THE INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION.

New Zealander, Volume XVIII, Issue 1725, 20 September 1862, Page 6

THE INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION.

[From the ** Evening Mail," June 2.1.] Yesterday there was a more numerous attendance at the building than on any day since the openiirg. The first hour of admission, in nine cases out of ten, gives a lair indication of what the day is going to be in numbers; and yesterday, between 10 and 11 o'clock, nearly 20,000 paying visitors had entered the building. As usual, between half-past 12 and 2 (the popular tinnier hour) there was a marked decrease in the influx, but after that the numbers again began to rise quickly, so that at 2 o'clock the returns stood—admissions by payment, 61,311; by season tickets, 4,260; total, 65,571—the best shilling day that has yet occurred. At 4 o'oclock there were probably upwards of 50,000 visitors and others in the place at the same time, and then it, was beyond a doubt inconveniently thronged. The greater part of the nave was tolerably free, but it was very difficult indeed to make one's way across the daises at either end. The passages in the Machinery Annexo were quite blocked up, and it was almost impossible to get near any of the objects of special interest exhibited in that department. It has been said over and over again that the space allotted to the paths and stairways in this building is greater by nearly onefourth than that allowed for the same purpose in 1851; ami that, therefore, it ought to give the same accommodation to 120,000 visitors which the old building gave to 9.l,ooo—the largest number that was ever in it at one time. If there is really more space in this building we can only say that it has been very ill laid out, and where the 120,00u visitors, if they ever do come in one day, as is not unlikely, are to be put is a mystery, lor, unless they arc wedged into a crowd, the building will certainly not hold, much less accommodate, double the numbers that were in it yesterday. The very insufficient number of seats provided in the building was a constant source of complaint yesterday, and gave rise to much inconvenience, for there was scarcely any room left to get up or down the stairs, so closely was every step occupied by tired holiday folks. Every square foot of space not actually on the floor which could he occupied in this way was eagerly seized on, and yet the cry was everywhere, " Let us look for a place to sit down." The expense of putting a couple of hundred more forms would be very trifling, and such an addition to the number would in the course of a day give rest to some 15,000 or 20,000 visitors. In such a crowd as that of yesterday it is difficult to say that anything was very specially attractive. Every court and class was alike thronged, and in fact the sightseers ransacked the whole place from end to end. There was evidently a very large proportion of visitors from the country, who must have been not only strangers to the building but strangers to London altogether, as hundreds went to the South Kensington Museum under the belief that it was the Exhibition, Strange to say, it did not rain at 6 o'clock when the visitors were leaving, .so that the return homo was quite as wonderful a sight in its way as even the return from the Derby. The quiet order and satisfied good humour of the great mass of well-dressed holy day folks crowding away from Brompton—the trains of loaded cabs and 'busses, and the dense, patientlyendured block where the two great streams of traflic cross at Albert-gate and Hyde l'ark, all make it such a sight as can be seen only at Exhibition times, and only at Exhibitions in London. The question which the great mass of the public seem now most curious and most interested about is whether or not the Exhibition will pay. Every one seems to have his own theory or opinion in this matter; and, as there is hardly any which has not been caused by some more or less inaccurate statement of receipts and expenses, a brief enumeration of facts on this important point may not be unacceptable to our readers as giving them at least a correct basis on which to form their judgment in the matter. The total sum required to clear all expenses of every kind connected with the building, and, in fact, to wind up the whole affair with satisfaction to every one, and probably leave a balance of some few hundreds in hand is £545,000. This is including the £IOO,OOO still to be given to Messrs. Kelk and Lucas, but is exclusive of the £130,000 required to purchase the building entirely. The agreement of the contractors is that they are to receive £200,000 for the building, and all the receipts between £400,000 and £500,000 ; but if from this latter source they receive another £IOO,OOO, then they are to sell the building absolutely to the Commissioners for £'130,000 more. Thus, if the total receipts only reach £445,000, it will clear the guarantors and pay everything, but it will leave Messrs. Kelk and Lucas without their £IOO,OOO ; whereas if, as we have said, they amount to £545,000, it will satisfy every demand and leave a small balance. Towards this large sum the Commissioners have already got £220,000 in hand. The receipts since the shilling-days began in paymontu at the doors, have varied from / 2,000 to £3,200 per diem, the average being about £2,300 a-day. But to this has to be added the head-money paid by the refreshment contractors; Mr. Morrish pays five-eighths of a penny on all visitors; M. Veillard only pays on half-crown, five-shilling, or season-ticket visitors, having compounded by a payment of £5,00 > down, for his head-money on the shilling days. Mr. Morrish, therefore, pays from £BO to £9O a-day, and M. Veil lard's payments are from £3O to £4O. These sources of revenue, with the profits derived on the sale of catalogues, care of sticks, umbrellas, &c, have brought up the daily receipts to about £2,600 The Exhibition has still 98 days to remain open—so that, if the daily receipts continued throughout as low as they have hitherto been the Commissioners would only receive £254,000, iu addition to the £220,000 they have already iu hand. This sum would clear the guarantors and all expenses, .but would leave Messrs. Kelk and Lucas with only £29,000, instead of their £loo,ooo— loss which every one would regret, for, taking till in all, not any have worked harder or more conscientiously for the success of the undertaking than Mr. Kelk or Messrs. Charles and Thomas Lucas. This calculation is based on the payments throughout from all sources only averaging £2,600 a-day. But yesterday the money payment at the doors was in round numbers £3,075, and the receipts from the other sources we have mentioned—the head-money, sale of catalogues, care of sticks, &c, which is, of course, always in proportion to the attendance, probably brought up .this sum to £3,300. If this was the average to the close it would give the Commissioners £330,000, in addition to their £220,000, enabling them to wind up with £IO,OOO clear profit. This is taking the moderate view of the case, for the Exhibition is most steadily rising; in popular favour; and even admitting that there will be many wet and unfavourable days, when the attendance will be less than 30,000, still, there will he very many days, especially towards the close, when 80,000 to 90,000, or cven"l00,000 will pay their shilling. Those who take the sanguine view of* its financial prospects —and these are men who have the most extensive practical experience of excursion traffic in the autumn—say that the numbers of country visitors who will flock to London after the harvest will be so great as to bring the daily average of receipts from all sources from this time up to £4,000. To sum up all, therefore, it appears that if matters went the close as poorly as'they did for the first fortnight of the shilling days, still everything would be paid, but Kelk and Lucas would only receive £29,000 out of their £ 100,000. If the receipts giPon as they arc doing now every one will be paid in full, and some £'lo,ooo remain in hand; but if they advance, as the traffic managers of railways say they will do, the Commissioners will wind up triumphantly with some £70,000 or £'Bo,ooo in hand. With weather the chances seem in favour of the last of these views.

The Shipping Trade.—The returns annually moved, for in Parliament by Mr. Ingham show, at the close of last year, us registered at the ports of the United Kingdom, 25,005 sailing vessels of 4,300,518 tons and 2133 steam vessels of 500,308 tons, an increase over the previous year of 90,158 in sailing tonnage and 51,981 in steam tonnage. The new vessels built in tbe United Kingdom last year, and registered as British ships were sailing vessels of 129,970 tons, and steam-vessels of 70,809 ions—a greater addition than ii» the previous year. The increase was id iion vessels. Including vessels bought of foreigners, the registration of vessels at our ports last year as new ships amounted to 310,900 tons, while in the previous year it was only 211,908,603 vessels belonging to the United Kingdom, of 151,230 tons were wrecked last year, and 72 of 7111 tons were broken up, both numbers being below those of the previous year. Of the employment of shipping last year the returns tell us that in tbe coasting tr.tde the entries inwards at ports of tbe United Kingdom (all these returns including repeated voyages of the same amounted to this tonnage .-—British vessels, 17,357,131 ; foreign. 93,450. The numbers in 1800 were—British vessels, 10,988,124 and foreign, 202,220. Ibe entries inwards from the colonies were—British vessel*, 2,306,432 tons, and foreign 494,090; in 1800, British, 2,110,872 ; foreign, 294,721. The entries inwards from foreign ports were—British vessels, 5,48.5,017 tons ; foreign, 4,983,003 ; in 1800, British, 4,845,570; foreign, 5,011,8(10. Tne result is that in the coasting fade last year the tonnage of our own shipping increased, and the foreign tonnage became !<-ss thau the previous year; in the colonial trade both '•'creased j in the foreign trade our own shipping largely "'creased, but the foreign wai nor equal to tjijitofthe Jffevious TiiJW{-