Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1876-02-26
THE GREAT EXHIBITION.

The freSluent mas signed the Ceh-
tsnnial Appropriation bill with pen
snatched from the wing of an American
eagle, and thus the last of the prepare
tory arrangements for the Exhibition is
completed with shrek. go to speak, OF
becoming exultation. This affair being
settled the American people will do
what else remains to be done with all
the greater zest, since the Centennial
presents no more vexed questions to
divide them. There seems to be not
the faintest probability of further de-
mand for money. Almost everything
is finished and paid for The various
bureaus are in working order the ma
chiuery Of administration is substantial
~ complete the reception of goods
has begun, and nothing is likely to pre-
vent its going on with swftness and
regularity except perhaps little Gus
tom-house red tape which Gen. Hawley
and his friends in Washington will
probably succeed in cutting. The bull.
dings are much larger than those of any
previous worlds fair yet every foot of
space has been eagerly aprrol ri .ted,
and great nations like France are clam
oring for more room, which it is impos-
sible to give them. Everything points
toward more brilliant show than even
enthusiastic Americans originally ven
tured TO hope for.
1t may be doubted however whether
any portion OF our own department will
reflect more credit upon the taste, skill,
and ingenuity of the American people
than the great work already accom-
plished in the organization of the Eyhi
bition itself. The enterprise was be-
gun under many difficulties, aud has
been carried on in the face of many
discouragements. The Commission has
been embarrassed by lack of money, by
financial uncertainty, by the opposition
of some OF our own people, and by the
reluctance of fereign Governments to
take part in fair whose character new
er was very clearly defined. TO us
moreove+ an undertaking of this sort is
novel. Europe has had quarter of a
century Of experience in such gigantic
celebrations we have had none at sll.
1t wonld not have been surprising there
fore if the Commission had made many
serious blunders, or staggered now and
then under such an immense burden
resting upon unaccustomed shoulders.
But the ready adaptability of American
talent to the most various circnlnstan-
ces has seldom been more strikingly il
Illustrated than in the ease and quickness
with which this work has been pushed
forward. In the army it was COM
mon observation that if locomotive
was disabled, OF a grist mill broke down,
or a watch needed repairing, men
enough could be found in the ranks OF
any brigade to do what was required.
If an industrial palace is to be impro-
vised, this people seemed to be equally
handy. Foreign officials at Philadel-
pha are loud in their praise of what We
have accomplished, and nearly all the
arrangements seem to be as good as if
the veterans of dozen exhibitions pre-
sided over them.
When we remember the ve1atious
delays at Vienna, we may be pardoned
for looking with some complacsney at
the condition of things at Philadelphia.
The opening is three months of, and
already the placing Of the goods has
begun. The main exhibition building
is finished and swept, and only little
of the garnishing remains to be com
pleted. The Machinery and Horticui-
taral Halls are substantially finished,
aud workmen are setting up some Of
the machines. The Art building is oc-
cupied by plasterers and decorators.
The exhibition building Of the United
States Government is complete, and
contains already large part of the re-
markable collection of mineral speci-
mems from the Pacific slope, which will
form one Of the most interesting fsa-
lures of the fair. The Agricultural
building is so nearly done that there
can be no doubt of its being ready long
before it is needed. The roads are
getting into condition as fast as the
weather will allow, and the grounds
are adorned by multitude OF pretty
buildings for special purposes, among
which the charming little red-tiled
Elizabethan country house ofthe British
Commission stands lnodsstly .coDspicu-