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The season is approaching when it is customary to hold 1 fairs and exhibitions Such exhibitions are of great and diI versified utility They bring the minds of inventors in contact, post them in regard to the advance of improvement, and almost invariably suggest new and valuable ideas They also afford a means of displaying to the public at large the construction of new and old devices, and of widely and thoroughly advertising valuable improvements They are 1 generally attended with interest by large numbers of people, ! and are among the most influential of means employed to ed | ucate the people at largo They have, moreover, the great advantage of being, when properly managed, selfsupporting, and, in many cases, profit j able enterprises For ourselves, we never visit one of these i exhibitions with impaired interest,and never come away with | out profit I Let any critical observer attend one of them and he cannot I fail to be impressed with the versatility of Yankee genius,and | the wonderful march of intellect which characterizes the age l From the steam engine to the sewing machine he will find a j heterogeneous collection of all 3orts of queer contrivances, all of which are intended to assist man in ridding himself of the I primal curse, or, rather, to transform the curse into a blessing | It is curious enough to listen to the impromptu lectures delivered by exhibitors upon their respective inventions ; to j watch their faces, now lit up with enthusiasm, and anon flashing scorn at the puerile criticisms of some garrulous ignoramus ; or to watch the countenances of bystanders, standing agape at the automatic performance of some triumph of constructive genius In short, for both amusement and instruction, commend us to a wellarranged and conducted Mechanics' Fair, above all other places We have already noticed the announcement of the twentysecond annual exhibition of the Maryland Institute, to be opened October 13,1869, and continue till the 10th of November, and of the exhibition of the American Institute, to held in this city during the coming autumn We are now in receipt of a circular of an exhibition to be held under the management of the Mechanics' Institute of Buffalo, to be called the International Industrial Exhibition, which will commence on Wednesday, the 6th of October The circular sets forth the design and scope of the proposed exhibition in full, and pamphlets will be sent on application to the Acting Secretary of the International Exhibition, Buffalo, N Y We shall be happy to receive and briefly notice all announcements of similar Mechanics' Exhibitions throughout the country, believing that they ought to be encouraged and sustained, and that our readers will be interested in the information imparted In conclusion, we urge upon inventors and manufacturers at large, the importance of availing themselves of the opportunities afforded by these fairs, especially in the introduction and display of new inventions and processes
