THE GREAT EXHIBITION. (From the London Correspondent of the Singapore Ficc Picss, 24th March)

New Zealander, Volume 7, Issue 550, 23 July 1851, Page 4

THE GREAT EXHIBITION. (From the London Correspondent of the Singapore Ficc Picss, 24th March)

Tiir Exhibition still is the subject of the day, and its importance increases as the time for its completion approaches. The painters are hard at ■work finishing oil' the building, the glaziers aie fully occupied in making good keeping out tho weather, the carpenters in that part of the building assigned to Great Britain have erected the greater part of the divisions and fittings; that part of the building in which the Machinery is to be exhibited in motion, already assumes the appearance of a huge factory, a railway is laid down on which to test the great locomotives sent in for competition; at one end of the building an organ of huge dimensions is growing up under the hands of fifty fitters; the galleries are thickly studded with glass cases, some of them both large and elegant, and here and there objects of interest begin to show themselves. The building is now a perfect hive, wherein 1700 artizans, and upwards of 1000 other employees, "besides custom house officers, and somo hundreds of "sappers" are systematically and busily occupied from morning till late at night. With regard tn the British portion it will be all ready for the opening on the Ist of May and a very splendid scene will be presented to view. As to the foreign portion, there is not the same certainty; the French are sadly behind hand, nothing is yet on the ground, the Austrians not much better, and the United States only just commencing, some of them will surely be behind hand. The catalogues are already far advanced. The "great official annotated and illustrated edition," which will be a book of 1000 pages, very large octavo, and in double columns, with introductory articles by two members of the Executive Committee, notes by thirty of the first scientific men, and full of engravings, will appear on tho day of opening, and will cost probably thirty shillings. The " official edition" will also be published on that day at the price, within the building, of one shilling, and will contain about as much matter as ten or fifteen Royal Academy Catalogues. The French aud German editions will also come out at the same time at half a crown each. The whole of the matter received, viz.: the description from upwards of 10,000 exhibitors, has been printed for three of these editions ; the Small Official Catalogue has just been commenced.—A printer only can appreciate the extent of the Catalogues as a matter of priming, when he | is told that the new type cast for the purpose weighed 41,000 lbs.; that the composition was commenced on the 31st January, that the whole of the type has to be kept standing in galley, or separate slips, from that date till Way, four months, and lastly, that the matter could not be put together at first in the proper order, but has all to be re-arranged at the last moment; —four Catalogues, each containing about 16,000 paragraphs, or G-1,000 paragraphs in all, which in the course of a week or two have all to be separated from each other and re-arranged in the precise order in which the goods will stand in the build- ' ing. To effect this monster undertaking, theie are engaged one Compiler, one Scientific writer, one Advertisement manager, one Superintendent for the Illustrations, each with a staff of clerks, amounting in all to perhaps twenty, thirty annotatoiv, perhaps twenty draftsmen and engravers, and about sixty compositors and readers :—without the aid of machinery, and without that subdivision of labour -\vhich so strongly marks English operations, such a work could not possibly be performed. As an instance of the interest taken in the Exhibition by her Majesty, I may inform you that the Queen will be an exhibitoi of several articles, amongst others of the lloyal Cot, which attracted so much notice a year or two since, of some magnificent articles in electroplate, and of a carpet | worked in Berlin wool by 150 ladies of Great Britain. His Royal Highness Prince Albert will also be an exhibitor of farm produce as well as of plate and other articles of verfu. His Royal Highness is also causing to be erected a model lodging-house for four families, just opposite to the building, for the inspection of the thousands who come to the World's Fair. The season ticket", which arc charged three guineas to gentlemen and two to ladies, have already sold to the extent of from GOOO to 7000.