The Sun.
London, England, 1862-02-25 00:00:00

NEWSPAPER
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if the permanent road is not ready by t lalst
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May he will give a temporary one across the par ~
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to be used during the Exhibition. So 11. at, after
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qt, ,• ' all, it isT-en—ly—tte—s-e—Who ride and-drive in 14e parks
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who are likely to be the real sufferers'from-the de
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can be drawn away and sawn up for flooring for
the northern courts. The latter are nearly all
floored, and the gallery which will give access to
the refreshment-rooms from the building is being
rapidly finished. The domes are nearly glazed in,
and the work of decorating the eastern one was
begun on Saturday. The designs for the adornment
promise to be rich and appropriate in their effect,
though, in consequence of both domes being now
completely filled up with scaffolding, Mr. Crace
labours under the disadvantage of not being able to
judge of the effect of anything till the scaffold is
down, when the mistake, if any be made, will be
beyond recall. As far, however, as can be judged
from small designs for such a vast interior, the ge-
neral tone of the colours adopted appears to be all
that can be desired. It is necessary, however, that
the painting of these domes, like all the rest of the
works, should be hurried on with the utmost pos-
sible rapidity, for the dome scaffolds have yet to
come down before the 'nave can be floored or the
-daises at each end erected, and the removal of the •
seaffolds alone occupy the best part of three
weeks. ,
There is no concealing the fact that the works
are getting behindhand, and this from no fault on
the part of the contractors. There was a dreadful
rush of business during the last few days preceding
the opening of 1851. But the work, though done
hurriedly, was at least done, for of the total of
20,000 English packages only 182 were admitted
to the building after the Ist of May. It is hop-
ing against hope to expect that the same will be
done for this display. The French Commission-
ers are already very busy in mapping out their
splendid Court, which will be one of the gems
of the building, though rumour has much exag-
gerated the sum which it was said to be spent
in its decoration. They depend almost entirely
on the effect which their goods will produce ; the
mere decoration of the Court is to be with them
a very secondary consideration. They have
obtained permission from the Commissioners to
enclose their whole Court with partitions reaching
from the basement to the first gallery, and from the
first gallery to the girders beneath the springing of
the nave ribs. This ',permission was absolutely ne-
cessary in order to give them hanging space for
their papers and carpets—bat the Commissioners
at the time they gave this boon, with the utmost
impartiality, allowed the English and all foreign
Courts to do the same. Sheffield this year must
look to itself when it enters the lists against its
German rivals. Krupp's steel works at Eissen, in
Rhenish Prussia, have gradually attained a world-
wide celebrity for the almost military discipline
which prevails there, and for the extraordinary
steel castings it turns out. Only two or three
years ago scientific journals contained accounts of
the manner in which the almost impossible feat, as
it was then considered, of making a piece of cast
'steel weighing 11 tons was performed. But Krupp
will send to the Exhibition this year one piece of
cast steel weighing no less than 21 tons. Ten years
ago the manufacturer who talked of making such a
casting in steel would have been thought little short
of insane. On the other hand, as a set-off to this,
our porcelain manfacturers are likely to hold the
supremacy they have lately gained against all
comers, and Kerr and Binns, of the Worcester
Works, Messrs. Minton and Copeland, will each in
their various branches of ornamental and useful
works, prove over-matches for all that Sevres or
Dresden can do.
The condition of :the roads immediately around
the building is attracting the serious notice of the
Commissioners. The traffic of heavy materials of
all kinds during the winter has cut them into deep
ruts, which extend below their very foundations,
and has worn them into such holes as to be almost
dangerous during the night to light traffic. It is
said that nearly 30,000 tons of road metal will have
to be laid down to prepare them for the continuous
traffic that will be going over them in the summer.
But, as this matter is now, we are glad to say, being
taken in hand energetically, it may be considered
as almost virtually settled. Not so, however,
with the road across the Park. After months of
discussions, deliberations, inspections, and delays,
the final settlement seems now more remote
than ever. In the first place, it was proposed to get
the parishes to effect the work, but, as they could
not agree, they would not do it, so the Board of
works was tried, but they could not. Parliament, it
was known, would not give a penny, and thus at
the very outset the plan would have been nipped in
the bud if the Society of Arts had not, with the
utmost liberality, come forward and offered to raise
on debentures the sum necessary to make the road.
With this offer Mr. Cowper immediately closed,
and it only remained to decide on the course the
road was to take. The Society of Arts recommended
a temporary one, and the Chief Commissioner of
Works obtained the assent of the Crown, without
reservation of any kind, to a road across Hyde-park
to Kensington. The committee of the Society of
Arts agreed in the importance of not interfering
with the ride in Rotten-row, and suggested to make
use of the existing carriage road from the Victoria-
gate to the magazine ; to use the present drive over
the bridge; to pass through a short tunnel under
Rotten-row, and come out at a temporary gate op-
posite the Exhibition-road. If it was necessary to
widen the existing road the cost would not be great
and by a little modification of the railing on the
Serpentine bridge a separate track could easily be
given to the riders. The only disturbance to public
interests would be the temporary introducti.on. of
public vehicles over a small portion of existing
drives in the park, and it was not doubted that
what her Majesty has been pleased to tolerate in
Palace would be patiently
front of Buckingham
endured in Hyde-park during the time of the
Exhibition. The works for a temporary road
thus proposed by the Society of Arts were esti-
mated to cost less than £6,000. But the Chief
Commissioner of Works, preferred a permanent
road, and the Society of Arts offered to become the
medium for raising the money (£30,000) necessary
to make it. Accepting this basis of negotiation,
Mr. Cowper at first thought of making a road down
the ha-ha between Hyde-park and Kensington-
gardens. For a time this plan was the favourite,
but the idea was soon given up, and in
turn Mr. Kelk's road, Capt. Fowkes's road, and
Mr. Penndthorne's road were each examined, and

for a short period adopted. Any one of these last
three routes would have met all questions of con-
venience, cheapness, and avoidance of interference
with the ride and drive roads. But within the last
few days the Chief Commissioner of Works threw
them all over, and decided on a road of his own.
This enters Kensington-gardens at the Lancaster-
gate and issues out at the Coalbrook-gate near
Kensington-gore. The route is intended to betaken
along the Broad-walk, which is to be obliterated
and sunk 14 feet for the
passage of the traffic, and,
in fact, destroyed altogether. This road practically
cuts Kensington gardens completely in two, and if
it is adopted with a view to the subterranean rail-
way passing under it hereafter, the effect of the two
tunnels will be to so drain the soil as to kill half the
Gardens. When this planmwonaesyptroopmoaskede
trees in the
to the Society of Arts it was found that not enly
spend the same
would they not consent to raise any
it, but that those who were willing to take the de-
benturesgladly
whole plan to the
neouse of Commons will
amount
m oun t o
f would
money
Tmhiauntechtphpmeoosi
ever consent countrtt.to the formation of a road that cuts
Kensington• gardens in two, that is so far westward
of thoroughfare having no
caosmtombueniacamtioenreviith
strip
any of the great metropolitan
channels of traffic, and is withal the most unsightly
and expensive route, is not thought probable for a
moment. The real mischief lies in the fact that no
other plan will be considered until this has been
definitely thrown over, by which time it will be too
late to carryE ‘
out. any
for the opening of the Exhi-
bition. uowper has pledged his word that