Volltext Seite (XML)
passed, prevented its keeping the valve down to its seat, so that a loose nut had been put in as a make-shift, and it is reported that this nut immediately after the explosion was found to have slipped a little to one side, so that the lever bore unfairly on the valve, and prevented its free action. It is difficult now to determine whether this nut slipped out of place before the explosion or from the shock at the time, but it must be evident to all that such a make-shift arrangement to so vital a fitting as a safety-valve, on which the safety of the boiler and the lives of all those around it depended, was perfectly inad missible, and more especially in so public a situation, and this explosion is attributed simply to the improper treatment of the boiler, the fittings being defective and the pressure much too high for the furnace tubes unguarded by any suitable provision. It is impossible to conclude the notice of this explosion with out calling attention to the reckless disregard shown for the lives of those persons in the immediate neighbourhood, and the consequent necessity of all persons in the vicinity of boilers urging the general adoption of independent periodical inspec tion for their own protection. PARIS EXHIBITION OF WORKS OF ART. The Paris salon has been closed, according to custom, for a few days, to enable the jury to settle the awards, and to make some changes in the places of certain pictures, and was recently opened again. The Grand Prix d’Honneur in Tainting has been awarded to M. Gustave Brion, who took a second-class medal in 1853, a first-class medal with the Cross of the Legion of Honour in 1863, and a second-class medal at the Universal Exhibition last year. The work which has obtained for this artist the blue ribbon this year is a painting of very sterling serious character, the subject—the Reading of the Bible in a Protestant Household in Alsace. A grave old man, of the peasant class, sits beside an immense stove of white earthen ware, and reads from the holy volume; opposite to him is a group of a dozen persons, principally women, who listen atten tively to the words he utters ; the faces of the women especially are exquisitely natural and charmingly contrasted, while those of two or three stalwart peasants and a little boy give addi tional variety to the scene. There are literally no accessories, the dresses arc sober in the extreme, and the whole force of the artist’s talent has been concentrated upon the faces, which, though not refined, are intellectual and full of vigour. The painting is remarkably solid and honest, and presents an admirable example of the French school, while the sentiment and composition seem to belong to a more thoughtful school. It is a mark of progress, perhaps, in taste, that the highest reward has been given to a work so serious in character, pos sessing so few intrinsic claims, and making not the slightest appeal to patriotic or popular - feeling. The award will probably be much questioned, and the popularly-elected jury will perhaps be considered somewhat puritanic in its decision. Of the forty ordinary medals there is now no distinction of classes; two are awarded to female artists, one to Madame Eleonore Escallier, who exhibits two admirable specimens of flowers and birds, painted oxi faience ; the plaques are circular, and of large diameter, nearly two feet, thus presenting great difficulties in execution ; some large reddish-brown leaves and crysanthemum flowers are admirably rendered, and a bird of brilliant plumage in each case makes up a beautiful harmony of colour; the blue has run a little in one place, but, with this exception, Madame Escallier’s work is nearly perfect; the other lady to whom a medal has been awarded is Mademoiselle Nelie Jacquemart, who sends two capital portraits, one of a lady, the other of M. Benoit Champy, President of the Civil Tribunal of the Seine. The gentlemen to whom medals have been awarded are :—M. Appian, for two landscapes ; M. Beaulieu, a pupil of E. Delacroix, for a curious composition, a Pierrot cooking, or making what is called oeuf d’Autriche; M.E. Breton, a landscape and a snow-scene; M. Brun, a beggar woman; M. Paul Collier, for an admirable portrait and small genre picture; M. Cermack, a native of Bohemia, an excellent com position, representing a number of Christian girls being carried off by Bashi-Bazooks to be sold at Adrianople; M. Chenu, a view of a public promenade by the side of a river, evening; M. de Connick, a Gallic mother proving her constancy by launching her new-born infant on her husband’s shield on the waters of the Rhine; M. Daubigny, fils, a landscape and girls winnowing corn; M. Delierre, dead game; M. H. Dubois, Erigone attracted by Bacchus in the form of a bunch of grapes ; M. Erhmann, a large and decorative panel of a pretty little figure called the morning star ; Victor Giraud, the return of the husband, one of the most remarkable works in the exhibition; the husband supports his fainting wife, while the lover lies wounded at the foot of the stairs upon which the former stands ; the position is one of the most difficult that could have been selected, the wounded man having fallen on his back with his head in the foreground of the picture and his feet on the stairs; the same artist exhibited last year an admirable work, the slave market, of quite another character, which was purchased for the Luxembourg gallery ; M. Glaize, jun., two portraits; M. Hanoteau. a noble woodland scene, noticed in a former article; M. Harpignies, two landscapes; M. Hereau, women collecting seaweed in Brittany, a charming composition; M. Hugrel, nymph and cupid; M. Jundt, a pretty rural scene, a girl arranging her hair by the water; M. G. Jaequet, army of German mercenaries of the sixteenth century; M. Klagmann, Medea; M. L. A. Leloir, baptism of natives of the Canary Islands in the year 1404, a vigorous work; M. Jules Joseph Lefebvre, a remarkably powerful but not graceful study from the nude, and an admirable portrait; M. Legros. whose pictures we have not seen; M. Lobrichon, portraits ; M. Alphonse Muraton, two hermits, and a monk at prayer, a fine head; M. Emile Michel, hunting and snow scene ; M. Mery, two curious compositions of birds and wasps; this artist paints insects with remarkable effect; M. Mouchot, Egyptians with monkeys and fellah women; M. Parrot, a charming nude figure, seated by the sea, and entitled Elegy; M. Regamey, military piece ; M. R. Thirion, death of St. Paul; M. Tourny, a portrait; M. Vibert, a curious work, the monks of a Spanish convent being drilled by an officer, in 1811; M. Vollen, collections of arms and armour; M. Worms, the romance a la mode and la ronda, which we have not seen; and M. Zo, a very pleasing picture, full of sunshine, the tribunal of the Moorish kings in the Alhambra. The large proportion of landscapes and portraits in this list is remarkable ; it includes no great historical and very few imaginative works; on the other hand, it must be noted that all the medallists but one are natives of France, and that one is the pupil of a French artist. It must be remembered also, that many of the artists exhibiting are hors rancours, having before received three medals, or the cross of the Legion of Honour. Ocean Telegraphy.—A meeting was held at the City Terminus Hotel, on the 3rd inst., of gentlemen interested in ocean telegraphy, to hear Capt. Rowett describe his patent for hempen cables, and his progress in connection with them. Captain Rowett received a con cession from the Emperor of the French for an Atlantic cable. He claims under his patent the modifications adopted by the Atlantic Telegraph Company. He now proposes to adopt the simple sheathing of hemp, manilia, or coir, relying on the durability of hemp as tested in the case of the Atlantic cable, and simplifying the manufacture and laying, resulting consequently in a very large reduction of expense. He suppresses all wires or metallic armour in the sheathing, con sidering the hemp sufficiently durable for protection, this becoming hard and heavy when wetted. He avoids the complications and ex pense of the present paying-out machinery. Under such circumstances he assumes a very large reduction and consequent economy in laying cables to India, Java, China, Australia, America, &c. The Foundations or the Old Louvre.—The municipal government of Paris caused a very considerable examination to be made last year of the remains of the old Louvre, the fortified castle of Philip Augustus, which lie beneath the enclosed court or square of what is now called the Old Louvre, audit was found that the ideas respecting this ancient edifice were very erroneous. The base of the Donjon-tower, which figures conspicuously in history, was found intact, and only a few feet beneath the present surface of the ground. An admirable method has been adopted, of recording the form of the ancient fortress; the entire ground plan has been laid in black and white asphalte, except where the old building lies beneath the pavement of the present court, in which case granite has been used to represent the foundation of the old building. There is an immense advantage in thus bringing so interesting a remnant of a byegone age bodily, as it were, under the eye of the public. Engravings would, of course, perpetuate the lines for all those who sought for information respecting them, but the method adopted will arrest the attention of many, and lead to inquiry.
