EXHIBITION, BRITISH INDUSTRIAL. 



431 



economy, was shown. Its principle consists 

 simply of two rollers of India rubber, kept at a 

 tight pressure by means of screws, and on turn- 

 ing a handle the articles of clothing, when 

 wu>h'.'d, are drawn between the rollers and 

 pressed dry witbout the slightest injury to the 

 fabric. 



A Caloric Engine, by "Wilcox, was shown. It 

 is an engine of low power, quick in its revolu- 

 tions, not liable to derangement or explosion, 

 and of which the consumption of coal is as low 

 as 100 Ibs. per day of 10 hours. Some good 

 folding and revolving drying machines were 

 shown in the American department, the prices 

 of which were as low as 30s., of which 10s. is 

 sent to the Lancashire relief fund. They had 

 a good sale, and the 10s. charitable deodand 

 was regularly acknowledged by the relief com- 

 mittee. 



Sewing Machines. It is ' : now clearly estab- 

 lished, that, whatever a needle can accomplish, 

 the machine can do, from the finest and most 

 delicate fabric for female adornment to the 

 heaviest and coarsest habiliments of the sturdy 

 laborer." 



There were about thirty different sewing 

 machines in the exhibition, each having, or 

 professing to have, some distinctive peculiarity : 

 in the American court, the Processes court, and 

 in the French court. 



Howe's sewing machine is the basis of all 

 successful machines. 



M A x r F A. c T u R E s. Cotton Fabrics. It is 

 greatly to be regretted that the illustration of 

 the cotton manufactures of Great Britain is not 

 more complete. In 1851 it was very indiffer- 

 ent. Oa this occasion, if not worse in itself, 

 the defect in the exposition is aggravated by a 

 much smaller display in a dependent industry 

 that of calico printing. 



The most extensive series of exhibits in the 

 Cotton CIa>s was that comprised under the 

 head of Sewing Threads. 



In the Great Exhibition of 1851 the Turkish 

 bath towel made its first appearance, and in a 

 short time, owing partly to its quick adoption 

 in the royal nurserv, the article got into great 

 favor. W. M. Christy and Son, of Fairfield, 

 near Manchester, had an excellent exhibit of 

 these useful adjuncts to the bath. The make 

 is perfect, and the blankets specially noticeable 

 as supplying a great want. 



The contributions from Glasgow consisted 

 almost entirely of harness and other muslins, 

 and exhibited a great general advance alike in 

 taste and perfection of manufacture. In cot- 

 tons, Glasgow keeps as high a place as Paisley 

 does in shawls. Some of the printed cottons 

 were beautiful specimens of printing. The 

 hardness of effect of cotton prints is overcome, 

 or at least diminished, by a very skilful com- 

 bination of colors, which blend with each other 

 with as much ease and softness of outline as 

 woven fabrics. 



R. Owtram and Co., of "Watling street, made 

 an admirable display of figured muslins of a 



very high quality as regards weaving, design, 

 and finish. The imitation French cambric, 

 and the jaconots and nainsooks were excellent. 



France exhibited largely in this class, and 

 did justice to the power of production, alike in 

 tasteful design, beauty of mechanical result, 

 and brilliancy of color. The finest yarns, and 

 in its way the most complete exhibit, were cer- 

 tainly those of Mallet Brothers. Lille. 



The sewing threads exhibited were of first 

 class quality and finish, and the specimens 

 of muslin and lace showed the yarns in their 

 application to these fabrics to great advantage. 



M. Thivel-Michon, Tarare, brought together 

 Specimens of muslins manufactured from yarn 

 spun by the leading spinners both of the Conti- 

 nent and England. The finest were by the lat- 

 ter, and fabrics were shown made of 220s and 

 300s spun by Murray and Co. ; of 250s by M'Con- 

 nel and Co/; and of 300s and 440s by T." Houlds- 

 worth and Co., all of Manchester. The speci- 

 mens of muslins made from cotton grown in 

 Algeria were very suggestive, but none seemed 

 to go beyond 180s. 



In the French court was a most elegant ex- 

 position of tamboured work in net and muslin. 

 M. V. Dubois, Paris, showed some admirably 

 tamboured muslin curtains. The work is done 

 with great ability. The foliation in one ex- 

 ample was based on tropical plants, and the 

 effect of some portions was very superb. 



The contributions of cotton goods from 

 Switzerland of goods manufactured for expor- 

 tation say much for the ability and enterprise 

 of the people. 



The Belgian contributions in this class were 

 of a very practical character. 



Probably the most remarkable exhibit of 

 cotton goods in the Austrian Department, con- 

 sisted of shawls and other articles of ladies' 

 dress, with neck overties for gentlemen, made 

 of chenille and cotton. 



The cotton goods of the Zollverein were 

 cheap and strong clothing for working men. 

 Some of these goods were made with a plush- 

 like face, soft and downy, and, whilst the pat- 

 terns and dyes are well selected and in excel- 

 lent taste, the finish is equal to woollens of the 

 same character. 



Saxony had some useful exhibits of cotton. 



The Milan Chamber of Commerce exhibited 

 a series of useful fabrics in cotton. There wa- 

 also a curious, but we fear not a very practi- 

 cal illustration of the produce of Italy in raw 

 cotton. 



The only exhibitors of cotton goods from the 

 United States were Gardner, Brewer, and Co., 

 of Boston, Mass. 



Three prize medals were awarded to exhibi- 

 tors of raw cotton grown in New South Wales, 

 and the same number to the exhibitors of the 

 same material grown in Queensland. 



Flax an d -Hemp. This important section of 

 textile industry presented few novelties. On 

 the whole, the flax and hemp manufacture 

 proper may be said to have been stationary 



