New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1876-05-10

tion perfected the details OF management,
reused the interest of foreign nations, and
stimulated the laggard enthusiasm of our own
people. There is no parallel for such
work in the history of the worlds great
fairs The Hyde Park and South Kensington
palaces were not public enterprises, but they
were undertaken by an influential corporation
under Government patronage. Private com
panies had something to do with the two Paris
Expositions, but it was really the State which
managed and paid for them. Here, however,
the co0peraton of the Government was purely
formal until the undertaking was substantially
finished, and then Congress only contributed
a moderate sum of money to cover deficiencies
which would perhaps not have existed but for
the recent financial disasters. The whole
scheme springs right from the midst of the
people the great complicated work Is impro-
yised by few bankers, merchants, editors,
professors, manufacturers, and railroad men.
We believe that nothing exhibited ut Far
mount Park to-day will be better worth study
than the general result of this new experiment
in popular management. For it Is the universal
Judgment that in the perfection of the plan
and the administration the Philadelphia Far
has never been equaled. The Americans
characteristic fOndness for the immense has
here had full indulgence. No such huge col
lection of the products of the earth and the
handiwork of man has ever been brought to-
eether No asSemblage of artists and artisans
has ever been 50 magnilicently entertained.
The main exhibition hall is not only the best
adapted for its purpose that has ever been
L.. g. &, fha huilIuO
of any kind in the world. The long hall which
adjoins it (the two together presenting facade
of three-quarters of n milc) exhibits the most
remarkable array of machinery in motion that
has ever been attempted, and the great engine
in the center turns two miles OF shaftng.
There has been no serious trouble IN the
preparations for this enormous show, and no
great waste The buildings are cheap yet not
shabby, with just enough architectural orna-
ment to escape criticism, and to avoid dlStgur-
ing the beautiful landscape which surrounds
them. Where costly decoration was allowable,
as in the permanent structures for art and
horticulture, it has been applied with good
taste; where money had to be saved
it was saved judiciously. The comfort
of visitors and exhibitors have alike
been consulted with marvellous forethought.
The great problem of passenger transportation,
which was such serious difficulty at Vienna,
seems to have been easily solved If there are
blank spaces in the show to-day, and pack
ing boxes appear where the products of art ought
to be on view, tho fault is not that of the
Commissioners of the Exhibition. Unlike al
most all their predecessors in other countries,
they were ready before the appointed time.
When the first eases of goods reached the
grounds the buildings were finished and swept
to receive them, and the perfect system OF
railway carriage, handling, and distribution
which American genius had devised for the
occasion was in smooth and rapid operation
1t is probably the first time in the history OF
international Exhibitions when the prepare
tons proved entirely adequate both in prompt
ness and efficiency.
This is the feature of the Fair upon winch
our countrymeD will probably dwell with most
We shall learn from Great
Britain, and France, and Germany how little
we know about art, and how poor we are in
nearly all those industries in which art APP
plies itself to the wants of daily life but, on
tho other hand, we can teach the Old World
something about the uses of government, and
we can make noble display of the character
istic readiness of the American people to adapt
themselves suddenly to unfamiliar circum-
stances and respond to unexpected demands