New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1867-04-03
PRICE FOUR CENTS.
THE WORLDS FAIRS.
ANTIQUARIAN INTRODUCTION Ia MODE.

promptly responded Eve. Like every other great
subject therefore. it will be that ours runs back
to the Creation of the World and if there were time,
| we might amuse ourselves and delight our readers
| by tracing the history of Fairs from that obscure
period of their origin down to the present enlight-
ened year of our Lord. But time and space fail MS,
and we reluctantly forego the envening task. Our
readers must look elsewhere for information about
the Fairs which gave periodical fllps to the langud
| life of the Orientas iii the days contemporary
| with Solomon, or, further back, in the days
| before AgamemnOn and Troy. As there is
| nothing said in the Old Testament about the
Fairs of the Hebrews, shall, Of course, make no
comments on them even express our wellfounded
| belief that they existed People in general might
not share own lively interest in the Fairs inst-
| tuted by King DagOber and as we have DO wish to
bore people in general, shall repress our enthu
siasm and keep our facts for own light reading
! Bartholomew Fair is entertaining titblt-a
morsel delicately compounded of politics. commerce,
trade and scandal, but of which account must be-
reserved for another time. We have learning upon
learning about horsefars, and cheesefairs and but
ter-fars, and cattle fairs, and Fairs where every
human commodity is Sold but in this frivolous age
| learning is at discount and we shall not throw
| away our pearls. The Fairs of Caen and Beaucaire,
Gubray and St. Cloud shall hunt for another chron-
cler although each of them is little world in itself.
|
| tune of millions. The Fairs of Rotterdam and AM
| sterdam, and all the other dams of HOlland-gay,
piquant, delightful concOurses they are of the
lnirthful, mercuria and spiJitaet Dutchmen~
cannot make us forget stern purpose to
| be as chaTy of information as we can;
| and even if the reader begs it with tears in
his voice he shall not get anything of all we know
about the great Fair of Singaglia in the Papal
States, to which traders swarm from Northern Eu-
rope from Africa and the Leyant; nor that OF Mad
rid Saints Day and Fair in one, when the piOus
Spanars pray on their knees to st. 1sidore in tho
| morning and on their swarms Of customers in tho
afternoon nor shall we break our for the four
great German Fairs, of Leipsic, Frankfort-onMain,
Frank fort on Oder and Brunswick. Almost we re-
lent when we think of Leipsic with its great book
Fair at Easter, where 100000 worth of books AMI
more than 100000 worth of other goods are sent
whirlmg over the world. Then, too, what would the
reader not give to hear all about Mini Noygorod,
greatest of the Worlds Fairs, Fair that is town
with streets and houses, mighty swarm OF buyers
and sellers who buy and sell till they stop from mere
exhaustion and reckon their bargains at over $4,000
co., If the reader wishes to know more about these
wonderful gatherings he must go for information to
the books of travellers TO whom they offer the most
tempting opportunities for lively and entertaining
description. The gravity of our theme imposes Sc
rious manners and forbds the freshness OF narra-
tive in which these travelled gentlemen especially
the Germans, indulge; else we might whip the froh
from the cup OF adventure Win the nghtest oi uo
o. GREAT OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
The generous suggestion of Prince Albert, that tho
! whole world should hold an exhibition of its in
| dustry, was responded to az the world always re,
made like that of the liberal Minister of the Interior
10 the traders and shop-keepers OF single hatoni
it was made TO men everywhere, and the INVITATION
was dispatched 70 people of every land and every
| race Ii was made Mt happy time, when the shock
of the widespread Revolution of 1889 was dying
out of memory in the interest excited BY the results
of that Revolution, the quckening of thought tho
interchange of national sympathles ana the starthS
into bud and flower of many OF those intellectual
and scientific movements whose fruits we OF 1907 sec
| taking shape and color. There have been many
Exhibitions since that first splendid triumph; Dutho
one of them has ever excited the romantic interest,
! started and solved many problems, or
produced such marked and important results as ms
Like the first Crusade, whatever may nave been inc
real motive of those who set IL ON ioot, WnateVer
faint of mercenary spirit of rivalry, OF selfishness
may be detected a careful afterexamlnation OF s
history il appeared 10 the world as an enterprise
founded in nnselfishness and generosity, and from
the first breaking of the ground to the day MS doors
were closed, everything connected with u was
| watched and chrOniced with ali intense and absorb
ing interest such it has been impossible 10 awake
with regard TO any of its limitations Really; there
was only one Crusade; the others that we call such
were only trading and military adventures slightly
favored with religious motives; ana so there mas
been in reality but one Great Exhloiton Oh the III.
dustry of all Nations" the rest have been only moro
or less splendid bazaars, mercantile specuatons OH
| grand scale, of which the fashion having been once
set, and the invention found profitable. we are iKey
| to chronicle q successor every ten years or SO;
| How shall q man chronicle the great eXhlbiton
| in less than vOlumef Volumes, indeed, have been
writ about it, and perhaps read. but to-day have
| only paragraph at command. Everybody has heard
| the gossip of the buildings origin. how MI Joseph
| Paxton, head gardener TO the Duke OF DevOnshlre,
| while sitting with the other COMMISSIONERS, ana
listening 10 this and that sketches his boter the
| first rough draught of building which. though
nothing more than of his employers great grape
| ries magnified, is yet at once accepted rs good,
| feasible idea TO start with. How, further, that
touch of poetry may be added to this PLAIN common
notion the Tor the srG1ute Si w ns
borrowed from the network of ribs ON the under SIDE
of the leaves Of the Victoria Rega and how Fox and
| Henderson, the contracting engineers, shTewd
hard, headed Englishmen, impatient enough OF
poetry probably like most engineers, did actually
! find on experiment, that Natures Victoria Regia
| pattern was the best for them TO follow In
designing their roofrbs and that they followed il ac
cOrdngly The greater part OF the building was made
of iron and glass, the ribs OF the ROOF, however
were of wood and all the internal fittings, partitions.
| &c Ii rose swiftly, with English regularity and
puuctuality carefully watched III every part dengnt-
ing the mechanical and engineering world with ltS
ingenious devices for conquering every difncuIty
and facilitating every process and keeping the re-
cordng pens of hundred journalists busy with let
tiers to every constituency until at eHg9 fne
back the May sun from ITS acres OF TOOL ana DECK
oned the world to come and see Sir Joseph Paxton
was the designer OF TINS famous Dui,dns siS t.
Royal Commission instituted compeuton on de-
signs for the proposed exhibition, and Frenchman,
Hector ao Prns sas Albert and Mt Stephenson
had seen Paxton's sketch on his blotteT, and
were quick to recognize its superiority. 60 ME-
Horeaii with what grace he may. and, let us nope,
with some cash for his trouble, puts his portioho
under his arm and hastens home, another leg us say
the thensapdth victim 70 com mb s sa MORN Se
tails we will recall this interesting mecnancai ieA-
ture viz, that all the dimensions OF the building