Connecticut western news., 1876-12-15
Friday Morning, Dec. 15. 1876
The Centennial Grounds.
HOW THINGS LOOK THERE NOW. fPh,ladelnhia press of Saturday. )

HOW THINGS LOOK THERE NOW.
 Philadelphia Press of Saturday. Day by day as the winter advances. ana the work of removal progresses. the Centen- | nial grounds become more and more cheer l less, and now the prospect is one ot in- | describable desolation. Many of the as- \ phaltum paves have been taken up. and the smooth avenues are transformed into deep rutted wagon roads. The narrow gauge railroad track is being partially re- moved and the places of pleasure cars fill. cd with freight cars. while the once bril- liantlY thronged structures stand as silent and deserted as the ruins of Pompeii. The lake has frozen over and the fountain has become . crystal fountain of gleaming ice The wide parterres of flowers along the ap. brooches to Horticultural Hall have long since disappeared, and even the dun color foliage plants have been removed, The Main Building, though still crowded with goods, presents only promiscuous array of tightly packed cases ready for shipment, hardly an exhibit now remaining in place. Among the few articles which may still be examined. are the bronze and iron foun- tains and statusry in the Italian depart ment. These will. however be packed up today. The great organ which stood in the eastern end of the structure, has been taken down and shipped back to Boston, bat the New York organ on the north side still remains. The music stand in the cen ter of the building. is again occupied by the custom house officials, and several of the payillions have been turned into tempo rary offices for the employees of the termi- nal agency, custom brokers. etc. Though many of the exhibits have been taken out of Machinery Hall. tbe place still resem- bles some mammoth freight depot in which thousands of articles of all shapes and sizes are awaiting shipment. All the locomo- tiyes and nearly all the stationary engines excepting the Corllss and the large blast ing enRiue near it have disappeared, andthe wondrous shaft borer exhibited by Bel. gian manufacturer, has been taken down and most of the other goods in this section have beed removed. The pavillions in both machinery hall and the Main building are left standing, and most of them will be utilized in the arrangement of the parma. nent exhibition. Agricultural hall, which was the last to get In readiness for the opening of the exhibition, is the first to be dIsmsntled. nearly all the exhibits having been packed up anc most of them removed. This is now one of the most cheerless structures on the grounds the long ramb- ling transepts are deserted, excepting by an occasional workman or the echoing tread of lonely guard. and sparrows Ait from post to post picking up the remnants of grain exhibits, andchirplng as fearlessly as though in the open air. From the govern ment building, nothing but few private exhibits have yet been taken, but the labor ofpacking up the goods has rapidly pro- gTessed and will be entirely completed in 8 few weeks. No visitors are now admitted to this building unless they have some spe- cial business entitling them to permit The only structure which seems unaffected by the mighty change, is Horticultural hall |. This Oriental palace is still filled with rare plants from all sections of ibe globe, and being artificially heated, IS favorite resort for the few visitors who enter the Centen- mad gates. With few exceptions, all the paintings and statuary which have beauti- fled Memorial hall, are in case, and large proportion of the American exhibits hay bsen sent away, Rothermel's magni6cente painting. .'The battle of Gettysburg" still remains in the United States section, and here and there may be found small paint ing, or piece of st tuary as yet untouched. And several of the larger groups have not yet been disturbed. But in tbe dissolving of the old exhibition, may be seen many preparations for the new. Not only are most of the American pavillions to be left standing, but the showy Brazilian court, the Mexican pavilion, the Spanish portal, the strange Egyptian temple, the frame work in the Swedish and Norwegian de partments. and some of the finest show cases ID the German department in the Main-building are all to remain and these alone would save much expense which would otherwise be necessary in the new enterprise. A large number of the Chi neee psviillons have been engaged by the Smithsonian Institute, for exhibition pur- poses There are now nearly 2,2O0 appli- cations for space, asking for more than the building can accommodate. Among these are the Turkish, who intend to have 6 much fnerdlsplay of goods than in the old. The hardware exhibitors will nearly all remain in the American department, and several in the foreign. The Book trade associa, tion have applied for 10000 square feet, Carnari e,6oo for the display of statusry and paintings, and the Trenton potteries for 6,OOO.
 THE OLDEST AND THE BEsT.-These arc the claims which THE NEW YORK OBsER- YER make for theIr paper Tn their prospec- 4t- I