New-York tribune., 1870-08-30
THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE

PREVlooS FAIRS NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
PREPARATIONS FOR THE EXPOSITION OF 1870.
FOrty~two years ago last February num-
Der of public spted gentlemen Of New York met ct old
Tanfnany Hail. and discussed the wisdom of forming a
National Association TO develop American industry
protect American labor This the acorn from which
an oak has grown They adopted the which stands
mt the head Of this article By tho hrst paragraph OF s
constitution the American Institute called organ
,aton TO promote improvements in the mechanic arts,
20 encourage industry in agriculture manufao
turas and commerce, and 10 uphold policy that win
protee the great interests Of the Republic. In an All
,ircss 10 the public printed the following month"; the
memhers suggest that no eectua aid can be rem
dered to American industry than by the diffusion OF
more thorough and intimate knowledge OF our hatohai
resources year later in 1922 the Society was ehar
tered and It's mission again declared 10 DE the pro
motion industry in New York and the United
States aud any improvements made in commerce, aRrr
culture the useful the elegant arts by bestowing re-
wards on those who make such improvements, or excel
III any of these great branches OF industry. fIy|
From the day OF It's conception till the modes OF
working its objects, well as the general aim and
scope OF the Institute have been unchanged IL was
believed that much good would he accomplished by the
establishment Of a center of mechanical and scientific
industry place where the inventor could find sympa
thizDg group Of listeners, and where, II his idea was
found really valuable he could have facilities for show
ing his pet to great sueoessons of visitors In con
nectiOn with these displays of mechanical genius ana
artistic skill there hourished many years Museum,
OF Repository where models OF valuable inventions
could he stored and kept perpetual exhibition. BY
degrees as these exhibitions brought money, II
posed to build up valuable scientific library and open
rooms where upon stated evenings. Of science
could and discuss the latest discoveries and map
out as il were the last conquest OF mind the
teria world This conception has crystallized into
manent and most useful branch Of the Institute known
the Polytechnic Society.
Realizing the fundamental Importance of constantly
tha nf
the Institute gave agriculture the place of honor their
plans They founded the Farmers Club society that
for years assembled twice in month, but meets
weekly, and composed Of farmers, fruit growers, and
Rorsts living in the vicinity Of the Metropolis This Club
has from its birth enjoyed the distinction OF having its
sayings reported with remarkable completeness, and
printed in journals of such circulation places the
bers contact with reading farmers every county
and III every election precinct the continent. The
value of the lessons that have been and he thus in
oucated If the voices heard its weekly sessions
those of wisdom and intelligence ts impossible to
estimate The Club, with its connections, forms tee
graph TO every mans resde by which he may know Of
all the signal advances the agricultural invention and
the better. methods of his time
To the general public the Institute is mainly known
through its great annual exhibitions These begun
though ON pigny scale compared with the magni-
hcent displays OF later years, in 1898 The first
opened at the Masonic Hail. Broadway and continued
for three days After the organization complete,
Garden leased, and series Of fairs was held in it,
each Autumn, till that structure consumed by fire.
The exhibitions were then made for several years at
Castle Garden But after the completion of the crystal
Palace this afforded ample and splendid theater for
display of the annual collection of the marvels
of industry, ingenuity, haudicraft and art The
expOsitions thus annually made by the Institute
differed the outset from the fairs that
had been held in German for many generations
and occasionally in New-York for halt century A
Fair meant festive meeting of buyer and sellcr-haf
carnival and half marbet-day. Nowhere in America,
and probably not in Europe had there been such great
people drawn by scientific or mechanical
interest to grand collection Of new, useful unique ee-
gantly-shaped and beautifully finished articles New
York has seen hiry-eght such Xpositionsncreasing
oradnaIlv AZ the country has grown in the value and
snlendor Of the workmanship displayed in the novelty
of design or in the marvellous efficiency of new cOmbina
tons OF powers and mechanical principles These ar
ces viewed by careful judges, AMI prizes or pre-
niuIns Of three grades awarded according the
Judges may find them good aud praisewohy, or Of re-
maTkabe excellence.
In long history the Institute has not escaped its
dark days The gTieyiOus disaster that has fallen
upon the burning Of the Crystal Palace. As the
Thrtieth Exhibition midway in successful career,
in tbs wOrdenOwned that for six years stood
the square opposite the Forty ythrdst Reservoir on
the afternoon Of sd October 1885, the managers,
thirteen OF whom in the building at the time
sudden and fierce blaze spring upward from Tic east
corner OF the north nave II was afterward made quite
certain that had been committed OF course there
were appliances all around TO meet such an emergency
In a few seconds hose was screwed upon hydrant,
and the nozzle turned upon But alas, there
was head Of water Before the engines could be used
and the steam pumps started the blaze had mounted like
the wind Though in aspects re-proof building,
the exterior being wholly OF iron and glass; the interior
building like Undertook. The long gallery
floors were of fat pine laid with crevces for ventilation
once fred they burned like matches The heat expanded
the crders and drew the lemons from their sockets
that the roof commenced fall by sections. This
htrcer draft the flames, and all thought was now
turned clearing the doomed building Of its crowd Of
visitors. Fortunately life lost, but some
were within the cracking walls when tie great
central dome fell with a deafening crash
In 30 minutes from the first thrill Of alarm nothing
manned Of the Palace but pile of heated castings and
smoking wreck OF what had been, hour before, the
most brilliant and valuable collection OF articles OF skill
and handcraf on the Continent The TO the exhib
Ors not less than half million. The Institute had
made all the Outays, and received yet but little
turn. It lost. in actual property destroyed 10000 Be
eide for time IL lost heart and feared that confidence
IN the and providence OF its management had been
impaired But the following year the Managers leased
Palace Garden FOurteenb-st, and made d successful
exhibition From 1850 10 1865 all its fairs but
held al Palace while went by that name, and
IL the structure when became the Armory Of the
Twenty second Regiment.
MANAGEMENT AND FINANCES.
In l64s the Institute then situated at No 333 Broad
way showed sagaciy and thrift in becoming purchaser
0freal estate II bought property Broadway,
I<0narcst, No. S5i, and gave s5OOOtl5000 cash and
1850 On bond and mortgage. For years the grand effort
al each exhibition TO realize enough 10 meet this
interest aud wipe out by instalments this mortgage.
Inc iar OF - aeat success, and gave surplus Of
U'aN N"n Next year the surplus was 1900 less; 81
INF