Rensselaer Union, Volume 8, Number 41, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 June 1876 — Sales of Articles at the Exposition—Fog-Horn. [ARTICLE]

Sales of Articles at the Exposition— Fog-Horn.

One of the conditions precedent imposed upon exhibitors by the Commission was that none of their exhibits should be removed until after Nov. 10. This restriction was conceived so as to prevent the carrying off by purchasers of such articles as they might Tray. Exhibitors were allowed to sell whatever they pleased with this limitation. The wisdom Of the prohibition is thus earl; apparent. In thfl TVtftin Rnililing, in the Art Gallery and in Machinery Hall exhibitors have been driving numerous bargains. The housewives are laying in stocks of rare China, either buying the pieces shown or giving orders for duplicates. In the English ana French departments fully one-third of the china and porcelain is ticketed “sold.” One-half the Japanese bronzes are marked in the same way, and the rare and quaint-ly-fashioned and decorated old china in the Chinese section likewise meets with the favor of hjiyers. The Americans are not overlooked in the competition, and their piano and organ makers, carpet and furniture manufacturers and carriage builders acknowledge a satisfactory patronage. In the art gallery the same spirit of traffic is perhaps more noticeable than anywhere else. More than 100 ana statues have been sold, and negotiations are pending for as many more. The visitors from Chicago have been better' purchasers in proportion to numbers than those from any other city, and English exhibitors are profuse m praise of their liberality. A Chinaman said something to me the other day, and 1 thought it was to the effect that he had just sold an elegant screen to a lady from Chicago, but will not be positive about it. If this policy of barter continues as it has begun, everjr article will be sold long before the Exhibition closes. The prices in some cases are reasonable, while in others they are exorbitant. The Japanese will open their bazar in a few days, and will have for sale duplicates of many of the articles on exhibition in the Main Building. Anything bought here can be taken'away just as at an ordinary store One of the latest acquisitions to the Government display is a steam siren or foghorn. In a one-story bulding near the model of the field hospital is contained the engine, air condensers and chambers, and all the apparatus requisite to show the noisy capacity of these machines. Airis pumped into a reservoir, from whence it passes through two rotating valves, disk-like in form, into a trumpet. One of the valves has but a single hole, and the one above it has several apertures; the .latter revolving rapidly cuts the air as it passes to the trumpet, the result being a succession of wave sounds, ▼aryiag in velocity, and not liable to dissipate as does the whistle of a locomotive. The principle involves a paradox, for when standing near the horn the noise is not very deafening, but the further you get away up to a certain point, the more distinctly you will hear it. This siren is blown at nine a. m., giving the signal for opening the gates, and at six p. m. for closing. It reminds one more of the sonorous notes of a donkey than anything else, although it would require the united

power of a thousand donkeys to equal its comprehensive brav, wfcicty wind favot*. in*, can be heard a distance of thirty-fire miles. These instruments arc part of tne display by the Light-House Board, and are iac-similes of the fog horns located at various points along the sea and lake coasts. In warning mariners of dangerous shoals and inhospitable landings, they are vastly better than the signal guns or fires of the olden time. THie visitors have not yet become nsed to the disagreeable noise, which causes the flesh to crawl and sensitive nerves to falter. This siren music, however, confers one benefit—it drowns for the time being the howls of hackmen and guide-book sellers, and for that reason can be endured. —Philadelphia Cor. Chicago Inter-Ocean.