The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1873-06-21
Public affairs.
The Vienna Exposition,

puhuihS anu Miiht ~ uD DC seen
When we get up grand fairs and me
chanicai exhibitions in America, a tenn
porary board building is constructed and
whitewashed, and the rough places cover
ed with calico The Vienna Exposition
building itself is a curiosity, being CON
structed as il it was to stand for ages,
mainly of brick, stone and iron, and grand
in its architectural proportions and finish,
both inside and out. The entrance and
exit doorways are ornamented with statu-
ary, and its grand dome is snrmounted
with gilded crown, some twenty feet
higher than the ball on the dome Of st.
Peters. The hall of the Paris Exposi-
tion was twice as large as that Of London,
and the main building of the Vienna Ex-
position is computed to be more than five
times as large as that of Paris. Besides
this there are two separate buildings, the
machinery hall, which is about six times
as large as the hall of our Maryland In
stitute, and the painting gallery, which is
three times as long and twice as broad as
that Of the Institute. The floor Of the
main building, with its sixteen transepts,
is about as long as from Frederick street
to the Eutaw House, and one hundred
feet broad. The rotunda, in the centre
of the building, is immense, aud is itself
larger than any hall in the United States,
whilst the ceiling towers up more than
three hundred feet to the top of the dome,
which is twice as large in circumference
as the dome of st. Peters. The grounds
around these immense buildings have been
laid out in gardens, with fountains, gravel
walks, and flower beds, and hundreds of
restaurants and cafes are erected within
the enclosure, representing all the nations
in Christendom, and even the heather
Chinee, the Turk and the Japanese. There
are two Of these under the American flag,
and they are all very elegant establish
ments, some of them as large and almost
as fine in their appearance as the Mansion
House at the Park Near the centre of
the main hall is very elegant building,
erected for the Emperor, in which he Is
to receive and entertain his royal guests
Although merely for temporary use it is
very elegant structure, about one hun
dred feet in length, and is ornamented
with statuary and bas reliets, and the
walls inside elegantly frescoed Fine gar
dens and grounds have been extemporized
around it, and it might be regarded as
very elegant country villa. But | find it
impossible to convey to your readers any
adequate idea of the magnifcence Of the
Exposition buildings and their surround
ings. They are vast and wonderful, far
exceeding my expectations, and if Phila-
delphia expects to rival or excel Vienna
at its Centennial Exposition, it must be
up and doing. Even with the cheap labor
of Austria, the construction of these build
ings and the preparation Of the surround
ing grounds has cost the Austrian Gov
ernment over forty million of guilders,
about s20,000,0 900 in our money.
As large as this vast building is, it has
been found entirely too small for the dis
play of the goods brought for exhibition.
The United States, England France,
Prussia, Russia and several other countries
have found the space allotted to them en-
tirely inadequate, and have been allowed
to construct additional wings between the
transepts The United States has thus
enlarged its space by roofing over the
ground between it and England, and thus
adding hall twice as large as the Assem-
bly, Rooms, with doors opening to it from
the main hall; so also have the countries
named. Just let your readers imagine
the Vienna Exposition to be the great won
der Of the present century, and they will
not fall far short Of the mark.
There are some things that can be de-
scribed, but admit at the outset that the
interior of the Exposition building is some
thing beyond my ability to convey to your
readers any idea of its wonderful and
gorgeous display. There is here to be seen
everything that is rich, rare and beautiful,
from all the four corners of the earth.
The manner in which the goods have been
placed upon exhibition has astonished me
as much as their richness and character.
The exhibitors have endeavored to excel
each other in the magnifcence of the thou
sands Of beautiful and costly cases in which
they display their goods, nearly all of them
being elegantly constructed and ornament
ed, and enclosed with plate glass Mil
lions-of dollars must have been expended
by exhibitors in fitting up the spaces al |
lotted to them, and they have in reality
opened business establishments for the |
sale of their goods, with clerks and sales
men in attendance. The rotunda has an |
immense fountain, with statues in the
centre, and its vast interior is being fitted |
up with mammoth cases, many Of them
twenty feet in height, stored with valuable
goods and fine pieces of statuary. Austria
has furnished magnificent temple for the
use of the depositors, and they are sparing
no expense in ornamenting its interior in
manner worthy of its grandeur.
FLOWERS AND FRuITs AT VIENNA
This is what Bayard Taylor says Of the
flower and fruit show at Vienna:
The flower show, one of the numerous
temporary exhibitions incident to the
worlds fair, has just closed. 1t was not
much of show. The exhibition filed
'quare tent of moderate size. The flowers
we're nearly all of hot-house growth by
Vienna florists, with some from Munich !
md Dresden. The azalias ars particularly
inc, and they are grouped so as to make
he most brilliant effects of color. Ineyer
aw such large flowers, such dense masses
# bloom, or such great variety Of beau
iful tints The roses are noteworthy for
heir !, rather than for their beauty.
The aim of the Vienna gardener appears
o be to produce as big rose as possible,
md to do this all comeliness of shape il
he bush is sacrificed. 1t Is trained to
TOW like a straight stick, aud only small 4
lunch Of leaves Is allowed at the top.
These rose trees, as they should be called,
ather than bushes, are often ten feet high,
nd they bear but three or four flowers
acb, Standing alone there is little beauty
n them, but massed IN depse hedges 80
hat only the leafy tops and the great
pses are seen, tho eticct is striking.
lQwhara IL n natural ohax..1 l..,t A. - ,