298 



EXPOSITION, PAKIS. 



and ft plentiful supply of chairs and benches 

 (seats fur the weary were abundantly provided 

 in nearly all parts of the exhibition), the path 

 on the French side bearing the name of the 

 Rue de France, and that on the foreign side of 

 the Hue ties Nations. The Rue des Nations was 

 fa<vd, opposite the galleries, by a row ot'houses 

 or architectural facades, intended to represent 

 the national architecture of each country. The 

 live cottage-like houses in front of the English 

 section and the Belgian frontage were the most 

 successful in producing an appropriate archi- 

 tectural effect. The French side of the main 

 building was fronted, on the Rue de France, by 

 a plain face of iron and glass. The broad sec- 

 tion devoted to the products of the British Em- 

 pire and provinces was traversed by transepts ; 

 the grand transept was a magnificent covered 

 passage, 800 feet long and 80 feet wide, termi- 

 nating in large towers covered by domes 111 

 feet wide ; the walls and ceilings of this tran- 

 sept were profusely decorated with moldings, 

 gilding, and carvings. 



In the park of the Trocade"ro were several 

 buildings, some of good size. A large Algerian 

 house, all white, with a tower and an inside 

 court, contained a fine exhibit of the aesthetic 

 products of Algiers. The building was copied 

 after the famous mosques of Sidi-bou-Medine 

 and Tlemceu. Around this pavilion were Arab 

 tents and Oriental cafes. 



The Japanese had a dwelling in which the 

 household life and national manners were pre- 

 sented for review ; around the house was a 

 garden in which their native cereals were grow- 

 ing, and a hennery with Japanese breeds of 

 fowls. 



There were large fresh- and salt-water aqua- 

 ria, with tanks in which the methods of fish- 

 culture were illustrated, one on each side of the 

 river. The fresh-water aquarium, on the Tro- 

 caddro, was contained in a series of old quarries. 

 By the side of the fish-ponds ran the tunnels 

 or vaults from which the fish were viewed 

 through the glass walls of the tanks, the light 

 coming through the water. 



A pavilion was built by the French conser- 

 vators of forests out of the different woods of 

 native growth. Inside were displayed the tools 

 of woodmen, a collection of maps and plans of 

 forest reserves and plantations, specimens of 

 botany and natural history, illustrating the du- 

 ties and studies of the foresters, and models of 

 machinery and works used in regulating the 

 course of streams and rivers so as to prevent 

 inundations. 



One agreeable feature of the Paris exhibi- 

 tion of 1867 was not revived, as it would con- 

 flict with the interests of Parisian innkeepers 

 and restaurateurs. At that exhibition the 

 mnds were surrounded with eating-houses, 

 many of the exhibiting countries being repre- 

 sented by a tavern or cafe, in which the na- 

 tional dishes were served up in the national 

 manner. This plan was repeated at Vienna, 

 and imperfectly at Philadelphia. In the Tro- 



cadero, the only places where a meal could be 

 made were in four buffets in the corners of 

 the palace, and in a couple of restaurants in 

 the park outside. 



The Captive Balloon. A captive balloon of 

 enormous size ascended with passengers two 

 or three times a day to the height of 600 

 metres (nearly 2,000 feet). The balloon was 

 118 feet in diameter and 180 feet high ; its 

 envelope, composed of eight layers of silk and 

 caoutchouc alternating, had 43,057 feet of sur- 

 face and weighed 8,800 Ibs. ; the outside was 

 varnished and painted over with white zinc; 

 the cord netting weighed 6,600 Ibs. ; the cubic 

 contents were 847,598 cubic feet. The car 

 was of annular shape, 20 feet in diameter, 

 with an aperture in the center 13 feet in di- 

 ameter. The cost of the balloon was half a 

 million francs ; the gas used in the inflation, 

 which operation took a week's time, was hy- 

 drogen, produced by the chemical reaction of 

 100,000 kilos of iron, 200,000 kilos of acid, and 

 500,000 litres of water ; the cost of the gas 

 was 62,000 francs ; it passed through a series 

 of purifiers into a large reservoir, and was 

 then conducted into the balloon. The cable, 

 weighing 4,400 Ibs., and tested for a resistance 

 of 200,000 Ibs., passed from the great wind- 

 lass, worked by two 30-horse-power engines, 

 through a tunnel underground to the balloon. 

 The gas-escape valve was an improvement 

 over the usual wooden flaps, which are sealed 

 at their edges by a mixture of flaxseed and 

 tallow ; it was a large metallic disk, which 

 had a projection in its upper surface to fit 

 into a rubber collar, against which it was 

 pressed by spiral springs ; the upper valve was 

 protected by a tent of wood covered with can- 

 vas ; the lower valve, similarly constructed, 

 was held by very delicate springs, and opened 

 automatically for the escape of the excess of 

 gas caused by expansion, under the slightest 

 pressure. Both valves were held in a collar 

 of very strong stuff; in the lower collar were 

 also a manometer and a glass bull's-eye let- 

 ting into the balloon. The cable, which was 

 thicker n.ear the balloon than below, was at- 

 tached to the car by means of a spring-balance 

 in the open center of the car. 



The Facades. The foreign sections termi- 

 nated in the center of the building in a street 

 composed of facades representing the archi- 

 tecture of each country. An American house- 

 front was composed of sheets of zinc stamped 

 to represent stucco. The English section was 

 faced with a wood and plaster front, furnished 

 by Messrs. Cubitt, of London, and designed in 

 the Elizabethan style by G. Redgrave ; one in 

 imitation brick and stone in the style of 

 Burghley Hall, within which was the Prince 

 of Wales's pavilion, furnished with panelings, 

 tapestries, plate, and furniture, the exhibits of 

 several London merchants; a third in Queen 

 Anne brickwork, designed by Norman Shaw, 

 exhibiting Lascelle's imitation brick, which, in 

 the forms of cornices, fluted pilasters, etc., is 



