Notes

Abstract

A MEETING of the General Committee of the International Fisheries Exhibition was held at South Kensington on Tuesday. Mr. Birkbeck presided, and read the Report of the Execative Committee, which stated that the number of visitors to the Exhibition has, up to the present, been very large. The numbers up to Saturday, the 25th inst., were 1,444,515, showing a daily average of 16,050. The juries have, with few exceptions, now completed their Ubours, and their reports will be laid before the Special Commissioners, appointed by Her Majesty's Government, for consideration and approval. The Report closes as follows:—“With regard to the future, it is indispensable that the Executive Committee should obtain the necessary powers from the General Committee to announce the closing of the Exhibition on some day to be fixed hereafter, and that they should further be invested with authority to carry out any negotiations and make any agreements they may deem necessary for the subsequent utilisation of the buildings, which have been erected at so great a cost, in order that a fair proportion of the money that has been expended upon them may be recovered. In furtherance of the latter object, the Executive Committee have much pleasure in stating that they have received from Her Majesty's Commissioners of 1851 an intimation that, provided the grounds are used solely for the purposes of holding exhibitions, they would be willing to extend the existing agreement (which expires on December 31 next) for a further period of three years. The Executive Committee have every reason to believe that, with the approval of the Prince of Wales, exhibitions of great importance will be held in each of these years. Under these arrangements the authorities, which His Royal Highness may be pleased to constitute for carrying out each of these exhibitions, will become tenants of the Fisheries Exhibition, and would accordingly pay a proportion of the original cost as rent for the use of the buildings. The Chairman said it was a matter of congratulation that the numbers admitted hid proved to exceed the imst sanguine expectations of the general public, and the Committee had every reason to believe that for the future, especially daring the month of September, large numbers of visitors would attend. The most important portion of the Report referred to the future use of the buildings. Next year it was proposed to hold a great international exhibition of horticulture, floriculture, and forestry, and they had every reason to believe it would be successful. There had been some question of the conferences being continued later on. The discussion on the paper by the Duke of Edinburgh was adjourned sine die, aad probably, if His Royal Highness was in London at the end of September or the beginning of October, he might be disposed to attend. There was also another promise given that there should be a fishermen's congress, which it was proposed should be held at the end of September. The only other matter was with reference to the juries. The reports had nearly all come in, and they had only now to wait for the meeting of the Government and Special Commissioners to confirm the various awards.