The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1881-09-23

10 TIE EDIToR OF TIE REGISTER:
BOSTON, Sept. 16. 1881

seemed 10 be going 10 the fair to-day j
$50 your correspondent, as an item of
the population, went along. In some|
! mysterious way he succeeded in gettiDg|
9aboard horse-car, which was already
svainly striving TO accommodate u hundred
people. After ride of twenty minutesl
dunder very compact circumstances, thc|
conductor called out, "1nstitutc Fair
lend of the route The living freight
spourcd out of the car, and were soon|
merged In the stream of people stesdi-I
ly flowing through the gates of The NewI
England Manufacturers and Mechanics
Institute. Once within the walls of theI
fgreat building, there was no more dam
J ger of crowding. A regiment or theI
Inhabitants of n township might he lost
in the spacious halls and galleries.
Over 100000 people it is said, can loco
mote and inspect the exhibits without
Inconvenience. 100000 bricks, 2,000,.
600 feet of lumber, and 10000 squarc|
] feet of glass went into the structure.
II is without doubt the largest pcrman-|
1 ent exhibition building in this country Il
4 THE plan of construction is exceedingly
I simplc. There is front hall and an|
enormous main hall,with galleries above|
! the former aud round about the latter.
iThc exhibits are thoroughly systematic
led, so that even without the compre-
thcnsivc catalogue, which has been issu-
fed, any particular one can he found with
Tease.
The textile machinery cunning|
jmctalic fingers that weave our clothing|
1.-The machines that turn ont our bootsl
land shoes with marvellous facility, thcI
swood and iron working machines that
zsupply all sorts of necessities and luz
uries OF life, all varieties of these, aDdl
1.-THE engines that furnish the motivel
3power, may he sccn in practical opera
1tion in the main hall. The galleries.
J arc devoted 10 another class of exhibits, i
however, from furniture and|
zpianos, hciotypos and chromos, to|
! crockery and canned goods.
But your correspondent didn't at-l
tempt 10 investigate and comprehend
all these things OH the first visit. With
asuprcmc Indifference 10 the sage iniunc-
lions of that terrible race of people, the|
! mc!hodical sighi-scers, lie sauntercdI
about the acres of machinery, mp and|
down the spacious aislcs, into the|
unique and artistic sections of the gall
}leries, anywhere and everywhere, all
4 his own sweet will. lie did not hold
himself above partaking of the choco.
late, male-berry coffee and griddle-|
{cakes, that are dispensed free of charged
lin the rear gallery. Nor was lie proof
against the glass-blowcrs. nor even the|
1card mania, which, Judging from thcI
miscellaneous collections the LADIES'
scarry out of the building, has taken oil
gnew lease of life.
Among the exhibits of peculiar sndI
3practical interestlis that of the Hampton
land Carlisle institutes. A day or twol
sago prominent Bostonian, standingI
son the floor of the main hall, pointed toI
sthis section, and said, "Thcre, gentle
Smen, is the solution-i only solutionI
I of Che Indian problem. 1t is through
scducation that the wards of the nation[
I must be protected, and made into law
abiding citizens, and a period put TO the !
generations of dishonor." The noblck
work that these institutions have doneI
land are doing for the intellectual andI
industrial development of the lndiaDk
sand the negro is we'll illustrated by the
exhibit.
Striking and suggestive contrasts arcE
continually forcing themselves upon
| the attention of observant visitors all
Gthc fail. For example: in this 1lamp-
4ton exhibit sits n somewhat taciturnE
but very industrious Apache, notE
more than ten weeks from his nativck
swilds. With ordinary shoemaker'sE
tools, bnt in a method peculiar TO him.
'sclf, he puts together q pair of roughE
'shoes in the course of two days. ALI
most directly below on n raised henche
lover the spur of the Providence Rail-
road, is 10 be seen ye ancient cobblcr, L
lwhO consumes the same amount OH
thine with much the same result. Roundb
labout the latter, and reaching the earss
;of the Indian as he bends quietly Overk
This work, comes the incessant whirlE
land buzz of the numerous intricate mai
lchincs of the model satisfactory, wherck
.the leather may be cut, n dozen process
,ses gone through, and firely-finishcdf
'pair of boots placed upon the feet, inE
precisely eight minutes. There i'll
piliablc in this contrast. I'LL
'makcs the unciviliZed look almost help
Hess, and the ways and contrivancCs OF L
jthc past almost ludicrous in the light of
:thc present.
The shoe-making exhibit is ihcH
largest in the fair, and is arranged tot
lgivc the visitor as comprehensive am
idea of the manufacture as could be OBJ :
,tained by spending a day or two in thek
numerous departments of large fac-h
tory. In the latter a novice is apt to be-
confused by the roar of the machinery. L
land the swarms of workmen, whilcE
here logical insight may be obtainedE
into all the processes from. the uncniE
Heather to the finished boot. The fact
tory is run full time, does regular work K
land employees large number of the I
best men. 1t may be of in-E
|tercst TO note that one day lately iifty-E
onc cases of boots were turned out, andH
shipped by order TO Cuba and siXteenH
different states.
TO attempt TO make further mcntionE
of particular exhibits would intrude TOOK
much upon your space. Suffice il toE
say, that the opportunities at the New
England Manufacturers and Mcchanics'U
Institute Fair, for instruction and
for hearing excellent
music, and enjoying ones self in the
general way, are such as no visitor to-
Boston should fail to take advantage of. h
The admission fec is but quartcr,-N
the management placing il at this modesto
figure, that the fair might be more of al
popular educator. According to the 8
count, nearly 200, 900 peoplpE
have already passed the gates. Thck
other attractions in the city, the grandH
fair of the Mechanics Charitable Asso.
citation, the Art Museum, the Natualk
History Rooms, and the magniicentE
churches of the Back Bay-al of which
are within fifteen minutes of the Insii- n
tute Fair-render it particularly desira- n
BILE to be in Boston at this season. Arb
have been made for excur-
sion trains on all the principal lines OH
railway, and those who avail themselvosH
of the opportunity thus afforded wilb
not be likely to regret il. $50 n