The Sun.
London, England, 1861-12-31 00:00:00

STAMPED ....sd.

IN lERNATIO.YAL EXHIBITION 0F1862,

Two thousand six hundred artisans, of various
trades, have been working at the building at South
Kensington during three days of the past week
with redoubled energy, in order to make up for the
other three days which they had devoted to the
Christmas pastimes. It was quite an army of
labour, but we understand that it is to he further
and considerably reinforced, in order that faith may
he kept, and the building be ready for the recep•
tion of goods on the 12th February next. Great as
this number of hands is, they fill very little space in
the vast interior, and, but for the shouting, the
hammering, and the occasional fall of some frag-
ment from above, one might walk all round with-
out imagining that any very extraordinary amount
of work was being carried on. Yesterday, being
" Saint Monday," the muster-roll was not quite
complete, but we are informed that the absent
were very few indeed as compared with the former
" Mondays" of English workmen. Looked at from
either Exhibition or Cromwell-road, the building is
beginning to have a great appearance of finish and
completeness. The two long façades are perfect
from end to end, except one corner tower, and are
perfect specimens of brickwork ; but it is generally
thought that if they were faced with stucco, to
imitate stone, the effect would be very much im-
proved. Boat the dames are now sufficiently ad-
vanced in outline to produce the intended effect,
and no doubt, when finished and seen glittering in
the summer sun, will present a very striking and
imposing appearance. In the eastern one, six of the
twelve ribs of which the concave is to be formed are
already in their places, and the remainder lie about
all ready to be hoisted. Thanks to the splendid
scaffolding, and the powerful machinery, this ap-
parently Titanic work is comparatively very easily
performed, but the fitting the ribs in their places,
and rivetting the joints, are tasks of some difficulty,
which will not be wondered at when we remember
that the measurement of each entire rib is about
100 feet from the capital, of the supporting column,
to the centre piece. Once the ribs have been -piped
and secured, the remainder of the work will be got
through with ease and rapidity, as nothing will
remain to be done except to fit in the cross " pur-
line," and commence glazing immediately. After
the dome has been completed, however, a task of
considerable difficulty, danger, and labour will still
remain--namely, the removal of the vast internal
wooden structure, round and over which the dome
has had to be raised. It is to be observed that the
glass dome of the Exhibition building has no inner
cone, like that of its more substantial rival—St.
Paul's. .The wooden structure before mentioned at
present takes the place of the cone ; but, when the
dome is finished, the wood will be removed altoge-
ther, and the superstructure will have to depend for
support solely on its own strength and lightness.
It is expected that after the dome is finished it will
take at least three weeks to remove the inside scaf-
folding. Theeastern dome will, it is expected, be
finished by the-12th of February, and its western
rival about a fortnight later. It was hardly to be
expected that so much perilous work should be got
through without some accidents ; and, accordingly,
there have been, we regret to say, five or six deaths
and a good many broken limbs, but we believe that
in no case has any accident occurred through failure
in the ropes or machinery, or weakness in the scaf-
folding, but it has always been the result of some
momentary inadvertence on the part of the men
thernselvesi. A good proportion of the accidents
have, it is said, hitherto happened on Mondays,
when the men would perhaps have been indulging
a little too freely in stimulants. Every possible pre-
caution is taken to pr.:rent accidents, and evee=y
human means to alleviate their consequences when
they do occur, 20 beds being always reserved in St.
George's Hospital for the reception of bruised or
wounded patients from the Exhibition building.
The nave may be said to be now complete, being
roofed over, floored throughout, and having all its
columns standing in their first coat of paint. An
experiment was tried yesterday in colouring, a por-
tion of the roof being painted of a very dead blue.
The result was not satisfactory, and it is thought
that the best way will be to leave the oak paneling
to its natural colour, merely giving it a coat of
bright vat Nish. We were very much struck with
the spacious, airy, and cheerful appearance of the
Western court, now completely roofed and floored,
and ready for our French friends, who in it will
have the best exhibition space in the whole build-
ing. When this splendid court shall have been
decorated as the French exhibitors propose to deco-
rate it, and is filled with the various and beautiful
manufactures, it will certainly be not the least at-
tractive portion of the Exhibition. The nave, in
which the English will probably muster strongest,
is as yet rather dark and cloistral, but it is
expected that when the domes are finished and
their scaffolding is cleared away the light will be
abundant. The picture gallery, to which the visitor
must as yet ascend by a ladder, is nevertheless quite
ready to receive its pictures ; and here the light is,
as was expected, perfect. The length is 1,200 feet,
the same as the Louvre, and, in addition, there are
two minor galleries, each 800 feet long. Should
all this length of hanging space be filled with meri-
torious pictures, as no doubt it will, there will be
at Kensington a finer exhibition of pictures, not
only than any existing collection, but than any col-
lection that has ever been brought together, not
excepting the Louvre when enriched by the First
Napoleon with the spoils of all Europe. One of the
annexes is finished except the flooring, and the
other is nearly half covered in, whilst the refresh-
ment buildings have made rapid progress during
the week.
A rather singular traffic in that now precious
commodity, exhibition space, has been discovered,
and put a stop to by Mr. Lindon, one of the secre-
taries. It appears that a number of persons had
applied for space who had no intention to exhibit,
but had secured their space betimes, as a certain
class of Parisians do the front seats in the theatres,
in the expectation of selling them to advantage
just as the curtain is about to rise. The course of
the Commissioners is to put down all such traffic,
and promptly to cancel any space privilege which
is thus sought to be. transferred. The only other
point respecting the material progress of the under-
taking which requires any notice this week is the
uncertainty in which the Commissioners are still
left respecting their chance of a road across the
park. If this road should not be obtained, all the
goods from the west of England will have to come
through Park-lane, to the great inconvenience of
its aristocratic inhabitants, and the frequent block-
ing up of its fashionable thoroughfare. It is
earnestly hoped that some action will speedily be
taken by the authorities for the promotion of" cir-
culation," as otherwise the success of the Exhibi-
tion will be seriously interfered with by the insuffi-
ciency of the means of access.

With reference to a paragraph which has ap.
peered in one of the weekly papers, to the effect
that an illustrious personage had intimated her in-
tention of opening the Exhibition in person, it will
be felt, on a moment's reflection, that such an an-
nouncement could not have been otherwise than pre-
matnre, as nobody would believe that the Commis-
sioners would have been in such haste to intrude on
the retirement of a sacred sorrow as already to
have ascertained the Royal intentions with respect
to the ceremo►'iial opening. All that can yet be
hoped is that the gracious intentions which were
permitted to be announced in Colonel Phipps' letter
to Mr. Dilke with respect to one favourite project of
the late lamented Prince Consort, will in due time
be extended to another, and the greatest of his late
Royal Highness's undertakings.—Daily News.

We learn from good authority that the Rev,
W. H. Milman, rector of St. Augustine and Faith, suc-
ceeds the late Rev, J, Hall in the vicarage of Tottenham.
—Union.