The Sun.
London, England, 1851-09-30 00:00:00

SEPTEMBER 30, 1851.

THE GREAT EXHIBITION
(From the Times)
The approaching close of the Exhibition now begins
to be felt unmistakably. Yesterday 3,2951. 15s. was
taken at the doors, and there were 68,532 visitors.
Among them came Mary Kerlynack, the Cornish
octogenarian, and, as we have received several appli-
cations for her address, we may state that it is 12,
Homer-place, Crawford-street, Marylebone.
We have been requested to say that certain an-
nouncement of jury awards recently made by a morn-
ing contemporary are entirely inaccurate, the names
of three jurors in one case being given as the winners
of great medals, and in another section that of one
juror. Third-class medals are also spoken of, though
no such distinction exists or is contemplated. Pre-
mature and incorrect announcements of this kind in •
flict a large amount of practical injustice, and the
authorities of the Exhibition charged with the
management of that department are naturally indig-
nant at the attempts made to forestall their own la-
bours, which will be continued up to the last moment,
so that publicity, when it is invited and desirable, will
have the advantage of truth in its favour.
The programme of the closing is so far settled, and
circulars are about to be issued to exhibitors, inform-
ing them that the building will be closed to the pub-
lic on Saturday the 11th of October; that on the 13th
and 14th they will have the privilege of going there
with two friends, and that on the 15th they are in-
vited to be present at twelve o'clock at the meeting
of the Royal Commissioners. By this arrangement
the exhibitors will have the farewell view of the
Crystal Palace, and a deference is thus shown to their
labours and their sacrifices on its behalf, which we
are sure they will not be slow to appreciate. With
a view to rendering the ceremony of the 15th as im-
posing as the circumstances will permit, Mr. Fox, the
eminent contractor, has addressed d letter to the Exe-
cutive Committee, offering the services of the Sacred
Harmonic Society in assembling 1,500 performers on
the occasion, the whole to be conducted by Mr. Costa.
As the period for the closing approaches, the propriety
of some respectful observances of form to accompany
it appears to be more deeply felt, but the Royal Com-
mission make no sign upon the subject. What
was undertaken with the highest sanction
of the State and with the solemnities of
religion should obviously not be allowed to expire
without some expression of gratitude for success,
however simple and unpretending. There are, un-
doubtedly, difficulties presented by the season of the
year and by other causes; but we cannot think that,
with so many ingenious minds ready to devise a
suitable method of showing public thankfulness, the
practical realization of that sentiment should be
withheld. If the Commission and the Prince have
not the spirit to undertake it, the people will probably,
do it after their own fashion; and, though a sponta-
neous effort of this kind is open to manydisadvantages
and drawbacks, its genuine character cannot be
doubted, and the impression which it produces, if suc-
cessful, is superior to the most premeditated and skil-
ful arrangements for display.
We yesterday announced that the Royal Commis-
sion had given Messrs. Fox and Henderson legal
notice of their intention to have the building re-
moved. It has long been known that the surplus
would not be applied to its preservation, and, min-
gled with the interested opposition of private indivi-
duals, there has been struggling in the publie
mind for expression a desire that the fame of the
Great Exhibition should rest for support upon no
perishable traces of its existence. There has been
a widely entertained dread that the celebrity of an
event so successful and so grand in itself might be
tarnished by the retention in permanence of an
edifice intended only to be temporary. The
roof was evidently faulty, and could not be re-
paired. The plan of a winter garden might perhaps
prove a failure, and failure on such a spot could not
be contemplated without pain. By their charter the
Commission had no power over the disposal of the
surplus, a contingency not contemplated in that docu-
ment. No aid for the Crystal Palace or for Mr.
Paxtou's scheme could:be expected, therefore, from
that quarter ; but even if the Commission had a hoice,
they had pledged their money for different purposes.
Obviously a body constituted as theirs was, could not
with propriety commit itself to objects which, how-
ever praiseworthy, were so different from those fur
which it was formed. As we have already stated,
among the schemes started for the appropriation of
the surplus there appears to be but one point on which
the desirable unanimity appears to prevail. That point
is, that the principal, whatever it raay amount to after
the payment of all just and reasonable claims, should
be funded for the promotion of future exhibitions.
Looking upon this as a settled matter, a number of
public wants have made themselves manifest in con-
sequence of the great event that has signalized this
year, and which had that event not happened, might
long have remained in obscurity. In the first place,
it will not henceforth be denied that a great com-
munity like that of London, embracing 2,000,000
of human beings, ought to ye provided for them,
since it is practicable, a place of public resort where
they can obtain healthful enjoyment, and innocent
and suitable recreation under cover, and independ-
ently of the influences of a most uncertain climate.
The inhabitants of the metropolis have been clearly
shown that this is possible, and there can be no good
argument for withholding from them an advantage
and a blessing so unmistakable. In the capitals of
many other countries nature has provided a steadiness
of climate which renders shelter from the changes of
the weather less necessary, but here we are always at
the mercy of the skies for our most natural and in-
dispensable pleasures. Parks for the recreation of
the wealthier classes stand least in need of such edi-
fices as the Crystal Palace. Prima facie, therefore,
the most appropriate site for a building of the kind
would be one of the new spaces recently or now about
to be cleared for the use of the middle and humbler
orders. Some time ago a suggestion was made that
the Crystal Palace, after it had served its present pur-
pose, should be removed to the new park at Battersea,
and there converted into a winter garden, and appro-
priated to such other purposes of public instruction
and rational amusement as might be deemed desirable.
that suggestion was at first allowed to drop, but has
lately, we understand, been seriously revived, and
is now under close discussion and examination.
The public will no doubt be surprised that the ques-
tion of preserving the remarkable edifice in Hyde-
park has taken this form • but, upon consideration, we
think they will not be indisposed to receive favourably
a plan which has many points to recomm ad it. There
will be no opposing interests to the Crystal Palace at
Battersea. The steam-boat companies, the railways,
and those who hope to avail themselves of the new
park, will all be strongly for the removal. The inha-
bitants of Kensington who think the building a nui-
sance will rejoice, and the ornamental character of the
exterior, celled in question at the West-end, will not
be disputed on the river. In feet, n site may there be
appropriated to it which may render its aspect ex•
tremely imposing, and do something to relieve the
banks of the Thames from the ruthless desecration
and disfigurement to which they have so long been
exposed. Again, at Battersea the winter garden,
and the other popular attractions which such a
structure might combine boneath its roof, would bo
far more easily within the reach of the mass of
the inhabitants of London athan could be the case
in Hyde-park. Steamers might deliver their pas-
sengers on the the terrace whereon the building stood,
There is one railway close at hand, and there will be
another on the north side of the river shortly. The
new suspension-bridge in course of construction opens
up the communication to Pimlico and the fashionable
parts of the town. As another roof seems requisite,
the removal would afford an opportunity for supply-
ing that defect. But, above and beyond all other
advantages, the Crystal Palace might be made the
medium of elevating the rude and uncivilised tastes
of those swarms who, during the summer months
especially, betake themselves to the river for amuse-
ment. Battersea is a favourite haunt of this class,
and the spectacle which it presents, especially on Sun-
day afternoons, is disgraceful to the metropolis. There
are collected thousands of the gamins of London, of
the idle and the dissolute of both sexes, who while
away their time in sports of the lowest and most vul-
gar kind. A large gipsy encampment is close at
hand, the inhabitants of which prey upon the spare
coppers of the young cockneys. Swings and round-
abouts are in full and dangerous operation ; rifle gal-
leries " for all nations" are in abundance, and the
owners of them drive a roaring trade. " The finest
Barcelona nuts" may be won by shooting at the paste-
board figures of clowns, who grin as they receive the
bolt. Cocoanuts, " warranted milky," are the prizes
of the successful competitors at " knock-'em•down."
Then there are donkey rides and races on the most
miserable screws of poneys, fit only for the knacker's-
yard ; vendors of unripe fruit, stale pastry, and dele-
terious drinks, hawk about their goods, and " cold
nectar," and " sherbet," anything but " blest," flow
from filthy reservoirs into still filthier glasses at the
rate of a halfpenny to each customer. Cold fried
fish, pickled onions, pettitoes, and " hot pickled eels"
are among the choicest comestibles on sale, and the
spare pence that such attractions as w© have enume-
rated do not absorb go in lotteries, weighing machines,
" strength testers," fortune telling, or beer. One
space of ground, not more than two acres in extent,
is sublet to an enterprising gipsy for 30/., and he not
only covers that expense but makes a handsome profit
from the itinerant costermongers whom he accommo-
dates. This will give some idea of the way in which
the whole is managed; but the picture of Battersea
would not be complete were we not to mention that
it is the favourite house of pigeon shooting and of
pedestrianism—that there edifying matches are
constantly in progress, in which sporting and
fancy celebrities may be backed to any
amount. To such scenes and amusements
the Government plan of a public park will
necessarily put a stop, but a park for the people
without a shelter in bad weather, or the facilities for

rational enjoyment, drives them back upon the rude
and vulgar devices of the commonest fair. We can-
not hope altogether to extirpate such tastes as those
which find their gratification in the manner described.
Extinguished at Battersea they will re-appear else-
where. Every effort, however, to provide for the
proper entertainment of the humbler classes diminishes
the tendency to seek for pleasure in such scenes, nor
can it be questioned that along the banks of their
favourite l'aames there is a lamentable want of decent
accommodation for the inhabitants of London. To
supply that want the idea of removing the Crystal
Palace to Battersea Park has been taken tip. There
are pecuniary difficulties in the way, and arrangements
necessary with that awkward power in the State, the
Woods and Forests, through which it is not easy to
effect a passage; but, if the public are favourable,
minor objects will disappear, and we shall avoid the
stupidity and extravagance of totally destroying an
edifice which is acknowledged to be the greatest mar-
vel of the Exhibition, and which has cost us a large
sum of money to build, which we want for many
useful purposes, but for one especially, and which,
though turned out of Hyde•park, may, in a less pre-
tentious locality, still lay claim to the title of the
Palace of Industry. The Red and the White House
at Battersea may with advantage give way to the
great greenhouse which it is contemplated to send
there.

COURT CIRCULAR.
BALMORAL, SUNDAY, SEPT. 28.
Her Mtijesty drove yesterday to the Falls of
Garrawalt, attended by the Marchioness of Douro
and the Hon. Beatrice Byng.
His Royal Highness Prince Albert went out
deer-stalking.
Baron Liebig arrived at Balmoral yesterday.
The dinner party yesterday included her Royal
Highness the Duchess of Kent, Lady Augusta Bruce,
the Earl of Carlisle, and Baron Liebig.

Lord John Russell has left Capel Curig for Rhyl,
North Wales.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer has left Hickle-
ton Hall, near Doncaster, for Garrowby House, Stam-
ford Bridge.

Earl Grey has left Taymouth Castle, the seat of
the Marquis of Breadalbane, for Balmoral.
Dispatches were received yesterday at the Colonial
Office from the Governor of Canada, and the Go-
vernors of the other North American Colonies. Dis-
patches were also received from the Governors of the
Gambia and S. Helena.

BLOOMERISM IN FINSBURY.
Last evening a meeting, convened by the advocates
of the new American costume, of which Mrs. Amelia
Bloomer is the reputed founder, was held in the
British Institution, Cowper-street, Finsbury. It was
announced that the proceedings would commence at
half-past eight o'clock, and that Mrs. C. H. Dexter
would address the meeting upon the proposed Trans-
atlantic reform. Long before seven o'clock many
hundreds of persons assembled in front of the build-
ing ; and, though the crowd was extremely dense, the
mob unusually violent, and the demands for admis-
sion indescribably clamorous, the clock struck eight
before the doors were opened. As may be readily
imagined, the assembled persons pressed with great
zeal into the building; some were trodden down,
others fainted, and the large hall, which is capable of
holding about from 1,200 to 1,500 persons, rapidly
filled. The prices of admission were fixed as fol-
lows :—For the hall, 3d. ; for reserved seats, 61;
and for the platform, ls. ; but owing to the want of
arrangement that prevailed, not one out of a hundred
who entered the building paid anything for admis-
sion. Of the persons present five to one were men,
who could not be supposed to have any direct interest
in the change of costume which the Bloomers re-
commend.

The interval which elapsed between the admission
of the auditory and the time appointed for the en-
trance of the Bloomers was passed in a most disordery
manner. All sorts of jokes and witticisms were bandied
about, and some very coarse remarks were made at
the expense of the dress reformers. As the principal
performers were after time, it was suggested that a
grand chorus of " Buffalo gals, can't you come out
to-night," would be an appropriate invitation to ex-
pedition. Soon after this one of the vergers of St.
Paul's Cathedral, a portly-looking man, placed him-
self in the presidential chair, and was loudly but
ironically cheered.
A gentleman, who seemed to be an official person,
jumped upon the table, at this stage of the proceed-
ings, and delivered the following address :—" Ladies
and Gentlemen—l am requested by the managers to
state that Mrs. Dexter is outside, and as soon as the
police can clear the crowd which is pressing upon the
doors without, she will appear." Another person in-
formed the meeting that Mrs. Dexter would appear
so soon as the uproar ceased. She could not be ex-
pected to enter while the meeting was conducting
itself in a manner disgraceful to a British audience.

—(Great uproar.)
The Verger of St. Paul's—The sooner the better,
or else there will be a jolly row.—(Laughter and
cheers.) I don't much care, l'vo got a very com-
fortable scat here.

Half-past nine o'clock arrived, and the indignation
of the meeting vented itself in the most fearful yel-
ling. Threats of damage to the building were pro-
claimed, and great anxiety prevailed lest injury might
be inflicted.

A man, habited in the Bloomer costume, came upon
the platform, and addressed the meeting as follows:
" Ladies and gentlemen, according to arrangement,
my wife, Mrs. Dexter, is here in this room. We have
been waiting in the next room for half an hour, and
could not get 'out ; but if you will be quiet Mrs.
Dexter will come.—(Uproar.) I wish her to come
forward if she is in the room. When she was in the
next room she was obliged to change her costume with
another lady, in order to get through the crowd. I
missed her, and I can tell no more."—(Upnar.)
As there appeared no symptom of Mrs. Dexter's
arrival, loud cries again rose from every part of the
hall. Several gentlemen demanded to know who were the
committee appointed to manage the matter, and Mr.
Taylor having announced himself one of that body,
he was informed that proceedings would be taken
against him and others at the police-office, for ob-
taining money under false pretences. This intima-
tion was received with great favour by the meeting,
who cheered it most vociferously.
A loud cry was raised for toe chairman, and the
verger of St. Paul's, who had been occupying his
post, and calmly surveying the agitated state of the
meeting, rose and beat a hasty retreat. There was
another cry for Mr. Dexter, but he had disappeared.
Mr. Taylor, a committeeman, informed the meeting

that it was intended to defer the meeting until next
Monday, when the hall would be opened free. On
being asked to return the money paid for admission,
he said he could not find the checktaker.—(Loud ex-
pressions of indignation.) He was about attempting
to effect his escape, when he was roughly seized and
made prisoner by the gentlemen on the platform.
The excitement at this stage of the proceedings
was of Id frightful character. Through a window at
the extreme end of the hall, a dummy, in rough
Bloomer costume, was suspended. There was a des-
perate rush from one end of the hall to the other, and
many persons were seriously injured.
A young woman, who had been standing in the
body of the hall, made her way to the platform, and
ascended the table. Under the impression that it was
Mrs. Bloomer in ordinary female costume, the meet-
ing cheered her with great enthusiasm, and then re-
lapsed into a dead silence. She then addressed the
meeting as follows :—Ladies and gentlemen, I have
got on this platform to show you that if Mrs.
Dexter is here in this room she can come up
here with the greatest ease.—(Hear, hear.) Gen-
tlemen will allow her to pass, and not only allow her
to pass, but assist her if she will make the attempt.
—(Cheers.) Come forward, Mrs. Dexter, if you are
here.—(Renewed cheering.) Come forward, if you
do not wish to make fools of the ladies and gentlemen
who are present. Mrs. Dexter, I call upon you to
come forward and show yourself to these gentlemen.
There is no corner of the room from which you can-
not pass through these gentlemen, dense as the crowd
is.—(Cheers.) If Mrs. Dexter will not come for-
ward, let those who are connected with her return the
money that has been paid at the doors. If she does
not do that, all this proceeding will be put down as a
swindle. My opinion is, ladies and gentlemen, that
you are collected here to be laughed at or to have
' your pockets picked. I am told that a committee of
men undertook to manage this affair; why, then,
don't they do their duty. If women had formed
the committee you would have seen the lady (Mrs.
Dexter).—(Loud cheers.)
A call was raised for Mr. Taylor, the committee-
man, and he stood side by side on the table with the
valorous young woman who had undertaken to lead
the meeting. lie presented a most pitiable and la-
mentable appearance, being a person of small stature.

The young woman, taking him by the hand, said

Ladies and gentlemen, this is one of the responsible
parties, one of the committee. Mrs. Dexter has
gone, the check-taker has gone, and this poor young
man has been left to settle the matter with you.
The young woman (addressing Taylor)—What
have you to say, sir ?
Mr. Taylor, looking very disconsolate, held his hat
before his eyes, but volunteered no explanation.
Some conversation took place between Mr. Taylor
and his fair assailant, during which time the auditory
remained very silent. At length she said, "This
gentleman says Mr. Dexter has gone to seek his wife,
(Roars of laughter)—and yet they say Mrs. Dexter
is in the room. What do they mean by all this ?
Let this poor young man explain it. He says he can't
give you any information, and so here he is and I
throw him upon your mercy. Do what you like with
him. Wait a minute, however, and I will ask bim a
q4estion ox two.—(Loud cheers.)

---
Thee young woman—What are your name and ad.
dress ?

Mr. Taylor (very slowly and very feebly)—l don't
think it right to tell.
The young woman—There is a man who calls him-
self an Englishman and is ashamed of his name.—
(Hear, hear.) I will ask him another question, and
that is, whether he knows how the money which has
been collected at the doors has been disposed of ?
Mr. Taylor—l don't know, the checktaker has
gone.—(Hisses and yells.)
The young woman (addressing Taylor)—Have you
got any money ?—(Tremendous cheering.)
Mr. Taylor made some reply, but it was inaudible
to every one but the young woman, who said, " Gen-
tlemen, he says he has got money in his pocket, but it
does not belong to him."
Upon this announcement being made, a vast body
of persons pushed towards the platform, determined to
take summary vengeance upon poor Taylor. lie was
driven right and left with merciless violence, and
would probably have sustained some injury, had not
the police entered, and seeing the danger to which he
was exposed, judiciously removed him.
Several other persons addressed the meeting in an
impassioned manner, denouncing the whole affair as
an unmitigated hoax and unqualified swindle. The
remarks wnich were directed personally towards Mrs.
Dexter and the leaders of the Bloomer party the law
of libel forbids us to publish.
As there seemed to be no chance of the promised
address by Mrs. Dexter, the auditory dispersed with
violent invectives against 13loomerism and its ad-
vocates.

There seems to be no doubt that the immense mass
of persons who assembled completely daunted Mrs.
Dexccr. It is (pally certain that, although there
were many persons present who were disposed to treat
the matter as a joke, the vast majority off the audience
would have secured for Mrs. Dexter a fair hearing,
and have protected her from any annoyance. The
attention which the young woman, whose part in the
proceedings we have detailed, met is a sufficient ex-
emplification of this fact.

LAUNCH OF THE DEM.EI?ARA ROYAL
MAIL STEAMER.
The launch of this colossal steam-ship, built for the
Royal West India Mail Steam-packet Company, took
place at Bristol on Saturday evening's tide. The Deme-
rara was constructed by Messrs. Patterson, of Bristol,
well known as the builders of the Great Britain, the
Great Western, the Royal mail steamers Severn, Avon,
&c. The launch was intended to have taken place at
ten o'clock in the morning, at which hour large crowds
assembled to witness the ceremony, and the numerous
vessels in the floating harbour were gaily dressed in the
flags of all nations. Owing, however, to some unfore-
seen delay, the water had fallen about two feet before
all was ready; the launch accordingly had to be post-
poned till the evening's tide, when everything went off
as prosperously as could be wished. She was christened
by the lady of Lieutenant Haste, R.N., the Commodore
of the West India Steam Company's ships. With the
exception of the Great Britain, the Demerara
is the largest steam-ship afloat; her length of keel is
276 feet; length between the perpendiculars, 282
feet ; length over all, 316 feet (about 6 feet shorter
than the Great Britain). Her breadth of beam is 41
feet, and extreme width from the outside of the paddle-
boxes, 75} feet; depth to the main deck, 26 feet 8
inches; depth of spar-deck, 7 feet; tonnage, old mea-
surement, 2,318 tons; new, upwards of 3,000 tons. She
is built of sound British oak, teak, and pine, is dingo-
nally.trusscd with iron, has copper fastenings throughout
to the 21 feet mark, and iron fastenings above that. She
will be propelled by two engines made by Messrs. Caird
and Co., of Greenock, on the side-lever principle, of
the combined power of 750 horses, or 24,500,0001 b., 96-
inch cylinders, and 9 feet stroke. They will be attached
to a pair of Morgan's patent feathering float-paddles.
An elegant dejeuner was given on the occasion at the
White Lion Hotel, Bristol, at which about 50 gentlemen
sat down. Mr. Patterson presided, supported by Cap-
tain Mangles (one of the directors of the company) and
Lieutenant Haste, R.N. Captain Mangles stated that
Lieutenant Haste, as their commodore, had been di-
rected to inspect the whole of the five new vessels built
for the company, and select the one he preferred for his
personal command. Lieutenant Haste had selected the
Demerara—a fact that spoke volumes in her favour.