The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1878-10-22
PARIS LETTER.
Irregular cOrrespOndence,)

Aa PARIS, Oct. A, 1878.
The official announcement That the final
closing Of the Exposition UniverselIe is to
be deferred until the 10th OF November,
has filed the French exhibitors with a
well.nigh delirious joy, and is looked upon
with feelings far removed from dissatisfac-
ton by the general body of foreign contrib
utors to the grand bazaar. The ostensible |
motive for granting this enthusiastically |
welcomed delay is that it is only just and
proper that the winners of prizes should !
be able to gain some pecuniary advantage
from the prestige they have won as med
alists or as possessors Of diplomas; but it
| is not the ''laureats" alone who will benefit
by the concession Of the twenty-eight days
of grace. After the distribution Of prizes
the indiscriminate sale by retail Of articles
exhibited in the Champ de Mars will, it is
understood, be authorized, and purchasers
will be permitted to take away their EN-
pLettes with them. Thus the elimination
of the great show will resemble fair more
closely than ever. The glories Of Ia toiTe
0ur jambons and Ia toire aur pains d epice'
will be outdone; and the practice now only
surreptitiously INDUCED in of carrying
away some memento of the exhibition-be
it worth only a couple of francs-from the
exhibition itself, will be pursued on the
most colossal scale. Looking at the vast
numbers of persons whose ambition to ac-
quire a souvenir of the Exposition does not
90 beyond pair of garters or bottle Of
, scent, photograph of The Dirty Boy
: or necktie with view of the Trocadero
+ printed upon it, the multitude of Partisan
, lshop-keepers who sell such articles might
> reasonably protest against the untrades-
= Iman-Iike competition of the Champ de
: Mars; but as il happens the principal b0u-
Ittquers of the boulevards--the Rue de Ri
vol and the Rue de Ia Paix-are exhibit
ors as we'll; and it becomes only a question
!. of having two sets of glass cases full Of
' articles de Paris, two sets of shop assist
D ants, and two tills. one on the right and the
o other on the left bank of the Seine. The
( arrangement is likely to be all the more
: satisfactory to the des-pcople, as they
! will probably charge twenty per cent more
d for the garters or the bottles of scent
d which they sell within the walls of the
: Exhibition Palace than for the analogous
= articles which they vend in their own shops.
: How the English exhibitors will regard the
official concession / am scarcely prepared
e NOT being being behind the scenes of
Il British exhibitors iuterests-to determine,
81 The manufacturers and factors of porce-
lain and pottery will not, perhaps, be sorry
for an additional four weeks opportunity
81 to dispose of their beautiful productions;
% but, as a rule, Great Britain is az exhibit
# or of big and not of little wares-the ar
!. ticIes de LOndreS, il its artistic knicknack
70 sense, has yet TO be fabricated amongst
L them-and it is to wholesale, not retail, re-
Re suits that they are generally accustomed tC
N look when they try their strength with the
:. nations in an industrial competition. They
would rather take an order for so, 600 yards
lie of Huddersfeld serges or Saltaire alpacas,
te for twenty locomotive or marine engines
it or for hundred and fifty steam plows OIL
threshing machines, than keep up I'D
ding" trade in cakes of soap, bottles o
90 pickles, blottiDg cases and travelling bags
er As for the Americans they have
he already ,sold. it is understood the grea
al bulk of the articles which they sent Il
= Paris, and they may be comparatively in
~ different as to when the Exhibition comes
w to an end, but the Italians, the Spaniards
ey and the Russians can scarcely regret thu
a. fresh facilities afforded them for selling
merchandise which has been prepared
u especially with view tits being exhibited
ss in Paris, and of which they might expe
e. rience considerable difficulty in getting ric
NJ 10 their own country. As for the remote
peoples-the contributors from the far OF
w ends of the earth they will possibly re
joice at any transaction which will absolv
al them from the necessity of taking thei
". wares back again; and the tourist in Pari
- who keeps his eyes open in the Prussian
the Brazilian. the Mexican. and the Vene
az zuean sections of the Champ de Mar
"a may possibly, light upon some alarming
To- sacrifices" and with but a very moderat
ns amount of ready money in his pocket ma
:, make some astonishing bargains. siren
Vi uously advise all intending purchasers VIII
no intend to remainin Paris for some time L
at come to hold 3D." as we Americans say
re and to ':wslt little longer" For tn
nonce prices rule high, and holders ar
" firm. Exhibitors are demanding twent
't- Concluded on next page.