New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1851-05-22
CHANCES AT EUROPE. NO. III.
The Great Exhibition.

The Worlds Fair aswe Americans have been
accustomed to call it. has now been open i've
days, but is not yet in complete order. nor any
thing like il. The sound Of the saw and the ham
uer saluter the vister from every side, and think
not less than Eve hundred carpenters and other
artisans are busy in the building today. The
week will probably close before the fixtures will
have oil been put up aud the articles duly Ar
ranged for exhibition. As yet, great many re-
main in their transportation boxes while Others
are covered with canvas though many more have
been put in order within the last two days
Through the great center aisle very little re-
mains unaccomplished, but on the sides, In the
galleries, and in the department Of British Ma
chinery, there is yet work to do which another
week will hardly see concluded. Meantime, thc
throDg of visiters is immense, thOagh the unex.
anpled extent of the Peoples Palace prevents
any crush orinconvenience. think there cannot
have been less than Ten Thousand visiters in the
building to day.
of course, any attempt to specify, or to set
forth the merits or defects Of particular articles
mult here befutile Such universe of materials,
inventions and fabrics defes that mode Of treat
ment But will endeavor to give some general
idea of the Exhibition
If you enter the building at the E asst, you are
in the midst Of the American contributions, to
which great space has been allotted, which they
meagerly fill. Passing Westward down the aisle.
our next neighbor is Russia, who had not an
eighth Of our space allotted to her, and has filed
that little far less thoroughly and creditably than
we have. 1t is said that the greater part Of the
Russian articles intended for the r air are yet
ice. bound in the attic. France, Austria, Swift
Eerlsnd, Prussia and other German States sue
coed her; the French contributions being equal Il
think in value il not in extent and variety to those
Of all the rest Of the Continent. Bohemia has
sent some admirable Glassware; Austria suit
Of apartments thoroughly and sumptuously fur
nished, which wins much regard aud some adj
miration. There is OF course great array of
tasteful design and exquisite workmanship from
France, though do not just now call to mind
any article of transcendent merit.
The main aisle is very wide, forming broad
promenade on each side with a collection 0
Sculpture, Statuary, Casts, &c. 60. between
them. Foremost among these is P0werss Greek
Slave, never seen to better advantage; and
should say there are from fifty to hundred other
works of Art-mainly in Marble or Bronze
Some of T. EN- have great merit. Having passed
down this avenue several hundred feet, you re ZACH
the TranSept, where the great diamond Kohl
Moor Mountain of Light with other Royal con-
.ributons, have place. Here, in the exact center
Of the Exhibition, is a beautiful Fountain nearly
all glass but the water which has rarely been
sxcelled in design effect. The fluid is pro-
jeoted to q hight Of thirty feet, falling
shence into q succession Of regularly enarging
glass basins, and finally reaching In streams aad
opray the reservoir below. A hundred feet or
more on either side stand two stately, graceful
trees, entirely included in the building whose roof
Of glass rises clear above them, seeming a nearer
sky. These trees (elms, l believed are fuller and
iresher in leaf than those outside, having been
nbielded from the chilling air and warmed by the
genial roof Natures contribution to the Great
Exhibition is certainly very admirable one, and
fairly entities her to first class Medal.
The other half Of the main aisle is essentially
duplicate of that alre ady described but is some.
what differently filed. This is the British end
q the Exhibition, containing far more in quantity
than ell the rest put together. The finest and
costiest fabrics are ranged on either aide of this
end of the grand aisle.
The show OF Colonial products is not vast bat
comprehensive, giving q vivid idea Of the wide
extent and various climates of Bri.ain's depend.
encies. Corn, Wheat, 90, from the Csnadss;
Sugar and Coffee from the West Indies; ine
Wool from Australia; Rice, Cotton, go. from In.
dia; with the diversified products of Asia, Africa
and America, fll this department. Manufactured
textile fabrics from Sydney, from India, and from
Upper Canada, are here very near each other
while Minerals, Woods, &c. from every land aad
every Cline are nearly in contact. / apprehend
John Bull, whatever else he may learn, will not
be taught meekness by this Exhibition.
The Mineral department of the British display
Is situat on the south side. / think it can hard
~ be less than Eve hundred feet long by over one
hundred wide, and il is doubtless the most com
plete ever thus set before the public. Here are
shown every variety and condition of Coal, and
Of Iron, Copper, Lead. Tin, &c. or Gold there is
little, and Of Silver Zinc, Quicksilver, &C., not
great deal. But not only are the Ores OF the me.
tails first named varied and abundant, with Ma
tive Copper, Silver, &C., but the metals are aIso
shown in every stage of their progress, from the
rude Elements just wrenchsd from the earth to
he most refined and perfect bars or ingots This
department will richly reward the study of the
nineralogists, present and future.
Directly opposite, on the North side OF the
British half OF the main avenue, ia the British OK.
bibitiOn Of Machinery, occupying even more space
than the Minerals. l never saw one fourth a.
much Machinery together before; l do not expect
ever to sec so much again. Almost every shisg
that q Briton has ever invented, improved or
patented in the way Of Machinery is here brought
together. The great Cyliade, Press on which
The Times IL printed mo. the individual, bat the
hind may here be seen in operation; the cylin.