Social Victorians/1887 American Exhibition/The Rest of the Exhibition

Logistics

• The Rest of the Exhibition beyond Buffalo Bill's Wild West
• The grounds and facilities of the American Exhibition included buildings to hold these exhibitions plus several gardens and outdoors sites beyond the arena for the Wild West.

Related Events

• The American Exhibition, which opened on 6 May 1887

In the Buildings and Gardens

D. L. Scott-Browne's description, focused on stenography

D. L. Scott-Browne published the American Browne's Phonographic Monthly and Reporter's Journal, which was dedicated to stenography, shorthand and other contemporary technologies of writing. Scott-Browne describes his visit to the American Exhibition, probably in July or August 1887:

The other Saturday afternoon I had nothing particular to do, and could not decide where to go. It always perplexes me to know how to spend Saturday afternoon. My friend Blobbs, who generally helps me out of difficulties of this kind, suggested that we should Visit the "Wild West" and the American Exhibition. Accordingly, we took the train — or, to be more accurate, the train took us — to Earl's Court, and we were speedily in the midst of all the excitement of the show.

With the "Wild West" we were very much pleased. Buffalo Bill's highly trained troupe of men and animals, the realistic weirdness of his Indians and the daring feats of his cowboys, make up a very good entertainment, and Blobbs fairly screamed with delight.

[* * * * *

But the exhibition itself is disappointing. It is misleading to style it The American Exhibition, because it is only a small bazaar in the hands of a few speculators, and no more represents the vast resources of the mighty continent beyond the sea, than a child's paper boat represents the enormous steamers which ply between the two countries. However, there were some things in it which afforded us considerable interest, and these were the various exhibits of typewriters.

[* * * * *

Whatever else has been omitted, the typewriter certainly cannot complain of not receiving due prominence; for I think every machine in the market — good and good-for-nothing— is there on view. We spent several hours in examining the various machines, with the result that I have come to the conclusion that the “Hall" is a very useful article, the "Remington" a still better one, but the "Hammond" takes the cake.

[* * * * *

Blobbs was so delighted with the latter that he entered his order for one on the spot. Ever since that afternoon I have been receiving letters from him at the rate of about a dozen a day, "just to show me," as he puts it, "how he is getting on." The enthusiasm of Blobbs never crows cold!

As soon as I get richer or the "Hammond" gets cheaper, I shall indulge in the luxury of one of those machines myself, but at present the price is a little too prohibitive.

[* * * * *

I took the opportunity of making some inquiries regarding the amount of business transacted in these typewriting departments, and I was assured all round that a fairly brisk trade was being done. This taken in conjunction with the fact that at least a dozen fresh agencies for the sale of these apparatus have been started in London during the last few months, warrants me in predicting a happy future for the typewriter in England. (233, Col. A and B)

Charles Lowe, from the Industrial Review

Charles Lowe reprinted this undated excerpt about the exhibits in the American Exhibition from the journal the Industrial Review in his Four National Exhibitions in London and Their Organiser:

The admirable collection of United States products and manufactures constituting the American Exhibition at Earl's Court, may now be regarded as practically complete, and when it is considered that the whole of the exhibits are furnished by one nation, that the Exhibition is not made in the country of production, and that, naturally, those only would exhibit who have the power and desire to supply the markets of the country in which the display is made, the show at Earl's Court may be regarded as very creditable. To expect that exhibitors would send to other than an international gathering productions and manufactures without selection, would be unreasonable; indeed, they would lay themselves open to the same ridicule as the plagiarising adapter of a Mexican novel for the English market, whose hero lassoed mustangs in the lovely crags of Kent and chased cicadas on the Surrey Hills. The American Exhibition is what it pretends to be — representative and utilitarian. Upon entering the Main Building from West Brompton, the excellent bison trophy — a reminder of Buffalo Bill — will catch the eye, though it will not prevent full notice being taken of the many-coloured stalls and machinery beyond. Agricultural implements, being essentially an American speciality, are, of course, there in abundance — harvesters, harrows, hoes, forks, separators, cutters, winnowers, purifiers, and so on. There are sewing-machines, type-writers, carpet-beating and cleaning machinery, petroleum and gas engines, ventilators, electric machinery, timber, and a really creditable fine art gallery, and a most attractive trophy room. (71–72)

Lowe reprinted this excerpt from the Morning Post

Also in Four National Exhibitions in London and Their Organiser, Lowe reprinted this undated excerpt from the Morning Post, suggesting that the exhibits other than the Wild West were improved after the opening on 9 May 1887:

Within the past month the exhibits have been considerably rearranged and greatly augmented, so that now the main building is not only very attractive, but also representative. The machinery exhibits are on a very large scale, the agricultural implements and machines being particularly excellent. (72)

Lowe reprinted this excerpt from the Civil Service Gazette

Also in Four National Exhibitions in London and Their Organiser, Lowe reprinted this undated excerpt from the Civil Service Gazette:

<quote>The industrial department of the American Exhibition is now about completed, and contains a fine collection of novel, ingenious, and useful articles. The Exhibition is especially strong in the departments of agricultural machinery and in mechanical appliances. The display of food products is also worthy of attention, and the departments of medical supplies are equally noteworthy.</quote> (72)

The Art Exhibit

From the Illustrated London News, 9 July 1887

This review of the American art at the American Exhibition was published in the Illustrated London News on 9 July 1887:

The pictures at the American Exhibition are now arranged in such a way as to form a distinctive feature of the place. They are in a sense, but it must be said in a limited sense, fairly illustrative of one side of contemporary American art. The taste here displayed is that of the panoramic order; we have, for example, a dozen works by Mr. Albert Bierstadt, including his "Storm in the Rocky Mountains" (1379); Mr. F. De Bourg Richard's "Grand Cañon of the Arkansaw" (1293); and Mr. Peter F. Rotherwel's large picture of the "Battle of Gettysburg" (1277) which, to judge from the sad-coloured seething mass before us, was a supreme struggle between private citizens, unmarked by any of the pomp and pageantry which make war pictorial. Pictures like these are, doubtless, instructive, and in some cases necessary when the State is an active patron of art. The general European public is, however, more concerned with the relations of art to decoration and domestic life, and we are forced to the conviction that, so far as this Exhibition can guide us, American art is rather imitative than creative. This is all the more remarkable when one recalls how actively creative the American mind is in other domains — in literature, science, and mechanics. With some few exceptions we can trace, in nearly all the most successful works there, the influence of foreign schools — of Gérome, Decamps, Mesdag, Millet, and others. The portraits, as a rule, are not of very great power; but Mr. Thomas Sully's portrait of Queen Victoria (1314), the property of the St. George's Society, Philadelphia, is interesting on account of its origin and associations. In the first year of the Queen's reign the "Philadelphia Society of the Sons of St. George," established to assist Englishmen in distress, applied to her Majesty to grant a sitting to a local artist (Mr. Sully) whom they proposed to send. The request was graciously acceded to, and the result was the picture now exhibited, and we are forced to admit that the Republican artist has throw more real dignity and character into the youthful Queen's face than the majority of the Court painters of the day. Mr. Rotherwel, another Philadelphia artist, is not so successful in his treatment of the "Death of Hypatia" (1279) as was our fellow-countryman Mr. Mitchell. It is poor in colour and confused in design, and there is no attempt to reproduce with anything like historical accuracy the life and habits of the people of Alexandria in the earlier days of Christianity. Mr. Henry J. Poore's "Close of a City Day" (1303), showing a bridge crowded with men, hurried and harried after the keen business of the day, is a more satisfactory work in all respects. It may not throw a halo on labour, such as is pursued in stores and shops and counting-houses, but it is essentially characteristic of the eagerness of life in the cities of the United States. Mr. Stephen Hill Parker's "Martyrdom of St. Sebastian" (1465) is another unfortunate instance of treating mediaeval subjects in a modern manner. The result suggests the accident ward or the dissecting-room of a hospital rather than the crowning of the martyr's life. In landscapes there are some pleasant revelations of scenery altogether unknown to us on this side of the Atlantic. Amongst such may be mentioned Mr. Prosper L. Senat's "Bright October" (1290), off the coast of Maine; Mr. J. Smith Lewis's "Waiting for the Tide" (1300), a sea-weed cart on the wet sand; Mr. Peter Moran's "Down the Arroya" (1305), brilliant with the tropical tints of New Mexico; Mr. W. L. Picknell's "Wintry March" (1406), belonging to the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool. We should also mention Mr. G. Hitchcock's "On the Dutch Coast" (1410), a study of a fishing-boat in the style of Mesdag; Mr. Charles S. Parker's "Cooper" (1436), inspired by Millet's "Stonecutter"; Mr. Ignaz M. Gangengigl's "Field of Battle" (1452), a "cabinet" scene à la Meissonier; Mr. F. A. Bridgman's "Pasha and His Councillors" (1496*), showing the teaching of Gérome. "A Japanese Lute-Girl" (1490) and "Flute-Girl" (1491), two delicately-coloured fancies; Miss Emily Lakey's "The Leader and Herd" (1370), a sombre study of Verboeckhoven full of poetry; Mr. Jasper F. Crossney's "Mellow Autumn Time" (1572), which to untutored eyes seems daring in colour, but is decidedly original in conception; Mr. Gerome Ferris's "Marabout's Lion" (1324), to which the prefix of the artist's name furnishes sufficient clue; Mr. R. D. Sawyer's "Coast of Normandy" (1409); Mr. Aubrey Hunt's "Before the Wind" (1416), full of light and movement, and Mr. F. Vezin's "Regatta" (1488), both of which have already been exhibited in this country. We might prolong this list almost indefinitely; but it is enough to say that the collection is sufficiently large and varied to suit all tastes, although there are few works of very great power or importance. ("American Art in London." Illustrated London News (London, England), Saturday, July 09, 1887; pg. 42; Issue 2516 Queen's Jubilee (Special Number), Col. C.)

Charles Lowe describes the Fine Art Section

Charles Lowe's Four National Exhibitions and Their Organiser describes the Fine Art Section of the exhibition:

The Department of Fine Arts, which was presided over by Mr. John Sartain, of Philadelphia (who had so ably filled the important office of Chief of the Fine Art Section at the Centennial Exhibition of 1876), assisted by Mr. Herman Trübner, was divided into Six Chambers, containing about 418 various exhibits in the fields of sculpture, drawing, painting, engraving, photography, and lithography, by 160 American artists; and perhaps this department of the Exhibition was calculated to excite more interest and admiration than any other. Every one, of course, knew that the Americans had made wonderful progress in a material and mechanical sense; but it was at the same time generally supposed that this progress had only been made at the cost of higher things. We all knew that the mechanical genius of the Yankees had enabled them to devise a method of "putting a pig in at one end and bringing it out as a pork sausage at the other; " but few had any notion that they could paint a picture with some of the best of European artists. "Experience," wrote the art critic of The Times, "has taught the public not to expect very much from the fine art galleries of miscellaneous exhibitions, but those which have been formed at the American Exhibition are decidedly above the mark, and though they give an imperfect idea of what the youngest of the modern school is still doing, they are still worth visiting. They prove, at any rate, that America is learning the business of painting in Paris, and is [73/74] learning it well, though whether America will long consent to run in French leading-strings is quite another question."

What the Americans could achieve in architecture was shown by a model (by Mr. John MacArthur) of the new City Hall of Philadelphia, which had taken six years to raise, at a cost of about twelve million dollars. When this fine model left Philadelphia, as a contribution to the American Exhibition, it was perfect and complete in all its parts, like the noble structure it represented, but, although packed in the best possible manner, and the parts in thirty-three separate cases, the boxes were so shattered by rough handling during transport, that only a fourth part of the model remained in a presentable shape; yet the whole could be readily inferred from a part. Among the paintings that were sure to prove the greatest attraction — from an historical, at least, if not, perhaps, a purely artistic point of view — was Mr. Rothermel's huge picture, 36 feet in length and 16 feet high, occupying one whole wall, of the Battle of Gettysburg. This great battle, perhaps the most sanguinary of modern times, was fought on Pennsylvanian soil, and was regarded as the turning-point in the fortunes of the war of the rebellion, of which it broke the back. It extended over twenty-five square miles of ground, lasted three days and part of a fourth, and engaged about 180,000 men, counting both sides. The picture was painted by order of the Legislature of the State, and a Pennsylvanian [74/75] artist was selected to execute the work. When it was decided to hold an American Exhibition in London, the Senate and House of Representatives — on an application being made to them — passed concurrent resolutions authorising the loan of the picture, and the Governor of the State gave it his hearty approval and endorsement. As the large painting could only represent a single point of time and place in the protracted struggle, "the pinch of the fight," as it has been termed, on the afternoon of the third day — four smaller pictures, also exhibited, were painted by Mr. Rothermel to illustrate other portions of the battle.

Another picture, of greater historical interest to Englishmen, was a portrait of their own Sovereign Lady, painted by an American artist, Mr. Sully, in the year 1837, and therefore called the "Jubilee Portrait " of the Queen. The origin of this picture may be briefly stated. In the first year of the reign of Queen Victoria, the " Philadelphia Society of the Sons of St. George," established for the advice and assistance of Englishmen in distress, applied to Her Majesty, asking that she would be graciously pleased to sit for her portrait to a Philadelphian artist, who, in case of her consent, would come to England for the purpose. She kindly condescended to sit, and Mr. Thomas Sully arrived from Philadelphia to paint the picture in question. The work is a highly-valued possession with its owners, and it was only in consideration of this being [75/76] the Jubilee Year of Her Majesty's reign, that it was permitted to leave its honoured position in the beautiful marble hall of St. George. The fact that the chief of the Art Department in the American Exhibition was the oldest member of their Society, was declared to have its weight in obtaining the loan.

Prominent among the other exhibits in the Art Department were portraits of Thomas Buchanan, ex-President of the United States, and another of Mrs. Harriet Lane Johnstone, which were said to rival anything ever produced by our own Thorburn; "Zeisberger Preaching to the Indians at Gorchgoschun " (by Professor Schüssele, of Philadelphia); "The Mellow Autumn Time," by J. P. Cropsey, a fine example of the brilliant colouring of American foliage; "In Yellowstone Park" and "The Canon of Colorado," by Thomas Moran; a "Storm in the Rocky Mountains," by A. Bierstadt, and a "Washingtonia Gigantia," a tree of enormous magnitude, supposed to be 3,000 years old; a "Wintry March," by W. L. Picknell, a very fine painting and of great merit as a work of art ; the "Field of Battle," by Gaugengigl, of Boston ; "Mr. H. M. Stanley," and "Madame Nordica as Marguerite," by G. E. A. Healy; the "Pasha and his Councillors," by P. A. Bridgman; and a "Lute Girl" and a "Flower Girl," by H. Humphrey Moore, a deaf and dumb artist. Fortunately tha exhibitors in the Fine Art Department had, in many cases, selected and sent over subjects which, while indicative enough of the [76/77] high-water mark of excellence already attained by American art, were at the same time calculated to illustrate particular passages in American history, as well as to show forth the colossal scale of Nature's works throughout the northern part of the New World. Whatever the mere manual dexterity displayed by these exhibits, they were at least allowed by all to be characterised by serious and dignified motive, and to promise a future when American painters, emancipating themselves from the exclusive tutelage of foreign masters, as well as from the materialistic tendencies of their own raw and rising country, would found a new and distinctive school of national art. (73–77)

The Norse Exhibit

"The Norse Discovery of America"

"The Norse Exhibit" is discussed in "The Norse Discovery of America," published in the Illustrated London News of 20 August 1887. In this article is a reference to the up-coming 1893 Columbian Exhibition in Chicago. I see this focus as counterpoint to the attribution of the discovery of America to Columbus in the context of anti-Italian prejudice.

In the great American Exhibition at West Brompton there is a special Court, occupied by maps, charts, books, and other articles, serving to illustrate a very interesting historical question. An Amererican lady, Miss Marie Brown, has formed this instructive collection, "The Norse Exhibit," for the worthy purpose of teaching us, as she has labored to teach her own countrymen, the signal merits of the ancient Scandinavian race of ocean rovers, especially the Norsemen of Iceland, in discovering some portion of North America, as well as Greenland, five centuries before the time of Columbus. This fact, stated in general terms, has long been recognised, and has become, to a greater extent than she seems to be aware of, a commonplace lesson of geograhical history. But Miss Marie Brown's zeal for its promulgation in the United States is now stimulated by apparent jealousy of a recent proposal to hold at Chicago, in 1892, a festival commemorating the four hundredth anniversary of the achievement of the Genoese navigator. She further takes offence at the rumour of a design being entertained also in Europe to celebrate that event by a memorial voyage from the Spanish port of Palos to San Salvador, one of the Bahama Islands, following the course of Columbus [sic no period] We do not feel called upon to sympathise with this lady s [sic no apostrophe] indignation. It is for the people of the United States to consider whether their community owes any national gratitude either to Columbus, who never approached any part of their shores, or to Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand, who provided that illustrious mariner with vessels in which he reached the West Indies and "the Spanish Main. [sic no closing quotes] Chicago, an inland city far enough from the Atlantic, seems rather an inappropriate place for such a commemoration; but British public opinion has no business to interfere with it. Miss Marie Brown, however, may be assured by us that in England and Scotland there is no disposition to underrate or to forget the contributions of the Norwegian and Danish elements to the existing British nationality; and that competent scholars among us have not, in the present age of wide and accurate studies, neglected to appreciate Scandinavian history and literature. We could wish, indeed, that these subjects were more amply provided for at the English Universities, as we hope they soon will be; and that an acquaintance with the Norwegian, Swedish, and Danish languages were not so rare an accomplishment as it is with persons of literary taste.

Miss Marie Brown, who has visited Sweden and Norway, has studied their literary antiquities, and has many personal acquaintances in those nations, delivered a course of lectures at the Conduit-street Gallery in March last, and is just now lecturing to the Balloon Society at the Royal Aquarium. She has recently published a small volume, "The Icelandic Discoverers of America," dedicated to Mrs. John Morgan Richards, which contains much that is instructive, especially the abundant passages extracted from authors of good repute who have treated of Scandinavian history, mixed with her own discussions of other topics, such as the ecclesiastical, religious, moral, and social condition of Europe in general, and the comparative value of Norse pagan worship and virtue, and of mediaeval and modern Christianity. We can by no means agree with the opinions that she freely expresses upon any of these questions. It is hardly necessary to say that we detest, as she does, the Spanish Inquisition and the despotic Spanish Monarchy of the sixteenth century; but to make Columbus responsible for the misdeeds of Philip II., either in Spain or in America or in the Netherlands, does not appear to us quite just. Nor can we admit that she is able to bring any sufficient proof of her direct charge against Columbus, that he dishonestly concealed, up to 1492, the knowledge he had gained in Iceland, in 1477, of what the Northmen had discovered, and that he sought to deprive them of the credit for their discoveries. This charge is effectively answered by pointing out the fact that Columbus had no expectation of discovering any such new continent as America, but of reaching the Indies and Cathay and the remotest parts of Asia by a western route. Instead of sailing to the north-west, as he would have done if he meant to avail himself of the information he had got concerning Greenland and "Vinland," he steered first due south to the Canaries, and thence crossed the Atlantic westward, rather to the south of due west, seeking tropical latitudes; and he had no reason whatever to suppose that a continental shore beyond would prevent him from continuing on the same course to the East Indies. The actual performance of Columbus was certainly productive of enormous practical results; while the results of the performance of Leif Erikson, who saw the shore of Massachusetts, as well as those of Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, were not important either to American or to European civilisation. Still, we heartily join with the authoress of this treatise in her wish to render "honour to whom honour is due." ("The Norse Discovery of America." Illustrated London News (London, England), Saturday, August 20, 1887; pg. 217; Issue 2522, Col. B)

The Trophy Room

Charles Lowe on the Trophy Room

In his Four National Exhibitions in London and Their Organiser, Charles Lowe describes the Trophy Room:

To sportsmen and naturalists the most attractive court in the Exhibition was that which contained the Loan Collection of American hunting trophies. These had been brought together by a Committee specially formed for the purpose, but mainly through the individual exertions of Mr. Edward North Buxton; and the collection was remarkable, not only for the size and beauty of the heads and horns exhibited, but also for the fact that, with very few exceptions, the trophies had all been secured in the wildest parts of North America by the prowess of English sportsmen. Among the names of exhibitors were those of Messrs. Otho Shaw, Thomas Bate (of Kelsterton), A. Pendarves Vivian, W. A. Baillie-Grohman, H. Seton-Karr, M.P., Lord Bennet, Messrs. Frank and Percy Cooper, Sir H. Rae-Reid, Messrs. E. N. Buxton, Gerald Buxton, Ford Barclay, J. M. Hanbury, Evan Hanbury, Sir Savile Crossley, Bart., M.P., Major Maitland Kirwan, Messrs. J. H. Morgan, W. A. Tulloch, G. D. Whatman, J. G. Millais, and others. This collection included the heads and horns of more than fifty Wapiti (the most coveted of all the big game of America), several Moose and Cariboo, half-a-dozen White-tailed Deer, sixteen Mule Deer, a score of prong-horned Antelopes, nearly thirty Bighorn (the only wild sheep of North America), six or eight White Rocky Mountain Goats, three of which were mounted entire, as were also two of the sheep; half-a-dozen Buffalo heads, the same number of Grizzly Bears, four of them mounted entire, and standing in an erect attitude; besides the heads of Black Bear, Cinnamon Bear, and Wolf. Altogether these formed a collection such as had never before been brought together in this country, and which attracted much attention, not only from sportsmen, to whom such a series was particularly interesting, but also from the general public, who had here an opportunity of seeing some of the finest heads that had ever been procured, and of comparing the relative sizes and characteristic forms of antler in the different species of American deer. (77–78)

The Gardens

[Move this to the Site and Facilities page?]

Charles Lowe describes the gardens

The gardens at the American Exhibition included a garden of California annuals, a diorama of the New York harbor, and so on. In his Four National Exhibitions in London and Their Organiser, Charles Lowe describes the gardens:

The Gardens, occupying an area of about twelve acres, were designed and laid out by Mr. William Goldring, the landscape gardener, with the view of embracing as much variety as [78/79] possible, and also of making the most effective display. In these Gardens the visitor found himself surrounded by the native trees, shrubs, and flowers of North America, for no other had been planted. They gave an idea, however slight, of the beauty and variety of transatlantic vegetation. Many a tree, shrub, and flower was recognised as familiar in British gardens, for it is a singular fact that for the last three centuries the gardens of England have been enriched from the flora of the great Western Continent, which is richer and more varied than that of any country in the world, containing, as it does, no fewer than 10,000 distinct species of plants. One of the chief reasons for planting the Gardens exclusively with American plants was to show how singularly American all English gardens are, as" it is an interesting fact that fully two-thirds of the open-air trees and flowers in England are natives of North America. The forests of Virginia and of the Eastern States have been drawn upon ever since gardening became a fine art in England, and the oldest, best-known, and most loved trees of English parks and gardens originally came from the United States, chiefly during the early part of the last century. The bulk of what are called modern trees — the prim Conifers, which one may see in every villa garden about London — are native to the boundless forests of the great North- West ; while the Spruces, the Firs, and the Pines of our parks, have come from the Pacific coast within the last fifty years. California, [79/80] the flowery paradise of the Far West, has contributed more to make English gardens what they are to-day than any other country in the world. Its wealth of annual plants — those that spring up, flower, seed, and die in a year — is alone sufficient to make a garden glow with brilliant colours, of every shade, from one year's end to the other; in fact, the majority of annuals which are now familiar to every cottager in Britain are from California, and some idea of the beauty of these was to be gleaned from the Californian annual garden, skirting the walk at the north end of the Exhibition building.

A prominent feature in the Grardens was the Diorama by A. Bartholdi and B. Lavastre, presenting a view of the Harbour of New York, and of the colossal monument of "Liberty enlightening the World." The view was taken from the deck cabin of a Hudson River steamer. The spectator saw the Statue of Liberty on Bedloe's Island, the Hudson River and the East River, the cities of New York, Brooklyn, and Jersey City, and the celebrated Brooklyn Bridge. The deck of the ship under the eyes of the spectator was filled with personages of which a great number were portraits, such as Mr. Laboulaye, President of the Committee of the Works; Count Sérurier, Vice-President; Mr. Evarts, President of the American Committee; M. Bartholdi, sculptor; M. Gaget, by whom the work was executed in bronze; M. Eiffel, and others. (79–80)

"Outside Attractions"

Charles Lowe on attractions in the gardens

Charles Lowe, in his Four National Exhibitions in London and Their Organiser, describes what he calls outside attractions that were in the gardens, which included a switch-back railroad, a toboggan slide, a "portable house" and an American bar:

Apart from this very fine Diorama [of New York harbor], another most attractive feature of the Gardens was formed by that peculiar device of the Yankees, a Switch-back Railway, in a double track, 450 feet in length. Three cars, carrying ten persons each, were in operation. When the fun was at its highest point of business, no fewer than seventy double trips could be accomplished per hour. The peculiarity of its construction was such that, although the cars alternately descended and rose nearly twenty feet in running over the ground, the ultimate loss in height was only about six inches to every hundred feet travelled. Close by was the huge "Slide" — covering an area of no less than 16,000 square feet — constructed in imitation of the pastime of Tobogganing as practised in Canada, and consisting of a long smooth incline divided longitudinally into seven runs or tracks; three on each side for descent, and the centre one carrying a steel rope with apparatus for drawing up the empty cars to the summit in readiness for a fresh journey. "We step into a car, a long low sledge with a grace-fully curved front guard, and constructed to hold three passengers; and an attendant, having seen the track clear, sends us on our journey. A whirr, a glimpse of objects on either side rushing by us with lightning speed; and, before we realise that we are fairly started, we find ourselves being politely assisted from the car by attendants at the lower end, and the descent is accomplished." Our Canadian cousins are wont to spend hours a day in the pursuit of this [81/82] exhilarating pastime; and The Timeshastened to prophesy that here, too, Tobogganing would become, as it did, the rage and the "roaring game" of the Exhibition, like the "curling" of Scotland.

One characteristic feature of these Gardens was an American portable house. This was a pretty villa, in a modified Queen Anne style of architecture, forming a good example of the country houses and seaside cottages in vogue in America. They are pleasingly artistic, economical, and are warm in winter and cool in summer. These houses are planned, and all the material worked out in America by labour-saving wood-working machinery, and thus the freight on waste material is saved. They can be put up in a few days, and can easily be taken down and removed at small cost. Nor would any display of the arts and industries of the United States have been complete without the "American Bar" which had its due place in the Exhibition, and offered the most varied assortment of liquid refreshments to visitors in the shape of nogs, slings, cocktails, cobblers, skins, twists, fizzes, swizzles, flashes of lightning, sours, and ticklers; and what on earth more could any one have desired in the way of "liquoring up"? (81–83)

Merit Diploma Winners

In September and October 1887, a small group of men from the Welcome Councils — John E. Whitley (London), John Gilmer Speed (New York), Vincent A. Applin (London), A. E. Foote (Philadelphia, Pa.), George Mills (New York), F. W. Sargent (Boston, Mass.), and D. E. Keating (Mt. Pleasant, Providence, R.I.) — awarded some of the exhibits a diploma for merit (Lowe 440–441). The exhibitors applied for the diploma, and the criteria for the award were novelty, utility, commercial value, excellence of workmanship, and educational importance (Lowe 441). The exhibits winning the diploma were the following:

• Adams & Westlake Manufacturing Co., Chicago, Ill. — For oil and lamp stoves.
• Alsing, J. R., New York. — For a machine constructed to reduce substances to a fine powder or pulp.
• Amberg, Cameron & Co., New York and Chicago. — For a particularly rapid and convenient method of filing letters and papers.
• American Braided Wire Co., Philadelphia. — For an important improvement in pillows and mattresses.
• American Machine Co., Philadelphia, Pa. — For household machines.
• American Rubber Co., Boston, Mass. — For rubber boots, shoes, and clothing
• American Steam Gauge Co., Boston, Mass. — For steam pressure gauges.
• American Wine Co., St Louis, Mo. — For champagne, claret, Burgundy, and Catawba.
• Arizona Copper Mining & Smelting Co., Clifton, Arizona. — For azurite, malachite, and other copper ores.
• Armour Canning Co., Chicago. — For canned meats.
• Atlantic Cotton Mills, Lawrence, Mass. — For brown and bleached sheetings and shirtings of superior manufacture.
• Autocopyist Co., New York. — For the "Autocopyist," a simple and effective apparatus for reproducing in fac-simile any desired writing or drawing.
• Ayer, Mrs. Harriet Hubbard, New York. — For Recamier cream.
• Bailey, C. J., & Co., Boston, Mass. — For a good, low-priced hand sewing machine.
• Bailey Wringing Machine Co., Woonsocket, R.I. — For wringing machines.
• Baker, Walter, & Co., Boston, Mass. — For chocolate preparations of great purity and excellence.
• Barker, Bradley, & Co., Alleghany City, Pa. — For the "Stott" patent automatic gas governor. [441/442]
• Barnard & Leas Manufacturing Co., Moline,Ill. — For oat and weed separator, smutter and double-brush machine.
• Barnett, G. & H., Philadelphia, Pa. — For a display of machine-made files, rasps, etc., of the "Black Diamond" brand.
• Batchelor Sons & Co., Wallingford, Vt. — Elastic, cast steel, hay, manure, and spading forks with ash handles.
• Baugh & Sons, Philadelphia, Pa. — For animal charcoal, glue, Neat's foot oils, animal oils, and grease made by the naphtha process.
• Baugh & Sons, Philadelphia, Pa. — For bone fertilizers, azolin and other animal ammoniates and sulphate of ammonia.
• Beethoven Piano-Organ Co., Washington, New Jersey. — For cabinet organs.
• Beethoven Piano-Organ Co., Washington, Warren Co., N.J. — For furniture frames.
• Bergner & Engel Brewing Co., Philadelphia, Pa. — For beer, stock ale, pale ale, porter, and brown stout.
• Berlin Machine Works, Berlin, Wis. — For a novel and useful wood-polishing machine for smoothing curved surfaces.
• Berlin Machine Works, Berlin, Wis. — For a machine for sand-papering and polishing plain boards or slabs.
• Berlin Machine Works, Berlin, Wis. — For a combined planing and polishing machine in wood working.
• Betteley & Wolf, Philadelphia, Pa. — For a safe and useful automatic coupling for railroad cars.
• Bickford & Huffman, Macedon, N.Y. — For an excellent seed and fertilizer drill.
• Bickmore Self-levelling Ship's Berth Co., Boston, Mass. — For self-levelling berth.
• Bien, Julius, New York. — For a geological map of the United States of scientific and practical importance.
• Bissell Carpet Sweeper Co., Grand Rapids, Mich. — For a praiseworthy exhibit of carpet sweepers.
• Bristol Pump Co., Bristol, R.I. — For a positive, direct acting, and durable pump.
• Brooke, Benjamin, & Co., Philadelphia, Pa. — For "Brooke's Soap," Monkey Brand, a superior article for cleaning and polishing metals, glass, and marble.
• Brown & Sharpe Manufacturing Co., Providence, R.I. — For accuracy and high standard of workmanship in micrometers, vernier callipers, vernier gauges, steel rules, quadrants, etc.
• Bullard Repeating Arms Co., Springfield, Mass. — For repeating and single shot rifles for military, sporting, and target purposes.
• Burroughs, Wellcome & Co., New York. — For Congo medicine chests, valoid fluid extracts, and hypodermic pocket-cases.
• Burroughs, Wellcome & Co., New York. — For Kepler's solution of cod liver oil in extract of malt.
• Bush, Thomas J., Lexington, Ky. — For an economical, safe, and permanent rail-boat and gauge.
• Carter, J., & Co. — For lawn grass seeds, Californian annuals, tobacco, etc. [442/443]
• Castle Carpet Sweeper Co., Geneva, Ohio. — For the "Crescent," the best carpet sweeper.
• Chadborn & Coldwell Manufacturing Co., Newburgh, N.Y. — For the best lawn-mowers for horse or hand power.
• Chambers, Bro. & Co., Philadelphia. — For a perfect brick machine.
• Charter, Gait & Tracy, Sterling, Ill. — For the Charter gasoline engine, a simple, compact, economical, and reliable motor.
• Cheal & Sons. — For American trees and shrubs.
• Cheseborough Manufacturing Co., New York. — For vaseline and preparations of vaseline.
• Chicago and North-Western Railroad. — For an exhibit of vegetable and mineral productions from their lands.
• Chicopee Manufacturing Co., Chicopee Falls, Mass. — For the best brown and bleached cotton flannels.
• Cocheco Manufacturing Co., Dover, N.H. — For printed cottons of superior design and finish.
• Colgate & Co., New York. — For "Cashmere Bouquet Soap," unexcelled in quality and fragrance.
• Columbia Type Writer Co., New York. — For the best type writer of low price and convenient form.
• Copper Queen Mining Co., Bisbee, Arizona. — For copper ores.
• Coxe, Eckley B., Drifton, P. O., Luzerne Co., Pa. — For anthracite coal.
• Crescent City Cutlery Works, New Orleans, La. — For fine cutlery of superior quality and finish.
• Crompton Loom Works, Worcester, Mass. — For a fancy worsted loom, combining simplicity, speed, and economy.
• Crompton Loom Works, Worcester, Mass. — For a rapid ingrain carpet loom, with a great capacity for colouring, design, and economical production.
• Crompton Loom Works, Worcester, Mass. — For a new Moquette or Oriental carpet loom, which economises cost of manufacture.
• Curtis, S. A., & Co., New York. — For Indian corn, utilized for decorative and ornamental purposes.
• Dana, Tucker & Co., Boston, Mass. — For Lancaster ginghams of good design and permanency of colour.
• Davis Vertical Sewing Machine Co., Watertown, N.Y. — For the best domestic sewing machine.
• Detroit Emery Wheel Co., Detroit, Mich. — For an improvement in construction of emery wheels.
• Dodge Manufacturing Co., Mishawaka, Ind. — For split wood pulleys.
• Domestic Sewing Machine Co., New York. — For a light-running domestic sewing machine and handsome cabinet cases.
• Dougherty Railway Equipment Co., Philadelphia. — For a positive and effective safety signal.
• Dougherty Railway Equipment Co., Philadelphia. — For a metallic cushioned sleeper, as reducing strains on railway bridges by compensating vibration.
• Dougherty Railway Equipment Co., Philadelphia, Pa. — For an excellent cable tramway, combining simplicity and economy of working, with great durability. [443/444]
• Douglas, W. & B., Middletown, Conn. — For patent lift and force pumps, hydraulic rams, etc.
• Downer Boiler Incrustation Preventive Co., San Francisco, Cal. — For the eucalyptus boiler fluid.
• Electric Gas Lighting Co., Boston, Mass. — For electric gas lighters, bells, annunciators, burglar alarms, etc.
• Emerson Albumenoid Food Co., New York, N.Y. — For "Albumenoid Food," a carefully and accurately prepared food for infants and invalids.
• Enterprise Manufacturing Co., Philadelphia, Pa. — For meat chopper and mincing machines.
• Errico, Salvatore, New York. — For manufactured jewelry.
• Estate of A. Weber, New York. — For excellent pianos of good tone and fine workmanship.
• Estes, E. B., & Sons, New York. — For turned wood goods and locked corner boxes.
• Ethrington, J. B., & Co., Boston, Mass. — For step-ladders, folding-chairs and tables, and novelties in towel-racks and egg-beaters.
• Everitt, James, & Co., New York, N.Y. — For the "Little Giant" gas stove.
• Exhaust Ventilator Co., Chicago, Ill. — For the Blackman fan.
• Fairbanks Canning Co., Chicago. — For canned meats.
• Fairchild Bros, and Foster, New York. — For "Digestive Ferments," extract pancreatis, peptonising powder, pepsin in scales, elegant, reliable, and convenient preparations for peptonising food.
• Fellows' Medical Manufacturing Co., New York, N.Y. — For a preparation of extraordinary merit in treatment of wasting diseases.
• Fisk, Samuel, New York. — For the "National Cane Shredder."
• Foote, A. E., Philadelphia, Pa. — For carefully-selected educational collections of minerals,
• Foote, A. E., Philadelphia. — For a most comprehensive display of American minerals.
• Foote, A. E., Philadelphia. — For a complete series of American geological surveys, educational, health, and other reports.
• Frees, C. A., New York. — For Artificial Limbs: light and durable, and with flexible joints, closely imitating nature.
• Gatling Gun Co., Hartford, Conn. — For improved Gatling guns.
• Germains, A. Z., New York, N.Y. — For disinfecting and fumigating apparatus and powders.
• Gillette Barrel Co., New York. — For "Steel Clad Barrels," a valuable improvement in barrels.
• Girard Trust, per A. E. Foote. — For a remarkably fine mass of anthracite coal, weighing 2,256 pounds.
• Golding & Co., Boston, Mass. — For hand printing presses.
• Gordon & Dilworth, New York. — For preserved fruits and vegetables of pure quality and natural flavour.
• Gray, W. H., New York. — For a fire extinguisher, simple in construction, easy of operation, and thoroughly effective in results achieved.
• Griswold, H. J., Boston, Mass. — For a simple, economical, and durable stocking knitter. [444/445]
• Hall Steam Pump Co., New York. — For the Hall duplex steam pump.
• Hall Type Writer Co., New York. — For a good type writer of low price.
• Hammond Type Writer Co., New York. — For the best type writer for office work where speed is required.
• Hancock Inspirator Co., Boston, Mass. — For an improved injector for boilers.
• Harden Star and Sinclair Fire Appliance Co. — For hand grenade fire extinguishers.
• Hartmann, P., New York. — For an improved inkstand.
• Hartshorn, Stewart, New York. — For self-acting spring window shade rollers.
• Hazard, E. C, & Co., New York. — For Shrewsbury tomato catsup.
• Hinds, Ketcham & Co., Brooklyn, N.Y. — For colour printing.
• Hooker, Henry, & Co., New Haven, Conn. — For carriages and buggies, elegant, light, and durable.
• Hooper Bros. & Darlington, Westchester, Pa. — For carriage wheels, hubs, and spokes.
• Horton, E., Son & Co., Windsor Locks, New York. — For chucks of a high standard of quality and workmanship.
• Howard, C. Frusher, San Francisco, Cal. — For his "Art of Beckoning," which includes novel and improved methods of business arithmetic.
• Howes & Swell, Silver Creek, N.Y. — For American wheat-cleaning machinery.
• Hygeia Sparkling Distilled Water Co., New York. — For apparatus for manufacturing distilled water.
• Imperial Fire Extinguisher Co., Limited, New York. — For hand grenade fire extinguishers.
• Ingersoll, Simon. — For Duplex Rock Drill.
• International Terra Cotta Lumber Co. (Limited), Chicago, Ill. — For Porous Earthenwares, a new fire-proof building material, remarkable for strength, cheapness, and adaptability to many purposes.
• Jerome, Charles C., Chicago, Ill. — For the Jerome metallic packing.
• Johnston Harvester Co., Batavia, New York. — For improved agricultural machinery of great strength and light draught.
• Judson, Charles, New York. — For toilet waters.
• Kepler Malt Extract Co., Limited, New York. — For "Kepler's Extract of Malt." A preparation in the highest degree meritorious, a valuable substitute for cod liver oil.
• Kimball, W. S., & Co., Rochester, N.Y. — For cigars and cigarettes.
• Kinney Tobacco Co., New York. — For cigarettes.
• Knitted Mattress Co., Canton, Mass. — For knitted mattresses, table padding, stair pads, etc., soft, pliant, and not liable to become lumpy.
• Knowd, John J., Philadelphia, Pa. — For trotting and hunting shoes and racing plates.
• Lanman & Kemp, New York. — For "Florida Water." A most agreeable perfume and a luxury for bath and toilet.
• Lawton, W., Boston, Mass. — For a superior absorbent cotton.
• Lee & Son. — For American trees and shrubs.
• Libby, McNeill & Libby, Chicago. — For canned meats and soups.
• Lincoln Institute, Philadelphia, Pa. — For ingenious work done by aboriginal Indians. [445/446]
• Lippincott Co., J. B., Philadelphia, Pa. — For books, excellently printed and illustrated, and valuable works of reference.
• Lloyd & Supplee Hardware Co., Philadelphia, Pa. — For the "Pennsylvania," a superior lawn-mower.
• Lucas, John, & Co., Philadelphia, Pa. — For paints, varnishes, and printers' ink.
• Magee Furnace Co., Boston, Mass. — For Chelsea art castings for ornamental and decorative purposes.
• Matthews, John. — For improved soda water machinery and dispensing apparatus of great practical advantage, and combining elegance with superior workmanship.
• Malleson, Frederick, Brooklyn, N.Y. — For fishing rods.
• McCoy, M. P. — For a Model American Printing Office.
• McKesson & Robbins, New York. — For ovoid capsuled pills; an original form of sub-dividing drugs for any climate.
• McKellar, Smith & Jordan Co., Philadelphia, Pa. — For excellent type.
• McKesson & Robbins, New York. — For anhydrous crystals of hydrochlorate of cocaine.
• Merrimack Manufacturing Co., Lowell, Mass. — For printed cotton fabrics of excellent quality and good colourings.
• Michigan Lubricator Co., Detroit, Mich. — For cylinder lubricators for steam engines.
• Morgan, Enoch, Sons & Co., New York. — For "Sapolio," an economical material for cleaning metals, marbles, etc.
• Morse Bros., Canton, Mass. — For "Rising Sun" stove polish.
• Morse Twist Drill Co., New Bedford, Mass. — For a high standard of workmanship and quality in twist drills, taps, reamers, and milling cutters.
• Moseman, C. M., & Bros., New York. — For harness and saddles of excellent workmanship.
• Mosler Safe & Lock Co., Cincinnati, Ohio. — For safes of excellence of construction and high-class workmanship.
• Nash, Duane H., Millington, N.J. — For a clod crusher.
• National Cash Register. — For the Cash Register Till.
• New Haven Clock Co., New Haven, Conn. — For improved designs in low-priced clocks.
• New Home Sewing Machine Co., New York. — For a sewing machine, combining simplicity of construction with an easy action.
• New York Produce Exchange. — For flour and grain.
• Northern Pacific Railroad. — For a remarkably large, valuable, and attractively arranged display of the products (agricultural, mineral, etc.) of the country served by the road.
• Norton Door Check and Spring Co., New York. — For an excellent device to secure the noiseless closing of doors.
• Oswego Indurated Fibre Co., Oswego, N.Y. — For indurated ware made from wood pulp.
• Pacific Mills, Lawrence, Mass. — For printed cottons, cotton and wool and woollen dress fabrics of the highest order of excellence.
• Parker, Joseph, New Haven, Conn. — For "Paper Fibre Lint," useful in dental and surgical operations. [446/447]
• Parvin, Reeves, & Co., Philadelphia, Pa. — For canned tomatoes.
• Paul, W., & Son. — American trees, shrubs, and roses.
• Pennsylvania State Mineral Exhibit. — For a large and valuable display of coals and ores, and useful and rare minerals.
• Pomeroy, C. B., New York. — For a novel and ingenious convertible wire basket.
• Post Sewing Machine Co., Washington, D.C. — For an improved sewing machine combining lock and chain stitch.
• Pratt & Whitney Machine Co., Hartford, Conn. — For excellence of workmanship in screwing machines, stocks, dies, and chucks.
• Richmond Cedar Works, Limited, Richmond, Va. — For cedar wooden ware.
• Ricker, Hiram, & Son, Poland Springs, South Poland, Me. — For "Poland Spring” water.
• Rochester Lamp Co., New York. — For a new and excellent lamp of great illuminating power.
• Rogers & Co., Boston, Mass. — For "Lignomar," a cheap and durable decorative material.
• Russia Cement Co., Gloucester, Mass. — For an excellent liquid glue.
• Schlicht, Field & Co., Rochester, N.Y. — For very safe and permanent methods of filing letters and documents, and a rapid roller damp-leaf copyer.
• Seabury & Johnson, New York. — For medicated and other plasters.
• Shipman Export Engine Co., Boston, Mass. — For an improvement in method of burning petroleum automatically for engine purposes.
• Silver Lake Co., Boston, Mass. — For solid braided sash cords and lines.
• Simpson, T. S. & G. F., Brooklyn, N.Y. — For a powerful and rapid eccentric pulverizing mill for minerals and other substances.
• Singer Manufacturing Co., New York. — For machines for sewing button-holes.
• Singer Manufacturing Co., New York. — For machines for sewing carpet seams.
• Singer Manufacturing Co., New York. — For an improved oscillating shuttle sewing machine for domestic and manufacturing purposes.
• Smith, G. T., Middlings Purifier Co., Jackson, Mich. — For Middlings purifier, centrifugal flour-dressing machine and scalper.
• Spencer Optical Co., New York. — For eye glasses, opera, field, and marine glasses, and celluloid frames.
• S. S. White Dental Co., Philadelphia, Pa. — For porcelain teeth, chairs, engines, instruments, gold foil, corundum wheels, and all dental appliances.
• State of Rhode Island, Mark H. Wood, Commissioner. — For an exhibit of the natural productions and industrial resources of the State.
• Stoner, J. B., New York. — For floating light-houses.
• Stoner, J. B., New York. — For an automatic, self-acting,and economical grain conveyor, operated solely by weight of grain conveyed.
• Stoner, J. B., New York. — For a sack-holder.
• Stoner, J. B., New York. — For a self-registering grain weighing machine.
• Stoner, J. B., New York. — For a very economical grain elevator.
• Stoner, J. B., New York. — For an improved float.
• Stoner, J. B., New York. — For an automatic water meter controlling measure by weight.
• Stout, Mills & Temple, Dayton, Ohio. — For the "New American" Turbine.
• Stroh Brewing Co., Detroit, Mich. — For beer of pure quality and good flavour and suitable for export. [447/448]
• Sturtevant Blower Co., Boston, Mass. — For the Sturtevant blower as applied to furnaces, forges, etc.
• Taylor, John H., & Co., New York. — For silicate cotton and mineral wool.
• Thompson, Dr. Augustus, Lowell, Mass. — For "Moxie" nerve food.
• Thome Machine Co., Hartford, Conn. — For an economical and labour-saving type-setting and distributing machine.
• Uebel & Barber, New York. — For sea-bean and alligator-teeth jewellery.
• United States Metallic Packing Co., Philadelphia, Pa. — For a metallic packing, making a steam-tight fit and reducing friction.
• United Zylonite Co., New York. — For "Zylonite," a new and useful substitute for amber.
• Vacuum Oil Co., Rochester, N.Y. — For an economical lubricating oil.
• Ware, T. S. — For American hardy plants.
• Waring, E. S., Pittsburg, Pa. — For electric cables.
• Warner, W. E., & Co., Philadelphia, Pa. — For sugar-coated pills, granules, and parvules, and effervescing broma soda.
• Waterbury Rubber Co., New York. — For armoured hose of a high degree of merit.
• Waterbury Watch Co., Limited. — For low-priced and accurate watches.
• Waterer, Anthony. — For rhododendrons.
• Wheeler & Wilson Manufacturing Co., Bridgeport, Conn. — For excellent sewing machines for domestic and manufacturing purposes.
• Wheelock, Jerome, Worcester, Mass. — For an engine simple in construction, durable, prompt in action to meet a sudden load, and economical of fuel and repairs.
• Whiting, John L., & Son, Boston, Mass. — For paint brushes.
• Winchester Repeating Arms Co., New Haven, Conn. — For repeating rifles and shot guns.
• Wing, L. J., New York. — For a powerful and economical fan.
• Wirt, Paul E., Bloomsburg, Pa. — For a perfect fountain pen.
• Withington & Cooley Manufacturing Co., Jackson, Mich. — For hay and manure forks, hoes, handles, scythes, snaths, and other farming implements.
• Wood, Walter A., Hoosick Falls, Rensselaer Co., N.Y. — For the best straw band, sheaf-binding harvester.
• Woodburn-Sarven Wheel Co., Indianapolis, Ind. — For wheels and wheel materials of the highest excellence in quality and workmanship.
• Women's Silk Cultural Association, Philadelphia, Pa. — For raw and manufactured silk.
• Wooton Desk Manufacturing Co., Richmond, Ind. — For the Wooton cabinet secretary. An ingenious and comprehensive arrangement of writing-table, shelves, drawers, and filing boxes, within a limited space.
• Writing Telegraph Co., New York. — For an improved method of transmitting and recording telegraph messages.
• Wyeth, John, & Bro., Philadelphia, Pa. — For dialysed iron, easily assimilated, etc.
• Young, Ladd & Coffin, New York. — For "Lundborg's Perfumes" of the highest-excellence in delicacy and permanence of odour.
• Young, Maurice. — For rhododendrons. (441–448)

Bibliography

• "American Art in London." Illustrated London News (London, England), Saturday, July 09, 1887; pg. 42; Issue 2516 Queen's Jubilee (Special Number), Col. C.
• Lowe, Charles.
• "The Norse Discovery of America." Illustrated London News (London, England), Saturday, August 20, 1887; pg. 217; Issue 2522, Col. B.
• Scott-Browne, D. L. Browne's Phonographic Monthly and Reporter's Journal: 233, Cols. A and B.