IN EXHIBITION HALL. 



REPORT OF SUPERINTENDENT OF HALL. 



The attendance of visitors at the Exhibition of the So- 

 ciety, held in the Town Hall in Beverly, on the 23d and 

 24th of September, 1890, was quite satisfactory, but not as 

 large as the previous year. The amount received for the 

 sale of tickets indicates that 6550 persons purchased tick- 

 ets of admission to the hall, which, with the tickets of ad- 

 mission given to exhibitors, represents an attendance of 

 not less than 7500 persons. 



The exhibition as a whole was highly satisfactory, and 

 in some departments a large portion of the exhibits were 

 excellent. The contribution made by the ladies of fine 

 needle work and of other kinds of fancy work, of counter- 

 panes, afghans, rugs and works of art, seems to be increas- 

 ing each year, more especially in the departments of fancy 

 work and works of art. The departments above enu- 

 merated constitute an important and attractive part of the 

 exhibition and occupy quite a large portion of the space in 

 the hall. 



The society has wisely appreciated and encouraged the 

 contributions by increasing the amount to be awarded in 

 gratuities for works of art and fancy work. And yet in the 

 contributions of fancy work twice the amount at the dis- 

 posal of the committee could have been worthily given, so 

 large was the number of entries worthy of a gratuity. In 

 tho art department the exhibit was not equal in quality to 

 that of the last three years. Only a few oil paintings were 

 shown which were especially worthy of notice. Other con- 

 tributions were made to this department which added much 

 to its attractiveness. It is not to be expected that oil 

 paintings and other varieties of art work will be exhibited 

 by professional artists, but there is a plenty of good work 

 by amateurs to be found in each place where the exhibition 

 is held or in its immediate vicinity, some of which, by a 



