The Express.
London, England, 1866-12-26 00:00:00

THE EXHIBIT 'ION OF 1867.

are on the bend, and the consequence is, or the
consequence that appears to ,threaten is, that our
pictures will be exhibited under a disadvantageous
tire of cross lights.
- - • •

Prime ova meat. CORIZNITINDITIT.)
lousily it would seem exhibition news
as slowly as Kitty Vance, the old woman
walked from Penzance and back to see the
:ion of 1851, and haa just repeated the feat
in years ago to see her daughter. The old
y die of a fall from a cherry tree yet, albeit
s seen eighty-eight years. One of your
...ontemporaries, dated the 10th instant, with
ibservation " Galiereani says," gives two-
of a closely-printed column of exhibition
and criticism, the said news and criticism
performed a zigzag journey. The extract
itignatei consists of two-thirds of my letter
rou printed on the sth instant. You see that
mi laid you under contribution for Paris
and then the Paris correspondent of your
uporary sent back that which had appeared
tour columns on the sth as fresh Exhibition
s for your contemporary on the 10th. It may
some news, like some wine, gets a new
, or, at any rate, an increased value by a
journey.
edesars. Spiers and Pond, and the refreshment con-
tractors of the Crystal Palace, who have under-
-, to represent British refreshment in the ex-
in next year, will, it is to be hoped, bear
;by Junction "in mind. Foreigners have, no
lecided taste for dry sandwiches or hard pork-
ier will they take kindly to captain's biscuits.
will make but the feeblest attempt to carry a
made of buns, whether Bath or plein. I will
ch the representatives of British refreshment
sad what M. Jules Leconte wrote of our English
freshment stalls in Hyde-park, in 1851. His
a-age de Desagr4ment A Londres," will
to teach the contributors what they should
1. If the refreshment room of " Mugby
action," or anything in the faintest degree like ,
to be reproduced in the Champ de Mars, and
presided over by young ladies fresh from the
in of Mrs. Sniff, our representative caterers
toss their money, and will deserve to lose it.
There is not the least reason why they should en-
' -vour to copy at the exhibition the
arable refreshment stalls at the French
.away stations. They may, however, without
spirting entirely from the refreshment traditions
f their country, offer to the foreigner that kind of
refreshment which horrified the sight of " our
Missis" when she first entered a French railway
-etion, namely, "actually eatable things to eat."
redoubtable' authority on " refreahmenting"
irned to •Mugby Junction with a horrible
bunt of the savoury and wholesome things
~:11 are offered to French railway travellers in
weir own country. " I will name, said our
?Sisals : there was roast fowls, hot and cold ; there
was smoking roast veal surrounded with browned
potatoes ; there was hot soup, with (again I ask,
shall I be credited 9 nothing bitter in it, and no
it to choke off the consumer ; there was a
,sriety of cold dishes set off with jelly ; there was
salad ' • there was—mark me !—fresh pastry, and
that of a light construction ; there was a luscious
how of fruit ; there was bottles and decanters of
mud small wine, of every size and adapted to
Ty pocket ; the same odious statement will
iiply to brandy, and these was set out upon the
counter, so that all could help themselves."
Proceeding with her denunciations of the
" eatable things to eat," which she had
'mud in benighted France, "our Missis" draws
comparison between the British and the
'Tench sandwich. She opens with, " I need not
iplain to this assembly the ingredients and forma-
tion of the British refreshment sandwich." There
was a burst of laughter from the young ladies of
Mugby Station, and then their gratified mistress
proceeded with her comparison. Well, take a
flesh, crisp, long, crusty penny loaf, made of the
whitest and best flour ; cut it longwise through the
middle. Insert a fair and nicely-fitting slice of
ham, tie a smart piece of ribbon round the middle
of the whole to bind it together ; add at one end
neat wrapper of clean white paper by which to
cold it. and the universal French refreshment
sangwiCh bursts on your disgusted vision." "Mugby
Junction" condenses its weighty charge against
"French refreshmenting " into one bitter accusa-
tion, namely, that it presents to the traveller eat-
able things to eat, and drinkable things to drink.
Let us hope that our representative caterers next
year will not servilely copy " Mugby Junction."
Our neighbours who have had any experience in
England are quite ready to admit that the British
kitchen can, and does, produce tr.any excellent
dishes ; that we have soups of excellent flavour ;
that we can roast meat against the world, and that
the meat we do roast is beyond all doubt
the finest that is grown. Ask Paris cooks
whence they get their finest, their most succulent
game, and their most delicately flavoured salmi in.
The jambon d'yorck has an honourable place on
the gourmet's list. The materials for making an
excellent effect are abundant in short, if the
firms who are to represent the British kitchen will
only wean themselves from the pork-pie, and the
biscuit, and the bun, and the sandy sponge-cake.
At any rate, there will be some drinkable things to
drink, since the leading British brewers have
arranged to retail their beers. I will add an im-
portant item of refreshment information. It has
been arranged that a restaurant shall be opened in
the Exhibition on New Year's-day, and remain
open, for the use of exhibitors and their assistants.
Seeing the distance that lies between the Pont
d'Jima and any good refreshment places, this con-
venience must be accepted as a most welcome one.
Along the eastern boundary of the Exhibition
grounds a line of wine and beer shops and little
hotels is drawn up, ready to catch the humble
visitor. These speculators have made a brave
expenditure of decoration, paint, and varnish, and
have adopted high-sounding signs. One little
restaurant is called L'Union des Peuples. But
this is not all. Against its front are placed two I
large oil-paintings, well drawn, I may add, and
effectively coloured. The first painting re-
presents the fraternal meeting of a swarthy
Arab, a dark Brazilian, and a yellow,
Chinaman. Perhaps the second. picture is the
more striking of the two. The central figure is a
Frenchman carefully (ittlionaryhe. On his right is
a red-headed Highlander, and on his left is a coal-
black negro. France, in Sunday best, is joining
the hands of the negro and the Scotchman. To
our honour be it said, that the Scot appears to
have much more fraternal alacrity than the negro.
There is a hesitating, condescending manner about
darkie. Close by the great jury-house is another
sine-shop or little cafj, dedicated in big letters
too. Potpies tennis. It is not far from a shady-
looking Anglo-French " English tavern," with a
notice painted upon the walls that a sandwich and
a glass of ale can be had within. I glanced a day
or two ago at a knuckle of ham in the window.
That knuckle was of the " Mugby Junction " de-
scription, and was calculated to form part of a
model ‘• Mugby Junction" sandwich. It was sup-
ported by a mean little plum-pudding, intended
probal,li to gladden the sight of any stray Briton
who might chance that way. For the credit of our
country let us pray that it may have disappeared
long before any of the three million visitors who
are expected here in 'IA' shall have come. By the
English tavern the builders are at work raising a
gmaul cofe. Most of the caterers along this line
appear to have put their faith in the bibulous
Capacity of John Bull. "Old Toni" rears his tiery
head in many windows, and whisky is to be had,
and Allsopp's hand beckons to his countrymen.
Some of the labelled bottles showed a lame hand at
plagiarism. On more than one that to the super-
ficial observer was British ink and paper, the prac-
tised eye could detect the legal word Depose
There is to be a vast restaurant for visitors of
the working class, where good solid food is to be
sold at the lowest possible price. This establish-
ment should afford the food economists of various
countries an opportunity of testing plans of eco-
nomic cookery, and of bringing forward the now
varieties of cheap food. I believe that the conces-
sion for this establishment is still in the market.
Within the building the work of installation still
progresses at a rapid rate, more especially in the
I`'rench department. Some of the picture galleries
an, completed. Thoso on the straight line of the
building are noble, well-lighted rooms. Alas ! we

I have already remarked on the forward state
of the Chinese, Japanese, and Siamese' depart-
ments. The forward state of China in the Exhibi-
tion seems to be due to the energy of a Frenchman.
As nothing was promised by the Celestials, and as
Chinese industry is always attractive, a French
speculator offered to take upon himself the risk of
getting up the Chinese department of the world's
industry. He is said to have undertaken to spend
forty thousand pounds in manufactures, &c., to be
conveyed direct from the Chinese empire. As a
return for his energy and courage the Imperial
Commissioners have given him the right of selling
the objects which he exhibits. Rumour says that
this gentleman will be also permitted to open a
Chinese refreshment department. We may pos-
sibly hear before long of the dog-fancier who is to
be his butcher. It is, then, this gentleman who is
,pushing forward the Chinese installations with a
vigour that contrasts strikingly with the quiet
that reigns in the British and German depart-
ments.
I should not wonder if Sweden were to be ready
for the opening day before any other nation. In
my last I informed you of the arrival of her goods
at Havre, and now I have to announce that M.
Gustave de Fahnehjelm, chamberlain to the King
of Sweden, has been appointed commiss
uioner his
this Exhibition, and has already entered pon his
duties.
The Moniteur of the 12th contains a list of the
names of the forty-nine exhibitors who are ad-
mitted to exhibit under class 42 (products of fiah-
ing and hunting). 288 square metres of space are
allotted to them, which will be occupied on a plan
laid down by their committee, and accepted by the
Imperial Commission.
M. Petit, it should be understood, and particu-
larly by exhibitors, is not the only photographer
who enjoys rights within the Exhibition boundary.
M. Leon and J. Levy, the successors of the well-
known Ferrier and Sons, whose stereoscopic Swiss
and other curies are in so many English homes,
have obtained the exclusive right of taking stereo-
scopic photographs, and they are already install-
ing themselves with M. Petit in the photographic
building, which is built in the north-east corner
of the park.
M. Viot and Co., the ggrreeat onyx workers, will
exhibit some tine art-workrmanshr'p in their costly
material. Among other objects they have a clock
supported by two female figures, in which bronze
and onyx are combined with the happiest effect,
the flesh being of bronze, and the drapery of the
marble. The price of this clock, with its attendant
candelabra, is three thousand pounds, and this is
only one of many articles that will be sent by M.
Viot and Co. to the Exhibition.
Photo-sculpture is becoming the rage in Paris.
People are no longer satisfied with a carte-de-
visite for their album. Before 1867 shall have
come to an end people will be collecting sculp-
ture-galleries of their friends. " I must beg the
favour of your statue for my collection" will be an
ordinary request in polite society. Opposite the
Rue Scribe, on the Boulevards, a vast, fan-
tastic establishment has just been opened
by Willeme and Co. for carrying out this new
development of photographic art Industry, and on
the line from the principal entrance to the Exhibi-
tion the same firm have already built the roomy
premises that are necessary to the production of a
plaster or marble statue by photography. Where
it this to end ? The statuettes can, of course, be
mathematically enlarged. What say the sculptors ?
Will heroes in the bud blossom into photo-sculp-
tured statues in " the good time coming ?" In a
few days, I am told, a great photo-sculptured
statue will stand opposite the Rue Scribe.
The entrance to the Exhibition, which will
directly communicate with the Faubourg Saint-
Germain, will be adorned with some fine
aluminium statues by MM. Morin, of the
Boulevard Sebastopol. In the Exhibition
the same firm will exhibit some teles-
copes wrought in aluminium—as light almost
as a roll of paper. Among other prominent
French exhibitors whose names the English public
will remember are M.M. Wirth, the famous wood-
carvers. Next year they will be seen under the
Swiss as well as the Freneh flag. In the Swiss
department they will occupy 341 square metres,
with a dining-room, all furnished with Swiss
carvings ; in the French part they will be e hi-
biters of that exquisite wood-carving for articles of
fasitakie which has so long been one of the attrac-
tions of the Boulevard des ltaliens.

THE EXPRESS, WEDNESDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 26, 1866.

Sea
99.1 R. 1U
19.
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