The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1876-04-11
Centennial Letter.

hSdps Vi puiluibB iClusc, tucy
were not slow to complain in loud terms
of the backwardness Of operations. They
saw also the great gap in the center Of
the half finished Main Building, a large
portion Of Agricultural Hall, upon which
operations had begun but a few weeks
previously, Frustrated to the earth by a
gale nothing of the now completed and
magnificent Memorial Hall in existence
but the bare marble Horticultural Hall
just beginning to assume its present fairy.
like appearance which recalls the failed
palaces Of Aladdin in theArabiau Nights;
Machinery Hall without paint and with.
out IA board OF that floor which now ex.
tends as a vast wooden prairie more than
a quarter of a mile in length the Gov.
IN Building just assuming shape /;
not a trace OF the Women's pavilion, the
Pennsylvania Railroad Centennial Depot,
the Shoe and Leather building, the Car
riage building, the Commission offices,
the State pavilion or the eight great res
taurants anywhere to be seen, ami struc-
lures Of foreign countries almost un.
thought of. All these things were to be
noted. and newspaper correspondents dis.
patched missives all over the country
f~oreboding a successful d%isappoint nent on
the 10th Of May, the opening day of the
exhibition. People grumbled. editors
snoorea, iutuujius osh;hitors declared
that they might as well withdraw their
applications for space-in a word the
prevalent impression was that there would
be u repetition of the Vienna misfortune
of being compelled to continue building
operations and other preparations long
after the opening Of the exhibition and
such circumstances would certainly not
tend to strengthen foreign notions OF Tn.
Gle Sans way Of going ahead"
But the tables are turned. The Main
Building, Machinery aud Horticultural
halls, and the Government building are
not only completed, but the first two,
which will contain the heart of the ex
hibition, have been actually waiting for
exhibits for more than a month. One
might naturally suppose that exhibitors,
Selling the first opportunity, would have
rushed in their goods with such rapidity
as to block up the movements of the Gus
tom officers and the Bureau Of Installa.
ton. But such has not been the case.
On the contrary, the total weight Of the
exhibits thus far received in the Main
Building amounts to about one.twentieth
Of that Of all the goods estimated to be
on exhibition there now as the time has
elapsed since those received began tc
come in, is almost as great as that which
remains for the installment of the rest
(thcre being but seven weeks before thu
opening day it follows that the coming
influx of exhibits must cause a very in
convenient proportion Of labor. 1t may
happen, therefore, that the blame Of dim,
ming the opening day and retarding the
progress of the exhibition must be borne,
not by those to whom the direct promotion
Of the enterprise has been entrusted, buI
by the exhibitors themselves-not for.
eigners either, for England, Spain, Ilol
land, Belgium, Sweden, Norway, Japan
Chill, Egypt, Germany, and Cape Colony
have already landed their exhibits, thost
of the first nine lying on the grounds
while the structures OF their owners, 10
Gated within tho Main Building or else
where in the exhibition area, are almost
completed.-and handsome structures they
are affording an excellent exhibition o
f the architectural skill of the various
countries to which they belong.
The space in the Main building is d.
; vided among thirty nations, the United
States one third of the whole Great Brit
, ain and Canada about one seventh. France
and colonies about che tenth, and Germs'
ny Que fifteenth. Among the large mum
Der OF exhibitors engaged in erecting thei
> show cases. pavillions, etc., many hav'
q adopted a remedy for the small amour
Of space allotted to them by causing thei
constructions to assume a conical or pyr
amidal form. and thus securing three o
four times as much exhibiting space al
they could otherwise have had. Thougi
e it at first seems a source Of regret tina
n the noble perspective of the interior o
-, this building should be broken by tn
structures, no matter how elaborate, witt
{ which many countries are entirely enclos
: ing their sections of space, yet it will b.
i found that a dlsagreeable monotony viii
T. thereby be prevented. la the BIRTHS
section there is no general enclosure, eacI
. exhibitor being obliged to erect a sepa
d rate structure, aud iG these structures
@ the British Commission will not permi
that degree OF gaudiuess or elaboration
n which might withdraw the attention o
visitors from the exhibits proper
Other foreign goods are on the way
of the lot 10 Baltimore comprising s
q packages from the Cape of Good Hop
r. and 502 from Germany two more ca
loads have arrived here the steame
u Leipsig, from Bremen, is expected TO al
rive in about a week with a large cor
IT Segment OF exhibits the steamer City c
. Vera Cruz is unloading ut New York
1877 more packages from Spain all tn
exhibits Of Holland have arrived at tina
port the steamer Labrador Is expected t
If arrive here by the end of this week wit
# French goods, and the City Of BTistC
with British exhibits has just arrived Q
this port. These statements are in strang
contrast with the fact that outside Q
Re counters, platforms. shelving, ETC., ther
d is not II push.cart load of United State
exhibits in the Main Building. In MI
:, chinery Hall, however, domestic exhibit
u are doing somewhat better, though eve
sc there, the Chief Of the Bureau reques'
Of the press to inform the public of the ia
y. diness of applicants in filling their SCI
, tions. Director General Goshorn hi
" therefore issued a notice TO all exhibitor
in the United States section informin
1e them that, as the buildings are all read
for the reception Of goods, they are o.
N dered to occupy their spaces without fu
ther delay.
v Agricultural Hall, though yet to :
81 caiva "A few finishing touches, is ready Ii