New-York tribune., 1876-08-19
FEATURES OF THE FAIR.
TIE GOLD AND SILVER DISPLAY.

A
A GERMAN Professor
fvRoM 4 srAFP CORRESPONDENT OF THE TRIBUNEl
PguApEIPnIA Aug. IL" There has mover been
90 fine collection of minerals this globe" said
ono of tbo iudges Of Group in reply to my inquiry
"a to how the Centennial Exhibition compared with
its predecessors This vas said enthusiastically; ;
and ia The opinion Of al expert rs Group nos 90 GO
with metal and minerals IL Is not only the largest
and most varied collections 1t is the choicest as 70
specimens and the most instructive IN the cohplete
ness Of It's range 1t is quite practicaolo 10 s'uuy
out here without stopping out OF tho CehtChihai
grounds the entire geological ana mineral charac-
terstics Of several European countries oi most VI
the English colonies, and Of a number =, our own
States Tho collection is equally great IL l.iihei@i
specimens. in cut and polished products OF tne
uuarry--monuncnts. ornamental stones anu inc
Gke-aDd in the display of metals shaped TO the
various needs OF industry or taste. But rs each OF
fhe Conteunial buildings and each of tho annexes
has its conIcnts arranged by countries anC States II
fellows that the exhibition Of metals and mDeIaS'
marvellous As j. L. fails almost wholly Of an effect on
the obseryer since it is practically scattered about
among other thir gs and over several acres Lven IL
every building were thoroughly explored the visitor
who attempted complete survey would find IN al
dtion a large number Of noteworthy displays OF
minerals and monuments out Of doors.
The PRECIOUS METAIS.
Even q caTeless observer cannot overlook the d'--
plays from the geld and silver producing countr-aS'
The British colonies each show their separate
amounts of gold obtained since its discovery on
their soil by q very striking devlce--a glided
pyramid, whose bulk exactly equals the total oil
eold for each colony. Aside from its effectiveness
~ popular display this is OF real service it gives
at once the idea OF the total as well as The relative
Americans hlyn n general IMPRESSION,
for instance that the discoveries Of gold on fraser
River and elsewhere in British Columbia amounted
10 very little; but here is tine evidence 10 the con-
trary in T. gilt pyramid indicating thai the total OF
gold there found from 1855 70 1879 was nearly
S3s 900 600 1t is much to be wished that similar
pethod had been carried ont for each o. our own
States and Territories The eye ls better abie 70
iudVe quickly Of dimensions than OF hgITeS ana tno
impression thus male in comparison of hulKs Dy
sight is more permanent and mstrncti'e' Inc
snecimers of golfores from each of the Australian
colonies and from British North America. give IN
each instance complete series, and she great mug
gets are also represented Tne processes OF OBTAIN
ing the gold and the localities where ii IS found are
shown by photographs OF colrse the great exhibits
are from Australia Among the MINOR ones OF IN
tereSt Nova Scotia sends beautiful specimens in Tho
rock which viii convince even the incIeiulous as
TO the gold in that province; the amount obtained
there from 1862 TO 1875 was over 242OeC ounces
In silver the foreign display is less striking, hut
from wider range. Canada sends fine arr2y OF
specimens from the Lake SuPorior distrlcr OF these
the best az from MAJOR A. ii. Sib!5y of Ncw-fork.
representing the ores OF Silver lset which has pro-
duced up 20 the present date about @2,1OOOoo
worth of silver Slipping for the present onT own
country and following the silver beds southwark
vo have next tho great display of Mexico, which
q. fcilx api N
mas of the metal iteef the latter being one Of she
remarkable things in tie Exhibition. All tho fore
going DISPLAYS of precious metals are IN the Nam
Puildiag: among the curiosities in the Government
building is fine specimen of rIby silver from C'l-
hIahua. Going still southward, the silver beds OF
this Hemisphere dip beneath the sea till we reach
South America. From that continent Chill sends by
far the most interesting exhibit of silver. The
series of ores is quite complete, several mining dis
tricts being fully represented, especially that
which contains the famous mino o1 ChaIlarcAl'
The cabinet Of Fpilio Escabar attracts much aIten
tion from mnerslogists The most striking feature
of the Chilan exhibit is tho ruby silver in beautiful
CRYSTALS. As far as appearance goes. they would
fairly deserve 10 rank with jewels but they are un
fortunately too of. to bo set and worn as gems. II
is very uuusuaI for crystalline mnerHl which must
stay lock ed in a cabinet to have such yaiue a.
this bat such is the rarity of fine ruby silver That
one of these specimens il valued at S1,OOU Chem
ic1IIy IL is the antimonil sulpnido Ci silver rs
ineral its name Is prous,ite. In separate build
ing entirely devoted 40 the purpose Chill shows th'
machinery and processes of amaigam~t'ng ara OK
tracing silver. Tho exhibit Is . working
model on linear scale Of TO
(eubio proportion, 20 216 Two iiney fin
isbed steam engines neat and very small
form part of the mod and Actually drive the ma
cbinery hear that there is much curols specuia
tiou as to the object of this exhibit. People #
practicaI turn of mind, who have noticed that th
buildings devoted 70 separate industries are htt
else than gigantic advertisements, ask WLa' Is th
purpose of this separate show OF amalgainGting ma
ohinery from Chill. A suggestion that The aimaisl
nation may have a dark political intent probably
has originated with Democratic visitors who are no
aware that the Chiians are quite as Caucasian" a
they.
While neither the Peruvian nor the Brazhai
chow OF precious metals calls for special remark, |
is worth noticing that the latter Is much the greater
II ustifies the belief that PeTG has lost rank amon
the silver producing countries but it may be tn
mere accident of inferior exhibition. TIE Argentin
Repnblic makes good its nano by sending no; les
tban 225 specimens of silver ore. The examination
of these is much facilitated by the special cataiogu
of that country They Of considerable CONNER
cial value and include many that are curious Amon
them are three or four illustrations Of ruby silver
crystalline form There are also % or 30 specimen
of ore containing gold.
From the Old World there are specimens OF th
gold of the Ura Mountains i'll ths Russian exhibit
a very considerable display of silver aud It's ore
from Spain and of gold and silver from Portugal
Rut Norways show of silver is the most noteworthy
the Konigsberg Silver Works making an exhibit II
the Main Building which. ike everything else iron