Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1881-09-23
FROM BOSTON.

Everybody and eYerybodys relations seem
ed to be going to tho fairs to-day. So your
correspondent as an item Of the population
went along. In some m ysterious way he sue
ceeded in getting aboard horse-car, which
was already vainly striving to accommodate
hundred people. After a ride Of twenty min
utes under very compact circumstances, the
conductor called out, "Institute Fair-end of
the route" The living freight poured out of
the car, and was soon merged in the stream
of people steadily flowing through the gates
OF the New England Manufacturers and Me-
chanics' Institute. Onco within the walls Of
the great building, there was no more danger
of crowding A regiment or the inhabitants
of a township might be lost in the spacious
halls and galleries. Over 100 600 people, it
is said, can locomot and inspect the exhibits
without inconvenience. Two million bricks,
2,OOO 900 feet of lumber, and 10000 square
feet of glass went into the structure 1t is
without doubt the largest permanent exhibit
tion building in this country. The plan Of
construction is exceedingly simple. There is
a front hall and an enormous main ball, with
galleries above the former and round about
the latter The exhibits are thoroughly sys-
tematized, SO that, even withou. the compre-
hensive catalogue which has been issued, any
particular one can be found with ease.
The textile machinery-the cunning metal
lie fingers that weave our clothing-the ma
chimes that turn out our boots and shoes with
marvellous facility, the wood and iron working
machines that supply all sorts of necessities
and luxuries Of life-all varieties Of these,
and the engines that furnish the motive pow
er, may be seen in practical operation in the
main hall. The galleries are devoted to an-
other class of exhibits, ranging from furni-
ture and pianos, heliotypes and chromos, to
crockery and canned goods.
But your correspondent didn't attempt TO
investigate and comprehend all these things
on the first visit. With supreme indifference
TO the sage injunctions of that terrible race
of people, the methodical sight-seers, he saun-
tered about the acres of machinery, up and
down the spacious aisles, into the unique and
artistic sections of the galleries anywhere
and everywhere, at his own sweet will He
did not hold himself above partaking of the
chocolate, male berry coffee and griddle-cakes
that are dispensed, free Of charge, in the rear
gallery. Nor was he proof against the glass
blowers nor even the card mania, which,
judging from the miscellaneous collections the
ladies carry out of the building, has taken q
new lease Of life.
Among the exhibits of peculiar and practi-
cal interest is that of the Hampton and Car
Isle institutes. A day or two ago a promi-
nent Bostonian, standing on the floor Of the
main hall, pointed to this section, and said !:
"There, gentlemen, is the soution-the only
solution of the Indian problem. 1t is through
education that the wards Of the state must be
protected and made into law w-abiding citizens,
and period put to the generations of dishon-
or" The noble work that these institutions
have done and are doing for the intellectual
and industrial development of the Indian and
negro is well illustrated by the exhibit.
Striking and suggestive contrasts are con-
tinually forcing themselves upon the attention
of observant visitors at the fair For exam
pie: in this Hampton exhibit sits asomewhat
taciturn but very industrious Apache, not
more than ten weeks from his native wids.
With ordinary shoemaker's tools, but in q
method peculiar to himself, he puts together
pair of rough shoes in the course Of two
days. Almost directly below, on raised
bench over the spur of the Providence rail
road, is to be seen ye ancient cobbler, who
consumes the same amount of time with much
the same result. Round about the latter, and
reaching the ears of the Indian as he bends
quietly over his work, is the incessant whir
and buzz of the numerous intricate machines
| Al Al. Il. A.
may be cut, dozen processes gone through,
and q finely y-fnished pair of boots placed upor
the feet in precisely eight minutes. There il
something pitiable in this contrast it makei
the uneiviized look almost helpless, and the
ways and contriyances of the past seem almost
ludicrous in the light of the present
The shoemaking exhibit is the largest in the
fair, and is so arranged as to give the visitor
as comprehensive an idea Of the manufacture
as could be obtained by spending day or two
in the numerous departments of large fac
tory. In the latter a novice is apt to be con
fused by the roar of machinery and the
swarms of workmen, while here logical in
sight may be obtained into all the processes
from the uncut leather to the finished boot
The factory is run full time, does regular
work, and employs a large number of tn,
company's best men. 1t may be of interes
to note that on one day lately ffty-one case
OF boots were turned out and shipped by or
der to Cuba and sixteen different states.
To attempt to make further mention of par
ticular exhibits would intrude too much upoI
your space. Suffice it to say that the oppor
tunities at the New England Manufacturers
and Mechanics Institute Fair, for instruction
and amusement, for hearing excellent music
and for enjoying ones self in general way
are such that no visitor should fail to take ad
vantage them. The admission fee is but
quarter-the management placing it at thi
modest figure that the fair might be more o
popular educator. According to the turn
stile count, nearly 200, 900 people have alread.
passed through the gates The other attrac
tions in the city, the grand fair of the Me
chanics' Charitable Association, the Art Mu
scum, the Natural History Rooms, and tn
magnificent churches of the Back Bay-all o
which are within fifteen minutes of the Insti
tute Fair-render it particularly desirable Il
be in Boston at this season. Arrangement
have been made for excursion trains on all tn
principal lines of railway, and those who avai
themselves of the opportunity thus afforde
will not be likely to regret it. -"
There are 800 female doctors, who hav
passed through regular course of study
practicing In this country. New York, Penn
sylvania aud Massachusetts, support the great
er portion.
A German statistician reckons that tn