The Express.
London, England, 1867-05-28 00:00:00

LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, MAY 28, 1867.

THE PARIS EXHIBITION.

(now oos sPICIAL

Exhibition festivities have been the order of the
week in Paris and on the Champ de Mars. First
and foremost, it was on Wednesday the grand din-
ner given by President Schneider to the members
of the Imperial Commission and the International
Jury took place. There were 200 guests, among
whom were Earl Cowley, the Minister of State,
Minister of the Interior, Marshal Valiant, Mon-
seigneur Darboy, M. Pietri, M. Le Play, General
Facet, the Duke de Mouchy, M. Hausmann, Mar-
quis d'Havrincourt, M. Meiasonnier, Mr. Cole, Mr.
Owen, Count Nieuwerkerke, Count de Lavalette,
£c., &c. During dinner the band of the Garde de
Paris played the national airs of all the countries
represented at the table. Paris bands must be
strong in national airs by this time. The weekly
Wednesday evening reception followed, and the
' salons of the Presidency were crowded with nota-
bilities of all nations ; for, beyond all doubt, all
nations are by this time represented on the banks
of the Seine. The Exhibition throng at the British
Embaniyon Friday, albeit not so great numerically,
was more remarkable than at the ball given in
honour of the Prince of Wales. The Exhibition
has disa inted none in the number of national
re fives it has dralyn. The
_Puctbeas
of Russia visited the Exhibition on Wednesday at
noon. She entered by the Porte Rapp, and was
taken in a Bath chair to the Russian restaurant (a
few hundred yards), where she breakfasted. She
afterwards visited the Industrial Show of Bavaria,
in which she appeared greatly interested ; and
thence she went to the French Fine Art galleries.
The Bath chairs, whether hewing duchesses or
only a bourgeoise, are the despair of the serious'
visitor who condescends to walk like an ordinary
mortal. They block up the narrow alleys. One
drives you almost into a glass case ; you turn, and
find it occupied by a lady who, to all appearances,
could do her ten miles easily.
On Wednesday the Prince Napoleon, accompa-
nied by M. Le Play and M. Albert Le Play, went
to Billancourt. The journey was made each way
in the Prince's own yacht. The island still is de-
solate. I cannot conceive why the authorities are
delaying the completion of their plans, unless in-
deed they are waiting for summer weather, which
seems as if it were never coming this year. The
cold, wind, dust, and rain, assailing us at the end
of May, would be unseasonable even in March.
On Monday there is to be a sale by auction of
some of the animals exhibited at Billancourt. But
who thinks of Billancourt ? The ploughing matches
were compressed within a week. They who have
ventured thither have returned with painful expe-
riences of bad weather, defective conveyance, and
a dismal show. Yet there is a splendid display of
agricultural implements on the inland. Time may
put all right.
An accident happened on Wednesday in the
English section of the machinery gallery. An ex-
hibitor was explaining his machine to a visitor.
An involuntary movement of a passer-by set the
mechanism going, and the finger with which the
unfortunate exhibitor was pointing was literally
crushed. lam not surprised at this. In every
part of the machinery gallery there is want of
proper precaution. An accidental move by a
passer-by could not possibly have put the machine
in motion had the machine been properlyprotected.
Aa yet there has been no over-crowding in the gal-
lery ; but when the great popular days come, and
the attendance exceeds 200,000, how many acci-
dents will happen if the present slender precautions
are not improved ? I will add, while on the subject
of visitors and their numbers, a calculation made
by the imperial authorities that will enable the
curious in probeWities to speculate on the financial
results of the Exhibition. It appears, according to
my informant, that the commissioners have found
they require a daily attendance of 52,000 franc
visitors, from the opening day to the closing day,
to cover their expenses. They have made heavy
receipts of late. Their Sundays and Mondays have
yielded bulky nets full of silver fish ; but the inter-
vening days have fallen below the average. April
has to be redeemed, as well as many days of May.
The franc public is the treasure-yielding one. The
Grand Duchess of Russia yields paragraphs to the
chroniqueurs ; but her Imperial Highness, in her
Bath chair, which impedes the circulation from the
Porte Rapp to the Porte Suffren, gives no more to
the Exhibition treasury than the first prosperous
British soap-boiler's wife, who affects a Bath chair
as a seat of dignity which marks her off from the
crowd.

The International Club has at length done some-
thing for the comfort of visitors. An office has
been established, at which railway tickets for the
right or left bank can be taken ; so that the tra-
veller arriving at the station a moment before the
train starts is sure to get his place. Its cuisine,
moreover, has improved since that opening day
when I exposed myself to its treatment. The
magnificent room on the ground floor of the club
building has been turned into a colossal restaurant.
Everything is excellently cooked, and the cunt/Ives
have the additional gratification of excellent music
during their dinner. The club, the Russian res-
taurant, and the United States bar and dining
rooms, are now the "feedingplaces" of the upper-
crust of the visitors. The United States establish-
ment is thoroughly and honestly national. The
Americans in Paris flock to it, and are satisfied
with it.

The Imperial Commission has just published the
official Map-Guide to the palace and park, the exe-
cution and sale of which was confided to the editor,
Dentu. The map is very ingeniously arranged, and
all the establishments are classed on it numerically.
It folds up, so that one sees the two halves of the
Champ de Mars alternately. Its directions and
descriptions are recent and reliable. Among 350
directions I found only one mistake, viz., that the
Cafe-Concert is marked by the railway station in-
stead of at the Porte Suffren. One mistake in a
map like this—especially when it is compared with
the crop of errors in the official catalogue—must
be pardoned by the severest critic.
It is generally reported that the French saloons
(which are to be devoted to conversation and musi-
cal performances, and which will be • delightful
refuge for loungers in the dog days) will be " inau-
gurated" in the course of a few days. These rooms
are under the marquise of the palace, in the French
section. Sarasate, Lawns, Lefebure-Wely, and
Georges Pfeiffer, will assist at the inaugural fete.
By the way Pfeiffer, in conjunction with M. Ritter,
gives daily impromptu concerts in the building.
I had omitted to state when dealing with royal
visitors that on Tuesday the King and Queen of
the Belgians visited the Exhibition alone. They
inspected the Italian, Austrian, English, and
French sec'ions, and made several purchases in
each, but more particularly in the Austrian depart-
ment. The trade done by notable exhibitors during
all these royal visits has been very great. Our
exhibitors, as Hancock, Emanuel, our ceramic
manufacturers, Mr. Dobson, &c., have had their
share.
Not a few authorities—amateurs who follow the
footsteps of Captain Shaw—have speculated on a
tire in the Exhibition. On Tuesday, between two
and three o'clock, the event might have come off.
A cask of brandy was being taken into an English
spirit cellar. It broke apart. There was a candle
on the ground at hand ; and the brandy imme-
diately caught fire. The flames at once enveloped
all the casks of spirits in a veritable sea of fire.
But ins quarter of an hour all was put out, thanks
to the promptitude and efficiency of the firemen.
The accident serves to show two points, vie., that
the precautions taken against fire are good, and
that brandy casks should not be lowered at the
most crowded hour in the day. The reader may
imagine the probable catastrophe were a cry of fire
raised, with 100,000 people within the Exhibition
budding.