New-York tribune., 1878-05-02

section will present creditable appearance at
least in comparison with other sectoDs-on the
morning of the 1st of May. The French must Them
selves be held responsible for part OF the back
warduess OF all the foreign sections; and 1or TWO
reasons. They required each nation to erect tS own
facade on the main avenue, and they oeilVeieu 10
each its portion of the main building IN strangely
incomplete state. 1t viii cost abont $3o,OOo 10
mt the American section-the mere fabric which
houses the goOds-in rs good condition as that IN
which the sections at Philadelphia were handed
over TO the foreign exhibitors 1t will cost many of
the other sections very much more than that.
Perhaps il is hardly fair to Mr. Petit 10 say any
thing about his work in its present unfinished state
STILL must take things as find them, and there
will be plenty of time for rectifying opinions here
after. For some months he was here in charge OF
the American section and the advanced state OF the
work actually done on the ground here in Paris is
due to him. What obstacles had to be overcome no
body knows so well he. At present he is engaged
among OF her things In the American headquarters
He had certain space given him on the main ave
nue. in line with the edfces of other nations, ana
ne was 70 do the best he could with that, and with
the slender pittance of money which was all that
could be afforded out of the general fund. What
will the patriotic American say when he hears that
the structure which stands for the United
States is to cost complete about $1,000,
and that little Belgium has not thought she could
make creditable figure with less than S25O,OOOf
This last sum is not official have heard it put at
R15O 600 but take it at the lowest, and Belgium,
with rather more than a tenth Of our population,
spends more than twenty times as much as the
American Republic and on its building alone as
much as our entire appropriation for all the lnnu-
merable expenses of the Exposition. We stand side
bv side with Sweden and Norway. If the European
tI,o of a11 INN
tance of the Powers of the world by the mansions
they have built for themselves along this main
street of the universe, he will be sure to set the
Scandinavian Kingdom, with its six or sevenmillons
of people above the United States. with its forty
millions
DETAILS OF THE AMERICAN BUILDING.
Our building consists of a central structure OF two
stories 90 feet in width. surmOnned by tower, and
hankcd by two wings, each of one story and 10 feet
wide The height of the centre is 40 feet The pro-
portions of the front not bad, its material is
wood and IT'S lower story rcoices at this moment III
that single coat of streaky paint which is known to
the craft as priming Mr.. Petit appears to be a
pupil of Mr. Ruskin. don't know whether lie will
resent my saying this. or accept it as the compl-
nent if is meant to be. He has borrowed at any
rate from Mr. Ruskin one of his leading ideas, that
the exterior of building should express in some clear
way the purpose of the building and frankly reveal
the secret of its construction. Now this building
savs Mr. Petit is meant to be collection of offices,
and that precisely what it appears to be. 1t be-
longs so far as / could see, to no known order of
architecture. The French iutmated wish, am
told that each nation should build in ITS own style.
Mr.. Petit rightly considered that we have no style,
OF none which goes beyond the effort to get the
most space, light, and general convenience out OF
the fewes materials at the least cost The econOmi-
cal Congressman, who sees no use in competing
with Europe, and, perhaps, rather deSpises
Europe himself could find no fault with
Mr.. Pethts conception or with the way in
which he has carried it out. If simplicity
of design be admirable, this house certainly
most admirable for it is simplicity which amounts
to naIreif Its architectural features consist of
shallow porch in the middle and single window of
three divisions for each Office. When you see the
window you infer the Office and there can be no
mistake about the matter. for the number of win
dows and the number of offices Is precisely thesame
except that the lower window to the right Is door
A number of large drygoods boxes placed symmet-
rically side by sde with openings in the middle of
each and one row atop of the other in the middle,
would produce very much the same effect on the
mind of the behOlder. What more could We wantf
Are we not a practical people. and is not the
highest legislative wisdom of the known world con-
centrated in the Congress which fixed the sum
total which it would I" pay" Us to spend in aWorlds
Fair at Paris
concession to aesthetics, or strictly to SYM
bOlical art, has been made i'll the vacant spaces
which occur between the windows and the angles
of this edfce These spaces arc treated in panels,
and patriotism steps in to claim them as its own.
There are thirteen in all need | say that they rep
resent the thirteen original States of the Union with
their respective coat of arms For this | take Mr..
Pettts word; at the moment they represent moth
ing but blank space, and what Dr. johnson would
call the potentiaty of future panels and coats OF
arms to be emblazoned hereafter Nor are the States
forgotten which have not the happiness to
be reckoned among the original thirteen. 1t
is not Mr.. Pettits fault if there not room for
thirty-seven panels, nor can the twenty-fonr nom
original eOmmOnwealths conceive themselves disre-
spectiully dealt with. They all there, but on
less scale There is frieze of twenty-four shields
in its proper place, and each shield stands for
State and bears the arms thereof. Here, then is
lesson in American history oil spread out so that the
European may. if he be so minded, gather knowl-
edge as ne gazes on this facade and make refec-
tions for himself which refrain from suggesting to
the native. Perhaps on the whole it is better no
should have his attention occupied with the past
than be allowed any leisure to draw comparisons
between this and some of the more sumptuous
structures on which European communities have
lavished their wealth.
Neither foreigner native need enter this build
ing at all unless he choose. The American section
may be approached in other ways, and from the
avenue itself the main entrance is not through the
central doorway of the building. but through a
broader passage at the northwest end. If he enter,
he will be confronted by armed defenders Of the Re
public. The first room on the ground floor IS
Cuard-roOm. For the first time in the history OF
exhibii ions the American uniform makes part OF
the show and American soldiers will do duty as