Daily Kennebec journal., 1875-10-01
THE conIgc CFV7ENyIAL.


The great American Centennial is close
at hand. The time for preparation is pass
ing rapidly away. 1t will be a grano al
fair Int after all it will not be what 1t
might have been had the people OF all the
conn,rv entered into the exhibition with
the sn;rit and enthusiasm due to the occa-
.;or In this State there is lack OF in
,eres, on the part Of the public. We i'm
agine the industries and products of Maine
will be inadequately represented.
Nevertheless the appearance oi things
at Philadelphia promises an immense
show. The Chicago Tribune says: The
great buildings which are to shelter sam
ples of the worlds industries are last tax
ing shape in Fairmount Park. The frame
of the main building is in position Inc
glass is being put in and the floor laid' "A
clever scheme for giving clew to the 10
cation of each exhibitor has been adopted.
The iron columns which support the ROOF
of the great structure are to be numbered
lenothwise and lettered crosswise, SO that
every exhibitor will be in the ne'ghbor-
hood of Az, or Do, or some similar COM
bination of letter and figure. The art hall
is finished. with the exception of the iron
dome, and that is now being put in place.
The machinery hall is practically finished.
The memorial hail is nearly so. The four
main buildings. it VS. evident, will be
ready in plenty of time. too soon, in
fact, for the very dlatory American exhih-
i,ors. but not for their foreign rivals. who
are already beginning to gather at Phlla-
delphia The whole of the main buildings
has been allotted to different national'ties,
though the space has not yet been fully
subdiyided among individuals, especially
in the fourth reserved for this country
Great Britain, France, and Germany oc-
cupy the other three fourths, OF rather the
part OF each nearest the centre. This Sc
cures group composed of the four great
nations of Christendom. Canada, Aus
tralia. Scandinavia, and the few ndiyld-
ual exhibitors of Russia occupy the rest OF
the British quarter. Switzerland. Belgi-
um, and the South American States are
placed with France. Germany shares her
fourth with Austria. Holland, Spain, Por-
tugal. and Asia. The only nations which
have declined the invitation to participate
in the show are Russia, Greece, and Italy,
but subjects of all three have applied for
space. The most complete exhibition
will probably be that of German products.
The new Teutonic Empire will show its
best side
There will be number Of supplement
tary buildings. among them those of sew
eral States. Kansas will make a bid for
emigrants by displaying the choicest OF
her products in handsome structure
apart from the main hall. These outlying
buildings. however. cannot be expected 10
rival those of Vienna, in 1873 The
grounds of the Weltausstellung contained.
among others, japanese farmhouse,
Turkish coffec-house where bearded boys
and pashas sat cross-legged and slipper
less. smoking The most fragrant of tobac-
co and slipping the most delicious Of cof-
fee, and sumptuous house built for the
viceroy Of Egypt. The latter was the
most beautiful sipgle structure on the
grounds.
lis certain that visitors will see an adj
mirable display OF foreign wares, though it
may well be doubted whether this is pre-
cisely the best way to celebrate our own
centennial. We are showing a mastery
inactivity in the matter and our own de-
partment bids fair to be melancholy
failure"