New-York tribune., 1876-08-12
FEATURES OF THE FAIR.
.THE DISPLAY OF PRECIOUS STONES.

INTERNAL FIRE-RUsSIfs GREAT DIsPLAY-REAL
CHARACTER OF THE MEXICAN ONYX.
TFrox STAFF CORRESPONDENT or 1HE TRlBUNE.l
p,u1,pP1rTIf,, Aug 9.-Whatever else may with
+rtb he said of the Censannal Exhibition it is pre-
emnently hewildering display. Complete knowl-
edge of It's contents, even in special and limited
fields borders on the impossible. Tho other day
gentleman was asking Prof. Barnard Of columbia
College lSho is one of the Judges Of Group XIV
instruments Of precision research, etc) whether he
bad examined one Of the more notable curiosities
"Sir.n replied the Professor with air Of assumed
severity Il have been he,e several weeks; before
90 home hone 70 see The Exhibition; as yet have
not found ,me to sec it." The difficulty is b ghtened
by the system, lack of system of the display; by
distribution through Numerous buildings. and out
side of some Of them by the absence OF all means
fo1 ascertsining the whereabouts OF any particular
Glass Of exhibits. Take, FOR instance, single
subject such IS mneralOgy. To obtain
fun notiou--nay, even n fair one-of what IS here
shown dnder this head the visitor must 20 through
Mt least dozen buildings and unless be is as fortu-
nate ne as the writer in securing the kind assistance
OF experts who have been over the ground, he will
NOT even then find all that he is searching for. The
display Of minerals appears in spots all over the
Nam Building, III the two mineral anneIes, In at
least three or four state buildings, in some OF the
foreign buildings, il. Machinery Hall and ITS three
arnoxeS; abundantly in the Government display
which inclndcs the Smithsonian collections; Ia the
Art Memorial Hail. and even in the vast Agricultural
Binding. OF all these structures order regns
supreme in only one, the Government BuldinG,wh
everything is arranged systematcaIlv They 90
these things better in France" the proverb says at
an events there is promise of better method in The
programme for the coming French Exposition,
according to which everything is to be in rectangular
blocks all one way being the exhibit of respective
countries all crosswayS the display Of respective
classes of subjects
FEW OF THE COsrIIER JEWELS.
Stones make n GOOD foundation: let It's start with
them. If we begin with precious stones we shall
not bo far wrong geoosically, since they are gem
orally found in the older strata: historically, too
we shall he quite as fortunate since they among
the hrs things to he selected and preserved by the
human race The show of fine jewels here IS much
inferior 10 the display at the London, PARIS and
Vienna ExpostiOns. Thcsoverogns and nobility OF
Europe sent to its exhibitions their private cocc-
tions including the crown jewels of several conn-
tries Each Of the large diamonds rubies sarphiTes
emerads and pearls that are contained IN royal ana
pnrcely collections are already pretty well known
to the world at large by frequent description and by
their histories in popular books of reference There
are models OF them at our Exhibition II il quite as
well that none of the costly trophies have them
selves been Subjected TO the risk of voyage across
the Atlantic for the sake Of adding 10 the Phade-
pbia show The crowned heads do not wish 10 part
with their Jewels it would have been pity % have
filed republican bosOms with hopeless envy. The
gems exhibited here are within the reach OF Amer-
can purses.
IN antique precious stones and canoes the Castcl-
tani collection exhibited in Memorial Hail. suTpasscs
all others The entire collection has been the
work of many years i'll excavation research, and
pnrchase The details of this collection have been
very fully reviewed in recent letters to TIE lKIB-
UNE, and wiz not require further description here
We may bass at once TO the modern gems on cXhlbi-
tiOD.
DIAMONDS, RUBIEs, sTPHIREs, AND FMfHALDs,
In the order Of their value precious stones, it
may be TO some of our readers that iaIg' rubleS
rank higher than large diamonds. At q respectful
distance from these large sapphiTes and cucr-
aids which are OF nearly equal value, though popu-
lar taste rather gives preference to the emerald
Italy sends thefnest exhibit of rubies gems OF
commerce." l. e. cut snd set; il includes parrre.
of which the necklace of rubes and diamonds set in
silver is valued at $4,000. One French exhibitor
has a fue display OF these gems FOur american
jewellers make the piece dc resistance III he way 81
Jewels in the center Of the Main Building, Tiffany
d Co. and starr & Marcus of this city being easily
first in the quadrl lateral which is completed by
Bailey &. Co. and Morgan d Hc2dlcy of PMiadel-
phia. am afraid Che gem men Of this Exhibition
-hayc not a kindly feeling toward each other. base
this opinion upon a remark which l heard one of
them make respecting diamond necklace to q lady
who was looking at it, This he said, o Is the
only real diamond necklace here, All the others are
made up of yellow diamOnds.' Now, believe the
neckll &c in question is valued at $50 00O ! may be
$4,000 or so out OF tho way in this, and lad in
tended to ask for more precise figures as to these
costly gems but the remark l had just heard
checked my inquiries, as / not in search Of mis-
information There is at least necklace in The
Exhibition fully worthy Of comparison with
that one in all respects. To make Of
these fine necklaces IT is not sufficient to mount and
string together a number Of specimens of the
precious stone They are arranged in pairs in the
order of their sizes the smallest at the ends, and
with large single one at tho center, 1t is
saryt 10 perfection that not only the sizes must be
regularly graduated but each pair must consist of
stones that match in all particulars' Il was the
work of year in ransacking the market to find the
stones OF a pearl necklace which of the firms
named exhibits. OF the more costly gems, the
highest yalned diamond in the Exhibition is priced
Mt about 81 coo: there are perhaps half dozen at
values between $4,000 and $4,000, and few
single rub:cs, cmeralds, and sspphircs of similar
worth BY far the largest display of sapphiTes, es
peciallv of uncut gems and remarkable specimens
in the native rock is in the Russian department OF
the Main Building and viii well repay close exam
nation There are certainly three very costly dia
Ipaids in the Brazilian exhib.t--thc largest is 20
carats-and several yellow Ones aud there is an air
of mystery about the guardianship and display f
the mole precious ones that possibly adds to then
repntcd value and can only be fathomed by a
visitor Of leisure. The Orange Free State of South