Daily Kennebec journal., 1876-10-10
loral an0 State Mems.
TIE BIG SHOW.
glimpse. at the Centennial I.eeaiized.

could remember bat one thing he had seen
western IN sn selling cider By the garif Still,
the idea of putting oa paper, for others lniorma-
lion or elifcation what one has seen at the great
show, is task that every journalist has thus far
shrank from appalled,. A gentleman from Augusta
distinctly remembers that he saw huge gum. Of
which he is ready to give full dimensions. ltyou
have kept note book it will prove perpetual rc-
servoir from which you may draw with great sat
istaction during the long evenings, while gathered
with your family about the chimney corner.
few, briefnotes in the book may strve to recall
complete panorama in which the scenes of the
great exposition may pass before the mint with
ever increasing vividness and interest.
The first impression you will be likely to receive
alighting from the car which lands you near
the main building the grounds, will be the i'm
mensity of the whole affair and the vastness of the
undertaking. You are j)stled by crowd Of
sight-seers ana pcasure-seekers, hunyng to and
fro over the broad acres of Paramount Park,
through the extensive buildings. andyou are near
ly lost in a maze of bewilderment. You are
still outside Of the exhibition grounds, however,
though on the magnificent Fairmount Pak. con
tanning nearly three thousand aces, and said to
be the largest park in the world. With its smooth
NliNts ahi Nhihsb tAttuuiug Dotn
banks of the Schuylkill river, the entire Park
abounds in romantic scenery, nature and art hav-
ing We'd in making it attractive and peasurable.
The Park ofiself is deserving of long journey 10
inspect.
The Centennial grounds occupy 236 acres ofthe
Park, enclosed by fence three miles in length,
and prov ided with thhteeu entrance gates, each
fitted with self-registering stile, recording
curately the number entering This may answer
the ofi-iepeated question, "How they tell TO
the figure the number each day attending the ex-
hibiuon;' Each time the stile swings number
recorded at the office, and but one person can
20 through the gate at time. A double track
railway three miles long skirts the grounds with
in the enclosure, and trains Of five cars each are
running from morning till evening. Your ears
are saluted with the cry, in the dialect peculiar to
Phi,adelphia, "All reaund the grtaunds for FIVE
ccnt," Take trip at the start it will give you
a half hours glimpse of the extent of the EShib-
,on andan excellent general idea Of the grounds
that you can gain in no other way, or SO cheaply.
With this preliminary survey Of the field Of op-
efaiions, YOU are now prepared for an examination
in detail Of the multitudinous departments of the
exhibition. All these you cannot eSamne minutely
or in detail unless you have plenty Of leisure and
an abundance of money But as only amonth now
remains in which the doors of the grandest exhibi-
tion on earth are to be thrown open, caution in
thi, direction seems superfuous. The impossible
ity of more than glancing at thousands of objects
will appear obvious when the fact is stated that n
the Man Building alone, which covers more than
u acres of land three minutes attention to each
object shown will consume just twenty-five years.
That i tOol lapU titua ,o in huii
The Art Gallery, with its rich treasures from
every cline under the sun, should be visited 10
the early morning, when the light is clear the
eyes bright and rested, and the mind fresh and re-
ceptive. 1t contains exhibitions of sculpture
painting (oll AID water color,), and engravings.
The fine mosaic pictures will charm the enlight-
ened mind, as they are made, not by the painters
brush, bat by the handwork of genius, in forming
of infinite sinai pieces of various coored wood,
representations of the grand historic structures of
the Old World, as the Colosseum at Rome and ST.
Peters. The large marble altar sent by the Pope
fom Rome, representing scenes in the life of
Christ, done in mosaic, is placed in
conspicuous pos tion in the gallery, it deserves
to be. No. only there grand exhibitions of
sta;uay and painting from the homes of art in
Gres Britain, Italy, France aud Germany, but
tie Netherlands, Norway and Sweden seud their
Contributions. The unique picturings from the
Neither lands particularly sweet and lIfe-ike.
While lacking perhaps, in fine specimens in
the sculptor's ant, the exquisite oil paint
ings Of American artists, subj ~cted to close nspec
tion and criticism. even in the wilderness of art
AMI the accumulated displays Of the first artists of
every nation, we're most acceptable and satisfsc
tory 10 the Amel ican mind. This may be ac-
count perhaps, Of the Wover.ial Yankee conceit.
While lc>tow ng your miration-we came
whiting adur.tOn-upon the rich treasures of art
here shown, d. not fail to en- " With more leisure
aad tranquility the immense pictures representing
tie Da'tle OF Geuy ,burg, the Enancipal ion Proc
l,mitioa and the bloody Paraguayan war. There
are paintings and statuary that will transit you to
the spot, and valuable time will run away almost
nunouced, till the sweet chimes from one of the
towers in Machinery Hall will tell you that i, is
time 10 depart gentleman Of our acquaintance
intended to limit his stay at the Centennial strictly
to three days; but these all fed away and he mad
scarcely gone beyond the department of art shown
in the Art Gal ey and its annex.
The Main Building awaits your early and earn
est attention. Here are displayed in the most ar
tis,ic msnoer wonders from all countries under the
in the year sunless, whose dark, thick night of
barbarism was unbrokeu only a few years ago.
come now at the one hundredth birthday of this
fair nation Of the West to lay at its feet the latest
products of their recent civ ilizaton. China, that
old and far off country, which until within a few
years has been TO the outside world as book
sealed with more than seven seals, has thrown
down her walls of Imprisonment, and brings forth
with Japan, her curousy carved work that tells of
human PATIENCE and persistent toll that no Ian
gnase OF Itself could make Ineligible. You ssun
t,r and would fain lingcr amid scenes most won
derful. Although under one roof, you easily step
from one country to another the boundaries of
each being clearly defined by the various apart
ments, ella sifcations, inscriptions and even the
products. This main building is devoted to ex-
hibits of mining, metallurgy, manufactures. ed
ucation an science. Russia has the finest exhi-
lion of far goods. including fur carpetngs within
the walls of the building. Moscow has rubber