New Orleans daily crescent., 1866-11-21


ling tile inclosed grounds; there was the Soul
stirring band, and the vocal talent of inc city
singing the qautiiamus and note Of jubilee over
the new undertaking; there too, aere the speakers
of the day, Messrs Burwell an1 Burthe, who we're
improving the cccasiori to suggest words of coun-
sell, which it is to be hoped WILL III time, bear
their fruits
But the most noteworthy circumstance after all
was the crowd ITSELF as it sat ranged tier upon
tier upon the seats providedo for the OCCASION which
reminded the classical observer of the Isthmian
Games, or of the time when the circus sports of
ancient Rome were thus witnessed, end
when the beauty, wealth and intellect were
occupied in less religions or intellectual amuse-
ments. The world has changed. We 10 longer
meet to determine the merits of rival poets,
charoteers or gladistors, and, so we prefer, or
affect to prefer, to hear of the merits of direct
trade or the future of King Cotton to any song
that Homer might sing or Herodotus write.
Whatever might be the feelings and tastes of the
crowd, there can be no doubt that it was sight
we'll worth soeing-th segment of circle, with
its array of beauty and fashion-its parti-colored
dresses, its gossamer laces, gaily tinted bonnets
kid gloves and parasos gently turned towards the
| sun. Beauty perhaps was more tanned by the sun
than edited; but whether it derived any particu-
lar benefit or not from the spectacle, it certainly
acted as moving principle for large portion of
the remaining crowd.
The building which was devoted to the fine arts
had been closed during the morning, and as any
thing about which there is mystery naturally at
tracts the curiosity Of the public had began to be
! greatly exercised after the hour for noon had
passed More than one partly had become indig-
nant and more than one citizen Of consequence
Lad vanly brought to bear all Of his personal in-
iuence III the effort to penetraeinto the forbidden
hall. But two o'clock once sounded, the crowd
poured in like an entering flood. The vast multi
tude who had been scattered over every part Of
the wide Enclosure bore down in their might upon
the building, and in few moments after it was
opened, the immense chamber was as much filed
as any Of the city cars which brought visitors to
the exhibition.
Becoming in time little accustomed to the lat
ter, you discovered that the room was octagonally
shaped and that its walls we're mostly hung with
pictures and paintings of one kind and another.
There, for instance, were pictures Of Gems. Lee
and sheridan, and chieftans and civilians Of lesser
celebrity there was picture Of the battle of
New Orleans, well known for many years to con
nolsssnrs, Of embroidery work-of classic heads
drawn with crayon or India ink, or the later reve-
lations Of science in the shape of the photographic
art There was also an inner row of pain ings, aud
among these latter, probably, the most valua-
Bile was small picture Of mother, with a saint
ly expression Of countenance, holding two chill
dren in her arms. The delicacy of its coloring,
and its skillful blending of light and shade at.
tracted the attention of almost every observer,
and the popular taste was not, for once, at fault
Next, OF perhaps equal in value, was a painting
representing vessel, with every sail set upon an
open moonlit sea. One can almost imagine he
sees tie blue wavesand the white canvassis 50 well
defined against the dark background that the ilIu-
sion that you are at sea is almost complete The
fact that no names attached to other paintings
makes it difficult to allude to their merfts bQt
there were two or three well drawn paintings Of
Louisiana landscape scenery, with its cypress,
its moss covered oaks and marshy pasture lands
and pictures of dogs, Sheep and other objects Of
natural history.
Extending from the center of the building were
radii of bed-quis, coyerlets and other articles |
dear to housekeepers, and to determine whose
merits VIII probably greatly embarrass the ap-
pointed committeeman.
In the way of statuary there was marble
pefcan-not as is ordinarily represented in the
attitude of f-sacrfce-which was one of the |
most interesting objects Of the exhibitions |
the bronze casts Of Don Juan, an Indian girl and I
Nubiau slave, must have arrested every
eye. There were smaller statues, too of the
NEUROLOGICAL gods and goddesBas, and a beautiful
model Of a tme-pieCe was the golden figure OF
some nymph or grace, represented as hoding the
vibrating pendulum in her hand. A very pretty
coHceit was the representation Of grotto, mads
by some young lady Of taste from her souvenirs
Of travel But we cannot describe further We
regret to conclude without some account of the
carved nlail furniture which another building
contained of the taste which was displayed in
chairs armoirs, bedsteads, window hangings:
gold and silver mounted harness here, an en-
bossed Mexican saddle there; pyramids of soaps,
delicate perfumes, elaborate mantle-piecea of
castiron; what, III short, would take column to
describe. The whole Of this portion of our sub
ject we must pretermt now.
We sb0uldlike TO describe, too, the exhibition of
garden flowers represented by an island rising
hill-ike in the center, surrounded with messy
banks and spanned as to its canal with rustic
bridge and one or two other Conservatives of
rare plants; but this time the reader must see for
himself.
There were hobby horses for the children and
great moral side shows for their grown up elders
there were the race course buildings which was
rather thnly attendedby the worshippers of for
tune and there was the race course itself around
which some of the lovers of horse flesh were tear
ing at a 2:top pace. Upon any other occasion we
might make an interesting paragraph about the
immense number of carriages drawn up in bat
terry and which must have amounted during the
day to something over thousand of all descrip-
tiOns Rut the snbipct GTnyys and wa dasist