Port Royal standard and commercial. [volume] (Beaufort, S.C.) 1874-1876, 1876-06-15
THE NOTABLE BUILDINGS.

| THE NOTABLE BUILDINGS.
A Correspondent Tells Us what One Sees In
| the Two Most Notable Buildings on the
Centennial Grounds.
| THE MAIN BUILDING.
This building is the center of attrac-
ton, and probably will be so long as the
Exhibition lasts. Here are grouped the
finest and most elegant articles display
ed, and all nations are here represented
under one roof. 1t is rich in decora-
tions, the nations and the individuals
vieing with each other in making their
exhibitions attractive. Great skill and
taste are displayed in the mere matter of
decorations. Here Yankee cabinet
makers lead the van. The goods in this
building are largely exhibited in cases
made for this special occasion, and in
these our exhibitors are ahead of the
whole world. Nothing in the way of
cabinet work can be more rich or more
tasteful than some of these. They are
unique in design and finish, and in
themselves are elegant specimens of
Yankee workmanship. These cases form
an attractive part of the display, differ
ing from each other widely in shape,
finish and color. In these are displayed
the richest and most valuable of the
American exhibits. The principal pub
fishing houses are well and conspicuous
ly represented, being grouped in a sort
of two-story nondescript kind of struc-
ture, which, if not describable, is at
least ornamental and contains much use
full material. China, glass and terra
Gotta ware abound; the display in this
class of goods being superb. Here, also,
are carpets, soft and delicate of mate
rial, aSd rich in color; shelf hardware,
cutlsry, silk goods, safe locks, and, in
short, samples of almost everything new
and novel, or rich and elegant. It is i'm
possible as yet to describe the display
By sections and divisions, or by nations
or individuals, for some of the sections
are yet unoccupied.
MACHINERY HALL.
Humanity delights in motion-in life,
or the semblance of life. What attrac-
tion is stuffed giraffe or the hide of
hippopotamus, filed with straw, COM
pared to the living, breathing, kicking
and snorting animals, all alive? In ma
chinery in motion all persons take
great interest, and to-day, in Machinery
hall, the ladies were as interested and
curious spectators as the most mechanic
ally inclined man who did duty as their
escort. And well they might be, for
here is exhibited the mechanism which
has conquered the world. Here is ma
chinery the most ponderous and power
full, the most complex and delicate
from the immense engine, which fur
nishes the power to drive the tons upon
tons of other machinery, to the compl-
Gated and delicate little machine for
making the minutest portions of watch
es, and manipulated by lady. Here
are iron working machines, wood work
ing machines, sewing machines, ma
chimes great and machines small, of all
characters and descriptions, which the
ingenuity of men of all nations could
invent, all working with precision and
regularity suggestive of hun an intelli-
gence. The points of greatest attraction
were where the printing presses were
striking off the daily newspapers. A
band scroll saving machine attracted q
crowd all the time. It is manipulated by
a very dexterous workman, who is q
genius in his way, with a lively streak of
humor running through him. From
little square blocks of wood he sawed
out the most intricate puzzles, made
eyeglasses, toy chairs, and a hundred
other trinkets, to the astonishment of
all beholders. A loom at work weaving
suspenders was a novelty to many, as
was the knitting machine, which was
engaged in knitting the body of an un-
dershirt mile long. At least it would
be mile long, if they didn't cut it up
in shirts of the regulation shortness, and
possessing, in consequence, all the un-
comfortableness which regulation un-
dershirts habitually possess. A watch
company has machinery erected for the
complete manufacture of watches, and
it was pleasant to note that the ma
chimes, dozen or more different kinds,
were all worked by women. There are
indications that there is to be a renewal
of hostilities between the sewing ma
chine men; a lively competition has
sprung up among them in the matter of
display, and should Judge that every
kind of sewing machinery ever invented
is here exhibited. At the south end of
the building there is an immense tank,
into which competing force pumpsthrow
water and suck it out again. As there
are great many of these, and as each
raises the water some twenty feet, fore
ing it through pipes, from which it falls
back into the tank, we have quite q
number of artificial water falls. In this
building there are exhibited also a va
riety of steam fire engines, bright in
polished brass or nickel plate; fire ex-
tinguishers, railroad locomotives, pom
derous machines for rolling railroad
iron, giant marine engines, and every
class of machinery which makes any
thing. Some of these machines seem to
know more than the average man, and
why shouldn't they, when the intelli-
gence of superior men has entered into
their construction 2 Machinery hall will
require some little time to give it COM
pleteness, but already it is far enough
advanced to assure the visitor that man,
at least, can fix no limit to the capacity
of intelligence.