Cincinnati Exposition; Hemingray display

CINCINNATI.

The Industrial Exposition.

[FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.]

CINCINNATI, OCT. 21.

The present week is the last of the Industrial Exposition, which opened the 15th of September. It is held in the buildings erected for the Saengerfest, and the floor space is equivalent to that of a room one hundred feet wide and one thousand feet long. In extent and value of manufactures Cincinnati claims to be the third city in the United States, and the claim seems to be well founded, if the Exposition is our criterion. A glance at a few of its most prominent features may be of interest as well as of profit.

Entering the door on Elm street, near Thirteenth, we are amazed at the vast array of articles on exhibition. Specimens of pottery from Hemingway [sic] Hemingray Glass Works, Covington; galvanized iron ornamental work from Dunn & Witte; crockery from J. C. Huntington & Co.; Scotch granite monuments, paints, burial-caskets, washing machines and every kind of staple hardware from a confused heterogeneous mass, which can only be resolved into its original elements by slowing threading the aisles and examining each in detail, and even this, to the . . . [illegible text] . . . superficial observer, is the work of hours. Perhaps the most prominent of all articles on the main floor are the safes. Hall & Co., exhibit the first safe ever used in Ohio. It is made of oak, bound with iron straps and studded with nails. It was used by the Marietta bank until 1836. At the further end of the room a beautiful fountain has been erected between two cascades. In the evening the calcium light gives to the falling water and spray all the hues of the rainbow. A double staircase around this interesting spot leads to the galleries, which are broad and well lighted. Here are all articles in the house furnishing line, together with dry goods of all kinds and confectionery. Six grand aisles, extending laterally from the main floor, give access to the art department. Two aisles are devoted to carriages, of which there is a complete assortment, from the full Clarence and Landon down to the smallest baby wagon. The floors of the remaining aisle are covered by pianos and mantels, and the walls are hung with fine photographs and paintings. T. C. Lindsay exhibits paintings, and the American Bank Note Company five steel engravings. One of the largest paintings is Witch Hill, 1692, by T. S. Noble, it being a fine representation of the leading to death of a young woman condemned of witchcraft. Not as artistic but yet more instructive are the specimens of drawing from the public school children. The most beautiful piece of sculpture is of linn wood, somewhat too highly colored, however, for the best effect. It is the Pieta, of half life size, and was carved by a Cincinnati artist.

Power Hall is upon the opposite side of the main building. Here are all kinds of machinery in motion, pumps, mills and stationary engines, together with street sweepers and all kinds of printing presses. The chief interest centered around a band saw for scroll and fancy sawing — the saw being a mere strap and the motion always a downward one. The following extracts may be of interest:

Perhaps at the outset, it will not be interesting for the reader to learn that the "power" is partly supplied by a liquid fuel machine, which will undoubtedly effect a revolution in that sphere. Petroleum is the fuel used, and, as consumed in this machine, is "economical, emits no smoke, produces no ashes or cinders, yields uniform heat, is safe, and has the decided advantage over coal in space. The machine consists of two cylinders, one inside of the other. The space between the two cylinders is the gas reservoir. The inner cylinder has four heads, two above and two below; the inside heads form a tubular boiler; the tubes are six hundred copper; around these tubes the oil. Super-heated steam passes from the space between the upper heads through the tubes to the lower space, and is then allowed to pass off.

Steam is taken from the steam boiler, passed through a super-heater, consisting of coiled pipe in the fire box, then to the upper steam space, the generator and the dome of the outer cylinder. As the oil vaporizes, it passes by tubes through the upper steam space into the reservoir. In the dome of the outer cylinder, heavy sponges are placed to steady the pressure of the vapor. The vapor passes by a pipe from the dome to the fire box. Super-heated steam is mixed with the vapor in the dome.

Read the same reporter's record three days afterward:

"Some inquiry is made about the new "liquid fuel" alluded to last week — the petroleum steam generator. The notice given attracted attention and excited public curiosity. It now becomes our painful duty to record the fact that it did what the gracious old-timers said it would — explode, and the managers felt it incumbent to refuse any further test of its merits in the Industrial Exposition."

The whole Exposition has been a success. Even the people of Cincinnati are astonished at their resources — for nine-tenths of the articles on exhibition are from this city. To strangers instruction has been mingled with pleasure. Our only regret was that other parts of the State were so poorly represented, and we trust that next year the manufactures of Cleveland will have a prominent part therein.

F. G. M.