The Sun.
London, England, 1862-11-01 00:00:00

THE INTERNA7IONAL EXHIBITION.

It would seem as if people were now really sorry
to part with their old friend the Exhibition. In the
zenith of its fame it failed to draw the numbers
which yesterday flocked to promenade in its foggy
nave and admire the articles shown in the now dim
twilight of its side courts. Yet one day more and
the Exhibition will, as au exhibition, be closed for
ever. It is useless for those who have not yet seen
the contents of this really great display to flatter
themselves with a notion that the 14 days of sale
will afford them an opportunity. As an exhibition
it closes to-day. The entrance to the picture gal-
leries and Western annexe will be fastened up to-
night, and the work of removing their contents
commenced on Monday, on which day every exhi-
bitor will be at liberty to remove goods in cases
which can be carried out from the building without
the aid of carts or machinery. How many are
anxiously waiting for that day may be guessed by
the fact that on Thursday morning it was found
necessary to issue a stringent order turning all
packing-cases out of the building which had been
smuggled in to be in readiness on Monday with the
least possible delay. In spite of this, however, aby
no means small proportion of the foreign goods is
already packed, and there is no concealing the fact
that from the English side a considerable number
of the most costly and most perishable articles have
been quietly gat out this week. Messrs. Minton
remove their collection on Monday, and if the Wor-
cester Works, and those of Copeland, and Rose,
and Daniell do not at once follow the example, it is
because all the best of their magnificent works are
sold, and the purchasers will themselves come for
them daring the days of sale. Mr. Emanuel also
takes out all his collection of plate and jewels on
Monday, and many smaller exhibitors in this class
will do the same. To-day, therefore, is emphati-
cally the last of the Exhibition. The days to come
during the next two weeks will merely be of inte-
rest to those who, not having seen how an Exhibi-
tion is formed, may be curious to watch the process
by which it is dismantled again.
Yesterday the visitors were more numerous than
they have ever been on any previous Friday. The
total up to four o'clock was 32,811, of which 10,249
were by season tickets, and 25,562 were by pay-
ment at the doors. This brings up the total of
visitors to 6,081,192, or just 51,000 more than the
total numbers of 1851. Yesterday there was a very
numerous attendance of what are termed distin-
guished visitors. Their Imperial Highnesses the
Prince and Princess Napoleon were among the
earliest arrivals, and remained until nearly dusk.
The Duke and Duchess of Manchester, the Duke
and Duchess of Buckingham, the Duke of Suther-
land, with the Dowager Duchess of Sutherland
and Lady Constance Grosvenor, the Marquis and
Marchioness of Aylesbury, &c., were also among
the visitors.

The only approach to formality in the closing
which will be observed to-day is that at half-past
four o'clock " God Save the Queen" will be sung by
the members of the Sacred Harmonic Society, ac-
companied by the principal organs in the building.
Beyond this simple performance—which, however,
may be made exceedingly effective if care is taken
—no ceremonial whatever will mark the last day of
the Exhibition of 1862.

We are glad to see that Mr. Story, the American
artist, has now given his consent to photographs
being taken of his two noble figures " the Cleo-
patra" and " the Sybil." Without these the photo-
graphic record of the sculpture of the Exhibition
would have been sadly incomplete. One may judge
of the popularity of these photographs of statues
from the fact that the copies of the " Reading Girl"
have had, and still have, such an enormous sale that
the profits realised on this picture alone would more
than repay the £2,000 paid to the Commissioners
by the Stereoscopic Company for the right of pho-
tographing. Yet the orders for copies of "the
Cleopatra" and •' the Sybil" are larger than this
again. The subscription to Mr. Day's work on the
industrial and artistic masterpieces of the Exhibi-
tion is completed, and Mr. Day has now announced.
his intention of receiving ten more subscriptions
for extra copies, the gross amount for which ten
(£187) he will at once hand over to the Mansion...
house Fund in aid of the distress in the cotton dis-
tricts. These ten subscriptions will be received any
time to-day in the process court of the building.

All those railway travellers who have in vain.
endeavoured to master the mysteries of " Bradshaw," o
to acquire a faniilarity with the railway language. will
thank Mr. Leigh, of Golden-terrace, Dalston, for an in-
genious" Indicator," which he exhibits in Class 5 in the
western annex. Mr. Leigh's indicator being hung up in a
railway carriage is so contrived as to disclose the name of
each station a few moments before the latter is reached,
and thus to enable the passengers to ascertain the rate at
which they are approaching, what every railway passenger
desires—namely, the end of his journey. Mr. Leigh,
having been overlooked by the jurors, has good lumouredly
given a medal to himself, •of which the spectator will see
the joke when he has inspected and satisfied himself as to
the usefulness of the invention.