The Express.
London, England, 1851-08-23 00:00:00

LEISILERS' AUSTRIAN FURNITURE.

TILE 'MAAS I'M-ROOM.

The walls of this drawing-room are not decorated,
but are simply covered with cloth of a light-green ardour,
pleasing to the eye, Lind well adapted to the gorgeous style
of the furniture exhibited.

Thu massive machine flooring, entirely of oak wood, is
extremely beautiful wad perfect in its execution. This, as
well as the other floorings exhibited by Messrs. Leistler and
Son still look as welt as if they had just come from the mu-
nufsctory, although, since the opening of the Exhibitisn,
some hundreds of thousands of feet have passed over the m•
In the middle of the saloon is it large round table, eight feet
and a halt in diameter, made of Courbarit wood. This wood,
which mites front the Br is of an extreme fineness,
but at the same time very hard, and is vs ry rarely made use of
by the manufacturers of furniture on that account. We believe
that in the whole Exhibition there is no other furniture of
laze made of Courbaril wood, with the exception, perhaps,
of some few objects of very small dimensions. The legs of
this table are all executed in moving lines, which, forming
groups of flowers, join in the centre. The design is original,
and of considerable elegance. There is another and smaller
table with one pedestal, massive, and with arahesquss which
form supporters to the table. These arabesques are grouped
with much taste, and although they are different in all their
parts, they everywhere 'assent to view a uniform outline.
There are several small oval, round, and pillar tables, three
wooden sofas, four richly carved sum-chairs, and fourteen
other chairs well adapted to such a saloon.
The most striking object in this saloon is a moving picture-
shelf (:foy.'re a tableaux), about nine feet high, with splen-
did carvings, consisting of twisted serpents. The pedestal
is embellished by three pretty figures, upon which are re-
posiug three small tables, destined for miniatures, family
portrait', small oil paintings, ivory statutes, sic. The three
tables may b, moved at will, in order to obtain any re-
quires' light; the pedestal, also may be moved with tlic
greatest ease.—.l/ornev Chrosside.

A piece of sculpture, already referred to, has
been added to the American compartment in the Crys-
tal Palace. The artist has selected for his subject
the hero of one of Mr. Charles Diekens' most popular tales,
and, us some say, his happiest production—Oliver Twist.
The helpless, friendless boy, is represented in a sitting, and
partly recumbent, picture, his arm bandaged, and looking
worn and wan with pain end fatigue. The figure is, upon
the whole, a meritorious work of art, and we think that the
idea of the author has been accurately comprehended and
successfully embodied in a visible form by the statuary•.
It belongs nut to idealised or poetic sculpture, hut is a
faithful presentment of one of those chill and stern realitit s
so often seen in common life. We advise discriminating
visitors to pause at this spot awhile, and spare from the
gorgeous aids to luxury that surround them, a glance upon
the effigy of poverty and privation in the person of the for-
lorn and neglected Oliver. The sight would recal to them
not only the dark scenes described by Dickens in the life of
the parish buy, but it is nut unlikely than the emblem would
conjure up in the minds of some a recollection of the life-
like hut painful pictures of Crabby. The statue is from the
chisel of Mr. Hughes, of Boston, United States.

The carriages of American manufacture are well worthy
attentive examination. The first characteristic which would
strike an untravelled Englishmau with surprise in viewing
these vehicles is their extreme lightness, and the apparent
incompetency of the 'deader asks, and the thin spokes and
narrow tires of the wheels to encounter the rough work of
Transatlantic roads. We were assured, however, that they
traversed their course with impunity, surmounting all ob-
i stashes, even some nearly high enough to touch the axles,
by the combination of that very lightness with toughness
of timber and iron, and solidity of workmanship. Our
attention was particularly attracted by one carriage, which,
to all outward :ippearance,was a phaeton on four wheels, and
with a hood, built for the accommodation of two persons
only, but with a stand projecting behind on a level with the
base of the body, as if for the tiger in attendance. By an fin
genious contrivance, however, the body of the vehicle is slid
II back to the hinder extremity of the aforesaid stand, and
front bcueath the seat another seat is drawn forward towards
the splash-board, and by this simple action, not occupying
more than two minutes, the vehicle becomes capable of
accommodating four persons with ample room fur sitting.
This carriage is called by the American builders a slide-
top buggy, although, as we have said, it bears much more
resenthlauce to the English idea of a phaeton than to that
lumbering jogging vehicle, handed and two-wheeled, so
many of which, in years amine, rumbled along Lundou
street, and fort the euphonious designation of buggy. They
were often the property of ltpothettries iu moderately gourd
practice, until supers -tied by that pattern of a one-hstce
chariot long popularly known and described as the "
Ism," and they funned the model tier the build of the first
hackney-cabs that plied tar public hire, to the great horror
and dismay of the Jarvies, an ancient race, which became
extinct probably about the same era as the Charlies.
Amongst the recent arrivals front the United States, is a
species of moss, large quantities of which are found in wild
parts of the Mississippi, hanging to the tress in masses,
rea.ohing solo lilacs the size of a man. When subjected
to a baking process and other operations, it presents the ap-
pearance of horse-hair, and, being equally tidootie, is Whored
us a cheaper substitute for that material as stuffing fur mat-
tresses cushions, and shoilar purposes, the line': at which it
could he mole up Liug estimated at about one-third the
cost of horsehair.
In the United States division is also exhibited a compass,
on a new principle, by Mr. J. IC St. John, professing to re-
medy the deficiency of the cid compass in not showing the
variations of the needle, and to mark those variations at
all times, under all circumstances, and whether arising
from local or artificial causes. The means he uses to ac-
complish that object may be briefly stated as two asteroids,
one being electrically charged positively and the other ne-
i gatively, marking the variations upon the segments of
circles beneath them. The instrument, we hear, has been
submitted to the Admiralty, and will 110 doubt receive the
attention of scientific moon ; but it would be, of course, im-
possible to pronounce an opinion upon the invention on a
cursory inspection, or even to describe it so as to be popu-
larly intelligible.

THE PATENT SODA-WATER APPARATUS of Mr. Cox,
who shows his machinery at work at the Exhibition, and
very liberally distributes among the bystanders the aerated
waters produced by it, attracts much attention. The appl,
rains exhibited is capable of producing .Wll gallons, or sixty-
five gross of soda water in ten hours, without the use of
steam power. The principal point in connection with the
' machine is an apparatus for generating or disengaging the
carbonic acid gas with which the water or other liquid is to
be impregnated, and by which the exhibitor is enabled to
impregnate it to any required extent, in order to impart to
it the sparkling properties of an aerated liquid, without the
aid of force pumps or other mechanical means of pressure.
This is accomplished by connecting the vessel which contains
the sulphuric, hydrochloric, or other acids employed, with
the generator, by means of a pipe, in such a manner that
there shall be an equal pressure of gas above and below the
acid, when, by means of a tap or valve, any requisite quan-
tity of acid may be admitted during the operation ; by this
MeaUll the pressure of the gas can be increased to any
desired extent, and sustained for any length of time. By
this arrangement the necessity fur a force pump, or other
mechanical means of pressure, is entirely obviated. Such is
the power of this machine, that eighteen gallons of water or
other liquid can be impregnated with an excess of carbonic
gas at a pressure of from 300 to 40016. per square inch, in
from fifteen to twenty minutes. The cylinders of the ma-
chine in the Exhibition are constructed of the best descrip-
tion of metal, and well put together, or there is nu doubt
that they would long since have yielded to the force of the
gas ; and many of the spectators, when they are informed
by the attendant that the pressure is 80, 90, or 10016. te the
square inch, very naturally feel somewhat uneasy in the
presence of a confined agent of such power. We under-
stand, however, that there is no ground for apprehension,
as the cylinders have been tested fax beyond that amount
of pressure