The Sun.
London, England, 1862-08-04 00:00:00

THE INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION.

It is to be presumed that the heat of the weather
or the counter-attraction of the great review at
Ascot must have exercised an adverse influence on
the number of visitors to the building. Certainly
they were lower on Saturday than they have been
for many weeks past, the total for the whale day
being only 23,820, of whom only 15,185 were by
payment and 8,635 by season tickets. Latterly
there has been rather a steady diminution in the
Saturday attendances, and as, with a hot autumn
and the prorogation of Parliament, the receipts on
those days are likely to get worse instead of better,
there is no doubt that after the lapse of a week or
a fortnight, the plan which the Commissioners
have long contemplated of making Saturday
a shilling day will be adopted. What the
financial results of the change will be we,
! of
tainly course, do not pretend to say; but it must cer-
be a great boon to the great mass of city
clerks and others with whom Saturday is a half-
holyday, and to whom the reduction in price will be
an important consideration. The results of the
past week as compared with the same week in
1851 are, as usual, in favour of the present Exhibi-
tion, the total number of admissions, whether by
payment or season tickets, on each occasion being
as follows :

Monday Is, 1851. 1862.
() ... ...... 67,170
.• 62,830
Tuesday (Is.)
.• 62 Wednesday (Is.)
•• 58,7828,2
Thursday (Is.) 57,309
.. 55,699
Friday (2s. 6d.)
Saturday (55.)

288,519 292,922
On Saturday the Crown Prince of Saxony visited
the Exhibition, attended by Lieutenant-Colonel
Cavendish, and inspected the English jewellery de-
partment, the French Gobelin tapestry, and the
machinery department, where he was met by the
Saxon Commissioner and Mr. Clarke, superin-
tendent of the department, who explained the work-
ing of the various machines.

The Exhibition has certainly done something to
develop peculiar modes of competition—one of which
is shown near Cadogan-pier, Chelsea. Two boys
are placed with boards to direct the stream of visi-
tors to South Kensington by two different routes,
the rival traders in each line of thoroughfare pay-
ing the cost of this human finger-post.

THAMES EMBANKMENT COMMISSION
(SURREY SIDE), 1862.

REPORT.
TO THE QUEEN'S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY.

We the undersigned members of your Majesty's Com-
mission to examine plans for embanking the Surrey side
of the River Thames, within the metropolis, and to report
" which of the said plans of embankment will, in our
opinion, conduce with the greatest efficiency and economy
to the improvement, embellishment, and convenience of
that part of the metropolis, improve the navigation of the
river, and provide a public thoroughfare without stopping
such trade as must be carried on upon the bank of the
river, and also upon the cost and means of carrying the
same into execution," beg to submit the following re-
marks :

The nature of the inquiry entrusted to us was made
known by advertisements in the newspapers, and twenty
designs were submitted for consideration. A short descrip-
tion of each is appended. the authors have attended,
given full explanations, and stated their respective views,
as will be seen in the evidence hereto annexed.
We must here express our opinion of the excellence of
many of the plans submitted to us; and although we
cannot recommend any one plan for adoption in its
entirety as meeting all the requirements of the
case, yet the principal features of some of them
are embodied in the plan we have the honour to suggest.
Some of the plans comprise the whole length of the Sur-
rey shore from Deptford to Battersea. park; and we have
accordingly directed our inquiries to that extent.