The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1876-10-09
Correspondence Of the Richmond Dispatch
PHILADELPHIA, Pa, October 8, 1876.


With steady increase Of arrivals the
Philadelphians are growing cheerful, and il
| Is now thought that the show will prove to
| be a pecuniary success.
And great thing, gentlemen, is this Cen
tcnnial Exposition. Great in its grounds;
great in it's buildings; great in its transit
| lines; great in its grand aggregate Of in6ni:
| tesimal commonplace.
Perhaps the prevailing impression which
| fills the spectator as his eye first sweeps the
| long yistas is bewildering sense of bignesS
and grandeur, and it is not until he CON-
mences special investigation that he begins
to realize what an intinity Of chat he must
| winnow before he can earn his few grains
OF corn. But there is law OF compensa-
| ton in all things, and, like Saxon banquet,
we find that whatever may be lacking in
delicacy OF flavor IS abundantly atoned for
] by an Astounding bulk. Mile after mile we
! plod along through n dazzling wilderness OF
pinchbeck, and plated-Ware, and terra-cotta,
and brass jcwelrv, until we imagine that
every dollar store in the land must have
found its Mecca here, and been seized with
yomita on the spot.
At last, in sheer despair, we turn to those
departments where bulk alone is merit, and
| then VIC have our reward. The castings
and the forgings OF the Corliss engine and
the Krupp gun are something stupendous.
There is no new principle OF any slgnitl-
canoe in either OF them, but the achieve
mcnt OF working such vast MISSES OF metal
without flaw or defect is absolutely marvel
lous. The Krupp gun is rlfled breech-
loader, throwing proiectiles Of thousand
pounds, and having range Of fifteen miles.
The gun is OF cast-stcel, and weighs, when
mounted, two hundred tons.
and from great guns we naturally turn,
by an association OF ideas, to great pictures,
foremost among which ranks the Battle OF
Gettysburg. 1t is. however, altogether i'm
possible to do justice to this" painting eN-
cept by measurement. 1t is eighteen feet
high and forty feet long. It weighs, in
Guiding the paint, nine hundred and seven
ty-two pounds, and covers the whole end OF
the wall. Its indeed great painting; and ii
it was all really done by one man, 1t shows
an amount OF human endurance that is truly
appalling. Then there are some other pic
lures; old fogy affairs by Raphael, and Ru-
bens, and Titan scrap or two by Hol-
bein, and some smoky relies Of Teniers,
Murillo, Corresgio, and Leonardo da Vinci;
but none of them bear the slightest trace OF
resemblance to the Battle of Gettysburg. 1t
stands unique in the world OF art, and is, l
do assure you, forty feet long and eighteen
| feet high.
| To person OF sedentary habits and an in
curing turn OF mind, the Exposition az
fordS splendid discipline. 1t is as the
chase to the sluggish sportsman or the waltz
to the languid belle. The glamour OF fair
perspective still lures the iaded pilgrim
forever keeping the word Of promise to the
eye. but breaking it to the hope. .
We often hear it said that minute in
spection Of everything exhibited would be a
work OF ages; and with equal truth we
might reply that many ages would DC
needed to examine each leaf in some vast
forest or each shell and pebble on the wide
sea-shore. And which pursuit would find
| the larger reward is, perhaps, more ques-
| ton of taste than of fact.
The truth is that in our ambition to make
larger spread than that Of Paris, Berlin,
| London, or Vienna, we have been COM
PEELED to choose between vacant space and
lavish filling in OF bewildering trumpery
The show, in general way, may be APPLY
cpitomized by an old paraphrase: 1t con-
tains much that is good and much that is
new; but that which is new is not good,
and that which is good is not new.
The city has shown capacity OF afford
| ing accommodation for a quarter OF mil
lion visitors. The hackmen and theatre
managers, true to their kind, are an eNtor-
tionate set OF rascals; but the hotels, the
private boarding-houses, and the citizens
generally, with an opportunity for eX-
ploitation almost uneXampled, are eyinc-
ing q spirit OF moderation that is be-
yond all praise. The police force is
O credit to ciyilization-active, intelligent,
patient, and obliging. A tone OF kindly
courtesy seems to pervade all classes,
and il the visitor does not enjoy pleasant
soiourn the fault is very likely to be his
own. The average Philadelphian sincerely
believes the show to be a magnificent affair,
and charity forbid that an illusion which
affords so much innocent delight should
ever be dispellcd. WAU-zEE.