Year: 1878

TO BE on HAND.


tFRoM A SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT OF THE TRIBUNF.l


PARIS, March 26.-Five weeks from tomorrow
the Worlds Fair of 1873 will be formally opened on
the Champ de Mars A visit to the grounds to-day
would convince almost any stranger that IT will be
impossible to have everything in proper order at
that time Nothing is as yet completed. Many de-
partments very backward, aud those which re-
quTe the most work are more tardy than those re-
quiring the least. The Machinery Department is
singularly behindhand. while the Library and Print
ing Department is a condition rendering II impos-
sble that il shall be finished on the appointed day.
The exhibits of foreign nations are in much
better shape than those Of the French them
selves. Switzerland, who intends to surpass all
other nations in her display of Watches could be
ready on one days notice. Japan. whose wares
have crowded the shops of Paris in the past year
they have those of New-York, arrived early with
large cargo, and is far advanced in her arrange
ments. Canada has sent great quantity of
articles, peculiar to her soil and manners of lfe,and
is already attracting considerable attention from
the French. A few cnrgoes expected soon to
arrive from the United States, and Others It Is re-
ported are on the way: but the space allotted to
that country appears tenantlcss and forsaken HOl-
land has made rapid progress ana Norway and
Sweden, so prompt at Philadelphia, have been
among the first To make their appearance here.
China is astonishing and amusing everybody, not
only by her industry, which is extraordinary even
among the industrious French, bnt by her wOrtmen
and their ways Twenty-six native artisans have
been directing crowd of workmen, and are allowed
practically their own way in fitting out their div-
sions in whatever fantastic and quaint manner they
desire. Russia and Turkey have, as yet done little.
being more occupied in the arts of war than those
Of peace.


The payOns which are set apart for the different
nations have made rapid progress, and some of them
are ready for the exhibits and could be opened to-
morrow. The Khcdive Of Egypt will have an im-
posing structure and when filled with its articles 1t
will be one of the most interesting on the grounds.
That Of Algicrs will also attract much notice. The
Indian pavilion will be of striking form, richly
carved, and Ornamented with silver work. Few pa
vions will make a more lasting impression than
this. 1t has a rich and heavy ceiling finished in
massive glded work relieved against many bright
and snowy coors. II Will be largely devoted to
Indian wares aud cuuoSities, many of which were
collected by the Prince of Wales during his recent
tour. The decorations will consist in part Of copies
of the flags used in the great ceremony at Delhi.
The Prince of Wales has made n personal visit to
the pason and expressed his wish with regard to
its arrangements.


TIE BUILDINGS AND TIE SITE


But it is not so much the condition of thG exhibits


that raises serious doubt Of the completion of work
by May 7, as the exterior Of the buildings them
selves. Hundreds Of workmen ale engaged in and
about them in opening the ackagcs that continually
arrive from almost every quarter of the world In
the French section there are 3.2i0 men at work.
and many OF them toll far into the night Railway
tracks extend through the long corridors Of the
main edIGcc, and freight cars newly arrived from
Ilayre are di,chargng their loads. But the disorder
and activity not all caused by the work of un-
loading and unpacking. The main building IS un-
finished. Its walls are of course completed; its roof
sin places the floors are laid and doors aud windows
are well advanced. The FACADE, however, is only
partly compcted-in some places none of has
been added. Each nation is allowed to construct
the facade Of its department in its own way, adopt
inga style of architecture peculiar to itself. This
part Of the American work Is so backward that It II
impossible to say from visit just what the style
viii be- II is even more difficult TO Judge
of that from any knowledge one may have
Of the style employed in the United States
the distance between Mr.. BcecheTs church
and Mulets Post Ofice is so wide as almost 30 in
clule all forms and notifications, whether of
Greek, Roman, byzantine. Gothic or Renaissance.
One week aro workmcn were preparing the founda-
lions for thi, facade but there were only two Of
them, and they were laying brick Blt II was soon
learned that the FACADE itself was being
made in another part of Paris, and could
all be brourit TO the grounds and put up in
th,ce weeks time. Il Is spoken of as picturesque.
Commissioner Mccormick feels confident not only
that IL will De ~ its place i'm due time. but that the
articles Of exhibit will also be well disposed OF
those of most other countries when the building
shall be formally opened 4 company of workmen


are already on hand prepared 10 take the goods from
the boxes and place them where they belong, 50
soon ~ they shall arrive. But in spite of these de-
lays the Exhibition will De opened at the appointed
time. although It will probably take two weeks
after that date to complete the work.


A more fortunate site for an exhibition could
hardly be conceived than this one here in the Champ
de Mars. Certainly there is none in Paris aud il
may well be questioned if any city in the world
could offer many superior advantages. II is far
enough removed from the great contres to escape
the crowd and business which ill the streets and
yet il is within easy distance of the more prominent
parts OF the city. 1t may be reached either by
carriage straet-car or boat. The site of the Palace
Of the Trocadcro is high, and commands a view of
the entire city. Napoleon recognized it's value when
he proposed to build marble palace there for the
King Of Rome. The Seine in its course through the
heart of Paris makes generally straight line from
the eastern wall to the garden of the Tuilenes, but
Just beyond the Pont dc Ia Concordc it suddenly
curves to the southward. About one mile from
the beginning Of this curve lies the Champ dc
Mars, on the south bank of the river 1t
is only short distance from the Hotel des lnyades
known to all persons familiar with Paris as the
burial place of the great Napoleon. 1t is simply an
enormous level, open plot OF ground. chiefly used
for a century past as a place for military paradcs.
Ii is two-thirds of mile long and One-fourth wide.
Its sides are fanked by bitches faced with heavy
stone and four rows of trees are on each side. AL
though every public square III Paris has some his
toric interest this is not among the least of them
At the outbreak of the first Revolution the popula-