirous of impressing upon the exhib.tors,
that the fait ation of these indispensable adjuncts of
the goat undertaking will be much facilitated by an
attention to the prescribed rules when they furnish the
descriptions of the articles as they wish them to
appear in the catalogue. Exhibitors should also make
their descriptions as brief as possible, and confine
them as much as possible to facts. Illustrations of the
articles exhibited will be inserted in the large cata-
logue, at the. expense of the exhibitors themselves. The
Royal Cemmissioners have also defined the character
of the refreshments which are to be furnished to
visitors., and have altogether excluded wines, spirits,
hese, and intoxicating drinks of all kinds.
It is most desirable that all persons who let lodg-
her, and all metropolitan landlords and hotel-keepers,
should know as accurately as possible the probable
demand there will be throughout the coming summer
for their lodging-houses mad tebJedluies. While the
estimates of the anticipated inns: of visitors range
from one to seven millions, it is extremely difficult
to make any legitimate ealCulations. Same estimate
may, however, be made by taking as • starting-point
two large periebes—those of 8:. Margaret's and St.
John's, Westminster, of which the cooditioa has
bean ascertained. They contain, it appears, about
five bombed sleeping apartments in private houses,
usually let as lcdsings. East of Sloane-street
there are three more equally capacious districts,
yieldirg to,,ether furrished lodging accommodation
br about two thousand of the middle clues*. The
same sm'ent will probably be afforded by Chelsea,
also by Brampton; and New Kensington will hold
about two hundred and fifty, making altogether
accommodation between the parks sod the river for
about seven thousand pemets. It is impossible to
state the asuesat of rent which the landlords of these
rums may requirewhen the throng has set in; bat, at,
the present time, in most instar there are few of them
who would not be satisfied with a weekly receipt of
twenty abilliogs for each room, if this amount were
guaranteed for fifteen weeks from the let of May.
Already the more important agencies of the Westosud
are movirg in the matter ; but as every lodging-hold er
has his or her private opinion on the probable deemed
fee lodging,, the amounts demanded vary hem
ration to the most ludicrous extortion. At tae hump
a respectable apartment may be had for thirty
tinge weekly; whilst, next docr, a facia of similar pre-
teneion is a xpe wed to br "snapped up " at double that
amount One lodging-house keeper thick, the Exhibi-
tion will be a failure, and that the prudent course is to
mum a permanent lodger, at a moderate remunera-
tion ; while another, on the c )ntrary, cherishes a belief
that ea the let of May no lees this a miilicn of strange
beings will make • deicent upon the metropolis, and
empty their respective purses into his lap, in
the desperate hope of being allowed to preen
the mattress of his two-pair heck. It is almost
seedless to Mate that neither of these ex-
tremes cos be accepted as the probable state of
Unmes lathe lint place it is to mem-
ber that the Mau of visitors will"ZsgiNual, re
and that
the average metropolitan sojourn of ugh visitor will
not extend beyond a week; therefore, while the
Immeward-bound packets are steaming to Loodoo-
Wigs, with thir motley cargoes of excited foreigners,
gowns& head vessels will equally beladen with
illeamtothilitaravellers. There will undoubledly
b aa for lodgings, and rents will be
=lB=4lllei esd
but it is important to guard
le re aliging in a golden vision which
ail am&
amillirmairlvandle_ Id and Horse have published the
or a register of homes aced Weep, a

glance at which must satisfy most people that, by
clubbing together, respectable country and foreign
families may secure to themselves comfortable, and
*Tee Oltiats ibodig throughout the forthcoming
season. For instanoe, at Notting-hiii ;:::'lllAe
to
obtain a well-furnished villa, making op eight beds,
at five guineas weekly. This amount divided between
two families would therefore MOM to them a resi-
dence at a meet reasonable rats; even in North
Audley-street, Groevenor-equare, similar &commode-
tion may be secured at an equally low rentaL
While at the West-end this accommodation may
be thus cheaply obtained, a landlord, of an obviously
imaginative tendetcy, demands no leas than ten
guineas weekly Lr a house situated at Rotherbithe,
and furnishing only four beds; while a *till more ex-
citable imagination leads a land:orl in Blackfrian to
hold his tenement, consisting of drawing, dining-
room, and seven bedrooms, cheap, at 201. weekly. To
correct these exaggerated notions, it is only necessary
to show the vast lodgirg-capacity of London; and a
knowledge of the amnia of accommodation, at area.
sonable rate, which that snail portion of the capital
situated between the perks and the ricer can aff,rd,
may check the flights of imagination in which many
aleculative persons appear to be indulging.

The conduct of the American government in refer-
ence to the c.immittes of the May:Exhibition is in
direct contrast with that of the French executive.
Whilst the latter has obtained in its Legislative As-
sembly the vote of 860,000*. irg the expresso to be,
Mewed la eoneentratteg.ftexaSegoted traesport-
ing the French product. to the Exhibirica, and in
reporting on the foreign articles exhibited there by
other nations, the former has refused to give any
assistance in money to the American Exhibition au-
thorities. State committees bad, according to the last
advice., been formed in Massactineetts, Mississippi,
New York, Vermont, Ohio, Missouri, Indiana, Mary-
land, Illinois, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island,
New J.reey, South Carolina, Alabama, Delaware,
North Caroline, Connecticut, Pennsylvania,
Tennessee, Florida, Louisiana, Kentucky, Michigan,
and Georgia; and through three state committees the
citizens of the United States respouded promptly to
the invitation to place specimens of their natural pro-
ductions, ingenuity, and skill, by the aide of those of
, the nations of the Old World. For the transmission

of these article, cmstwiso end a:room:he A,laotic, the

, .
American secretaries of treasury and of the navy
afforded every facility within their control and nut
inconsistent with Vide duty. A public ship, the Onio,
ordered by the navy department for the conveyance
of articles for the Exhibition from the United Stater,
will bring them to England tree of expense. But
when landed in England no person has been appointed
to take charge of them, and the duty of the officers
and crew of the ship that conveys them there
will be at an end. The American committee.,
considering these facts, had hoped that some autho-
ised person would be appointed to superintend on
the spot the arrangement and display of the articles
sent. Tce application to that effect hu not been re-
sponded to, so that if al agent is appointed he must
be paid by a subscription. France, unlike America
in this, von d a portion of the money granted in order
that a certain number of persons conversant in tech-
nical processes should be employed to examine and
take note., whilst others were employed in watching
over the interests of the exhibitors. We have already

announced tact Belgium had taken similar steps. Th's
example nu now Leen loilo.ied by Spain, which has
appointed as repreiuntativre Don Andres Borrego,
Don Romon de la Sagra, and Don Liao Vilaneuva;
and by Bavaria, welch has appointed Professor
Bchaffuaui l, a gentleman who is to reside permanently
in London.

Although the American executive refeures to accredit
ea spat, the Americans have cot been idle, and
already the central committee has issued certificates
to upwards of one hundred of those who have sub-
mitted their specimens for exhibition. Amongst these
we may mention a collection of autumnal leaves from
Rhode Island, model fulling mills, portable mills,
ludia rubber pontoons, a magnetic roach and insect
exterminator, a model of an ocean steamer, an air-
exhausted c, ffio, besides various other articles' among
which dentistry is a prominent feature. Canada,
the land of sleighing, sends us several elegant speci-
mens of sleighs.
From Rome our correspondent writes that:
The =oleic establishment of the Vatican will be repre-
sented in the great London Exhibition in a manner
worthy of its fame, by a halt figure of John the :
copied from Outrun° s calebiwed picture, and execuiPd in
doe mosaic by the artist Castellini, one of the expo:wit
workmen in the government studio. The exquisite
colouring, the fine expression and real uustical
helms of this production, the work of some years,
will place it beyond the competition of any similar piece
which the Eshibition may afro& It is now ',spored to pith.
lie criticism in the sacristy of Bt. Peter's Church for a tow
days previous to being runtiansed for its destination. In
the line of landscape and faucital compositions in 'mosaic,
the Chevalier Barberi and &icor Evichetti will stud sense
works of first rate excellence. It is also reported that the
government intends to fetid the twelve exquisite camel, en-
graved by the Chevalier Oirometti on oriental gems, fur
which Pope Gregory gars 8,000 dollars, and which
us now is the Villein library. They would certainly be
unrivalled in the Esnibition.
%regret to state that those celebrated art-establish
the' - and

mate, _- foundry, glass painting, porcelain ma-
onfoctorits of Buena will be virtually unrepresentid
at the forthcoming show. The glue painting cats-
luiliment of Munich is unrivalled in the world.
Though it cannot compete with the old relics of glees
painting in the simplicity of their colour,it beats them
in the richness of ornamentation and variety of sub-
ject. It is said, indeed, that, rather than this art mu-
inifsctory should not be represented, the window
lately finished, and a present from King Ludwig to
the Dom of ltatiabon, will be sent to London, but this
production, we are told, will not comprise all the
power for which the establishment is celebrated. In
the porcelain branch of art no specimens showing
every perfection the art has attained will be sent.
From the foundry we shall only hare one of the gi-
path lions destined to ornament the colossal statue
of Bavaria, melted in the inGuld made by Schwan-
thaler, and two statues, seven feet high, that figure
essaget the celebrated Bohemian heroes. Kaulbick
has seat a picture of his to London for exhibition in
the Glass Palace.

Oa the 2nd of December a decree was issued in
Lisbon, appointing a commission to promote the ex-
hibition of the productions of Portuguese industry in
London. Count de Thomas and Viscount Carrels' are
members of the commission. Already two announce-
ments base been published by this body in the Diori,
do Gurerno, io the last of which the commissioners
is., the following as the articles which should be
sent from Portugal :
Samples of wool, fits, Akkan cotton, Cape Yard ootf,e,
oil, dried fruits, hooey, cheese, medicinal plants, timber,
marble, minerals, salt, sad lime. With respect to maculae-
tared articles, the commissioners thus impress thenualves :
" We can seed well finished arms from our arsenals, mule's
of naval architecture; oar sailcloth, which his encoded
that of Hamburg from our markets; our common printed
cottons, which are daily diminishing foreign importations ;
oar coarse woollens, and aupets."
_ _

The Paris lioniteur contains a decree of the
Minister of Commerce charging the members of the
central jury of the Agricultural and Industrial Exhi-
bition of 1849 to proceed to the examination and
deticitive &eh ction of the produc:e of French industry
destined fur the Exhibition of London. The members
of the jury are to enter immediately on their func-
tions on being convoked by their president, 81. Charles
Dopio.
It will be seen by all this that the prospects of the
Great Exhibition are favourable both abroad and at
home.

The West Imola mail packet Treat. which arrived at
Southampton lut week, brought two large parkegee, co.-
Waive noel °mamma made of Mello for the Omit Eiki-
bittoa from Ni...., is the 80b..... They are now at the
Southampton Imitom-how, waiting for orders to be de-
spatched unopened to Loadsu.

Oar omereeieselent, waiting trim Naples ea the 24th mar:
—" ♦ table of Neva Dare, that hat been in t►e wee of
niemenhetnre he 120 yew, im to be lent to the Lssika
Baltildtlem."