PHILADELPHIA EXHIBITION.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XL, Issue 190, 2 August 1876, Page 4

PHILADELPHIA EXHIBITION.

{New Zealand Times ) DESCRIPTION OF THE NBW ZEALAND COURT. The following description of the New Zealand Court, written by Dr. Hector, CM. G., and read at the Wel-' iington Philosophical Society on Saturday evening is exceedingly interesting:— The New Zealand Court in the Philadelphia Exhibition is an oblong space, with 25ft frontage to the main corridor that traverses the entire length of the building, and extending in depth 64 feet, so as to have a second fronlage to a second corridor. On the west side is the New South Wales Court, and on the east the courts of: Jamaica and Bermuda. Tbe space is enclosed in a uniform manner with the other Australian courts, the commissioners having joined in one design and contract (with the exception of Queensland). So that Australasia thus combined forms a striking feature in the Exhibition. The coloring is a delicate French grey, picked out with blue and black, and the courts are further decorated with flags and bannerets, affording bright points of color that relieve the general neutral tint. Over the entrance is a Maori carving supported by taiahas and mats, and with the "Maori jsck" over the New Zealand flag, which is supported on either side by the Stars and Stripes and Norwegian flags. Entering the court from tbe main corridor, in the centre is a handsome glass case 7ft high and 4ft wide, with four glass shelves. This case is secured to' the floor, and is specially fiited for the security of its valuable contents, which comprise about 160 samples of golden sand, nuggets, and auriferous quartz specimens from the New Zealand goldfields. The samples are contained in glass and ebony cups, and are marked in accordance with the printed catalogue, which describes their assay, value, and other qualities. Cards giving statistics of the goldfields are also placed io this case, and the intimate structure of the golden quariz is illustrated by a beautifully polished specimen exhibited through a large magnifying glass. This exhibit is of the greatest interest to practical miners and mineralogists, aud attracts so much attention that a barrier has been required to keep off the pressure of the crowd. In the upper part of the case are a series of models illustrating the mode of preparing the gold for export, and especially Millar's ingeniously simple process lor removing the silver by the injection of chlorine gas into the molten gold The statistics accompanying the cold state that in 1874 there were 12,948 alluvial gold mines, producing gold valued at 6,470,3 1 5d015., and 2,119 quartz mines, the value of whose production wos 1,745,000J015. In the rear of the gold ease is an iron safe, to which the more valuable specimens are removed at ni»ht. On each side of the central space of the court is a Bcreen 17ft long, covered with water-color sketches and photographs of New Zealand scenery, by W. M. Cooper, Deveril, McCombie, Burton, nnd other artists of note in the colony; also sixty sheets of New Zealand ferns, mounted by Hay, of Taranaki. In the centre of the court is a huge gilt pillar _sfc high, representing the yield of the New Zealand goldfields since 1862. This pillar, which towers above every other object in this part of the building, represents the bulk of 246 tons of 23 carat gold, or 497 cubic feet, valued at £30 810,137, or 151,27i.293d015. gold, all of which information 5b written on the sides of tbe pillar in bold characters, and is eagerly transferred to the note-bocks of hundreds of visitors. In front of the pillar is a small relief map of New Zealand, modelled and geologically colored by Hector. Still continuing down the centre of the court is a trophy of large blocks of coal acd mineral,, surmounted by tall glass cylinders of petroleum from the East Cape, Also another trophy of polished timbers, some of the large Blabs of kauri, rimu, and totara being s*ery attractive. Between these trophies, and facing a Bide a'oor, is the skeleton of a large moa bird, lent by the Smithsonian Institute, and originally sent from the Canterbury Museum by Dr Von Hunst. Continuing to the back of tho section is a table case 14ft long and 7ft wide, containing samples of hams, soap, candles, glue, grain, veneer timbers, tan barks, wine, beer, sauces, Sea., and surmounted by a magnificent collection of ail the varieties of kauri gum as sold in the American market, and eight (different kiuds of varnish which is made from it by Felton and Co., of Philadelphia. Against the walls of the court on each side, are three handsome, upright cases of walnut wood alternating with ebonised table cases, In the first ou either side of the main entrance are placed a selection of beautiful articles of ladies' dress, manufactured from the feathers of seabirds, by Liarder, of Wellington. Over these ou one side i are suspended the plates from Dr Bulier's great work on tbe ornithology of New Zealand, and on the other groupß of photographs of Maoris, all mounted in inlaid frames, which show to great advantage. The first upright cases and tbe table cases in front are occupied by a most interesting collection 6f Maori mats made of feathers aad flax, and by

implements of stone, bone, and wood, forming a very instructive ethnological Series, part of which has been lent by the Smithsonian lustitute, from collections brou.ht by ihe Wilkes' expedition of 1839 and the Transit of Venus expedition of 1874. | Oo the left hand follows a long glass case, containing a classified series of the minerals and ores found in the colony, over which are hung geological mops and sections. The next case is filled with an exhibit of thirty-one kinds of tweed cloth, made by Messrs Webley, of Nelson, in front of which has been placed a series of the works published in the colony, handsomely bound. The remainder of the west side of the court is principally devoted to phormium fibre in all its foraiß of preparation and manufacture, from delicate textile fabrics to large hawsers, the coils of which are piled up in several great pillars. On the opposite side of the court is a range of glass cases, thirty feefc long, containing selected fleeces of wool, the bulk of which, and also the grain, is shown separately in the Agricultural HaU. Nailed up to the wall over part of tbe wool cases is an extensive exhibit of leather by T. Wilson, of Canterbury; and, in a good light, Mundy's celebrated series of photographic landscapes, and Sealey's views of the Southern Alps, have been grouped round Dr Von Haast's elaborate map of the glaciers and mountain Bystem of Canterbury. H. Severn's panoramic views of the Thames goldfields is also against the wall, while in various vacant places other maps and views aad fifty sheets of Auckland feme and twelve exquisite views of the Rotomahana geysers, by M'Combie, of Auckland have been suspended. The total number of views exhibited in the court is 549, all of which bave been specially mounted in walnnt by Mr Creamer, of Philadelphia. Over the centre of the court are suspended two large maps of the colony by Dr Hector, the one geological and 'he other physical, contrasting the present surface features with those of later tertiary times. The area oi the New Zealand Court is IbOO square feet, and the number of exhibits entered is 1114. J. Hector. Philadelphia, Jane 6.