THE PARIS EXHIBITION. THE MOST MARVELLOUS DISPLAY THE WORLD HAS SEEN. (From Our Special Correspondent.) Paris, June 24.

Te Aroha News, Volume VII, Issue 389, 31 July 1889, Page 4

THE PARIS EXHIBITION. THE MOST MARVELLOUS DISPLAY THE WORLD HAS SEEN. (From Our Special Correspondent.) Paris, June 24.

The Paris Exhibition is disappointing in one respect, in that it entirely exceeds any anticipation as to variety or interest which could possibly be entertained. Apart from the triumphs of mechanical skill in the Eiffel Tower and the palace of machinery, the Exhibition ia the most marvellous the world has ever seen. It is tor everybody, for all ages, for the learned as well as the least instructed, an incomparable school, in which the teaching is universal. The manufacturer there finds models of which he may grasp every detail, and will know how to profit thereby, whilst the ordinary visitor can hardly fail to obtain a general idea, sufficiently comprehensive, of the marvels always in progress of modern industry. The ingenious may find there the road to fortune by the study of perfected processes designed in the fertile brain of inventors ; the artist raise to the highest point the culture of his talents by the appreciative study of works and clas&es of works, heretofore unknown, which never previously have come within the range or possibilities of observation. It has been happily said that this Exhibition combines and demonstrates in skilfully devised arrangements the elements of a gigantic encyclopaedia, where nothing is ignored or has been overlooked. We are shown how in this present year, 1889, the human race in all its various branches, is supplied with food, drink, apparel, and lodging, by what scientific processes man works to the satisfaction of hi& wants. The history, past and present, of the arts which adorn life, and of the sciences destined to render the individual more happy, more intelligent, and consequently to raise society to a higher plane, is displayed and illustrated. Practically, in respect of all important purposes, the entire civilised world is represented in manufacture, art and science. If there is any default, it is in the productions of the dependencies of England, many of them destined to be great countries. The next centenary of the French Revolution will as&uredly see a very different political arrangement of the surface of the globe. It is the fault, of course, of the colonies themselves, bub to be regretted from mor9 than one point of view, that only Victoria and New Zealand have put in an appearance at all, and that in a most meagre and unsatisfactory manner. It should have been, I venture to conceive, the business of, the Imperial Government to arrange a general representation at least of the resources and capabilities of all the more important colonies. The ignoring of these rising States with the marvellous opportunities they present to the enterprising and industrious of every nation is the one defect which mars the completeness of the Exhibition. France has taken good care not to hide under a bushel her Colonial Empire. Her colonies and the countries under her " protection " are individually and admirably represented, and the representation forms one of the most interesting features of the Exhibition. If one did not know better, it might easily be imagined that the French Republic was the great colonising power of the world.

THE ORIGIN AND VALUE OF EXHIBITIONS. It is an historic fact of no little interest, and one perhaps hardly generally known, that to France is due the credit of the origination of the Industrial Exhibition, and that the first in Europe was held on this very same site, the Champ de Mars, in 1798, under the Directory. The example, ever since religiously followed, was set on this occasion, for it is recorded that the preparations were by no means complete on the day of opening. It was, however, on the whole, as a purely national affair, a great success, and would seem fairly to have fulfilled the anticipations of the Government in the promotion. Some remarks of the Minister of the Interior at the formal opening strike me as being worthy of quotation as giving the raison d'etre for such exhibitions as you are about contemplating in New Zealand. '• The products of industry distributed over the whole surface of: the French territory do not admit to instituting those comparisons which are always in the arts a source of improvement ; a central point is necessary to industrial emulation. It is in order to procure for artists the novel spectacle of all the industries united, to establish between them a happy emulation, to fulfil a most sacred duty in causing every citizen to realise that the national prospeiity is inseparable from that of the arts and manufactures, that the Government has initiated this Exhibition." These were the words of the Minister in 1798. The present Exhibition, although based on the same lines, was a more extended and ambitious project. The Decree promulgated in November, 1884, which nominated the first Commission, declared that it was to be universal and national, and the President of this Commission, at the first meeting expressed himself to the effect that the Exhibition of 1889 would have " the character of a Centennial Exhibition, summing up all that the liberty of labour inauguiated in 1789 has produced in the way of progress during the century just closed. It is to this investigation of the universal economic situation that all the nations are convened."

EXPENDITURE ON" THE GREAT SHOW. It is beyond question that this great object has been carried out to a point of success beyond what could reasonably have been anticipated. The expenditure involved has been very considerable, but, it is to be noted, has been kept well within the estimate of 43 millions ot francs, and is not^ likely on the whole to exceed this amount. It may be interesting briefly to note how the atiair has been financed ; even the United States and the colonies, sharp as they are in such matters, may learn a wrinkle from Paris. The State, in the first place, agreed to an appropriation of 17 millions, arid the city of Paris appropriated eight millions ; the balance of 18 millions millions being covered by a Guarantee Association, to whom was to be made over the roceipts from the entrance money up to the amount of their investment. Before, however, the Exhibition opened, the Association was superseded by a society constituted on an entirely different basis ; ib moreover brought to the purposes of the Exhibition a supplementary credit of three millions and a-haif, thus raising the total amount available to forby-six millions and a-half, of which not quite forty millions have been up to the present time expended. The Society raise ttieir capital by the issue of 1,200,000 bonds of 25 francs, each of which has attached to it 25 entrance tickets to the Exhibition. The bonds have a currency of 75 years, when they are to be paid in full,, and each gives a chance of a prize in the drawing ot 81 lotteries. In order to ensure the reimbursement of all the bonds at the end of 75 years, it is calculated that it will be sufficient to reserve a capital of about six millions. The opera-

tiori, it will thus be seen, consists in the selling ab the came time \ the^tickets of admission and the iottery; tickets, and' it is estimated - that* of ' the* Whole thirty millions, twenty-five millions will be available for the Exhibition, and besides- covering the guarantee and extra 'expenditure, enable the magnificent buildingß constructed to remain on the ground, instead of being pulled down and the' materials' sold, as originally contemplated, which would indeed be a veritable act of vandalism. The bonds participate, as I have mentioned, in 81 drawings, of which six are during the Exhibition at the end of each month. The first five, of which one was drawn on May 3let, comprise one prize of 100,000 francs, one of 10,000, ten of 1,000, and 100 of 100 francs. The sixth drawing, October 31st, will be a very big thing indeed ; the first prize is 500,000 irancs, two of 10,000, ten of 1,000, and 200 of 100 francs. During the following 75 years there is to be one drawing a year, so that a bond has almost interminable chances, and many prizes will undoubtedly lapse. Considering the French love for gambling in this form, it is not surprising that the subscription was covered \ seven times over. One practical result of [ the issue right off of 30 millions of entrance tickets hrs been that they are easily obtainable at 50 cents each (fivepence), although nominally in value a franc. The Exhibition is, therefore, not only the biggest the world has ever seen, but decidedly the cheapest. Since the attendance averages 100,000 a day and twice as many on Sundays and holidays, it is sufficiently clear that if the Exhibition closes, as intended, in October, there will be several million tickets unused.

THE HUGENESS AND MAGNIFICENCE OF THE EXHIBITION. The general aspects of the Exhibition are no doubt familiar to you all in the colonythrough the medium of the illustrated papers ; it is, therefore, unnecessary to attempt to give an idea by word-painting of a tout ensemble which, within reasonable limits, it would be difficult to describe. Although abjuring, asarule, statistics, knowing that they are very generally considered a bore, I give a few figures which shall convey some notion of the scale on which the Exhibition has been designed and carried out. The Palace ot Fine Arts and of the Liberal Arts, the Palace of Machines, which they flank, the vestibules R'app and Desais with the buiiding adjacent of various exhibitions, cover an area of 255,733 square yards. The total area placed at the dis posal of the foreign sections is 102,666 square yards in the several palaces, but in order ( o satisfy demands for space the construction of severalspecialbuildings along the Quai D'Orsay has been authorised. New Zealand, by the way, ha 3 part ot a shed here. The Eiffel Tower I shall describe more particularly anon ; suffice it now to state that the height is exactly 904 feet, the breadth at the base 328 feet on each side, and the space comprised within the 4 pillars one hectare, equivalent to 2\ acres, which will give some idea of the magnitude of the structure. The Palace of Machinery is about 1,380 feet long, 492 feet wide, and 160 feet high with centre. The buildings and grounds are lighted by electricity; there are ordinarily l,lsoarc lamps and 10,000 incandescent, on the whole more than 10,000 burners. Among the most marvellous spectacles in the Exhibition are the illuminated fountains. Powerful electric lights, placed below the basins, illume interiorly the gushing spout 3 of water, and these having reflected upon them by a skilful system of mirrors, rays of Jight, various in colour, fall in cascades of gold, ruby, and emerald. The effect is magical ; the manner in which it is brought about is somewhat complicated and csm hardly be popularly explained.