GREAT OF 1851. A.D. 1849-1852. Part II. Selections. thus to make further concession or to submit to further modification in the terms of the contract for the public benefit, I think it only fair to call to mind the position in which they now place themselves. Your Royal Highness has the guarantee that the proposal will be carried out in such a way as a Royal Commission may direct. The Society of Arts have the honour of being the organ for executing the proposal, without any risk or loss to themselves. The public not only have no risk or loss, but will have in fact all the profits of the undertaking, because I submit that a fair remuneration for risk and employment of capital cannot be considered as any other than an ordinary charge. In fact, the contractors are the only parties unprotected, and are liable to all the risks whatever. I have the honour to be, Sir, with the greatest respect, Most obedient and faithful Servant, GEORGE DREW. LETTER FROM COLONEL PHIPPS ON THE CONTRACT. Colonel answer. 10th December, 1849. IR,-I am commanded by His Royal Highness the Prince Albert to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 7th December, and to express to you His Royal Highness's sense of the public spirit and confiding readiness which were displayed by the contractors in the original acceptance of the contract, at a time when the risk of the undertaking could in no way be ascertained or limited. His Royal Highness has no hesitation in acknowledging that it was owing to liberality and public spirit, thus displayed, that it became possible for him to bring the scheme of the Exhibition of the Industry of all Nations before the Government and the public, in a shape insuring the practicability of its execution. His Royal Highness is happy to trace the same feelings in the answer which he has received from you on the part of the contractors, under the present much altered circumstances of the EXHIBITION undertaking; and the Prince is induced to hope that the position GREAT in which the present contract can be laid before the Government OF 1851. and the public, will prove satisfactory to both. A. D. 1849-1852. Selections. Firstly. Because the present agreement enables the Royal Part II. Commission, should it decide that the present contract will not be conducive to the public benefit, to determine that contract, within a limited time, upon equitable terms. Secondly. Because the contractors have consented to an arrangement by which the share to be assigned to them of any profits that may result from the Exhibition, after payment of their expenses, shall be determined by arbitration, under the then existing circumstances of the case, whilst they still remain liable for any possible losses, trusting solely to the liberal support of the public of a scheme which they have already so warmly received. It is in appreciation of this fact that His Royal Highness feels it a duty to furnish to them the earliest information with regard to the scheme in which His Royal Highness, as President of the Society of Arts, in conjunction with the British public, stands now morally pledged to the world; and therefore the Prince is pleased to direct that the contract, with the modifications agreed to in your letter, together with this answer written by His Royal Highness's command, shall be published without delay. I have the honour to be, Sir, Your obedient humble servant, C. B. PHIPPS. B EXTRACT FROM FIRST REPORT OF EFORE the issue of the Royal Commission, an Executive Committee had been appointed by the Council of the Society of Arts, to carry into effect the contract which has already been alluded to. This Committee had been afterwards confirmed in Her Majesty's Commission of the 3rd January, 1850. It then consisted of the following members: Mr. Robert Stephenson, Mr. Executive for carrying Committee contract into effect. GREAT OF 1851. A.D. 1849-1852. Appoint as Chairman of Henry Cole, Mr. C. Wentworth Dilke, Mr. F. Fuller, Mr. G. Drew, Mr. M. Digby Wyatt (Secretary). Of these, Mr. Drew had been nominated by Messrs. Munday to represent their interests, according to the provision in the contract. "Immediately on the Commissioners availing themselves of the power to annul the contract, and thereby assuming a different relation to the management of the Exhibition, the then Executive Committee considered it becoming to leave the Commissioners wholly unfettered in the choice of their Executive Officers, and accordingly tendered their resignations. Under these circumstances Mr. Robert Stephenson retired, and was nominated a Commissioner by a supplementary warrant from Her Majesty; and Lieut.Colonel, now Colonel Sir William Reid, R.E., was appointed by ment of Col. Her Majesty's warrant dated February 12, 1850, to succeed him in the Executive Committee. The other Members of the Committee were requested to continue their duties, but Mr. Fuller and Mr. Drew stated that they were unable to devote the whole of their time to the service of the Commission, and the principal part of the duties fell therefore upon Sir William Reid, Mr. Cole, and Mr. Dilke. It then became their duty practically to carry into effect all the decisions of Her Majesty's Commissioners, and to exercise that continued watchfulness in every department which was requisite in so vast an undertaking, and which could only be secured by the agency of persons constantly engaged in its management, and possessing authority to dispose of such questions of detail as could not conveniently be delayed for the consideration of the Commissioners. The Executive Committee have been engaged in this manner without intermission until the present time. Sir W. Reid more particularly undertook the duties of communicating with the public departments, Mr. H. Cole the questions of space and arrangement, and Mr. C. Wentworth Dilke the charge of the correspondence and general superintendence. The services of Mr. Fuller and Mr. Drew were principally employed in organizing the collection of subscriptions in the earlier period of the labours of the Commission." . "The Commissioners having, by the determination of the contract, taken upon themselves the responsibility of finding the sums necessary for carrying on the Exhibition, proceeded forthwith to invite the public to contribute to this great national object. EXHIBITION OF 1851. 1849-1852. A subscription list was immediately opened, and in announcing to GREAT the public the step they had taken, the Commissioners stated that they would hold themselves exclusively responsible for the application of the funds which might be subscribed, and would proceed Part II. without delay to establish regulations for ensuring an effectual control over the expenditure, and a satisfactory audit of the tion opened. accounts. "The subscriptions promised to the undertaking were made public from time to time as they were announced. The total amount reported was £79,224 13s. 4d., of which sum £67,896 125. 9d. had been actually paid to the credit of the Commission on the 29th February, 1852. A portion of the subscriptions received in some of the provincial districts, was retained to defray the expenses of collection and local management.” Selections. Subscrip MR. COLE'S REPORT ON THE SECURITY OF N the estimate of the probable cost of the Exhibition, I have Fire-proof ing will be fire-proof, intend the term "fire-proof" to be interpreted in a comparative, rather than a positive sense, and I ventured on making this assumption, because the inquiries into the best means of making a building fire-proof, which it has been my duty to prosecute for some years past, conjointly with Mr. Braidwood, Superintendent of the Fire Brigade, in reference to the Public Record Office, have led me to the conclusion that a building, fire-proof in a strict sense, would not only be far too costly for the object proposed, but would be, in the very nature of its construction, unsuitable for the purposes of the Exhibition. It is generally admitted by all authorities that the degree of "fireproof" in a building containing combustible materials is regulated chiefly by the amount of cubical space enclosed; and that in proportion to the smallness of the area, and its complete air-tight insulation, so will the draught be minimized, and the intensity of any fire be diminished. Mr. Braidwood has stated that "he had seen Regulation character of of fire-proof buildings. GREAT EXHIBITION OF 1851. A. D. 1849-1852. Part II. Selections. Houses containing a warehouse 450 feet long and 110 feet broad, and that if that building, although constructed on the fire-proof principle, was on fire, there would be no chance of dealing with it, though it would generally be considered safe. The draught of a fire in such a building would melt the iron away like lead." To go to the other extreme, instances might be adduced where small wood and plaster chambers, sufficiently air-tight, although their contents have been on fire, have resisted the spread of fire for want of draught. The superior security of smaller compartments is fully proved by the lesser rate of insurance taken for dwelling-houses than waresecure from houses, although the first are much more exposed to fire. numerous rooms more fire than warehouses. Materials which conduce to security against fire. In devising fire-proof security for the Public Record Office, it was considered advisable, in order to insure the greatest amount of safety, that the building should consist of a series of chambers unconnected with each other, and each one should not contain more than 7,000 cubic feet. The walls being of brick and the floors stone, there was a security that even if one chamber took fire the volume of fire would not ignite the adjoining chamber. But such moderate-sized spaces would obviously be so ill-adapted to the Exhibition, that they need not be further noticed. At a late discussion before the Institution of Civil Engineers, the questions of space and materials, in reference to fire-proof buildings, were brought forward; Mr. Braidwood reiterated his opinion, expressing his conviction, "from upwards of twenty-two years experience, that the intensity of a fire, the risk of its ravages extending to adjoining premises, and also the difficulty of extinguishing it, depend, cæteris paribus, on the cubic contents of the building which takes fire." Professor Hosking, the official referee of metropolitan buildings, said that the law provided that the contents of warehouses should be restricted to 200,000 cubic feet. Even if this rule were applied to the building for the Exhibition, assuming the building to be only twenty feet high, it would consist of upwards of eighty separate chambers. Mr. Rendel, C.E., agreed "that small warehouses for containing inflammable goods were safer in every point of view.". In respect of those materials which conduce to security against fire, all authorities agree with Mr. Farey's remark, that "the old Roman system of strong pillars of masonry supporting groined arches affords the best security." Professor Hosking said, “he |