Polynesian. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu], Hawaii) 1844-1864, 1854-03-18
Awards at the Crystal Palace.

The long-delayed awards Of the Jures at the
Crystal Palace at last announced to the public
through our columns this morning. We give a COM
pete list of the silver and the bronze medals with
the names of the exhibitors on whom they are con-
ferred, and Of the articles awarded by them. The
whole number of silver medals is lis, which lRdi-
Gates that the Jures have bestowed them with con-
siderable lberality. OF bronze medals there are
ll86, while ,2l0 Exhibitors Tor articles receive
the more simple distinction Of an honorable men
ton. The greatest number of silver medals falls
to the lot of the United States. The next country
in rank is France, which has Is /; while Great Bri-
tain has ., Germany S, and Switzerland, Australia
and Italy one each: Of the bronze medals, the
United States has sos, Great Britain AS, France
l53, Germany LOG, Prussia 80, Belgium 10, Swift
zerland %, Holland IL, Austria lS, Italy and Sar-
dina, A, British Possessions &c, &c. These fig-
ures may not be exact; as many names of coun-
tries were omitted in the list.
On examining the awards we are struck by the
variety of motives governing the different juries
This was perhaps not to be avoided, by the estab-
lishment of a rigid rule of judgment for them all.
A great deal ofliberty must be left to them, and
although the Association laid down certain general
principles for their guidance we find one Jury CIV
ing medals for set of reasons, and another foI
another. Thus for instance, in the department OF
the Fine Arts, silly ,r medals given for original
Ity, genius and practical skill alone in the depart
ment OF Machinery on the other hand a silver medal
is given to a steam engine from Alabama, with no
originality whatever except that it is finished with
a great deal of ornament, and seemed to the Jury
to be worthy of encouragement as coming from a
region where the introduction of industry must
prove especially beneficial; and in the department
of Clothing a silver medal is given to the Shirt
Sewers Union for good work and as mark of
sympathy w tn the efforts Of that Association.
Such wide variations in the principles on which
awards have been given. would seem to justify the
course pursued at London, where the awards of all
the Juries were revised by council composed of
the chairmen of them all.
But we have no desire to question the justice of
these awards. That they will naturally provoke a
good deal of discussion and some feeling among
the disappointed competitors is a matter of course.
To avoid all reason for complaint in such long
series of awards would be impossible. No Jury
can be infaible, and mistakes cannot be helped.
But we presume that the premiums at the Crystal
Palace have generally been conferred with justice,
and that whatever errors may have been committed
in individual cases, the tenor of the whole will be
confirmed and approved by the public. In one par
ticuar we are sure that this will be case. We al
ude to the award of silver medal to Christensen
and Gildemeister, the architects who designed the
Crystal Palace Itself-the most beautiful and novel
piece of architecture in the United States.-Iri-
bune.