The Sun.
London, England, 1862-09-18 00:00:00

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7HE INTERNATIONAL EXHIB___- ITION.

The tendency to a decline in the number of visi-
tors, especially since it has been rumoured that the
time of the Exhibition remaining open would be
prolonged, has been very marked. Yesterday even
the moderate average of 50,000 was not reached, the
total numbers up to 5 o'clock only amounting to
47,866, of which 3,669 were by season tickets, and
44,397 by payment at the doors. Another sign of
the failing numbers is to be found in the fact that
a considerable number of omnibuses have been taken
off the route for the very sufficient reason that they
did not pay, and a still larger number will be taken
away by the end of this week. No entire cessation
of the popularity of the Exhibition, however, need
be apprehended from these facts. It is merely the
same falling off in numbers which took place in
1851 during the end of this month, and the re-
action was proportionably great as the time for the
final closing drew near. There is always a very
large section of the public who put off seeing what
they believe they ought to see until the very last
moment. Of this section one-half always come with
an inconvenient rush at the last, and the other half
miss it altogether. It will be the same on this
occasion, and we still expect to see, as in '5l,
that when the day of closing is nearly at hand.
quite 100,000 visitors will pay daily at the doors.
It is not, however, intended to close the building
totally on the Ist of November, as will be seen by
the following copy of the Minute passed by her
Majesty's Commissioners at their meeting on Mon-
day last :
" Resolved, to close the Exhibition on Saturday, the 1,4
of November, but that the building shall remain open for
another fortnight after that date at a higher price of admis-
sion, in order to afford the exhibitors in the Industrial De-
partment an °ppm tunity of selling their goods."
The recent failure of M. Veillard, and indeed
every point as far as it is known coimectedwiththe
terms under which he obtained the contract for the
refreshments for the foreign half of the building,
is still such a fertile topic for scandalous rumours,
that it is much to be wished for the sake of all con-
nected with the building that the whole affair was
strictly investigated. If but a tithe of what is said.
is true, there is strong ground for such inquiry. In
reference to this unfortunate matter, the Commis-
sioners have put forth the following official expla-
nation of the reasons which led them to give the
contract to M. Veillard. This, as the first step to-
wards breaking silence ht the matter, may, perhaps,
lead to all being cleared up. The following is the
official statement of the circumstances under which
the contract of the Eastern Department of the
Refreshment Departments in the International
Exhibition was let to Messrs. Veillard and Guepet :
"Her Majesty's Commissioners invited tenders for the
two divisions of this department, reserving to themselves
full powers of dealing with such tenders as they might
receive without exclusive reference to the amount of the
premium or rental offered. Eighteen tenders were sent in
on the day appointed, of which seven were from foreign
houses. The Commissioners, with a view of securing
♦ariety and competition in the two divisions of the Refresh-
ment Department, were anxious to assign one of them to a
foreign house.
" When, therefore, they found that Messrs. Veillard and
Guepet had not only sent in the highest tender of any
foreign house, but that the terms of payment which they
proposed were, on the whole, the most advantageous that
were submitted to them, they at once proceeded to make
inquiry with respect to their special qualifications for con-
ducting so large an undertaking.
" They ascertained that M. Guepet had been for 18 years
the manager of the Cafe de Paris, and that M. Veillard had
during 11 years conducted as proprietor one of the largest
provincial cafes in France. They further learnt through
leading houses both in Paris and in London that the firm
of Valentin and Co., by whom they were supported in
the undertaking, were of high standing and undoubted
solvency.
" The result of these inquiries, coupled with the fact
that by the tender Messrs. Veillard and Guepet bound them-
selves to deposit a sum of £5,000 as premium three months
before the opening of the Exhibition, appeared to the Com-
missioners so satisfactory that they felt themselves fully
justified in closing with this offer."

It will be observed that in this statement not a
word is said about M. Veillard's solvency at the
time the contract was given to him, and the creditors
allege that not only was he not in a position finan-
cially to undertake such an agreement, but that it
was known he was not. The answer, however, is
very plain—if the creditors knew this, why did
they trust him with their goods ? All these, how-
ever, are minor points compared with the anxiety
evinced by the creditors to have a satisfactory ex-
planation given of the reasons which induced M.
Veillard to pay head money on the visitors, to the
amount of £2,000, to the Hon. F. Cadogan—a gen-
tleman in no way connected with the building, nor
apparently with the contract. No doubt, a satis
factory answer may be given to this question, and
thA sooner it is made the better for all parties. The
matter as it rests at present is made a stalking horse
for all kinds of scandalous rumours.
The highest temperature yesterday by Negretti
and Zambra's patent thermometers was—in the
nave, 62.8 deg. ; in the galleries, 64.2 deg.; in the
Western Annexe, 69.9 deg. Readings taken at
3 o'clock p.m.