Rensselaer Union and Jasper Republican, Volume 8, Number 32, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 April 1876 — The Centennial Buildings. [ARTICLE]

The Centennial Buildings.

The New York lieraid's Philadelphia correspondent gives some interesting figures relating to the Centennial Exhibition and buildings in that city: The main Exhibition building is located immediately east of the intersection of Belmont and Elm avenues. Elm avenue is the southern boundary line of this portion of the Fairmount Park and of the Exhibition grounds, and all the principal approaches from the city are at this point. The main building runs parallel with this avenue, and is the first of the Exhibition buildings, which rises prominently before the sight as you approach the grounds from the east by the horse-car lines. The main building stands 170 feet back from the north side of Elm avenue, the area between the building and the avenue being for special products which may be exhibited in the open air. There is also a space 300 feet wide between the main building and the art gallery on the north side, where the contractor was obliged to build an annex thirty feet wide by 500 feet long as an additional gallery for the main building, owing to the great demand for exhibition space undercover. The building is in the form of a parallelogram, extending east and west 1,880 feet in length, and north and south 464 feet in width. The south front is on Belmont avenue, a wide roadway extending through the central portion of the grounds. The larger portion of the building is one story in height, and shows the main cornice upon the outside at forty-five feet above the ground, the interior height being seventy feet at the lanterns in the roof. At the center of the longer sides, or fronts of the building, are projeciions 416 feet across, and in die center. of the sides are similar prqjections 216 feet across. In these projections, in the center of the four sides, are the main entrances, which are provided with arcades upon the ground floor and central facades, extending to the height of ninety feet. They are ornate and imposing. The east entrance is also the eastern boundary of the grounds. Here will be the carriage concourse and the principal approach to the Exhibition for visitors in carriages. The south entrance, at the Elm avenue side of the structure, will be the principal entrance from the street cars, the ticket offices, as at all the gates, being under covered ways, within the arcade or vestibule. The main portal, on the opposite, or north side communicates with the passage-way to the art gallery and the main portal on the west front, at'Belrnont avenue, fronts machinery hall, the second largest exhibition building. Upon the Ammer iff the main-building arofour. tow-ersseyefity-five feet high, surmounted by a spire at each angle of' the towers, and between the towers and the central projections, or entrances, a lower roof, twentyfour feet to the cornice, breaks the uniformity.

In order to obtain a central feature for the building, as a whole, the roof over the central part for 104 feet square has been raised above the surrounding portion, and four towers, forty-eight feet square, rising to 120 feet in height, with spires thirty feet higher, have been introduced at the corners of the elevated roof. Innumerable flag-staffs, with small flags and pen- , nans , wmsigiMxt. roof of these towers and along the eaves,"aniFfKe effect is gay and brilliant, while the many windows with which the walls of the building are pierced make it appear light and graceful. The foundations' of the buildings are piers of masonry, and the superstructure is composed of wrought-iron columns, which support wrought-iron roof-trusses. Lengthwise of the building the columns are twenty-four feet apart. There are 672 columns in all, the shortest being twenty-three feet and the longest 125 feet in length. The building being a temporary construction, both columns and roottrusses are so designed that they can easily be taken down for re-erection elsewhere. The sides of the building, for the height of seven feet from the ground, are finished with brick-work, with panels between the columns, and above the seven feet with glazed sash. All the corners and anglesof le building, upon the exterior, are concentrated by small galvanized-iron octagonal turrets, which extend above the rfiot and are surmounted by flagstaff's, or, at other places, by the National eagle, made of galvanized iron, gilded. The National standard, with appropriate emblems, is placed over the center of each of the four main entrances. Surmounting each of the side entrances is a trophy showing the National colors and the coat-of-arms of the country occupying that - part cf the building. Variegated bricks and tiling' are introduced in the vestibules Of the four main •entrances, and the ornametrtation over the arches of the entrance-ways is father original. The capitals, the wreaths and the scroll-work over the arches of the portals, are of the leaves of the feta, the

rhododendron, or mountain laurel, the oak, the maple 'and the famfiiar forest trees of America. The walla of the building are painted brown, and the ornamentation is in gold and bright colors. The areas covered by the main burflding are aa follows: Square feet. Acree. Ground floor8T1.W) Upper floors, in projections .... 87,844 .<® Upper floors, In towersßM44 Totalmots 21.47 The general arrangement of the ground floor shows a central avenue, or nave, 120 feet in width, and extending 1,882 feet in length. It is the largest avenue of that width ever introduced into an exhibition building. On either aide of this nave there is an avenue 100 by 1,882 feet long. Between the nave and aide avenues are aisles forty-elght feet wide, and on the other side of the building smaller aisles twentyfour feet in width. In order to break the great length of the roof-lines three cross avenues, or transepts, have been introduced, of the same widths and of the same relative positions to each other as the nave and avenues running lengthwise—namely, a central transept, 120 feet in width by 416 feet in length, with one on either side of 100 feet by 416 feet, and aisles between of forty-eight feet. The intersection of these avenues and transepts in the central portion of the building results in dividing the floor into nine open spaces free from supporting columns, and covering in the aggregate an area ot 416 square feet. Four of these spaces are 100 feet square, four 100 by 120 feet, and the central space, or pavilion, 120 feet square. The intersections of the forty-eight feet aisles produce four interior courts fortyeight feet square, one at each corner of the central space. The main promenades through'the nave and central transept are each eighty feet in width, and those through the center of the side avenues and transepts fifteen feet each. All other walks are ten feet wide and lead, at either end, to exit doors. Louvre ventilators are over the central nave and each of the avenues, and skylights are in the roof of the central aisles, Small balconies or galleries of observation have been provided with four central towers, at different heights, and they will form attractive points of observation. The interior decoration of the building is in excellent taste. The walls and roof are painted a very pale blue, with a variegated border encircling them, the prevailing color of which isua bright carmine. A row- of circular windows extends around below the ventilators and sky lights of each avenue and aisle. These are filled with what appears to be richly stained glass in variegated designs. The effect is very bright and pleasing, but the “ stained glass!’ which, if it w-ere real, would have cost hundreds ofjthousands of dollars, is nothing more nor less than cheap muslin lightly painted and pasted over plain glass.

Standing in the gallery over the north portal of the main building, just in front of the mammoth organ, the visitor can command a view 7 of the whole magnificent display. He will see in separate and distinct groups the goods of every .nation grouped together in the following ingenious manner: On the right, occupying the entire northwestern quarter of the floor, are the Anglo-Saxon peoples—Great Britain first, then Canada (a separate display), then Australia, then other British possessions. Facing the observer, covering the southwest quarter, are grouped the Teutonic and Sclavonic races, in the order of Germany, Austria, Hungary, Russia and Denmark. Turning to the left of the center, covering the* northeastern quarter of the building, will be found the Latin races, beginning with France and her colonies, then tfollowing with Switzerland, Belgium, Brazil, the Netherlands and Mexico. The whole of the southeastern or lower left-hand quarter is taken up by the United States. This classification of nations seems to meet general approval, and this settlement of a much-vexed question appears to be considered a very happy one. Of course the plan cannot be followed out strictly, as it was necessary to economize space by putting some nation in a place where it did not exactly belong, as in separating Italy from the other Latin races and assigning it to ( a space beside Norway; but this was the system adopted in general. In the United States section there are 3,000 American exhibitors, and every foot of. space has been applied for two and a half times over. Requests for space come in every day, although the time fixed for closing has long since expired. The allotments of space In the main building have all been made, but occasionally somebody does not come to time, and the space is forfeited to some other applicant whose request has been on file for want of room. All exhibitors are obliged to submit drawings of their cases to the bureau of installation, showing the arrangement ot their goods, and these plans nave to be approved before they are accepted.