The Express.
London, England, 1851-06-21 00:00:00

LONDON, SATURDAY EVENING, JUNE 21, 1851.

artist, but now the property of Mr. liollord, who kindly
sent it for exhibition. This rare specimen of Florentine
mosaic occupied the artist eight years in its construction, and
although a very small slab, is valued at 10e0/. The crowd, as on
the previous day was an exceedingly well-dressed one, and in-
cluded many of our first fashionable', who bore the hustling
with entire good humour and patience. Some sensation
was caused about midday by the arrival of our old Chinese
friend Keying in grand costume, with two attendants, hav-
ing come to give a sitting to the artist who is preparing a
picture of the grand opening. The illustrious stranger
looked exceedingly well, and seemed wonderfully to enjoy
the way in which he was ran after by the country visitors.
There was also a good sprinkling of the Scots Fusilier
Guards, their colonel, Prince Albert, having purchased ad-
missions for the whole regiment, to be sent in in drafts,
as the exigencies of military duty might permit. Altogether
the day was a feature in the history of the Crystal Palace.

- .
Cash account, Juuc 17.
Benson tickets
At the doors 3,191 2 0
---.
Total £3,202 13 0
WEDNE3DAT.

Wednesday Was another great day at the Crystal
Palace. Notwithstanding the fluctuating character of the
weather, the visitors began to pour in at an early hour, so
that at two o'clock the interior might be literally called the
World's Fair. The great increase of country visitors is now
becoming quite noticeable, and the foreigners, who now
form a large ingredient in the company, are no longer ex-
clusively of the stronger sex. French and German may be
heard resounding through the building with a volubility
which unbearded lips would in vain strive toarrive at. From
the subjoined figures it will be seen that the great body of
visitors came between the hours of 10 and 2 o'clock, and
there is a fair presumption that those were the hours at
which the provincial contingents would arrive. The 3
o'clock return would give the steady ticket-holders who

come day by day, and examine the wonders, section by sec-
tion, a task which must have been sadly interrupted;
while the later hours returns may be supposed to:indicate
the mere loungers who promenade the nave or sit
about the crystal fountain ; and they, most of all, are in-
commoded by the myriads who come for the vulgar purpose
of seeing and being instructed by the Exhibition. The
numbers at the last return taken were 62,032, being
nearly 5,000 less than the return of the previous day, but
considerably beyond any preceding day's work, and the
following was their order of arrival :—Eleven o'clock,
18,637 ; twelve o'clock, 17,715 ; one o'clock, 10,31.5; two
o'clock, 6,913; three o'clock, 4,123; four o'clock, 3,366;
five o'clock, 1,476; and 6 o'clock, 687: total, 62,332. At a
quarter to seven the bell rang, and in an insoaccivably
short space of time the building was left to the tranquil pos-
session of its nightly guardians. This process of clearing
out is not the least remarkable feature of the Exhi-
bition. Great military authorities have said that it
was easy to collect 60,000 people in Hyde-park,
but not so easy to get them out again ; but at
the Crystal Palace the problem is solved every day
without any coercive means save the inherent orderliness
and good feeling of the people. There is no rushing, no
noise, no confusion. The tide recedes as gradually as it had
advanced, and the only trouble the police have is to con-
trol the curiosity of the ladies about the diamonds, and to
make abstruse arithmetical calculations touching the ingress
and egress. Some slight disturbances to the harmony of
the proceedings was occasioned by an accident which oc-
curred in the machinery iu motion room about three o'clock.
A man, who was engaged in showing the working of the
tile-making machine, by some means got his arm entangled
in the works, and was severely hurt, the flesh being much
lacerated and the bone broken. He was immediately re-
moved to St. George's Hospital. Among the improvements
which every day's experience suggests to the executive
committee, a large coloured
,ground plan of the build-
ing was on Wednesday posted up at the southern en-
trance, with every department indicated in large
letters, so that a few moments' reference would enable
a visitor to proceed straight to any desired section. This
will be a much better arrangement than the guide system,
which has been in operation for a day or two, but has re-
ceived little or no encouragement from the public.
Cash account, June 18.
Season tickets £l9 19
At the doors

Total receipts £2,917 6
THURSDAY.

The visitors from the provinces fairly took posses.
sion of the Crystal Palace on Thursday. Stalwart farmers
might be seen bustling about in every direction in a mixed
state of amazement and perspiration, and young 'squires
nearly as athletic, gave, in their jolly countenances and
smart sporting costumes, the lie direct to any notion of de-
pression amongst the agricultural interest. The interior of
the building was quite couleur de rose with the blooming
complexions of the young ladies from the country, and the
refreshment folks had a busy day in satisfying their unso-
phisticated appetites. It would be hard indeed to find con-
gregated in any part of the world so many first-rate
specimens of the human race, both male and female, as were
assembled yesterday at the Great Exhibition. The greatest
pressure was in the foreign nave, where, so extreme was the
beat, that any enjoyment of the various attractive objects
was almost impossible. The crowd beat up against the
great cage of the Koh-i-noor in a surging tide, above which
the strong arms of the guardian policemen might be seen
waving to and fro, and impressing the necessity of forbear-
ance in unmistakeable gesticulation. The stands at the
sides, filled as they arc with costly rareties, were for a long
time comparatively empty ; but gradually the masses spread
through passages and galleries, and the work of admiration
at generals, and of criticism at particulars, from fresh
unjaded perceptions, commenced. Some of our friends
from the country found, or fancied they had found,
minute joininp in the Russian malachites, which had
previously been supposed to be composed of solid
muses of the mineral; and in the gallery of pre-
cious metals a very numerous group criticised un-
mercifully the posture of Queen Elizabeth's horse in
one of the large pieces of plate. It was soon noticed that
the horse had two legs down on one side, a position which I
communicated a ludicrous sense of insecurity when looked
at from behind, when the perpendicular was seen palpably
to fall beyond the centre ofgravity. An explanatory ticket
stated that the horse was " pacing," a step in which pal.
Preys were trained in those times for ladies of quality.
But this was stigmatised as au unhappy afterthought,
one gentleman stating that he had never seen
anything walk that way, but a dog at Wakefield fair, and
that he, although exhibited for a show, could not keep it up
for many yards. Perhaps Sir Christopher Hatton, who was
as skilled in the mange as he was in the saltatory science,
may have left some record that would decide the knotty
point. A novelty in the foreign nave, which only made its
appearance on Thursday, was the object of unqualified ad-
miration. It is a greatly reduced copy of Kiss's celebrated
Amason and Tiger, beautifully executed, and which being
on the floor, admits of that close inspection which is pre-
cluded by the great size of the original. Another novelty,
or if not a novelty, to placed as hitherto to have escaped
observation, is an entire tea-service of the ordi-
nary size in red cornelian, each piece being cut from
the solid stone, and everything, even the spoons, formed of
this material. The Russian who had the diamonds under
his are suffered dreadful inroads from his fair persecutors,
but he bears all patiently, and says he is learning English
from the incessant questions of the ladies. He has been for-
tunate enough to find a purchaser for one of his most costly
ornaments in a member of the es-royal family of France.
In the British gallery, the great Coventry ribbon, which
has already been described in the Erpress, was sur-
rounded by an admiring crowd. Wonderful anecdotes
were circulated about it; among others, that the great City
house which had secured it exclusively was selling it as fast
as it could be made at 30s. a yard, and that two men could
only make two yards of it in a week ! The stained emu
gallery, hitherto so much neglected, has now become one of
the most populous portions of the building. The total ex-
clusion of the sun makes it cool and pleasant, and the
double row of seats down the centre renders it exceedingly
convenient for the discussion of imported creature comforts.
The me/queue is, that between 3 and 4 o'clock it be-
comes a vast dining-room, in which the weary visitors in-
dulge their taste for the fins arts, and empty their reboil-
mast baskets at their leisure. As every locality is width
sum do congregate will have its gossip, there was a psi
deal of eenversedsa In the Crystal Palace oa Thusidsh

about a design for a fountain to play on shilling
days, which the most jocose of our periodicals has
published. While every ono admitted the good intentions
which had originated the sketch, it was, at the same time,
urged that, if it meant anything, it meant beer, and that
any considerable flow of that pleasant stimulant might dis-
turb the admirable order which is at present a great no-
tional boast. It will be perceived by the subjoined num-
bers that the original maximum has been again far ex-
ceeded, although there were not probably more than 60,000
within the building at any one time. It is, perhaps, not
generally known that arrangements are constantly in ope-
ration by which, in a moment, the number of admissions
could be restricted. One of the flappers is every day " told
off" to be ready in ease of necessity to ascend to the top of
the transept and run a black ball up the flag-staff as
a signal that the doors are temporarily closed. The constant
efflux and reflux has hitherto rendered his services unne-
cessary, but if the weather continues fine, and the arrivals
from the provinces go on at the present rate, his office may
soon cease to be a sinecure. The numbers admitted were—
Eleven o'clock, 17,731; twelve o'clock, 18,130 ; one o'clock,
10,223; two o'clock, 5,935; three o'clock, 5,222; four
o'clock, 3,762; five o'clock, 1,968; and six o'clock, 709.
Total, 63,709. _

Cash account, June 19.
Season tickets
At the doors 2,981 12 0

Total receipts
FRIDAY.

Her Majesty inaugurated tho anniversary of her
weepion yesterday by au early visit to the Crystal Palace. The
Royal party consisted of her Majesty, Prince Albert, his Ma-
jesty the King of the Belgians, and the usual suite. Her Ma-
jesty's appearance showed how well early rising agrees with
her, and Prince Albert also looked well; but the King of
the Belgians looked thin, and seemed considerably altered
enee his previous visit to this country. The august visitors
proceeded first to the Turco-Egyptian section, through
which they merely promenaded, and thence to the Sevres
room, at the contents of which they cast a hasty glance.
The remainder of the visit was spent in the Belgian goods
department, all the contents of which were minutely 'ex-
amined by his Belgian Majesty. The royal party then left the
building with an intimationthat the visit would be resumed.
There were also several distinguished visitors during the
day, among others the Duke of Wellington, who was loudly
cheered on his arrival and departure. His grace spent the
greater portion of his visit in the room allotted to machinery
in motion. The Duchess of Kent was also among the visitors;
as were the Duchess of Sutherland, Lord Vivian, and several
persons of distinction. The general company was one of the
most crowded that has yet been seen on a Friday, and evi-
dently comprised a host of country visitors. There were
several parties from Ireland and Scotland, and the foreigners
were much more numerous than is usually seen on the high-
priced days. The foreign novo still seems to be the great
attraction, and the throng yesterday rendered the atmo-
sphere almost insupportable. Towards the latter end
of the day, the flushed and fatigued appearance of
the ladies showed how sadly the want of ventilation was
felt. The cause of this daily growing evil, may be seen by
a glance at the side department allotted to the machinery.
A part of this space is an incrustation on the original plan,
and seriously impedes the ventilation. It was originally
intended that the air should have a clear passage through
and through, but in consequence of this alteration it is im-
peded on the north, the most important side, sod the ob-
struction is also increased by the glazing up of the refresh-
ment rooms, which, according to the first intention, were to
have remained open. The result is, that the monster has
only one lung, and all his visitors sutler from the impedi-
ment in his respiration. The Koh-i-noor is again clothed,
in crimson drapery, but the reflectors have been removed,
and a much wider passage in front enables the visitors to
pass through more freely. Various ingenious pieces of clock-
work, which in the earlier days of the Exhibition
lay still in secluded corners, are now brought out
more prominently, and being is full motion at-
tract immense crowds. One of the most ingenious
is a tree in the French section, covered with small birds,
who hop from branch to branch, and chirp incessantly,
with a surprising fidelity to nature. Another is in the
British fine art section, and consists of a complete model of
the Britannia Bridge and surrounding scenery. Trains
hurry along tad rattle ominously through the great tube,
vessels glide through the waters underneath, while along
the road rattle several of those graceful vehicles called
" tube "—the motion of which all who have visited
the principality know by bitter experience. The surprise
occasioned by the discovery of these waifs and strays of the
Great Exhibitisn is one of the greatest pleasures of the
place. The gal sries were very much thronged in the latter
part of the day ay parties from the country, who might be
seen eagerly moping round, and asking every policeman
where they conk' see " the Pope and Cardinal Wiseman."
It will be remembered that in the French gallery there
are two effigies of distinguished French bishops, Bossuet and
Finelon ; but the public, at least the provincial por-
tion, have re-christened them, and the interest in the
figures is wonderfully increased by the modernisation
of their appellatives. In the evening some of the persons
assembled on the banks of the Serpentine, immediately
outside the building, to see some experiments tried as to
the comparative projectile force of the Canadian and London
fire-engines. Among the Canadian contributions is a very
massive and costly fire-engine, from Montreal, a city in
which the frequency of fires has rendered necessary a
numerous and highly organised fire brigade, with engines
of great power. The specimen sent over was matched,
yesterday, against the " Prince Albert" and " Thames,"
two engines of tendon build. As far as we could judge
the American engine sent its columns of water to a much
higher altitude, but the " Prince Albert" threw it further
in a horizontal direction. The jurors, of course, took notes
and said nothing, reserving their opinion for that anxiously
expected period when the awards shall be published. The
number of admissions subjoined will show that the number
of visitors is increasing on the high-priced as well as on
the shilling days :--11 o'clock, 7,198; 12, 6,890; 1,4,150;
2, 2,631; 3, 5,7107 ; 4, 2,682; 5, 1,878; 6, 680; total, 31,716.

Cash account, Juno 20.
Season tickets £36 15 0
At the doors 2,819 4 6
Total receipts £2,855 19 6