The Book of the Fair - Chapters 23-24



Page 801

Chapter the Twenty-Third:
State Exhibits

In presenting to the reader the sectional exhibits of the west and those 
of the Pacific slope, I will begin with the state of Illinois, whose 
elaborate display, together with those of Iowa, Kansas, California, 
Washington, Idaho, and others is among the features of the Exposition, 
forming, as it were, a fair within a fair, though on a minor scale as 
compared with what each has to show in the main departments. Of all the 
state buildings and exhibits those of Illinois are by far the largest, 
with a floor space of more than three acres, or about the same as in the 
Woman's building adjacent, costing, moreover, nearly twice the amount 
expended on the latter. 

Occupying one of the choicest sites in the northern portion of the 
grounds, the Illinois mansion is a cruciform structure, its longer axial 
line 450 and its shorter axis 285 feet in length, with an average width of 
nearly 100 feet. The design is suggestive of the Italian renaissance; but 
with certain points of accentuation that belong to no special order of 
architecture. From the spot where the arms of the cross intersect, a 
galleried dome, capped by a lantern, rises some 240 feet above the floor, 
altogether too lofty and narrow for the building which it surmounts. Above 
the principal entrance-way is a figure with outstretched arms representing 
"Illinois Welcoming the Nations," and among other themes expressed in 
sculptural art are "The Birth of Chicago," "Education," and "La Salle and 
Companions." Within is a wide longitudinal nave dividing the exposition 
sections, with apartments for the governor and his suite, and the state 
and women's board; in the eastern portion is an elaborate school exhibit; 
in a memorial chamber on the north, an historic collection from the state 
capitol, and the western division is devoted to agriculture, horticulture, 
floriculture, forestry, archaeology, and the contributions of the Fish 
commission and the Geological survey. 

The agricultural display is mainly from the state college of Agriculture 
in conjunction with the government experimental station at Champaign, and 
was prepared by Professor Morrow, dean of the former. Back from the 
gallery was erected an ornamental pavilion, in which is a collection of 
grass seeds, its walls, roof, and ceiling covered with grains and grasses. 
Near by, in glass jars containing 3,600 specimens and several hundred 
varieties, are grouped in three sections the principal cereals of 
Illinois, the ceiling of each, with its supporting pillars, decorated in 
the grain which it contains. On a mural panel, with framework of yellow 
corn, is depicted a model prairie farm, its buildings and picket fence, 
its live-stock and poultry, growing crops and fallow fields, all fashioned 
of native grains and grasses, and draped with a grass curtain held by a 
rope and tassels of 

Page 803

corn. A miniature car, filled each day with different grains, shows how 
cereals are brought to market and sorted according to grades. 

An interesting group from the experimental station is that which 
demonstrates how forest and fruit trees can be cultivated, cross sections 
showing their growth in periods of five years, and lateral sections, their 
grain and fibre. Here also are illustrated the processes of grafting and 
cross fertilizing, with the treatment of plant diseases and the laboratory 
equipped for such purposes. Of weeds there is a large collection, and here 
are arranged all the insects injurious to vegetable like. Horticultural 
and floricultural specimens are numerous, some in wax and others in their 
natural state. In a booth formed of interlacing branches of trees is the 
state display of forestry, rustic benches showing segments cut in various 
directions, transverse, radial, and oblique. Near the central rotunda is a 
grotto of artificial rocks with stalagmites and stalactites, cascades, 
waterfalls, and rustic bridge. In the pools below are the food and other 
fish contributed by the commission, including carp, perch, pike, and 
catfish; black and rock bass; dog-fish, sunfish, buffalo fish, and others 
in several varieties. Goldfish, red white and black, occupy a separate 
pond, and within the grotto are illustrated methods of hatching and 
propagation. 

In the geological section are pyramids of coal and boulders of granite, 
limestone, and sandstone, with glacial rock and gravel, glass-sand, fire-
clay, and kaolin. Elsewhere is a pyramid of tiles, terra-cotta moldings, 
and other articles, more than twenty feet square at the base and 
embellished with floral designs. This is exhibited by the Illinois Brick 
and Tilemakers' association, and is not only a specimen of ceramic art, 
but represents an important branch of industry, affording employment to 85,
000 operatives. The archaeological collection is from the state museum, 
and contains many specimens relating to the stone age, gathered from 
Indian mounds, with others in tribal groupings and arranged with reference 
to age and utility. 

In a projecting space on the northern side of the building are war relics 
from the state-house at Springfield, with articles of historic interest 
relating to those to whom was intrusted the safe-keeping of the union. 
Here are the battle flags of nearly all the Illinois regiments, 155 in 
number, enrolled for their country's service. Many are rent with shot and 
shell, and not a few are stained with blood, among them the one that 
Sergeant Riley bore, and for which he laid down his life 

Page 805

at Ringgold gap. By Sergeant Hunter of Grant's old regiment, the Twenty-
first Illinois, are shown the colors which he carried to the front. Here 
also are the saddle and bridle of General Logan, and the wooden leg of 
Santa Anna, captured by the Fourth Illinois. Of Lincoln and Grant there 
are many things to remind us, including the table-cloth used at the 
wedding breakfast of the former, the dresses worn by his wife on state 
occasions, and that which she wore at the theatre on the night of her 
husband's assassination. Thee is the saddle used by Grant and the lantern 
which he carried as a part of his outfit, with photographs pertaining to 
both these central figures of the civil war. 

Here and elsewhere are many curiosities gathered from various sections of 
the state, among them the first bell whose notes were heard in the 
Mississippi valley, cast, as appears from inscriptions, at Rochelle in 
1741, and presented by Louis XV to the mission church at Kaskaskia. Of 
scenes characteristic of this ancient settlement there are many 
photographs, including one of the hotel where a banquet was given to 
Lafayette in 1828. The mantel itself is shown which spanned the capacious 
fireplace of the dining-room, somewhat the worse for wear after its 
century and a half of existence. There is a view of the building in which 
the earlier state legislatures convened, the fist brick structure erected 
west of the Alleghany mountains, with materials brought in boats from 
Pittsburgh. From the grandson of Pierre Minard, the first lieutenant-
governor of the state, are some of the articles imported from France to 
furnish his family mansion - a pier glass, mahogany sideboard, and 
bedstead with carved posts and canvas canopy. Near by is the table on 
which Elias Kent drafted the original constitution of Illinois. 

The eastern half of the building is almost entirely occupied by the 
educational exhibits and those of the woman's board. First is the 
kindergarten display in a cheerful apartment adjoining the vestibule, the 
children trained under the Froebel system occupying the room for the first 
three months of the Fair, and then giving place to those of the Chicago 
association, under whose care are more than a score of free kindergartens 
in various portions of the city, all supported by voluntary contributions. 
Then come the public school exhibits, beginning with a model school-room, 
supplied with the latest inventions in the way of furniture and apparatus, 
including instruments for the demonstration of problems in chemistry and 
physics. Next are those of the country schools, the graded schools, and 
the high schools, all arranged in logical sequence and with numerous 
samples of work. So with the normal schools in an adjoining section, the 
specimens shown in cases and grouped according to subjects. 

But the feature in this department is the elaborate display of the state 
university, in connection with which are those of the experimental station 
and the laboratory of natural history. The educational exhibits proper 
were arranged by T. J. Burrill, one of the regents, in conjunction with E. 
E. Chester, state commissioner on education. The literary division is 
under charge of F. F. Fredericks, and there is also shown the work of the 
school of art and design. A bacteriological group, with the results of 
scientific investigations and the instruments used for the purpose, was 
prepared by Doctor Burrill, a man of more than national repute. By 
Professor Forbes were arranged the collections in natural history, among 
which are 300 mounted specimens of birds, including all that are native to 
Illinois. Many branches of physics and natural science are here 
represented; 

Page 806

and there are cases filled with samples and models relating to various 
branches of engineering, while architecture and mineralogy also find 
expression, the latter in long rows of labelled crucibles, with the tests 
for which they were used. 

Woman has played well her part in connection with the state exhibit, 
contributing or gathering many of the most valuable collections, and using 
to excellent advantage the $80,000 - one tenth of the entire 
appropriation - devoted to a representation of the arts and industries of 
Illinois women. A board was organized, with committees on domestic 
science, on historic and scientific collections, on literature, on 
educational, charitable, and professional work, and on art in all its 
branches, fine, practical, and decorative, musical and dramatic. Thus were 
culled the choicest specimens of woman's achievement in all the wide 
sphere of her labors and influence. The exhibits in domestic science, 
pertaining chiefly to the kitchen, dining-room, and pantry were housed in 
the Woman's building, where all such contributions are grouped. Of the 
historic and personal relics, and the articles displayed in the 
educational sections, and even in the scientific departments of the 
university, not a few are the offerings of women. 

In the library, tastefully equipped and with decorated walls and frieze, 
are several hundred volumes from the pen of Illinois women, the oldest 
among them, entitled Early Engagements, written by Sarah Marshall Hayden 
in 1841. Next to this in point of age is Wau Bun, a story of early days in 
the northwest by Mrs. John H. Kinzie, published in New York in 1856. There 
are also many rare and valuable works, with an abundance of newspapers and 
magazines. By one of the committees a report was published giving, among 
other information, the number of women wage-earners, of teachers, and of 
those who are caring for the sick, the poor, the aged, and the defective 
classes. 

The art display includes statuary, paintings in oil and water colors, 
etchings, and pastels, an entire wall being hung with the collections of 
the palette club. Of ceramic art and decorative needlework there are many 
excellent specimens; but as to what has been accomplished by women in the 
way of decoration, the best examples are in the reception parlor, with its 
silken hangings of deep olive hue, designed and woven by women, its 
panelled frieze with allegorical and other paintings by female artists, 
and its arabesque designs for the 

Page 808

arches above the windows. The furniture is of itself a work of art, the 
handsome mantel of carved maple, the old arm-chairs, clock-cases, and 
escritoires all fashioned by feminine hands. 

Thus it will be seen that in the home of Illinois are reproduced in 
miniature the main departments of the Fair, in all of which the state was 
largely represented, the local exhibition forming a complete and well 
ordered display of her resources, industries, and arts, with all that 
pertains to the social life of this cultured and prosperous community. No 
wonder that here people were proud of their fair, of the city which 
contains it, and of the part which the state has played in contributing to 
the general effect. Especially was this apparent on days of public 
celebration, on dedication day, Illinois day, and above all on Chicago 
day; for on such occasions her citizens unite as the members of a single 
family, and for a single purpose. 

The building was dedicated on the 18th of May, with the usual exercises 
held on the plaza in front. On Illinois day, the 24th of August, nearly 
300,000 people gathered on the grounds, the largest attendance to that 
date with the single exception of the 4th of July. Among them were many 
farmers from the prairie state, here assembled for a few days of sight-
seeing, probably the hardest days' work of their lives. The edifice was 
profusely decorated with flags and streamers, the balconies draped in red, 
white, and blue, and the interior redolent with floral tributes. There 
were the usual speech-making, feasting, fireworks, and reception; but the 
feature of the celebration was the parade of state soldiery, who, marching 
to the grounds from their encampment at Windsor park, headed by the 
governor and his staff, passed in divisions some 5,000 strong the 
reviewing stand erected in front of the building. 

But it was for Chicago day that the people of Illinois, and especially its 
metropolis, reserved their strength, and this was in truth a celebration 
such as never before was recorded in the annals of international 
expositions. The date selected was the 9th of October, when in a single 
night, just twenty-two years before, the city was swept out of existence, 
now resurrected in tenfold glory, and with the crowning glory of its Fair. 
The city was crowded with visitors, each incoming train increasing their 
number, so that on the eve of the great occasion at least 1,000,000 
strangers wree housed within her gates. But not all were housed; for many 
there 

Page 809

were with well filled purses who, finding no place to sleep, were 
compelled to walk the streets, to seek shelter in doorways, unfinished 
buildings, restaurants, or wherever they could find a resting place. 

The morning of the 9th was an ideal autumn day, radiant and bright, the 
soft, warm breeze of Indian summer caressing with velvet touch the myriads 
of banners that almost hid from view the towering structures of the 
midcontinent metropolis. The city was early astir, and all were hastening 
toward a common goal - the gates of Jackson park. Throughout the entire 
day, and far into the night, railroads and steamboats were paced to their 
utmost capacity. The street-cars running to the park were wedged together 
for scores of blocks, awaiting a chance to move, and on none of them was 
there a spare inch of seating or standing room, men and women perching on 
the roofs, crowding on the platform, on the foot-boards, or wherever they 
could find a foothold. As recorded by the superintendent of admissions 761,
942 persons entered the grounds, against 275,000 and 397,000 as the 
highest figures respectively for the Philadelphia and Paris expositions. 
For once it must be confessed that Jackson park was crowded, and the means 
of communication all insufficient for this unwieldy throng. 

The Fair was profusely decorated, and especially the mansion of Illinois, 
though other state buildings donned their festal robes, the associated 
boards keeping open house, and in the name of Chicago extending to all a 
hearty welcome. As to the exercises they were but incidents of the day, 
the feature of which was the vast, surging multitude assembled in honor of 
the fete, to bid all hail to a city that many remembered as a black, 
charred ruin, the commiseration of the world, of which now its Fair was 
the wonder. At noon the Exposition flag was unfurled in the court of honor 
above the liberty bell, whose tones were presently heard afar in the 
grounds. Then was presented to its mayor the original deed to the site of 
Chicago, transferred to the government by the chief of the Pottawattomies. 
A procession of school children followed, representing various states and 
cities, a drill of the Chicago hussars, with music and further bell-
ringing by the representatives of many nations concluding the programme of 
the day. 

At night there was a procession of floats, at the head of which, one drawn 
by fourteen coal-black horses contained a female figure, led with silken 
cords by two other figures, typical of love and liberty. The former was 
radiant with spangles, on her head a phoenix with outstretched wings, and 
on her breast, the words "I Will," the motto of the Chicagonese. Elsewhere 
on the float young women in classic garb, beneath which, let us hope, they 
wore some warmer and less transparent clothing, represented science, 
literature, music, and art. Near the central group were a stand of colors 
and the national coat-of-arms, and around the base of the superstructure 
were grouped the flags of all nations, beneath it children in Grecian 
costume, each with a coat-of-arms, symbolic of the forty-four states of 
the union. The "I Will" float was followed by one named "Chicago in 1812," 
the date of the Fort Dearborn massacre. Then came "Chicago in War," with 
others allegorical of "Peace" and "Chicago Prostrate," the latter 
accompanied by an engine used at the great fire of 1871. At this point the 
crowd broke in on the procession; for now the display of fireworks was at 
hand, the remaining floats, those of "Commerce," "Columbus at the Court of 
Isabella and Ferdinand," and others belonging to foreign participants 
being excluded from the pageant. 

On the morning of the 10th the earlier visitors to Jackson park found 
there a number who had tarried all night on the grounds, not from choice 
it is presumed, but to avoid the crush which cost the lives of several 

Page 810

and injured not a few. Far into the morning hours the main avenues leading 
from the Fair were thronged with serried lines of vehicles in every form, 
from a four-in-hand to a butcher's cart, bearing homeward their loads of 
weary sight-seers; yet on this and the following day the attendance for 
each was more than a third of a million, the largest recorded except for 
the Chicago celebration. Thus did the people of many states and nations do 
honor to the city and its fair. 

In common with many others, the Indian building is devoted solely to 
official and social purposes. It is plainly but neatly built and 
furnished, the wood, glass, tiling, and stone work forming exhibits of the 
natural products of the state. Of French-Gothic design, its cathedral 
windows, its towers and gables, with the spires at either end, give to it 
the aspect of a chateau of moderate dimensions. The foundation story is of 
graystone, around which is a broad veranda, simply but tastefully 
embellished, and over the dormer windows are coats-of-arms in bas-relief. 
At all points of the compass are entrances leading into tiled hallways, 
one of them opening into a large semi-circular assembly room, connected 
with corridors by arches ornamented with Gothic fretwork. This chamber, 
occupying the entire southern section, is finished in white oak highly 
polished, its floors laid in mosaic or encaustic tiling, and among its 
decorative features are female figures symbolic of agriculture, education, 
and the Indiana maiden. On the northern side are parlors and reception 
chambers finished in sycamore and locust. Above are reading rooms, 
supplied with state papers and the works of native authors, prominent 
among the latter being several editions of Ben Hur and the poems of James 
Whitcomb Riley. Black walnut and curly maple are mainly used in these 
portions of the building, the larger rooms containing fireplaces in which 
Bedford stone is the chief material. 

Apart from the building and its furniture Indiana has no individual 
display, except in the fine and decorative arts, and these intended rather 
as a portion of the equipment than as exhibits. Among them are several 
landscapes by native artists, with portraits of prominent men, while in 
one of the reception rooms is a collection of painted chinaware, the 
handiwork of the late wife of ex-President Harrison. But even artistic and 
literary themes are here but slightly represented; for the home of Indiana 
is intended merely as a pleasant rendezvous and place of entertainment for 
visitors from that state and those whom they choose to invite. 

Dedication day fell on the 15th of June, the feature of the occasion being 
an impromptu speech from Benjamin Harrison. By B. F. Havens, executive 
commissioner, the keys were delivered to Clement Studebaker, president of 
the state board, the former pointing to the portraits of those whose names 
were linked with the history of the commonwealth, and the latter referring 
briefly to the tasteful structure now to be opened to the sons and 
daughters of Indiana. By Governor Matthews the building was dedicated to 
the youth of the state, and as a member of the woman's board, Mrs. 
Virginia C. Meredith spoke of woman's participation in the Fair. Then J. 
L. Campbell called attention to the resources and industries of Indiana, 
one of the largest cereal producing sections of the republic. As to her 
representation at the Fair, he claimed for his state a foremost rank among 
the manufactures and educational exhibits, while the most massive exhibit 
of all was in Chicago's Museum of Art, constructed entirely of Indiana 
limestone. After some further exercises, varied with music, a reception in 
the assembly room brought to a close the celebration of the day. 

Of the $150,000 appropriated by the legislature of Ohio, some $35,000 was 
used for the state building, which is of colonial pattern, its main 
entrance on the east, in the form of a semi-circular colonnaded porch, 
extending to the upper story. The wood work and tiling are all of native 
materials, the red tiles used for the roof being a contribution from New 
Philadelphia. Windows of stained glass bear the names of such men as 
Chase, Grant, Sheridan, and Sherman, while near the main entrance is a 
monument surmounted by a graceful figure, symbolic of Ohio, below which 
upon sub-pedestal are statues of those whom state and nation love to 
honor. Opening from the main lobby are parlors and committee rooms, and in 
the centre is a hall decorated 

Page 811

with buckeyes molded in stucco, the coat-of-arms worked in stained glass 
appearing above its spacious fireplace. Back of the hall is an open court, 
one of the enclosing wings containing the quarters of the bureau of 
information, and another a parlor for men, with writing and smoking rooms. 
On the second floor of the two wings are the assembly hall and a chamber 
for press correspondents. 

Among the portraits displayed in the Ohio building is that of General 
Sherman, from the brush of Mrs. Ellen Elizabeth King, copied by special 
request from one in possession of the war department. It represents the 
great soldier in full uniform and wearing the insignia of the army of 
Tennessee and the military division of the Mississippi, the latter 
including the badges of several corps of which he was the commander. 

Though less demonstrative than other states Ohio was not without special 
days of celebration. In June a reception was tendered to ex-President 
Harrison, informal but attended by several thousand people. Governor 
McKinley also received an ovation, and on Ohio day, the 15th of September, 
the chief executive and his staff were received by the director-general in 
front of the Administration building, where there was ringing of the 
liberty bell by the governor, with other exercises that need not here be 
described. 

For Michigan's home, adjoining that of Ohio, a choice location was 
assigned, west of the Art palace and fronting on two of the boulevards. It 
is a spacious edifice, with broad verandas on each of its sides, of no 
special order of architecture, but pleasing in general effect, with 
framework of pine colored in light gray, dormer windows, and lofty 
shingled roof, above which a balconied clock-tower rises to a height of 
130 feet. On the first floor is the main hall, a bright and cheerful 
apartment when illumined by electric lights, with bureau of information, 
check rooms, news-stands and other accommodations. But more attractive 
apartments are those finished and furnished by Saginaw, Muskegon, and 
Grand Rapids, the two first in the form of men's reception and reading 
rooms. The ladies' parlor, the special creation of the latter, is 
tastefully decorated in stucco and hung with beautiful tapestries designed 
by the women of that city, while in its furniture the leading factories 
present their finest products. From Grand Rapids also comes the carved 
marble mantel in the main corridor, 50 feet in width, the floor, together 
with those of the minor passages, being paved with Michigan tiling. 

In the central corridor is a marble bust of Governor Cass, one of the 
fathers of the northwest, and at the head of the stairway leading thence 
to the second story is a portrait of General Custer, attired in 
nondescript costume, with broad-brimmed hat, sailor shirt, army blouse, 
and red necktie, loosely covered by the insignia of his rank. Here also 
are other famous characters in the annals of state and nation. In the room 
reserved for the press is the last copy of every paper issued in Michigan 
on the 30th of April, the day before the opening of the Fair, with all 
subsequent issues printed during its progress. On this floor is an 
assembly room for social, musical, and religious gatherings, in which is a 
handsome pipe organ constructed by a Detroit firm. Across the corridor is 
the natural history collection from the state university, consisting of 
mounted deer, bears, birds, reptiles, and other specimens of Michigan 
fauna, past and present. 

Michigan day fell on the 13th of September; but as the exercises differed 
but little from those already described, it is unnecessary here to relate 
them. Of this and other state celebrations brief mention is made under the 
heading of World's Fair Miscellany. 

Wisconsin's building, with its high, abrupt roofs, turrets, and dormer 
windows, its body of pressed brick and brown sandstone, resembles rather 
the home of one of her substantial citizens than a structure intended for 
public use. Standing on a semi-circular plat of ground, its main front 
near the lagoon, with Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio for immediate neighbors, 
it differs from most of the others in that no staff is used in its 
construction, all the materials being of 

Page 812

domestic production. Walls and ceilings are finished in polished oak, 
cherry, bird's-eye maple, elm, butternut, birch, and other woods from 
Chippewa country, the wainscoting of the first floor being especially 
elaborate. Most of the panelling is also in hardwood, and the reception 
room or lobby, which occupies the entire ground floor, is paved with tiles 
made of Wisconsin clay by Wisconsin manufacturers. This chamber is divided 
into three compartments by spandrels of oak, on one of which is the coat-
of-arms. The furniture is chiefly of rattan, of the pattern seen at hotels 
and summer resorts. 

Among the pictures are several loaned by General Fairchild, when minister 
to Spain, including portraits of Columbus and his descendant, the duke of 
Veragua, of ex-Senator Doolittle and his wife, and of S. Fillmore Bennett. 
In the reception rooms for men and women are also works of art. From the 
watchword of the state, "Forward," Jean Pond Miner, a Wisconsin 
sculptress, has taken the theme for a marble group executed with singular 
delicacy and yet with sufficient boldness. In the prow of a boat stands a 
female figure, one hand uplifted, the other grasping an American flag, the 
pose suggestive of eager expectation and strength of will. The drapery 
seems to be carried backward by the wind, as if the craft were approaching 
land, the eagle which stands on the bow of the boat being recognized as 
the famous bird, Old Abe, which accompanied its regiment throughout the 
civil war. Among other works of note are "The Genius of Wisconsin," a 
quiet composition in marble by Nellie Mears, also a resident of the badger 
state. Features which largely partake of the artistic are the three 
handsome fireplaces on the ground floor, and the carved stairway of white 
oak leading to the chambers above. Midway is a window of stained Venetian 
glass, a contribution from the city of Superior, and at the head of the 
staircase are decorated glass panels overlooking the balcony without. On 
the second story are the rooms occupied by the state board, of which A. L. 
Smith is president, with an art loan collection, and the exhibit of the 
State Historical society, including works by Wisconsin authors and a 
bibliography of writers either native to the state or those who have made 
their reputation therein. 

Opposite the western annex to the Art palace is the clear-cut, two-story 
structure, built in the style of the Italian renaissance, which represents 
the state of Minnesota, its frame of wood, covered with staff, and its 
roof of Spanish tiling. A square portico, with pillars supporting the 
balcony, is the architectural feature of the main entrance, within the 
shadow of which stands the muscular figure of Hiawatha, with martial head-
gear of feathers, quiver at his back, and tomahawk in belt, bearing 

Page 813

across the stream the slender form of Minnehaha, as she passes not 
unwillingly from the wigwam of her father to that of her future husband. 
This is a contribution from the women and school children of Minneapolis, 
due largely to the efforts of Mrs. H. F. Brown of that city. The statue, 
fashioned in plaster, is to be cast in marble and placed in the state 
park, within sound and sight of the falls of Minnehaha. 

Within the building is a bureau of information, with postal and other 
accommodation. In the exhibition hall are mounted cariboo, moose, deer, 
bear, foxes, and smaller animals, many of them prepared by R. O. Sweeny of 
Duluth. There are some noble specimens of elk and moose heads, with a 
collection of game birds and photographs of famous fishing resorts on 
northern streams. In this section are several Indian curios, some of them 
reviving memories of the massacres of early days. Opposite the entrance is 
the main staircase rising from the rear of the hall, and about midway 
there is a semi-circular alcove lighted by windows of stained glass. At 
the head is worked on another window the coat-of-arms and its motto, 
"L'Etoile du Nord." Most of the decorative effects, however, are produced 
by sheaves of wheat and timothy, clover and other grasses, with numerous 
heads of elk protruding from the walls and antlers interlocked in the form 
of a chandelier. 

The general reception hall and the parlors for men and women are 
handsomely furnished, and especially worthy of note are the mantel and 
cabinet in the ladies' reception room. In the decorative scheme of the 
former the central feature is in the shape of a volume inscribed "Songs of 
Hiawatha," and near it a calumet, or pipe of peace, across which is a 
hatchet, a block of polished pipestone more than three feet square 
furnishing the material for the work. In several of the apartments are 
tastefully frescoed walls, many of the color decorations being the 
handiwork of women, while the finishing in pine is executed with pleasing 
effect. 

On the eastern shores of the northwest ponds are the buildings of the two 
Dakotas, Nebraska standing between them. Each has features of the colonial 
style of architecture, with broad verandas in front, that of the northern 
commonwealth with columns extended to the upper story, thus forming porch 
and balcony. The two divisions of this structure are separated by a broad 
band or frieze between windows in which wheat, the principal staple of 
North Dakota, is used for the plan of decoration. The main hall, where are 
the agricultural exhibits, is entered directly through the principal 
doorway, and here the embellishments are also in grain, the 

Page 814

grade of wheat known in the market as "No.1 hard" being worked into many 
artistic devices, both in the kernel and the sheaf. Varieties of nutritive 
grasses, to the number of about four-score, are also used in the formation 
of panels and the depicting of cattle, agricultural machinery, and farm 
scenes. To the wealth of the state as a producer of wheat further 
attention is called by a large painting from the brush of Carl Gutherz, 
representing a farm in the Red River valley. 

In the second story are reception parlors and rooms for the members of the 
press and the state commission. Here are specimens of decorated china and 
other forms of woman's handicraft. By women also was contributed the old-
fashioned cart in which was brought to Pembina the bride of the pioneer 
settler of North Dakota, attached to it an ox so mounted that he still 
appears to be dragging his precious burden. Here likewise are moose, deer, 
and buffalo, all of them in the best style of the taxidermist's art. 

While in the mansion of South Dakota her agricultural resources are freely 
illustrated, most of the exhibits, together with the structure that 
contains them, are suggestive rather of her wealth as a mining region. The 
exterior of the building is finished in Yankton cement, and in front is a 
semi-circular portico and balcony, on either side, and beyond is the 
exhibition hall lighted from the dome above the roof. Opening from the 
galleries are offices and rooms for the use of the state board and press 
correspondents. 

Among the features of the exhibits are a cabinet of fossils and a 
collection of paintings by women of Yankton, Sioux Falls, and other 
cities, with specimens of hand-painted china, and photographs of Dakota's 
artesian wells. Under the dome is a massive pillar of Sioux Falls jasper, 
upon which is a gilded globe surmounted by an eagle with outstretched 
wings. Elsewhere is shown a diamond-like mineral capable of cutting glass, 
with ores of gold, silver, copper, tin, gypsum, and mica. There is also a 
large assortment of petrifications, and there are cases filled with 
stalactites and stalagmites from the Cave of the Wind, in Custer county. 
Among other curiosities is a model of a cottage constructed from minerals 
gathered from the Black hills, in the vicinity of Custer city. It is about 
three feet in height, and of Gothic design, sandstone being worked into 
the foundation, and the tower at the corner capped with gold and silver 
quartz. Above the second story are quartzes, stalactites, stalagmites, 
slate, marble, and various ores, the roof being of mica cut into shapes 
resembling slabs of slate. This is a contribution from the women of Custer 
city, and not far away is a model of a farm-house with yard and outhouses, 
constructed of varieties of wood gathered from many states. 

Of Iowa's home at the Fair a portion was in existence long before ground 
was broken for the Columbian Exposition. This was in the form of a 
building called The Shelter, erected on a commanding site near the margin 
of the lake, a spot well known to habitues of Jackson park. It was a 
substantial edifice, with granite base, slate roof, and conical towers, 
the addition conforming to the architectural design and giving to the 
entire structure the aspect of a French chateau, decorated with flags and 
streamers. Over the southern front appears the word Iowa; on one of the 
towers are the names of her leading cities, and on another, medallions and 
bas-reliefs illustrative of the industries and annals of the state, while 
on the highest point of one of the roofs the figure of a farmer represents 
perhaps the most prominent of her wealth-producing classes. 

Yellow is the prevailing hue of the walls and decorations, symbolic of one 
of the greatest corn producing states in the union, her crop approximating 
and at times exceeding 300,000,000 bushels. In the hall, grain, and 
especially corn, is exclusively used for its decorative scheme; but this 
is best described in the words of him to whom the work was intrusted. "We 
have used," he says, "in decorating this room, 1,200 bushels of 

Page 815

corn and three and one half carloads of cereals. The capitals of the 
columns are worked out in corn shucks and millet heads. From the roof-tree 
to the walls the ceiling is divided into three sections, the top one being 
general in design and made of all the field products of the state. The 
next section has fourteen panels, those on the side ceiling containing 
figures illustrating the different industries of the state. At each end of 
the ceiling are panels containing the American eagle and shield worked out 
in grains, and in the four corners of the ceiling are shields with the 
device, "Iowa, 1846-1893," worked out on a blue field in white corn and 
shucks. Where the pillars join the roof is a frieze, with an elaborate 
scroll-work made of festoons of corn and wheat and millet seeds. In the 
centre of the hall is a model of the state capitol, made entirely of glass 
and filled with grain. It is 21 feet high, 23 feet long, and 13 feet wide. 
Facing the eastern entrance is a heroic group, the centre figure being a 
woman. It represents Iowa fostering her industries. Grouped around by the 
pillars are small pavilions and pagodas, on which are displayed the 
different products of the farm and mine." 

Page 816

From the rear of the hallway a broad flight of stairs leads to the 
assembly and other rooms above, the ground floor of this, the new portion 
of the building, containing reception parlors, offices, and headquarters 
for the state board and its committees. Opposite the landing of this 
stairway is a huge fireplace, upon the mantel of which is the inscription: 
"IOWA - The affections of her people, like the rivers of her borders, flow 
to an inseparable union." Passing into the assembly chamber, the visitor 
finds its walls hung with native works of art, the feminine industries 
which border upon art being also here displayed. Opening from the hall is 
a parlor for women, its frieze and panels containing floral and other 
tasteful designs. For men there are general reception rooms and special 
apartments for smoking and writing, while for the press are reserved two 
handsome chamber, one of them adorned with figures symbolic of the 
fraternity. Newsboys are shown in eager pursuit of customers; the 
printer's devil appears, and there are bas-reliefs of shears, paste-pots, 
and other implements of the craft. In the other chamber are newspapers, 
desks, and all journalistic equipments, including telegraph service. 
Finally, connected with the assembly hall is a room in which is installed 
the exhibit of the State Historical society. 

As agriculture is the foundation of Nebraska's wealth, it is fitting that 
her exposition hall should be well stored with specimens of grain and 
other products of the soil. These are for the most part arranged by 
counties, a map of Platte, one of the riches of them being fashioned of 
wheat, oats, rye, and grass seed. But that which attracts most attention 
is the exhibit of beet-sugar industries, in which for several years the 
state has been largely engaged. These are displayed in photographic form, 
and in the centre of the hall is a pyramid composed of jars in the 
contents of which are shown the various stages of growth and manufacture, 
from the seed to the full-grown beet, and from pulp and juice to syrup and 
granulated sugar. After studying this exhibit, together with the 
ornamental display of golden grain on wall and frieze, the visitor takes 
no exception to the mottoes worked in native grasses, "Corn is King," 
"Sugar is Queen." In rear of the exhibition chamber is a room curtained 
off from the main floor, in which a woman who claims to be "the greatest 
butter artist in the world" gives daily exhibitions of her skill in 
moulding. Here, with paddles, sticks, and other simple implements, she 
fashions from this plastic material the seal and arms of the state, 
together with fruits and grains, floral and other designs. 

The building itself is of the later colonial style, with massive columns 
and spacious portico approached by broad flights of steps, and with the 
seal of Nebraska boldly executed on the architrave. On the ground floor 
are accommodations for the state board, a post-office, and a parlor for 
men, a double stairway leading to the rooms above. On the second story are 
several handsome apartments, with an art exhibit and a collection of all 
the more prominent newspapers published throughout the state. In one of 
the rooms, completely furnished by Nebraska women, is a display of 
decorated china, paintings on plaques, artificial flowers, fancy 
needlework, and other evidences of feminine skill and taste. The Indian 
tepee and the buffalo, which also form a portion of the exhibits, are but 
memories of an age, not many years distant, when Nebraska was till in the 
grasp of the savage, and when herds of bison roamed over one of the most 
fertile regions of the west. 

Page 817

"Ad Astra per Aspera" is an ambitious watchword for individual or state, 
but one that is fully justified in the history of Kansas. In Exposition 
affairs she has evinced all the typical western vigor, her buildings 
itself being among the largest and most attractive on the grounds. It is 
cruciform in shape, nearly 140 feet in either direction, and of unique and 
substantial design. A broad arch forms the main entrance, a large, tower-
like projection, surmounted by a cupola, forming the point of 
architectural emphasis. In bas-relief upon the walls of this projection is 
the seal of the state, with its star-like motto placed within the rim of a 
medallion, and flanked on either side by seraphim with broad-spread wings. 
Above the main body of the structure is a glass dome, elliptical in shape 
and bearing upon its interior surface the watchword of the state in 
letters of gold wrought on a star-lit sky. On the main floor are sheaves 
of wheat, stalks of corn, and other native products, the cobs being cut 
into sections and grains and grasses fashioned into mounds, ornamental 
cornice work, dados, and wall bases. In another section are arranged the 
fruits and vegetables of Kansas, all of excellent quality, and especially 
her apples, beets, and melons. 

In the second story the decorative features are mainly the handiwork of 
women. The exhibition hall is beneath the dome, and around it are parlors 
neatly furnished and with paintings by local artists. Of the mural 
decorations the most pleasing are those in which the golden face of the 
sunflower is repeated, while banners hung upon the walls present sheaves 
of such grains as are raised to advantage in special localities. One of 
these chambers was furnished by Jewell county, which claims to excel in 
production of corn; but here the state flower still asserts itself, even 
in the carvings of the easy chairs. Elsewhere are special exhibits of 
woman's industrial art, with one representing the public school system of 
Kansas. 

But the feature of the display, and in truth one of the features of the 
entire Exposition, is the collection of specimens in natural history, 
arranged in artistic groups in an annex erected for the purpose. 
Contributed by the University of Kansas, this collection was mainly 
gathered and prepared 

Page 818

by its custodian, Lewis Lindsay Dyche, for several years professor of 
zoology and curator of birds and mammals. To secure these 120 specimens 
was a ten years' labor of love, and to mount them, even with the aid of 
skilled assistants, was the task of four additional years, the professor 
travelling far into the mountainous regions on the northern verge of 
British Columbia, and elsewhere venturing where never before white man had 
ventured. Among these groups are many animals which are rapidly becoming 
extinct - the moose, the elk, the Rocky Mountain sheep, and others of 
which, a few years hence, not a single specimen will remain alive. An 
additional value is imparted by the skill of the taxidermist who, in 
addition to a perfect mastery of his art, is also a naturalist, one who 
has studied his subjects, not in cages, but in forest lair and on mountain 
slope, has reproduced them in their natural habitat and with their natural 
environment, as they crouch or walk or leap, even to the rigid tendons, 
the swelling muscles, the look of fear or pain or defiance with which they 
yield their life. In a word, the Kansas collection is rather an exhibit of 
animal sculpture than of taxidermy, bringing that science into close 
relation with plastic art. 

In front of the collection is a pair of bull moose, fighting as only moose 
can fight when each one struggles for the supremacy. Admirably are here 
portrayed the fury of the combat, the tension of limb, and contraction of 
muscle, this group holding in taxidermal science the place accorded to 
Landseer's famous painting of forest monarchs engaged in a duel to the 
death. Near by are mountain lions quarrelling over the carcass of a deer, 
and close at hand is a lioness with cubs not larger than kittens. Next is 
a cluster of foxes, among them a silver fox whose fur is valued at $150; 
and then a pair of ocelots or tiger cats, with lynxes in life-like 
posture. Wolves are tearing at the remains of a buffalo, of which little 
is left for a group of coyotes awaiting their share of the feast. Three 
young coyotes are faring better, one having secured the tail of a rabbit, 
and the others tearing the body apart. Close to the wall is a group of 
buffalo, one of them, as is claimed, the largest and best mounted specimen 
on exhibition anywhere in the world. 

At the head of a band of elk stands a magnificent Wapiti bull, measuring 
ten feet nine inches from tip to toe to point of antler, the poise and 
contour perfectly reproduced, and in the head and face an air of conscious 
superiority. This was killed in Colorado in 1890, and in common with most 
of the specimens met his fate at the hands of the professor. In close 
proximity is a band of antelope of a variety seldom met with in haunts 
accessible to man, and in a miniature canon in the background are two 
grizzly bears, one of them facing the spectator. On a rocky promontory in 
line with the canon are ten Rocky Mountain sheep, this by far the best 
collection extant of a species rapidly becoming extinct. On the topmost 
crag the leader keeps watch and ward, a veritable king of the big horns, 
of phenomenal stature but perfect in shape and color. On another peak are 
Rocky Mountain goats, a ram with ewes and young bucks, the former standing 
guard and the others grouped below in realistic attitudes. 

But the most imposing group in the collection is a family of seven moose, 
arranged as though in the swamp lands near the lake of the Woods, where 
all the animals were killed. At their head is an enormous 

Page 819

bull, a leviathan of his kind, with a measurement of more than nine feet 
from toe to antler and seven to the top of the withers. On rocky, moss-
covered ground near by are caribou, and near the moose are Virginia deer 
feeding on a grassy slope. Of mule deer there is a herd of nine, in front, 
a noble buck, and all in natural shape and posture, as in their mountain 
home. In addition to these is a score of heads all handsomely mounted and 
of smaller animals there is a liberal display, from wolverines to 
jackrabbits and prairie dogs. The entire exhibit is arranged in panoramic 
form, with artificial groundwork, in places twenty feet high, and so 
constructed as to represent, as far as possible, the natural habitat of 
all the species. 

Turning to the exhibits of the Pacific states may first be mentioned those 
of California, which in her own, as in the main departments of the Fair, 
is represented as befits this enterprising and ambitious commonwealth of 
the furthest west. Of her contributions to the latter, and especially to 
the Mining, Agricultural and Horticultural divisions, sufficient mention 
has been made, and many of these are duplicated, or rather supplemented, 
in her home at Jackson park. That the state appears to such advantage is 
due in part to the liberal appropriation of her legislature, largely 
increased by the subscriptions of counties and individuals, and amounting 
in all to $750,000. But here also were the materials for a choice and 
elaborate display; for in few sections of the republic is there a greater 
diversity of products, and in few have greater results been achieved in 
all the more prominent branches of industry. 

California's edifice is a reproduction of the mission buildings of her 
golden age, the era that preceded the age of gold, when Franciscan padres 
dozed away their harmless lives, and amid peace and plenty ate and drank 
of the products of the soil planted and garnered by their neophytes. It is 
a composite design, the exterior resembling those of the Santa Barbara and 
San Luis Obispo missions, with traces of that which Junipero Serra founded 
at San Diego, far back in the eighteenth century. Unless it be for the 
belfries, the central dome, and roof garden, there is little attempt at 
external decoration, while in the interior the spacious nave and 
intersecting aisles impart a church-like aspect, and also afford ample 
room for exhibits. Erected as it is on one of the choicest locations in 
the park, this antique structure, with its massive walls of adobe and roof 
of Spanish tiles, is one of the landmarks of the Fair; but while not 
without elements of the picturesque, it would seem that a more appropriate 
design could have been selected for the display of mineral specimens, of 
fruits and cereals fresh gathered from the rich soil of the golden state. 

As to the decorative scheme may first be mentioned the seal of the 
commonwealth above the principal 

Page 820

entrance-way, and on either side an inscription referring to the admission 
of California into the union. Within the portal is a colossal statue of 
California, with girdle of gold, bearing in her right hand the olive 
branch of peace, and at her feet a cornucopia filled with fruits. In the 
southern gallery a large canvas illustrates the process of placer mining 
in pioneer days, and this is flanked by models of primitive mining 
implements, wrought in pine cones and cedar. Opposite is depicted a 
farming scene, adjoining which are farm products and utensils, other 
paintings in the northern gallery and elsewhere representing the flora of 
the state and her production of wine. Thus are symbolized the several 
industrial eras; first the mining era which succeeded the pastoral age; 
then agriculture which gradually supplanted mining as the leading 
industry, this in turn giving place to horticulture and the making of 
wine. The balustrade which encircles the rotunda on the second floor is 
adorned with branches of oak, manzanita, and pine, from which depend 
mosses and ferns, the posts extending thence to the summit of the dome 
wreathed with the foliage of palms. Pendent from arches and beams are 
baskets filled with semi-tropical plants. 

In connection with the decorative features may also be mentioned the 
eschscholtzia and wild flower rooms, adjoining each other in the gallery 
and separated only by portieres, one of them made of sixteenth century 
cloth, bordered with poppies and with fringe of fold. In the eschscholtzia 
chamber, so-called after the plant which bears the name of Eschscholtz, 
the botanist, the design is everywhere suggestive of the wild poppy, the 
flower of California. The decorations are in white and gold, and the 
canvas ceiling is stretched on frames and adorned with floral wreaths and 
garlands, in the centre of each being the name of one of the counties. On 
the horizontal portion of the ceiling is a panel representing a comely 
damsel, ruddy of hue and with flowing auburn tresses, scattering the 
golden poppy broadcast over the land. In the wild flower room, the floral 
wealth of the state is depicted in a number of water colors executed by 
Mrs. Marianne Matthieu, a San Franciscan artist. The walls and ceiling are 
draped in olive-green silk, and of the same color are the draperies of 
brocaded satin fringed with gold. Pressed flowers are displayed in a 
cabinet, and ferns on a pedestal of marble and in a vase set on a rustic 
stand, an handsome specimen of ceramic art. 

Unlike the majority of the state edifices, California's domicile is not 
merely a club-house or place of rest and social intercourse for visitors, 
stored with historic and personal relics. While serving for these and 
other purposes, it is also an exposition building, and if, as I have said, 
some of its exhibits are duplicates, they are 

Page 821

such as will bear duplication; for here is represented a state which ranks 
among the foremost of the sisterhood in the production of cereals and 
fruits, supplying, since 1848, more than two-thirds of the total yield of 
gold, and with manufacturing and other industries yet almost in their 
infancy, but capable of infinite development. 

The collections are from many counties, and are classified under the 
general departments of mining, agriculture, horticulture, and viticulture; 
but include also exhibits of forestry, fisheries, fauna, and flora, with 
such as pertain to the arts and to education. In the mining display are 
nearly all the metals and minerals of commercial value found in 
California, among them gold, silver, and nickel; lead, tin, copper, 
antimony, aluminum, and iron; sulphur and salt; gypsum and kaolin; 
asphalt, borax, and petroleum. Of farm and market-garden products there 
are wheat, oats, barley, maize, broom and Egyptian corn, honey and 
sorghum; pumpkins, squashes, and beets; Irish and sweet potatoes; beans of 
thirty descriptions; tomatoes, onions, cabbages, carrots, and turnips. 
Fruits, fresh, canned, and dried, crystallized and preserved, are here in 
every species and form. There are oranges, lemons, and limes; apples, 
quinces, and pears; peaches, plums, and nectarines; figs, prunes, and 
dates; olives, cherries, and bananas, with berries and currants of many 
kinds, and grapes and raisins in scores of varieties; of jellies and 
marmalades, wines, and brandies, there is an elaborate display; and of 
nuts there are the English, Eastern, and California walnut, with 
chestnuts, pecans, peanuts, and almonds. There are palm-trees a century 
old, a specimen from Santa Barbara county rising from a Spanish fountain 
in the centre of the dome to a height of 60 feet. There are sections of 
the giant redwoods of which all the world has read, one from Humboldt 
county hollowed from a tree more than 400 feet in height, 76 in 
circumference near the ground, and containing, it is said, 400,000 feet of 
lumber. Finally, there are miniature groves of orange, date, citron, 
lemon, lime, cocoanut, guava, and loquat trees, with subtropical plants 
arranged in artistic groupings. By many of the counties exhibits of their 
products and resources were arranged in separate sections, some of them 
containing choice and varied collections. 

As to special features may first be mentioned the heroic 

Page 822

statue in bronze of James W. Marshall, the discoverer of gold, at the base 
of which are cases of nuggets and other specimens, and around it larger 
cases of minerals and ores. Here and elsewhere are more than 6,000 samples 
of metals and minerals, contributed from all the more prominent mining 
properties. In the section devoted to southern California is the "Palace 
of Plenty," a cruciform structure fashioned of the products of southern 
counties. In glass cases around its base are 40 kinds of grain, and near 
it a display of English walnuts in a revolving tower of glass, silver line 
and octagonal in shape, adjoining which is a large globular structure 
entirely covered with oranges. Not far away is a pyramid of fruit, 16 feet 
in height, and surmounted by the figure of a bear. Santa Barbara county 
has a tower of olive oil, 30 feet high, its frame of iron, its apex of 
pampas plumes, and on the shelves, 1,600 bottles or nearly two tons of 
oil. Santa Clara county has an exhibit of prunes wrought in the shape of a 
horse, and Humboldt, a bear cave, with a fierce looking brute at its 
mouth. Ventura shows a pagoda constructed of beans; San Diego, a portiere 
of silk cocoons, and Fresno a miniature temple of redwood roofed with 
stalks of grain and pampas plumes. Kern county's structure is in the form 
of a bridge, on the top and sides of which are arranged in glass jars her 
cereal, fruits, and cotton, while beneath the span is a collection of 
minerals. The base of the bridge rests on two globes labeled "Orient" and 
"Occident," and thus is suggested her world-wide range of products. Under 
the western gallery the chamber of commerce has an elaborate display of 
grains from several counties, of citrus fruits from Riverside, Los 
Angeles, and San Bernardino, and of wines from the largest cellars in 
California, containing about one half of the aggregate production of the 
United States. 

In the art gallery are contributions from the foremost of California 
artists, such men as Thomas Hill, William Keith, Norton Bush, and Virgil 
Williams. Women are also largely represented, with a dozen or more 
exhibitors. Not a few of the works are loans from private collections, and 
of all that were submitted to the committee less than one third were 
accepted. Here also is an exhibit of the arts and industries of women, 
among which are included music and literature. For this purpose a large 
and handsomely furnished chamber was prepared, with partitions of carved 
redwood, and in the corners, spaces filled with divans. At the entrance is 
a golden gate, designed by Mrs. Vance Cheney and fashioned of large gilded 
leaves, above which are rugged trunks of trees adorned with foliage and 
fruits, all worked in tints of gold and gold-bearing quartz. 

Page 824

On one of the walls are portraits of California musicians, and near them 
the works of composers, with Hawaiian, Indian, Japanese, and Chinese 
instruments hung on panels in each of the corners. Elsewhere, in bookcases 
of carved native woods, are contributions from California authors, some of 
them of more than local celebrity. There are also shelves containing 
painted china and pottery, and there are panels on which are fire etchings 
and poker work, with designs in brass and iron, embroidery, needlework, 
and other articles fashioned by the deft fingers of California women. 

In the historical display are many mission and Indian relics, the former 
freely contributed by those in charge of the collections gathered by the 
Franciscan fathers. From the Los Angeles school of art and from Santa Fe 
are paintings and photographs of the missions, and of men who have played 
a prominent part in the annals of the state. Kern, Butte, and Chico 
counties send a large number of Indian baskets and curios, and in this 
connection may be mentioned the pictures of Alaskan scenery, including the 
Muir and Taku glaciers, Juneau, and an ocean view from Sitka, these the 
property of the Pacific Coast Steamship company. Wells, Fargo and company 
have also an historical collection, with portraits of the presidents and 
other officials of this famous express and banking association, from Henry 
Wells and William G. Fargo, its founders, to John H. Valentine, elected 
president as successor to Lloyd Tevis in 1892. There are also the 
portraits of agents of the company who have manfully resisted the attacks 
of highwaymen, with broken treasure boxes and other articles from 
plundered stages and trains. For the fourteen years ending with November 
1884, there were no less than 313 actual and 34 attempted stage robberies, 
the loss from these and train robberies exceeding $927,000. Since that 
date no general report has been made; but, as the company remarks, "this 
has not been due to dearth of material." George D. Roberts is here, George 
Hackett, Aaron Ross, Hank Monk, and other celebrities. There is the oldest 
railroad pass in existence, granted in 1836 to W. C. Gray, then in charge 
of the express traffic on the Boston and Lowell line. There are signs more 
than half a century old; there are posters offering large rewards for the 
apprehension of desperadoes; there are the stamps used by the Pony 
express, and finally there is the double-barrelled shot-gun with which, as 
his only weapon, "Black Bart" played the role of the lone highwayman. 

By the San Francisco board of directors was prepared, in the form of a 
circular relief map, a panoramic outline of the city, its bay, and the 
shores adjacent. The model is more than 100 feet in circumference and 
seven in height; but depressed beneath the level of the floor so as to 
afford a perfect bird's-eye view. All the principal streets and buildings 
are shown, with railroads, park, and plazas, on the scale of one square 
foot to the block, and thoroughfares two inches in width. Among the 
objects of this exhibit was to show the geographical and other advantages 
of San Francisco, as the western gateway of the nation, and with one of 
the finest harbors in the world. 

Page 826

Still another special exhibit is the collection of astronomical 
photographs illustrating the work of the Lick observatory in the space 
allotted to Santa Clara county, where, near the summit of Mount Hamilton, 
more than 4,000 feet above the sea-level, is the site of this well known 
institution. Of these, three specimens are here reproduced, the one 
representing the total solar eclipse of 1893 being a copy of a photograph 
taken in Chile by the members of an expedition specially despatched for 
that purpose. Among other valuable work accomplished by the observatory, 
of which E. S. Holden is director, are the observations of the transit of 
Mercury in 1881, of the transit of Venus in 1882, and the discovery and 
measurement of a large number of double stars. 

Second to California's elaborate display, and second only, is that of 
Washington, one of the youngest and most vigorous among the Pacific coast 
sisterhood. To her rich and multiform resources, and to her thriving 
industries, as exemplified in the main departments of the Fair, and 
especially in the Agricultural, Horticultural, Forestry, Fisheries, and 
Mining divisions, I have called attention in other sections of this work. 
For her home at Jackson Park a choice location was allotted, near one of 
the principal entrances, this being accorded, as explained by the director-
general, on account of her liberal appropriation, and her prompt 
application for space on which to erect a separate building, the first one 
received on all the list. 

Of the forest and mineral wealth of Washington there is an excellent 
illustration in the building itself, the materials for which were 
collected and shipped from her logging camps, quarries, and factories at 
considerable expense of time and money, and with results that speak for 
themselves. Nearly all the materials; not only the lumber, logs, and 
stone, but the doors, window frames, and sashes; the moldings, panellings, 
and wainscoting; the stairs and railings were contributed by her citizens; 
for nowhere was displayed a more general interest in the great World's 
Fair, and a more worthy ambition that the state should be well 
represented. 

The Washington edifice cannot be readily mistaken; for it is unique and 
characteristic in appearance, and in front of it is one of the tallest 
flag-staffs in the world, 238 feet in height, and cut from the fir-tree 
forests that encircle Puget sound. For the plan competition was invited 
from architects resident in the state, the one selected by the director of 
works, to whom were submitted the prize drawings, being that of Warren P. 
Skillings, who thus became the artificer of the building. The foundations 
and lower walls are of fir logs, some of them 

Page 827

127 feet long, eight in diameter, and yet so cut away that the timber 
squared from the surface of each would suffice to build a room cottage. 
The roof is shingled, and supported by massive timber trusses, and the 
interior finished in cedar and fir; all the materials used coming from the 
evergreen state, even to the nails and the paint. The first floor is 
almost absorbed by the central hall, and on the second story is a 
reception chamber, with parlors and committee rooms. In the wings are 
grouped the principal exhibits, one of them having a solid concrete floor, 
on which are arranged the mineral collections. Of the two main entrances, 
the one facing the lagoon is constructed of carved building stones, and 
the other, fronting on the grounds, of ores with veins of silver, lead, 
and various metals, with mosses and vines in the crevices. 

The building is plainly furnished, and with a view to display the exhibits 
to the best advantage. As to decorative features, there is first of all 
the seal of the state carved from native woods, the centre of spruce, with 
stars made of quaking asp surrounding the head of Washington, whose 
features are fashioned of madrona, his wig of elderberry, his coat of 
black cedar, and his ruff of mountain pine. Among the decorated panellings 
are those which display the rhododendron, or state flower, carved on white 
maple, and a spray of hops on native oak. On larger panels carved in birch 
are shipping, mining, lumbering, and farming scenes, with a vessel loading 
grain at the wharf; a train of freight cars issuing from the tunnel of a 
mine; a saw-mill, with operatives at work, and a farm with harvesters in 
the grain fields and a large cornucopia from which are pouring the fruits 
of the earth. 

Entering at the south wing the visitor is confronted with great sections 
of fir, spruce, cedar, oak, and maple, from the timber regions of Puget 
sound, some of them the full diameter of the trees, and others displaying 
the finish they will take. A huge fir stump has a cedar log entangled in 
its root, thus showing that the fir has grown above the cedar, and as the 
latter is perfectly sound, and the former at least two centuries old, we 
have here sufficient proof of the durability of Washington timber. In this 
section are also rolls of wrapping paper made from the pulp of the fir and 
cottonwood. Among other manufactures are wooden vessels, shingles, and 
lumber in various forms. Near by is the mining and mineral exhibit, mainly 
of gold, silver, lead, onyx, coal, iron, copper, asbestos, mineral paint, 
and building stones. Here is a block of coal from the Rosslyn mine, 
weighing more than 25 tons, and probably the largest that was ever mined 
in a single piece. 

Connecting the southern wing with the body of the building is a corridor 
neatly draped with cereals and fruits, the former in sheaf and wondrous 
large. On the ground floor of the main structure is a model farm in 
miniature, with houses, barns, and fences; fields in summer fallow, with 
ting gang ploughs at work, and all the machinery and implements 
represented on a diminutive scale. Here also are mounted specimens of the 
fauna of Washington, her elk, deer, and bear; her seals and sea-fowl; her 
silver salmon, her mountain trout, and other varieties of fish, with the 
skeleton of a mammoth elephant, thirteen feet high and with tusks nearly 
ten feet in length. Thence to the north wing leads another corridor where 
is a display of garden vegetables - cabbages, beets, potatoes, onions, 
parsnips, and turnips of phenomenal size and yet of excellent quality. 

In the northern wing are the educational and art exhibits, with a 
collection of woman's work, including needlework, lace-making, embroidery, 
and panel-paintings. The school buildings and systems of Seattle, Tacoma, 
Spokane, and other cities are shown in photographic form, with the pupils 
at their studies or exercises, and there are numerous specimens of 
chirography, drawing, and drafting. In the art display are excellent 
paintings in oil and water colors, all of local subjects and by Washington 
artists. In photographs are also views of the homes and business 
structures of Tacoma, whose site, a dozen years ago, was little better 
than a wilderness of forest primeval, and where now are business blocks 
and residences worthy of a city of metropolitan rank. 

Page 828

Ascending to the upper floor the visitor is entertained by cultured men 
and women, in apartments handsomely furnished, and with no lack of the 
hospitality characteristic of the evergreen state. Especially was this 
apparent on the day selected for celebration, for which the simple 
exercises were arranged by the state commission, with N. G. Blalock as 
president. 

Idaho's representation at the Fair is largely due to her commissioner, 
James M. Wells, the only one appointed for that state. Through his 
persistent and well directed efforts, a region rich in resources and 
possibilities, but before comparatively unknown, has taken rank at the 
great Exposition with many of the older and more populous sections. The 
state building, one of the most unique and original structures in Jackson 
park, is a modified form of a Swiss chalet, built of logs of uniform 
thickness on a foundation of lava rock, these and all other materials of 
home production. The logs are rough hewn and represent more than twenty 
varieties of timber which grow in the forests of Idaho, among them, pine, 
fir, cottonwood, aspen, cedar, tamarack, hemlock, alder, yew, thorn, and 
willow. In front of the edifice, beneath its overhanging eaves, is the 
seal of the state cut in stone, and over the shield of the commonwealth, a 
mounted specimen of a stag. The entrance is in the form of a rude archway 
of lave rock, and a wainscoting of minerals is a feature of the hallway, 
the offices opening from them being finished in fir, cedar, tamarack, and 
pine. The outer doors are composed of mica instead of glass, thus calling 
attention to a mineral found only in Idaho and North Carolina in deposits 
of commercial value. The fireplaces are made of white marble, basaltic 
rock, and pressed brick, the last representing a recent but promising 
industry. In pictorial form are illustrated here and there the scenery and 
characteristic flora of the state. 

On the second floor are reception rooms, separated transversely by what is 
known as Mica hall, its doors and windows fashioned of blocks and sheets 
of mica and with wainscoting of the same material. The parlor for men is 
furnished as an old-time hunter's lodge, with fireplace of native marble, 
three-pronged andirons resembling bear traps, and on the walls various 
trophies of the chase. 

Page 829

Mounted deer, elk, caribou, and sheep are picturesquely grouped, and here 
is also a cougar slain by the knife of a noted huntsman. Above the 
fireplace is the rifle of the Modoc chief, Captain Jack, and among other 
articles are Indian relics and costumes of brilliant hues. The doors of 
the lodge are of hewn oak, the hinges and fastenings in the form of dirks, 
flasks, arrows, pistols, and other weapons and implements. Elsewhere in 
the building the bracings and hinges of the doors, most of which are mode 
of a single slab of timber, are in imitation of miners' tools. In the 
women's parlor are a mantel of white marble, homespun carpet, and tea-set 
arranged on an oaken sideboard. Old-fashioned candlesticks are fastened to 
the rough-hewn logs, where also hang Indian baskets and fabrics, while 
vegetables, corn, and tobacco speak of the domestic products of the state. 

On the third floor is the exhibition chamber, about 50 feet square, in 
which is an elaborate display of cereals, with hundreds of jars of fruit 
and a complete herbarium of flowers and grasses. Here also is an exhibit 
of taxidermy, including members of the deer family with bears and wolves, 
all in life-like attitudes. The rarest specimen among them is of a black 
wolf, which appears with a rabbit in its mouth, amid what appears to be a 
patch of sagebrush. In a glass case is a collection of more than 100 
varieties of birds indigenous to the state. 

In the collection and organization of Montana's exhibits woman plays a 
prominent part, and a liberal share of the appropriation was set aside for 
her use, five lady managers having charge of all matters pertaining to 
dairy products, poultry, pantry stores, needle-work, floriculture, and 
such of the fine arts, plastic and ornamental, as are the products of 
woman's hands. The president of the woman's branch is Mrs. J. E. Rickards, 
wife of the governor, with Mrs. Clara L. M'Adow as associate, Stephen De 
Wolf being at the head of the board. 

The state building is a one-story structure of Romanesque design, its 
arched vestibule with marble floor, in front of which is a trophy of 
precious ores, surmounted by a lordly elk. On one of the panels at the 
side is the state motto, "Oro & Plata," and on the other the inscription, 
"A.D., MDCCCXCIII." Within are parlors and a general reception room in the 
form of a rotunda, the architectural feature of the interior being its 
heavy Roman pilasters with massive caps and bases. The rotunda, which is 

Page 830

octagonal in shape, is finished in native pine, the upper panels decorated 
with the heads of buffalo, elk, bear, and other animals indigenous to the 
state. Light is admitted through the stained glass roof of a dome beneath 
which are paintings that speak of the picturesque scenery and mineral 
wealth of Montana. The walls are tinted an olive green, as are those of 
the women's parlors to the right, all the furniture being upholstered in 
leather. Back of the main reception room is a banquet hall, in the centre 
of which is a group of mounted elk, and elsewhere are smoking and reading 
rooms supplied with desks, tables, and easy chairs. 

Among the paintings most admired is that of Shoshone Falls, representing a 
seething mass of water falling over projecting cliffs, on the brow of 
which is a pine tree about to plunge into the rapids below. Among Indian 
subjects are the crossing of the Lo Lo trail by the Nez Perce tribe, and 
one named "Me," showing a plumed and painted brave gazing at his own 
portrait. Russell, "the cow-boy artist," entirely self-taught, has several 
subjects selected from incidents of his life, as "The Bucking Broncho," 
"The Buffalo Hunt," and "The Indian Tepee." From the women of Montana are 
several portraits, with photographs of early settlers and prominent 
citizens. In a broad gallery surrounding the rotunda are specimens of 
Montana's fruits, natural and preserved, together with samples of feminine 
handiwork. 

On a site adjoining that of the Washington building, Colorado erected a 
neat and commodious edifice in style of old Spanish architecture, with 
slender towers, in which are spiral staircases, rising from the main 
facade to a height of nearly 100 feet. The color scheme is in ivory white, 
and the decorations, though not elaborate, are sufficient to relieve the 
broad, plain surface of the walls. Passing through portals 40 feet in 
width, the visitor enters the central hall, whence stairways lead to the 
floor above. At the end of the hall is a large mantel of onyx, flanked by 
glass doors opening into the offices, and on the sides are smoking and 
reception chambers. On the second story an assembly room, with vaulted 
ceiling, extends across the centre of the building, and adjoining it are 
reading and writing rooms, from which is access to hanging balconies. 

The home of the centennial state was intended merely as a place of rest 
and entertainment, and apart from relics and curiosities, contains no 
special exhibits, Colorado reserving her strength fro the main departments 
of the Exposition. While nearly all the western states are well 
represented, there are some to whom special credit is due, and among them 
is Colorado, whose display is worthy of her resources and achievements. A 
generation has not yet passed away since, in 1859, the discovery of gold 
drew westward the second great migration across the plains; and yet within 
that time Colorado, standing almost in midcontinent between the west and 
the further west, has already surpassed her older sisters, and with a 
future the greatness of which no man can foretell. As a mining region she 
ranks first in the production of silver and second in output of gold. 
Stock-raising has ever been a profitable industry, nearly 2,000,000 cattle 
grazing among her valleys and 

Page 831

foothills, with annual shipments east of 100,000 head. Her yield of 
cereals and fruits is rapidly increasing, and her irrigation system is 
among the best in the republic. In civic growth no state has a prouder 
record, Denver, which in 1860 was a straggling village, with but a single 
pound of nails in all the settlement, having in 1880 a population of 36,
000, and in 1890 of 107,000, or nearly a threefold gain within a decade. 

Utah's participation in the Fair is largely due to the enterprise of her 
Mormon population, by whom were also subscribed most of the necessary 
funds, a legislative appropriation of $50,000 being vetoed by the 
governor. In the territorial building and its contents, as in the 
principal departments of the Exposition, is strongly expressed the 
individuality of the Mormon community, a statue of Brigham Young, for 
instance, standing in front of the edifice, while the arch near the main 
portal is a partial reproduction of the old Eagle gate of the Mormon 
temple. But the industries and resources of Utah are also fully 
exemplified, 

Page 832

and especially the industries of women, no less than twenty-six county 
associations, with clubs innumerable, working in unison with the 
territorial board, of which R. C. Chambers is president. 

The home of Utah stands on the northern verge of the grounds, its front 
resembling, on a smaller scale, the classic structures that surround the 
central court. For the foundations, columns, pilasters, and other 
portions, the materials used are in imitation of native building stones, 
while the walls are fashioned as in a structure of adobes. The portico, 
with its Ionic pillars, is the point of architectural emphasis, and this 
is approached from a spacious terrace, to which a broad flight of steps 
leads from the avenue adjacent. In the centre of the building is an 
exhibition hall, open from floor to skylight, and elsewhere are reception 
rooms, offices, and a bureau of information, with other offices on the 
second floor, where also is an apartment for special exhibits. 

In oaken cases around the central hall and in the gallery chamber the 
exhibits are neatly grouped, and in such manner as to illustrate to the 
best advantage the resources and possibilities of Utah. Gold, silver, and 
sulphur are the principal minerals displayed, and with them is shown the 
process of reducing sulphur and of handling rock salt and borax, both of 
which are found in large deposits. The silk and beet-sugar industries are 
well represented, and of cotton there are several specimens. A feature in 
the display is the collection of woman's work, and especially the articles 
contributed by the board of lady managers. Among them are portieres of 
broadcloth richly decorated; rugs made of the skins of the grizzly bear 
and mountain lion, and a table and clock of native woods and onyx. 
Photographs are abundant, showing the scenery of Utah, her homes, her 
temple, and her tabernacle. Finally there is a large collection of Indian 
relics, including weapons, ornaments, and pottery, with an Indian mummy 
reposing at full length, discovered in one of the mountain caves. 

Arizona, New Mexico, and Oklahoma jointly occupy a long, low, two-story 
building, a garden upon its flat roof displaying the typical vegetation of 
the southwest. Beds and columns of gigantic cacti are arranged in front of 
this structure, its plain veranda surmounted by a balcony, with plants in 
large vessels along the railing, overshadowing the entrance-ways to the 
headquarters of the three territories. To a certain extent the small 
exhibition rooms are a duplication of that which was displayed in the 
general departments, and among them are mineral specimens from New Mexico 
and Arizona, with the grains and vegetables of Oklahoma. Int eh second 
story are parlors nearly furnished and not without evidences of artistic 
taste. In New Mexico's chamber are beautiful specimens of woman's work, 
including that which comes from the Navajos, and here are also paintings 
of more than average merit. Among Arizona's collection is a life size 
crayon portrait of General Crook, and near it a picture of an old log-
house built in Prescott in 1863, the pioneer building of that locality and 
the residence of the first governor. In photographic form are other 
historic spots, with several views of the Grand canon. There is also a 
collection of pottery from one of the Indian agencies, and from the wife 
of General O'Neil comes a quilt in which are reproduced the corps badges 
of the United States army. 

World's Fair Miscellany

On the eve of Chicago day A. F. Seeberger, treasurer of the Fair, signed 
his check for $1,565,310.76, in payment of the balance due on debenture 
bonds, thus cancelling all the indebtedness of the Exposition. 

The Illinois mansion, the most expensive of all the state buildings, cost 
$250,000, and in its construction were used 3,000,000 feet of lumber and 
650 tons of iron. The governor's suite of apartments is supplied with 
antique furniture, all from native woods, and with 

Page 833

carvings in high relief. A chamber was set apart for the Illinois Press 
association, the members of which held a special celebration on the 16th 
of June. In connection with the education exhibits may be mentioned those 
of the state institution for the training of the deaf and dumb, contained 
in two cheerful sunny rooms in the southeastern corner of the building. In 
this institution are on an average about 500 inmates, the specimens of 
work displayed resembling those described in connection with other 
institutions in the chapter on Liberal Arts. 

Michigan's building was dedicated on the 13th of September, in the 
presence of at least 20,000 of her citizens, among them Governor John T. 
Rich, ex-Governor Russell A. Alger, ex-Senator Thomas W. Ferry, General A. 
T. McReynolds, and I. M. Weston, president of the state board. In an 
eloquent speech, Thomas W. Palmer, president of the Exposition, sketched 
the earlier history of Michigan, and then spoke of the material and social 
development evolved from the work of its founders and pioneers. Then came 
brief addresses from those who were identified with the history of the 
state. Director-general Davis, Fred Douglass, and Mrs. Annet Laura 
Haviland were also among the speakers. Mrs. Haviland was a prominent 
figure during slavery days as one of those who assisted in the escape of 
negro fugitives, by means of what was known as the "underground railway." 

The home of Minnesota was dedicated by the members of the State Editorial 
association before it was formally opened, J. A. Johnson presenting the 
building to Senator Keller, by whom it was accepted in the name of the 
state. Of special interest were the impromptu remarks of L. P. Hunt, its 
superintendent, to whose exertions was largely due Minnesota's creditable 
display in all departments of the Fair. The building was christened in 
behalf of the press by Mrs. Oscar Lineau. 

Much of the credit for North Dakota's standing at the Fair is due to 
Martin Hector, president of the state board. Aside from her display in the 
Agricultural department, there was a most interesting exhibit in the 
Forestry building, showing what intelligent effort may accomplish in 
reclothing denuded lands. October 10th was North Dakota day, Governor 
Shortbridge, ex-governors Burke and Miller, and the president of the state 
board participating in the exercises. 

The forty-seventh anniversary of Iowa's admission into the union was 
celebrated on the 21st of September by one of the largest assemblages 
gathered on special days. There was a military parade, together with a 
cadet corps and a brigade of girls attired in blue uniforms. At Festival 
Hall the exercises included music by the Iowa state band and addresses by 
James O. Crosby, president of the state board, Governor Boies, Chief 
Buchanan, of the Agricultural department, and Mrs. Isabella Hooper. 

During the early portion of September the people of Kansas devoted an 
entire week to celebrations and festivities, the 12th being selected as 
Kansas day. Among the participants were L. D. Lewelling, leader of the 
people's party, M. W. Cobun, president of the state board, and solon O. 
Thacher, one of the pioneers and founders of the state, with musical 
societies from Topeka and the state militia. Here also was one who, more 
than all others, revived the memories of early days when Kansas was the 
centre of political interest. This was Captain John Brown, whose father 
was the strongest factor in the agitation which prevailed in Kansas for 
several years before the civil war; the captain, himself a noted 
abolitionist, taking part in the sack of Lawrence, but not in the attack 
on Harper's ferry, and at the outbreak of the war raising a company of 
cavalry. He is still a hale and vigorous specimen of manhood, though 
several years beyond the allotted span of life. 

The cost of the California building exceeded $100,000, its decorative 
scheme being intrusted to Mary C. Bates of San Francisco. In the rotunda 
the effect of the fountain, with circular basins and a lofty palm with 
spreading crown rising from its centre, is extremely beautiful, the green 
of the tree and the plants around its base contrasting with the terra 
cotta of the fountain, and the water trickling over moss-covered rocks, or 
rather their semblance in staff. To the right of the palm-tree is the 
pampas palace exhibited by Mrs. Strong, of Whittier, Los Angeles county. 
It is decorated with pampas plumes as soft as feathers and worked in 
tasteful designs, the interior furnished with articles made of the same 
materials. From the women of Alamada county came an attractive exhibit, 
the feature in which is a clock with framework of onyx and surmounted by 
marble figures, the numbered hours on the dial-plate encircled with 
pictorial illustrations of prominent buildings. A craved wooden mantel is 
the joint work of two Alameda damsels, and from this depends a curtain 
embroidered by the sisters of the convent of Notre Dames. The building was 
dedicated on the 19th of June, the keys being delivered to Governor 
Markham by James D. Phelan, vice-president of the state board. The 
governor's speech was followed by several others, and then came a feast of 
fruit and wine. On the 5th of August a number of argonauts met in their 
Jackson park home to exchange reminiscences of pioneer days. The 9th of 
September was selected for California's celebration; for on that day of 
1850 she was admitted without a probationary term. There were the usual 
addresses, with music, singing, and recitations. 

The Utah celebration was also on the 9th of September, Utah being admitted 
as a territory simultaneously with the admission of California to 
statehood. At Festival hall Mormons and Gentiles met together, nearly 3,
000 in number, among them Caleb West, the governor of the territory, and 
Wilfred Woodruff, the president of the church, with whom were George Q. 
Cannon and Joseph F. Smith. After singing by the Mormon choir, Mrs. 
Richards, president of the woman's board, spoke a few words of welcome, 
and then came the governor's address, in which he referred to the exodus 
from Nauvoo, the toilsome journey across plain and mountain, and told how, 
amid the sage-brush plains of the desert, the Mormons planted their homes, 
living at times on boiled thistles and stewed thistle tops. The exercises 
concluded with an address from George Q. Cannon, followed by music and 
song. 

A fountain, the base of which was formed of crude ores and the pedestal of 
cut crystals, was a contribution from the women of Lewis and Clarke 
counties, Montana. The bowl was of native silver, with a tube resembling 
the clematis vine. From Beaverhead county came, also as the gift of women, 
a table of native woods, its top of mosaic work in several hundred pieces, 
and on its side a panel made of silver furnished by the Hecla mine. 



Page 835

Chapter the Twenty-Fourth:
The Midway Plaisance

If to any class of visitors the Columbian Exposition was somewhat of a 
disappointment, it was to those who went there merely in search of 
amusement. Instruction rather than amusement, but instruction conveyed in 
its most attractive form, was the main purpose of the Fair, and surely 
there were never such opportunities for a comparative study of what has 
and is being accomplished in every branch of industry and art. But study 
of what has and is being accomplished in every branch of industry and art. 
But men would not always be thus instructed; would prefer rather to take 
such education in homoeopathic doses, with a strong admixture of 
recreation, of fresh air and sunshine, of saunterings among flower-beds 
and waterways, and above all with plenty of good things to eat and to 
drink. Hence it was that in favorable weather at least half of the 
visitors would be found outside the buildings, on the wooded island, on 
the lagoons, the boulevards, or seated in shady or sheltered spots 
listening to the music of the bands. 

But as places of recreation there were none that would compare with the 
Midway plaisance, an epitome and also a supplement of the Fair, with its 
bazaars of all nations, its manifold attractions, and yet with educational 
as well as pleasurable features. All day long and far into the night this 
spacious thoroughfare, a mile in length and 600 feet in width, was crowded 
with sight-seers who, whatever else they missed, would make the tour of 
this novel and heterogeneous exhibition. Entering the avenue a little to 
the west of the Woman's building, they would pass between the walls of 
mediaeval villages, between mosques and pagodas, Turkish and Chinese 
theatres, past the dwellings of colonial days, past the cabins of South 
Sea islanders, of Javanese, Egyptians, Bedouins, Indians, among them huts 
of bark and straw that tell of yet ruder environment. They would be met on 
their way by German and Hungarian bands, by the discord of Chinese cymbals 
and Dahomean tom-toms; they would encounter jugglers and magicians, camel-
drivers and donkey-boys, dancing-girls from Cairo and Algiers, from Samoa 
and Brazil, with men and women of all nationalities, some lounging in 
oriental indifference, some shrieking in unison or striving to outshriek 
each other, in the hope of transferring his superfluous change from the 
pocket of the unwary pilgrim. Then, as taste and length of purse 
determined; for fees were demanded from those who would penetrate the 
hidden mysteries of the plaisance, they might enter the Congress of beauty 
with its plump and piquant damsels, might pass an hour in one of the 
theatres or villages, or partake of harmless beverages served by native 
waiters. Finally they would betake themselves to the Ferris 

Page 836

wheel, on which they were conveyed with smooth, gliding motion to a height 
of 260 feet, affording a transient and kaleidoscopic view of the park and 
all that it contains. 

In this miniature fair with its stir and tumult, its faces of every type 
and hue, its picturesque buildings, figures, and costumes is the most 
graphic and varied ethnological display that was ever presented to the 
world. All the continents are here represented, and many nations of each 
continent, civilized, semi-civilized, and barbarous, from the Caucasian to 
the African black, with head in the shape of a cocoa-nut and with barely 
enough of clothing to serve for the wadding of a gun. Here, in truth, one 
may learn more of foreign lands, their customs, habits, and environment, 
their food and drink and dress, their diversions and their industries, 
than years of travel would teach him. If here and there is a certain 
admixture of indecency, so broad at times as to call for the interference 
of the authorities, this does not detract from the value of an exhibition 
richer and more comprehensive than any before attempted. 

Entering the plaisance is first observed, on either side of the avenue, a 
nursery of fruit trees such as are raised on French and California soil, 
with miniature groves of evergreens from the northwest, and other 
duplicates of the outdoor exhibit in the Horticultural department. Then 
comes a line of low thatched cottages whose appearance indicates the 
abodes of cleanliness and thrift. Here is a display of Irish industries, 
within what is known as Lady Aberdeen's village, largely organized by one 
who has devoted many years of her life to the good work thus represented. 
In this she first became interested during her husband's 

Page 837

term of office as lord lieutenant, and as president of the Irish 
Industries association, assisted by the late Peter White, its secretary, 
and with his wife as manager of the enterprise, gave to the Columbian 
Exposition one of its most attractive features. 

The main entrance reproduces in facsimile the doorway of a chapel built on 
the rock of Cashel in the opening years of the twelfth century by Cormac, 
"the bishop king of Munster." Passing through this arched portal, its 
panels enriched with mouldings and heads in low relief, the visitor enters 
the cloisters of Muckross abbey, the original of which, a picturesque but 
melancholy ruin, stands hoar and solemn amid the most beautiful scenery of 
the lakes and mountains of Killarney. But here are no priests at prayer or 
study; no sound nor sign of devotion or of penance; for like everything 
else about the villages, these cloistered retreats are essentially 
practical. Opening the door of one of the apartments, we find here around 
a turf fire above which a potato pot is boiling, a number of men carving 
trinkets, furniture, and articles of church decoration. Thence we may pass 
to other rooms or cottages where various industries are in progress. In 
one young women are busied over lace and crochet work, as made in the 
cottage homes of Limerick and Carrickmacross; in another there is knitting 
and the making of a material for homespuns; in a third, embroidery; in a 
fourth the carving of bog-oak, of which there are many beautiful 
specimens. Elsewhere dairymaids, rosy and buxom, are showing what their 
deft fingers can accomplish with the aid of modern utensils and the milk 
of Kerry kine. 

Adjacent to the cloister of Muckross is the cottage of Lady Aberdeen, 
named "Lyra-ne-Grena," that is to say, the sunny nook, and over its door 
the inscription in Keltic, "Cead Mile Failte." Its quaint, old-fashioned 
windows are shaded by the low, overhanging roof, with a frieze of shamrock 
in the interior, whose walls are frescoed and tinted in green. Much of the 
antique furniture of Irish oak or mahogany consists of historical relics. 
There is an old spinning wheel to the use of which her ladyship is no 
stranger, and in one of the corners is a writing desk that formerly 
belonged to Thomas Hood. Carpets and curtains represent Irish industries, 
and there are prints upon the walls of popular subjects, with portraits of 
famous men, as O'Connell, Swift, and Pope. 

Page 838

Passing thence across an open court we come to Blarney castle, built in 
the fifteenth century by one Cormack MacCarthy, a brave man and a strong, 
on a site where Druids held their mystic rites long before Saint Patrick 
and his white-robed disciples set foot in the land of Erin. Its 
counterpart at Jackson park is a three-story building, set apart for the 
village workers; but for visitors there is a winding staircase, from the 
top of which one may creep to the battlements at risk of life and limb and 
there kiss the magic stone and obtain a view of Ireland in the form of a 
large relief map. But it is a prosaic structure, with little of the 
romance contained in the original, and especially is missing the creeping 
ivy on the walls. 

In a building known as the "Sheppa" there are more Irish industries. Then 
there is the music hall, with pipers and jig dancers, where also a young 
female harpist from the Dublin academy of music plays sweet accompaniments 
for singers of national airs. There is also Tara's hall, in which are many 
relics, with duplicates of the ancient metal work fashioned by a Dublin 
jeweller and briefly described in the chapter on "Foreign Manufactures." 
In this connection may be mentioned the harp of Brian Boroihme, bequeathed 
to the pope, and by the pope to Henry VIII, this precious heirloom 
passing, after further changes of ownership, into the museum of Trinity 
college, Dublin, where now is the home of the original. Finally there is 
the village museum, where are many objects of interest, with photographs 
of Irish antiquities, the latter a contribution from Lord Dunraven. 

At the opposite side of the plaisance, on a site originally allotted to a 
Bohemian glass company, is a building which bears upon its front the 
inscription, "International Dress and Costume Company." Around its 
entrance is usually gathered a larger crowd than before the more 
pretentious structures that line this cosmopolitan thoroughfare; for 
within are five and forty damsels fair to look upon, selected from forty-
five countries to represent as many national types in typical costumes, 
fashioned, it is said, by the great man milliner of Paris. To a Chicago 
journalist belongs the credit, if credit be due, for this novel and daring 
exhibition. With the aid of certain business men, by personal interviews, 
by liberal advertising and expenditure, and above 

Page 840

all by dint of phenomenal self-assurance, he collected and attired these 
representative beauties of Italy and Greece; of Germany, France, and 
Austria; of England, Scotland, and Ireland; of Cuba, Mexico, and all the 
Americas. This was commonly known as "the Congress of beauty," but also by 
a score of other titles, by any title in fact, rather than the one which 
appears above the doorway. As to the quality of the display, whether of 
face, figure, or costume, there was much difference of opinion, and as 
those of my readers who cared to see it have doubtless judged for 
themselves, it is unnecessary here to make further mention of the subject, 
except perhaps to say that better looking women, and better attired, can 
be seen any day in the cities and towns of the United States. 

To foreigners the Adams Express company, which stands well back from the 
plaisance as it passes under the viaduct of the Illinois central railroad, 
is an object of passing interest. Although less an exhibit than a portion 
of the business machinery of the Fair, many visitors pause for a moment to 
observe the methodical workings of one of the most prominent organizations 
of its kind. Across the avenue is a plain, two-story house of red brick 
with narrow front and neat interior, representing a type of residence 
occupied by thousands of Philadelphia workingmen. Diagonally opposite, and 
under the viaduct of the railway, is a small frame building on which is 
the sign: "Old-Tyme Farmer's Dinner." Here pork and beans, doughnuts, 
pies, and other viands are served by Vassar and Wellesley girls, attired 
in costumes of the olden days, on little square tables with horn-handled 
knives, two-pronged forks of steel, and the quaintest of antique dishes. 
The idea of furnishings such meals originated with Mrs. Brinton, better 
known as "Mother Southwick," the name which she bore at the Centennial 
Exposition, where she presided over a similar place of entertainment. Near 
by she has reproduced another of its features in the model of a 
revolutionary log cabin, with its two rooms and loft, the parlor extending 
across the building, and with yawning fireplace, crane, and kettles, and 
all the other furnishing of a century ago. Opposite the door ir ranged 
upon a sideboard the family plate; and here are ancient hymn-books, 
candlesticks, and spinning wheels, and oldest of all, the cradle of 
Peregrine White, the so-called "babe of the Mayflower." 

In an unpretentious structure known as the Scenic theatre are presented 
through the medium of electricity effects of dawn and sunrise, midday, 
twilight, moonrise, the night sky gemmed with stars, thunder-storms and 
fair weather, as seen in the Tyrolean Alps, accompanied by such 
instrumental music and weird yodoling as the traveler hears in these 
favorite resorts. A small building across the way is almost filled with a 
tank, in which exhibitions are given in submarine diving, for the purpose, 
as is announced, of showing how lost articles are recovered at sea. In the 
vicinity is a model which illustrates the working of a Colorado gold mine, 
the mechanism, which is operated by electricity, including bucket, pump, 
hoisting cage, and cars, such as are used in the Saratogo mine in Gilpin 
county. The mountain is shown as though cut in two, with the mine on the 
foot wall of the vein, thus exposing its underground workings. On the 
highest level men are 

Page 841

seen at work, with cars running to the ore chutes, where they are filled 
and then returned to the shaft, and hoisted to the surface. Here also are 
the shaft houses, blacksmith shop, powder magazine, boarding-house, 
ropeway, stamp-mill, water flumes, dump, ore bins, piles of wood for 
timbering, and all other necessary appliances. 

It was intended, as I have said, to hold near the park entrance to the 
plaisance an exposition of Bohemian glass manufacture; but the plan was 
abandoned and the exhibits placed in the Austrian section of the 
Manufactures building, though without any demonstration of the processes 
whereby they came into existence. Such industries are by no means 
neglected, however, among the shows of the plaisance, as appears in two 
large structures west of Mother Southwick's cabin, facing each other on 
either side of the avenue. In style of architecture they are essentially 
different, the one on the south resembling an Italian cathedral, rich in 
coloring of gold and green, the winged lion which surmounts it recalling a 
similar figure in the square of St. Mark's at Venice. On the small island 
of Murano, near that city, is the factory of the company which erected 
this palace of glass and mosaic work, an enterprise established more than 
a quarter of a century ago, not only as a business venture but to revive 
the ancient industry of ornamental glass work in which Venice was at one 
time preeminent. Among the best of the enamelled mosaics are two scenes in 
the life of Columbus, which at the close of the Exposition were to be 
transferred to the Columbian museum in Chicago. Some of the most artistic 
specimens from the Murano factory, gems which are scattered among the 
museums and churches of Europe, are also shown as reproductions, and there 
are ancient toilet bottles, cups and goblets, oriental enamelled glasses, 
renaissance filigree and laces fashioned in glass, with etched and frosted 
glass in colors of sapphire, agate, topaz, jasper, onyx, and amethyst. In 
a word there is here an exhibition of art in its application to glass and 
mosaic work. 

Opposite is a more substantial structure, with corner towers and domed 
central roof, glass in prismatic forms being grouped along the gravelled 
walks which approach it, and in a case near by specimens of glass spinning 
of wondrous delicacy. Here is the exhibit of the Libbey Glass company, 
showing not only its products but a complete working establishment, with 
modern machinery and apparatus for manufacture. The main vestibule leads 
into a semi-circular glass-house, or blowing room, with melting furnace in 
the centre, in the form of a truncated cone. Just within its circumference 
and a little above the base are the melting pots, enclosed in a metallic 
canopy, the heat which enters from below being generated from crude 
petroleum pumped through pipes from Ohio wells. After being subjected to a 
heat of more than 2,000 degrees of Fahrenheit, the crude materials are in 
the form of a molten mass, ready for 

Page 843

the blow-pipe of the "gatherer," who reaching into one of the pots, takes 
up a little of the substance upon the end of his hollow rod and passes it 
to the blower. The latter rolls it briskly upon an iron slab and then, as 
required, expands it by blowing through the pipe in a downward position, 
or contracts it by directing the pipe upward. When the material has 
reached the proper consistency, it is turned with a solid iron rod, and by 
means of wooden tools shaped into plaques, plates, and other forms. After 
leaving the blowing room, all glassware is subjected to a graduated or 
annealing heat, so tempering it as to resist changes in temperature. 

Above the blowing room and the tempering oven are quarters for the cutters 
with their steel wheels, the smoothers with their wheels of sandstone, and 
the polishers with wheels of wood, abrading substances being used of 
various degrees of hardness. A more interesting process than any, though 
of less practical value, is the manufacture of what is termed glass cloth; 
but this is too complex here to be described in detail. Other departments 
belong to the engravers and etchers, and those who decorate the various 
articles in appropriate colors. Finally there is the crystal art room 
wherein are displayed the finished products of the factory. Ebony wood 
work forms an effective setting for the cut-glassware at the sides of the 
room, the upholsterings and tapestries of spun glass in the centre, and 
the ceiling decorations made of the same material. At the entrance is a so-
called Henry Clay punch-bowl of 1812 in pressed glass, which though of 
excellent workmanship, is in marked contrast with the cut-glass bowl at 
its side, recently manufactured by the company. Attention is also 
attracted to ice-cream sets encased in brass-bound morocco, to sherbet and 
punch jugs of Roman design, to quaint decanters of Venetian shapes, 
graceful celery trays, ice-tubs, honey dishes, and a lamp of elaborate 
pattern designed for a banquet hall. Among articles in spun glass there 
are curtains, portieres, and decorations for ceilings and walls, with lamp 
shades and other fancy articles beautifully painted, all of them intended 
to show the adaptability of spun glass to artistic purposes. 

Opposite the Libbey works is the zoological arena of Carl Hagenbeck, who 
claims to have domesticated and trained more wild animals than any living 
man. The programme is both amusing and 

Page 844

varied, for his menagerie includes elephants, lions, tigers, leopards, 
bears, dogs, pigs, goats, sheep, horses, ponies, zebras, and boars, with 
monkeys galore and many cases of storks and parrots, thus affording the 
possibilities of infinite combinations and forms of entertainment. Prince, 
the equestrian lion, rides on horseback and springs over banners with the 
grace and agility of a circus girl. Another lion rides in a chariot, drawn 
by a couple of Bengal tigers, while a brother tiger balances himself on a 
revolving globe. Polar bears walk the tight rope, and black bears roll 
down a toboggan slide. White goats frisk around the ring in company with 
spotted panthers, and a tiny poodle holds the hoop for a great black 
panther whose breath might blow him away. The most incongruous elements of 
the brute creation are thrown together in this amphitheatre, violating all 
preconceived notions of the forest and jungle by associating as neighbors 
and friends. So tame are the beasts that at times the chief keeper takes 
his lions or other performing animals for an airing around the plaisance, 
despite the protests of Columbian guards and special police. 

Passing from the arena, the pilgrim of the plaisance observes at the 
opposite side of the avenue an ancient looking gateway flanked by towers, 
and beyond and above, a picturesque group of castellated structures. This 
is the Donegal Castle Irish village and contains the exhibits of the 
Donegal industrial fund, founded by Mrs. Ernest Hart, who commenced her 
labors more than a decade ago, establishing schools for instruction in 
various industries here illustrated as in Lady Aberdeen's village. In the 
good work thus accomplished she received the hearty cooperation and 
sympathy of other women, whose sole aim was to educate the Irish peasantry 
in home industries, and to furnish a market for their products without 
making them objects of charity. Substantial aid was also rendered by the 
Prince of Wales, by Gladstone, Cardinal Manning, and other influential men 
in church and state; so that presently factories were built and operations 
conducted on a larger scale. 

But it was mainly through the efforts of Mrs. Hart that these results were 
accomplished, as exemplified at the Fair. Beginning on a small scale, with 
50 pounds of wool weighed out on her kitchen scales, and with 100 lbs 
worth of goods stored in the bathroom of her London home, she gradually 
taught, through handbooks translated into Gaelic and a staff of 
instructors trained by herself in arts which she had first to learn, the 
processes of spinning, weaving, drafting, lace-making, wood-carving, 
embroidering, and dyeing, the peasantry attaining a standard of excellence 
which won for them more prizes at the Paris Exposition of 1889 than were 
awarded to any class of British exhibitor. To this task she devoted ten 
anxious and laborious years, overcoming difficulties which to women of 
common mould it would seem impossible to surmount. The people for whom she 
labored lived in a region separated by 40 miles of bog from the nearest 
railroad station, its one narrow harbor inaccessible except at times to 
steamers of the lightest draft. On its barren and rocky soil no horse 
plough could be used, and even if surplus products were raised there was 
no outlet to market; for with almost impassable roads during the greater 
part of the year, the freight to London on a ton of goods was five times 
as much as from London to New York. And yet in this region there were 100,
000 inhabitants, of whom a large proportion, though honest, industrious, 
and always willing to learn, were in a state of chronic destitution and 
not infrequently of actual starvation. Such was the district which the 
patroness of the Donegal village raised from its abject condition to one 
of relative prosperity, while asking for 

Page 846

its manufactures no more than their market value. Said the lord mayor of 
Dublin, while speaking on the village green on Irish day: "We ask not for 
compassion nor for your pity, but would simply place before you articles 
recommended by their cheapness, their artistic beauty, and their excellent 
workmanship." 

In the Donegal village are so many features of interest in its artistic 
presentment, its industrial aspect and its record as a national 
enterprise, that it is difficult to condense into reasonable space a 
description of its character and contents. The architectural designs were 
for the most part the result of much thought and painstaking; but the 
drafting of them was the inspiration of a night, the credit for the final 
elaboration of the plans being largely due to Geoffrey Hamlin of New York. 
The facade as seen from the entrance at the plaisance reproduces the St. 
Lawrence gate, of which the original has stood for six centuries or more 
in the little town of Drogheda. Passing the portcullis of the keep a view 
of the village is obtained from its archway, presenting a scene that is 
quaint and picturesque, and essentially Irish. Around the green are 
grouped the white-washed cottages in which are conducted the industries 
fostered by Mrs. Hart and taught in her technical schools. In one of the 
cottages wool is being spun into a fine firm thread by an Irish lass as in 
her home at Gweedore, and this a weaver warps on his frame and weaves on 
an antiquated loom into the soft homespuns which have won medals and 
highest awards at six international exhibitions, receiving high honors 
from the judges of the World's Fair. Elsewhere lace-making is in progress 
on a tambour frame by one of the oldest workers for the fund, whose filmy 
fabrics were carried away with delight by the infanta Eulalia, and have 
formed part of the trousseaus of royal princesses. Here also one of the 
pupils of the technical lace school is at work on Torchon laces of colored 
flax, in tints and materials patented for the benefit of workers, and 
registered under the name of "the Kells laces," now largely used for the 
decoration of furniture and table linen. 

In the weaving cottage Kells linens are being woven on a hand loom, these 
linens, skillfully dyed by processes invented by the foundress, forming a 
specialty of the fund. They are largely used as a basis for embroidery and 
for wall hangings and window curtains by the art schools of Great Britain, 
and by firms whose business is in the line of art. They also form the 
basis of the famous Kells embroideries, invented in 1884 as a new Irish 
industry, and for which was received a gold medal at the International 
Inventions Exhibition in London in 1885, with high awards at Paris, 
Melbourne, and other international expositions. In these embroideries flax 
is used for the material, and the polished threads are worked on dyed and 
hand-made linens and woollens from designs adapted from the Century Book 
of Kells and from old Keltic manuscripts. In other cottages wood carving 
is done by young men taken from the plough and educated in London, these 
being the first Irish lads ever trained for the purpose, many of them 
returning to their native villages and engaging in business for 
themselves. 

In the banqueting hall of the old castle of the O'Donnells, as here 
reproduced from drawings loaned by its present proprietor, are portieres 
such as adorn the walls of Windsor and Hawarden castles, their designs 
selected by the queen and by the wife of William Ewart Gladstone. Here 
also are Irish point laces in simple 

Page 847

and elaborate designs, with hand embroidered court dresses, vestments, 
altar cloths, table linens, and counterpanes, the last of these articles 
resembling those which were made in France in the middle ages. There are 
handkerchiefs ranging in price from a few cents to $150, and there are 
homespun garments worn alike by Galway market women and princesses of the 
blood, all these and other specimens transferred from the village factory 
at Gueedore to the Donegal village at the plaisance. 

Passing into the concert room, adorned with the works of Irish artists and 
the portraits of those whom Irishmen love to honor, we listen for a while 
to native melodies, chanted with harp accompaniment by the sweet songsters 
of Erin. Then stepping forth on the village green, we find ourselves in 
front of the ruined keep of Donegal castle, once the stronghold of the 
O'Donnells, the princes of Tyrconnel. In the garden behind rises to a 
height of 100 feet the round tower, a replica of one of these curious 
structures built more than a thousand years ago, presumably as places of 
refuge for the monks and their sacred vessels when Ireland was overrun by 
the Danes. In this garden is also a reproduction in miniature of the 
Giant's causeway, and in full size of "the wishing chair." 

Under the shadow of Donegal castle is the Japanese bazaar, filled with 
bronze and lacquer work, with fans and screens, vases and silks, figures 
of mythological characters, and articles of bric-a-brac such as are 
exposed for sale in every city of the United States, most of them, be it 
observed, mere counterfeits of Japanese art and workmanship. While in the 
bazaar itself there are no fictitious exhibits, there are few that cannot 
be seen to better advantage in the Manufactures and other departments of 
the Fair. Hence it is unnecessary here to describe them in detail. 

The Javanese village beyond, known also as the Dutch settlement and the 
South Sea Islanders' village, is among the most interesting features of 
the plaisance. It is one whose whereabouts will not be readily mistaken; 
for in front is a miniature windmill, such as are used in Java to scare 
away the myriads of birds that infest the rice fields, emitting a volume 
of harsh, discordant sound altogether out of proportion to their size. The 
entrance is in the form of a bamboo archway, above which is a wreath and 
sword combined, the sign-manual of the old East India company. The entire 
village is enclosed by a ten-foot fence of bamboo, and consists of some 46 
buildings, set on blocks of wood a few feet from the ground, including a 
temple, two shops where different processes of manufacture are exhibited, 
and in the central plaza, a tea house in which natives serve pure Java 
tea, coffee, and cocoa, and a theatre whose main attraction is its dark-
eyed, willowy dancing girls. 

From the huts occupied by Javanese workmen to the cottage of the prince 
yelept Raden Adnen Soekmadilaga, the structures are of bamboo, roofed 
merely with rushes and bound together with fibres, but 

Page 848

perfectly water-tight and almost as strong as they are flexible. Each of 
the huts has a portico in front, where women make silk and gold 
embroideries and filigree work, weave mats and baskets, and dye and stamp 
their cotton goods, while men are fashioning weapons, brass ornaments, 
lacquer work, cigarettes, and appliances for Javanese games. The interiors 
are cheerful and clean, decorated with brightly colored cloths and divided 
usually by curtains. The cooking is performed in a building separated from 
the general living apartments, and after each meal there is music rendered 
on native instruments. In the residence of the prince are richer cloths 
and embroideries than are seen in most of the others, with split bamboo 
matting, scorched to a soft brown, covering the floor. Except for this and 
the headquarters of the officials, nearly all the buildings contain within 
them a workshop, where the keepers sit on the bamboo floor with their 
goods scattered around them. These include not only the various 
manufactured articles, but small packages of tea, coffee, spices, tin ore, 
gum, sandal-wood, mahogany, ebony, and other products of the Malayan 
archipelago. Curious articles made of bamboo and palm, scented roots, 
rattan, cinchona, preserved fruits and insects, with models of bridges, 
carriages, and household and agricultural implements, and photographs of 
picturesque scenery, give some idea of the resources of the Dutch 
possessions and the capabilities of the natives. 

There is a small, square temple of worship or mosque, with the priest 
sitting in a box on the altar, the roof surmounted by a minaret, whence he 
calls the devout to prayer. Opposite is the theatre, the only building to 
which an admission fee is charged. It is merely a large thatched cottage, 
the walls inside and out being covered with painted squares of bamboo 
matting. The stage, elevated a few feet from the hall, extends across it 
and is about ten feet deep, with a series of platforms behind it, each a 
yard higher than the other, these for members of the orchestra, whose 
pieces consist of a violin-shaped instrument with two strings, a small 
bamboo flute, and brass and copper gongs ranging in size from a saucer to 
a wash tub. Each gong has a knob in the centre which is struck with a 
stick, wound at the end with palm fibre; but the music is simple and 
sweet, differing entirely from the ear-piercing discord of a Chinese 
orchestra. Especially is it adapted to the slow, gliding movements of the 
dancing girls, who in their way are as piquant and certainly more modest 
than their western sisters of the stage. With bare arms, shoulders, and 
feet, but with no unseemly exposure of person, their slender, lithe, and 
delicately rounded forms are decked in embroidered silks and velvets, and 
with bracelets and necklaces of gold. The dances constitute a series of 
graceful poses, the movements almost confined to the portion of the body 
above the waist, and all having a certain dramatic or symbolic 
significance. Although the dancing girls of Java are petted and indulged 
in a way that would turn the heads of most of their sex, they conduct 
themselves as befits maidens who are educated by the priesthood, belong to 
a religious order, and are of such birth and character as to be sought in 
marriage by nobles and princes. 

Of the eight dancing girls at the theatre four were sent by the sultan of 
Solo, a vassal monarch tributary to the home government and reigning over 
the central part of the island, while the other four, with the male 
dancers, actors, wrestlers, fencers, and kite-flyers, come from the 
Preanger regencies, a western province of Java. All are in charge of 
Prince Adnen, who, having made three pilgrimages to Mecca, ranks as a high 
priest. He is assisted by Carlo Ferrari, foreman of the village, a man who 
has resided in the Dutch 

Page 849

East Indies for more than a quarter of a century, and is there esteemed as 
a hunter of renown. Among the employees are several from the court 
theatre, and the production here of a comedy which has held the boards of 
Javanese temples of the drama since time immemorial should be an event in 
the dramatic annals of the west. One man describes the humorous incidents, 
and the other actors and actresses delineate them in pantomime, the 
dancing girls appearing between the acts, as to the wiry fair featured 
athletes. The last are of a superior breed to the majority of the village 
population, forming in fact a race in themselves, like the professional 
athletes of Japan. From babyhood they have been fed, clothed and trained 
with a view to their future career, and never marry outside their caste. 

Before leaving the village, a call should be made at the cottages of the 
directors, where are costly and elegant fabrics, rare works of native art, 
and not a few curiosities. Here are the krisses or daggers, curved and 
straight, with blades of absorbent steel, engraved with dragons and set 
with costly jewels, handles of precious wood and sheaths of solid gold. 
These are the property of G. J. L. de Bruyn, who as manager of the village 
and one of the directors, occupies a residence adjacent to the theatre. A 
number of rhinoceros' feet are also on exposition, a portion of them 
fashioned into a lady's toilet case. In a cage just within the entrance is 
an orangatang, all conscious of the nor conferred on him, and near by are 
men armed with long poles, to the ends of which sharp thorns are fastened, 
pointing backward. These, however, are not to guard the animal, but to 
represent the native police, and should some unruly inmate get beyond the 
control of the high priest or the Columbian guard, he would find himself 
caught in their clutch, though no such occasion was apt to arise within 
the peaceful confines of the Javanese hamlet. 

The Samoan village or South Sea settlement across the avenue is also 
essentially native, the entrance being in the form of a large war canoe, 
constructed of dark redwood bound with fibres, and as figurehead, the rude 
carving of a sea god. Sails made of matting, long oars, a wooden trough or 
gong, bows, arrows, axes, and other implements of warfare are displayed, 
while the boat itself is gashed and seamed from hard service on the 
Pacific. In front of the entrance is the house which formerly belonged to 
Mataafa, the prince who rebelled against the German rule and was deposed. 
It is shaped like a beehive, with apex some thirty feet above ground, and 
is constructed of the wood of the bread-fruit tree, which in Samoa is 
proof against ants. In this hut and in one erected in the centre of the 
village, are the principal curious, which include speciments of tapa cloth 
made from pounded and tanned strips of mulberry bark, fans, war-clubs, 
native ornaments, cooking utensils, miniature canoes, cotton fabrics, and 

Page 851

various trinkets, shells, and native woods. But the most graphic feature 
of the exhibit is in the natives themselves - men, women, and children. 
When the weather permits they are clad in strips of tapa cloth, as scant 
as decency allows, the girls and women decked with wreaths of flowers of 
which they are passionately fond. The men sing their war songs, the 
casting of spears, the throwing of axes, the rush of the canoe, and the 
shock of battle being depicted in the dance. The tall and by no means ill-
favored women have their own songs and dances of a festive and more 
pleasing nature. All sing and dance, partaking at times of kava, the 
national drink, the mode of life resembling that in the Javanese village, 
except that there is more war in the atmosphere. The people are clean and 
hospitable, and their houses, thatched with wild sugar cane, the floors 
being spread with mats, are cheerful and airy. Mats, it may be here 
remarked, play a most important part in the lie of a Samoan. When a tribe 
goes to war the first thing to be done is to secure the mats in a place of 
safety; for they descend as priceless heirlooms from family to family, and 
without them a bride's dower would be considered entirely incomplete. 

The Samoan village is in charge of Henry J. Moors, an American who has 
lived in Samoa for a score of years, is a master of the South Sea dialect, 
the confidant of the deposed Mataafa, induced the islanders to leave their 
homes in Fiji, Wallis Island, and Samoa, and is responsible for their safe 
return, the exhibit being organized by the Oceanic Trading company, of 
Chicago. 

Of all the foreign countries which find expression at the Fair none are 
better represented than Johore, a sultanate at the southern extremity of 
the Malay peninsula, rich in timber and other woods, and with a soil well 
adapted to the growth of rice, coffee, tobacco, sugar-cane, and other 
tropical products. Of the display contained in the Agriculture building 
mention has already been made, and elsewhere, especially in the Johore 
bungalow, occupied by the retainers of the sultan, are other exhibits, of 
which Rounsevelle Wildman is in charge, forming together a complete 
exemplification, not only of the productions, but of the buildings, 
implements, arms, dress, and customs of this cosmopolitan people, which 
includes besides Malays, Chinese, Javanese, 

Page 853

Siamese, Arabs, and Dyaks. In models are structures of many patterns, from 
the rude huts of the aboriginal Saki and Jacoons to the palace of the 
rajah and the mosque where his subjects worship. There are also models of 
every form of boat used by the aboriginal or by the modern Malay and 
Chinaman, with a primitive forge and blacksmith's tools and household and 
other utensils of quaint device. There are costumes of many descriptions, 
from such as are worn by the sultan's company of Chinese actors to a 
bridal dress and to the usual attire of the various classes, together with 
the loom on which is woven the national garment known as the sarong. The 
bungalow itself was built in Johore, is thatched with palm and raised 
several feet above ground, as it the custom in that country for protection 
against tigers, snakes, and ants. In the upper room is the bed of a Malay 
rajah and the throne on which he sits at meat. 

Passing the natatorium on the southern side of the plaisance, we come to 
the panorama of the Bernese Alps contained in the building adjacent, and 
as this represents, as I have said, the sole contribution of Switzerland 
to the department of Fine Arts, it is worthy of more than passing mention. 
Certain it is that if panoramas can ever be classed as works of art, this 
mammoth depiction, covering more than 6,000 square feet, is worthy of that 
distinction. Of Alpine paintings there is no lack, and scores of times 
have the Jungfrau and the Matterhorn been placed on canvas, their beauty 
and sublimity, their scenic effect and stupendous proportions rendered so 
far as such rendition was possible. But here is not a single alp but an 
entire range of alps; nor a mere prostitution of nature to catch the eye 
of the sight-seer, but an interpretation of the genius of the mountains in 
all their majesty and loveliness. 

By a citizen of Geneva, Henneberg by name, three Swiss artists were chosen 
for the task, men of repute, but each in a separate line of art, and 
forming together an excellent combination for such an artistic enterprise. 
These were Eugene Burnand, eminent as a landscape and animal painter, and 
perfectly at home in Alpine subjects; M. Furet, also a landscape artist, 
whose themes are usually chosen from the middle regions and the plains; 
and Baud-Bovy who passes much of his time in studies of local life, and 
especially the life of mountaineers. By this trio were chosen four 
collaborators, and to these were later added three Parisian artists. In 
the summer of 1891 the party encamped on the summit of the Maennlichen 
alp, and there passed several months in study and sketching; then 
returning to Paris, they shut themselves up in their studio, a large 
circular shed, formerly used for a military panorama, and in October of 
the following year the work was completed, receiving from the ablest of 
critics unqualified commendation and winning for its artificers the cross 
of the legion of honor. 

Standing on an inner platform which here represents the Maennlichen, its 
summit facing the Bernese alps and standing like a tall promontory between 
the valleys of Lauterbrunnen and Grindelwald, the spectator views, as from 
a belvedere, the entire panorama of the Oberland. Here are all the most 
beautiful and majestic elements of alpine scenery; fields of virgin 

Page 854

snow; glaciers and walls of rock, seamed with cascades or interlaced, as 
with threads of silver, by the filmy veil of waterfalls; valleys and 
canons furrowed by mountain torrents; grass-covered slopes and the sombre 
foliage of forests, with hee and there a peaceful hamlet nestling among 
lush meadows and thriving orchards. Then comes the reverse side of the 
picture, a spacious undulating plain, with the village of Interlachen, the 
blue waters of Lake Thun, and beyond, the dim outline of Jura, all forming 
a scene of surpassing loveliness - the idyll of the pictorial drama. 

But, as is remarked by Philippe Godet, laureate of the academy, the 
"keynote of this grand symphony is the imposing pile of the Bernese alps, 
which displays itself from the Maennlichen in all its magnificence. Here 
is the Jungfrau, bathing its pure brow in the ether; to the right, the 
Blumlis alp with its finely cut profile; the broad ridges of the Breithorn 
and Tschingelhorn; to the left of the queen of the Oberland, the Moench, 
with its huge steeps of ice; the Eiger, shooting into the air its rugged 
silhouette and turning its precipitous front to the setting sun; the 
Schreckhorn, darting solitary into the blue; the Wetterhorn, moulded and 
poised like an ideal temple. At the feet of this range of giants, the two 
valleys spread themselves lazily out; on the left, Grindelwald, the 
silvery roofs of its chalets, its fruit trees and ploughed fields, its 
dark masses of forest, scaling the steep inclines; its cowboys, its herds 
of cattle white and red; its parti-coloured goats, all basking in the sun; 
on the right, opening out like a bottomless abyss, the sterner valley of 
Lauterbrunnen, with the Staubbach and the White Lutschine, hurrying to 
join her Black sister." 

Perhaps the greatest charm in this half rood of canvas; for in no smaller 
compass could the impression be conveyed; is the perfect development and 
relation of all the parts to one harmonious whole, though composed of the 
most diverse and heterogeneous elements. Even among the higher alps, where 
Wetterhorn and Shreckhorn, Eiger and Jungfrau raise their snow-capped 
summits thousands of feet above their neighbors, there is a certain rhythm 
of outline, a balance of plane, in keeping with the design and yet a 
faithful reproduction of nature's handiwork. The verdure on their lower 
slopes and the landscape vistas at their feet all add to the general 
effect, while a dark network of forests affords an artistic setting for 
plains and valleys. "I have seen many panoramas," said the president of 
the Alpine club; "but I never saw one that impressed me so profoundly as 
this. I hope to see it again; since we are assured the painting will be 
returned to Paris after the Columbian Exposition for which it was 
intended." 

In connection with the panorama of the Bernese alps may be mentioned that 
of the volcano of Kalauea, displayed in a polygonal building further to 
the west of the plaisance and on the opposite side of the avenue. Over the 
portal is the figure of Pele, the Hawaiian goddess of fie, its pose 
suggested by the well-known legend of a race wherein the goddess, being 
worsted by a native prince, pursued him in a chariot of molten lava, 
hurling fire-brands after him as he sought refuge in the sea. Circling the 
walls within are some 22,000 square feet or nearly half an acre of canvas, 
whereon is depicted "the inferno of the Pacific," the largest volcano on 
the face of the earth. While not without merit, it does not compare with 
the other as a panoramic painting, the effect being largely produced by 
electric lights, pyrotechnics, and other mechanical contrivances. The 
point of observation is in the very heart of the crater, and not on its 
brow where thousands of travellers have stood. Gazing upward and around, 
the spectator is encompassed with 

Page 855

a hissing, bubbling sea of lava, with tongues of flame and clouds of steam 
rising from fathomless pits to overhanging crags and masses of rock. All 
this is expressed with studied but not with artistic realism, fragments of 
rock being blended with painted cliffs on which are dummies and painted 
figures, presumably intended for tourists, while flashlights in various 
colors, with detonation of bombs and crackers, imitate in showman fashion 
the awful grandeur of an eruption. 

Adjacent to the Alpine panorama is the Turkish village, a typical exhibit 
of the Ottoman empire, spread over a spacious area and arranged in 
attractive style by Robery Levy, its concessionaire, representing the firm 
of Saadullah, Suhami and company, Constantinople. Here are no antique 
castles, no grim weapons or warriors, no peasants, or peasants' homes; 
instead are luxurious pavilions and bazaars, a miniature mosque, a 
theatre, with Turkish sedan bearers, and costly articles of furniture and 
decoration, all true to the life of Turkey in Europe and Turkey in Asia. 
At one corner of the village stands the mosque, with its gilded dome 60 
feet high and its slendor minaret rising to an equal height. It was 
erected by special permission of the Ottoman government and dedicated with 
much pomp and ceremony, as well it might be; for this was the first time 
that a Mohammedan temple had been consecrated outside the limits of the 
Mohammedan world. 

On the appointed day the muezzin, from his perch in the tall white tower, 
summoned the faithful to prayers and to the dedication ceremonies. They 
came from all directions, advancing in long procession some 3,000 strong, 
headed by a military band. Though accompanied by native musicians sounding 
their shrill pipes and discordant drums, and by a contingent of Turks in 
gorgeous uniforms over whom floated the crimson banner of the porte, the 
majority of the participants were of the Caucasian race. Attired in 
scarlet fezes embroidered with the crescent, they were popularly known as 
the shriners, and officially as the "Ancient Arabic order of Nobles of the 
Mystic Shrine," an organization which flourished in Turkey many years 
before it gained a foothold in the United States, the majority of those 
who took part in the exercises being members of the Medina temple of 
Chicago. The procession wound through the village, the men entering the 
mosque in sandals or without substantial foot-wear, and soon all were at 
prayer. In his little square shrine, hung with rich tapestry, stood the 
high priest, and behind him a row of thirteen assistants. The ceremony was 
of the briefest - merely a recitation of passages from the ritual, in 

Page 857

which the muezzin and his brethren wee the prominent figures, the 
congregation responding with frequent prostrations, and devout 
exclamations of Allah! A banquet followed in an adjoining hall; a handsome 
Damascus blade was presented to the Medina temple by the concessionaire, 
and the celebration was at an end. 

Close to the mosque is the refreshment pavilion, with wide arched veranda, 
its interior decorated with silken curtains and the finest of oriental 
fabrics. Here are served lemonades, sherbets and other Turkish drinks, 
with oranges, raisins, bananas, tamarinds, and pomegranates. To the south 
is a small structure enclosing a Persian tent, 160 years old, and formerly 
belonging to one of the shahs, who pitched it many a day in the hunting 
ground or the battle field. It represents an immense amount of hand-work, 
the interior being almost completely covered with figures embroidered in 
silver, gold, and silk. Here also is the sultan's silver bed of solid 
metal and most elaborately ornamented, both these priceless treasures 
being guarded day and night. Near it is a large building in which are 
exhibited the manufactured and other products of Turkey, this forming the 
educational portion of the display, while in the centre is its commercial 
feature, in the form of a grand bazaar with 40 booths. Among the articles 
offered for sale are tapestries, embroideries, rugs, carpets, silverware, 
filigree work peculiar to the orient, brass-ware, precious stones and 
jewelry, ancient arms and relics, and in a word whatever is produced and 
found throughout the broad empire of the porte. Restaurants are grouped in 
the neighborhood, the caf‚ proper supplying the genuine Mocha coffee, and 
offering the visitor a huge water pipe filled with native tobacco. While 
thus engaged, he listens to the native band, and later perhaps, visits the 
native theatre, where the favorite performance is "A Wedding in Damascus," 
in which, after all misunderstandings have been settled and the wedding 
festivities are actually in progress, the women appear in a series of 
dances. 

In front of the bazaar are reproductions of two ancient monuments, one, 
near the refreshment, of Cleopatra's needle, and the other near the caf‚, 
representing the Serpentine column. The latter was fashioned of three 
intertwining serpents, and was erected at Delphi to commemorate the 
victory of Plataea. In rear of the bazaar are cottages in which men and 
women are engaged in the manufacture of rugs, laces, embroideries, 
brassware, and other industries pertaining to the country. The largest of 
these buildings is a candy factory and salesroom, the most popular of 
oriental sweets being known as Rahat-el-Lo-koom; that is to say, comfort 
of the throat. 

But attracting more attention than anything else in the village, is a 
small, white-bearded man whom Mark Twain introduced to the world many 
years ago. It is related in Innocents Abroad how the author selected him 
for his guide through the narrow, tortuous streets of Constantinople. 
Although he could speak English, the man was rather of tactiturn mood, and 
Twain was so much interested in what he say that he did not care to talk. 
Finally, after they had traveled together for a while, the latter 

Page 858

asked the guide his name. "Moses," was the reply. Now, having always lived 
in Constantinople, Moses was not specially interested in its sights, and 
while Twain would be standing before some gorgeous mosque or bazaar, as 
though rooted with the intensity of admiration, his guide would still keep 
plodding on. The humorist was so often distanced in this unequal contest 
that he dubbed him "far-away Moses," and thus he was recognized by 
thousands who visited the plaisance. 

The Moorish palace, adjoining the Turkish village on the west, is 
architecturally interesting, as of the type so familiar and once so widely 
represented in Africa and Spain. Within it rugs, tiles, bronzes, swords, 
works of art, and curios are sold by turbaned Moors, who also act as 
waiters in the local restaurant. Figures in wax give the visitor a clear 
idea of the people which once played no mean part in the history of the 
world, and, if inclined, he may become so entangled in an ingenious 
labyrinth of optical illusions as to imagine a swart-visaged Berber in 
every corner. There are also about sixty groups in wax on the second 
floor, the figures being made in Paris, and representing not only European 
rulers but historic Americans. Scattered through the building are comely 
women, some in wax and others of flesh and blood, the skillful disposition 
of mirrors assisting to make the illusions more complete. In a separate 
chamber is a grewsome sight in the form of the scaffold and guillotine 
used for the execution of Marie Antoinnette, the executioner and attending 
officials being shown in wax. In the background a painting represents a 
crowd of the proletariat gloating over her death, and near the guillotine, 
the blade of which is rusted with blood, is the wicker basket ready to 
receive the head of the victim. 

In contrast with the Moorish palace and the Javanese colony is the German 
village, adjacent to the latter and covering nearly one sixth of the 
northern side of the plaisance. All the structures, 36 in number, 
illustrate the mediaevel architecture of that country, and especially of 
Bavaria. The visitor enters through the arched portal of a square tower, 
over which is the inscription "To the Golden Tankard." Within, music 
pavilions and refreshment halls are plentiful, Edelweiss beer served by 
rosy cheeked Bavarian barmaids, with bare, well-rounded arms, flowing 
freely, not into golden tankards but into capacious beer glasses. Two 
military bands are on the grounds, the cavalry band in white uniforms, and 
the infantry in red and blue, thus combining the national colors of the 
United States. The latter has 48 pieces and is composed of army veterans, 
its leader being Eduard Ruscheweyh, who served in the wars with Austria 
and France, and for many years was royal musical director of Prussia. 

On the left of the entrance 

Page 859

is the rich and massive facade of a Hessian town-hall, with carved outer 
staircase - the traditional Bridal stairs. It has a high slate roof, and 
over its broad gate is sculptured on the frieze the date of erection as in 
the original - "Anno Domini, 1584." Here are several typically furnished 
peasants' homes, with figures in characteristic raiment and specimens of 
home manufactures. The huge base timbers and the crude painting and 
frescoes are exact imitations, as also are the tall windows of stained 
glass, venerable in appearance. From the balcony depend festoons of woolen 
cloth, spun centuries ago upon hand-looms, the simple designs worked with 
flaxen threads. The main body of the hall, however, is occupied by the 
museum, many of its rarest articles being contained in models of colleges 
and others in plain cases. The array of bronze masks and images carries 
one back many hundreds of years, Bavaria contributing many curious head-
dresses and jewels, with here and there a relic of Columbus' times. Huge 
silver chains and iron rings, jeweled head-gear worn by the brides of old, 
and antique caps of golden braid donned by wealthy matrons stand side by 
side with wooden clothes-beaters and book-jacks ingeniously carved, and 
huge powder flasks of bone ornamented with silver. 

The museum forms a portion of a valuable ethnological collection, which is 
substantially completed in the picturesque German castle towering aloft 
from the centre of the village, surmounted by turrets and spires, and 
surrounded by palisades and moats. Reaching the entrance tower beyond a 
model drawbridge, the visitor may take either of two passage-ways. 
Following one of them, he comes to a large wooded garden, provided with 
tables and chairs, restaurants, and pavilions for the bands already 
mentioned. Here one may partake of viands served as at the hotel 
Kaiserhof, of Berlin, to the sound of music provided by Herman Wolff, the 
director of the Philharmonic society and army inspector of Prussia. 

Entering the castle, through the old sixteenth century 

Page 861

gateway, the visitor is confronted at the entrance to a museum of 
ethnology with a group in wax of the national warriors and heroes of 
Germany. Around an heroic figure of Germania are the eagle-plumed 
Armenius; the warlike, unlettered genius, Charlemagne; Otto the warrior 
churchman, who carries a cathedral in his arms; the long-bearded Frederick 
Barbarossa, friend of the people, and old Kaiser William of United 
Germany, who was with us in the flesh not many years ago. A foot-soldier 
of the Thirty Years' war stands on either side of Germania, and here also 
are representatives of Frank and Roman soldiery. The walls are covered 
with weapons of early date, with flags taken from the nations against 
which Germany has warred, and with tapestries and silks of the sixteenth 
century, when Italy with the looms of Genoa, Florence, and Venice, was in 
the grasp of Germany and Spain. There are German peasants dressed in gayly 
colored homespun goods, tinsel, and embroideries glistening with gold and 
silver threads. They are of all ages and provinces, and it is difficult to 
believe that they are merely studies in still life. In the hall of 
Germania are lance and axe heads, arrow points, knives, and other weapons, 
utensils, and ornaments gathered from Roman and German tombs, some crude 
and simple, others rudely beautiful, and all relics of the days when 
Teutonic tribes were warring among themselves in the forests of Germany, 
as yet unbroken to the Roman yoke. These are reproductions from the Berlin 
museum, mainly collected from the burial places of Saxony, Hanover, 
Schleswig-Holstein, and Hungary, where the ancient German tribes longest 
retained their primitive customs. 

The chapel of the castle contains knights in full armor, with coats of 
mail of every variety, from the earliest to comparatively recent times. 
Old and tattered banners line the walls, in company with rare etchings and 
paintings. The evolution of armored suits is shown, from the crude chain 
breastplate to the full steel garment with movable joints, a suit of mail 
inlaid with silver, bearing the royal arms of Austria, having seen service 
in the Thirty Years' war. The central figures of this group are two 
horsemen armed cap-a-pie, the heads and bodies of their steeds being 
protected with heavy plates as during the sixteenth century. Above this 
warlike array of the mediaeval ages, and side by side with such bloody 
emblems as the blue and yellow banners of the Burgundian knights, are 
pictures of such artists of the period as Cranach and Bugiardini, whose 
themes were tender, soft-eyed children in the arms of Christ or the 
madonna. Near these are the angels and symbolized virtues which sprung 
from the brain and soul of Raphael. 

Page 862

In chambers adjoining the chapel are hundreds of single and two-handed 
swords, with daggers, battleaxes, guns, cross-bows, powder-horns, pistols, 
and combination guns and spears, grouped in cases hung upon the walls and 
stacked in various devices. There are the heavy swords of the German 
tribes - some of them seven feet long, - which the muscular Teutons 
wielded, and the short broadswords of the Romans, more readily handles and 
of superior metal. Ivory handled halberts, strangely carved powder-flasks, 
daggers grooved to contain deadly poison, cross-bows for war and the 
chase, some with stocks inlaid with silver and ivory, delicate Italian 
blades, stirrups, helmets, and gloves are exhibited in endless variety. 
Here is a gun the stock of which is covered with copper and gold, carried 
in the sixteenth century by a grand-duke of Brunswick. The cross of 
Burgundy and the chains of the Golden Fleece appear upon the ivory handle 
of another, and the sun-wheel of the old German pagans flames upon sword 
hilts not far removed from those which bear the Christian cross. A sword 
with pistol attachment is the weapon which Von Hutten bore when he came to 
arrest his friend Martin Luther, and near by is the spur of Charlemagne 
and a box that belonged to the elector of Saxony. Each treasure has a 
history and is of unquestionable authenticity, the entire collection being 
so arranged as to show the evolution of arms, the evolution of armor being 
illustrated in the chapel and of national costumes in Germania hall. 

Near the Hessian town-hall are the typical homes of the peasantry, each 
one large enough to contain the horses, cows, pigs, and fodder, in 
addition to its human inmates, the ground floor serving for stalls and 
stables, the first floor for family use, and the hay loft above all. A 
fantastic specimen of architecture if the flaring roof of a cottage in the 
Black forest, which descends like the wings of a brooding hen almost to 
the ground. In winter when the forest is wrapped in a mantle of snow, this 
cottage is turned into a factory, where painted wooden villages with 
wonderful figures of quadrupeds and human beings play the leading part. 
The Westphalian house is stately and cathedral-like in comparison, having 
a high pointed roof thatched with straw, and above the gable, horses' 
heads carved in wood, the tribal symbol of the ancient Saxons. Through its 
half opened horizontally divided doors comes the pungent aroma of a 
Westphalia ham as it is carried from the smoke chamber. Diagonally 
opposite is the Upper Bavarian house of pronounced highland type, with 
carved doors and wide verandas, with the cross surmounting the gable, 
closely resembling a Swiss cottage. More rudely constructed is the Spree 
Forest log farm-house, its gable rafters bearing carved heads of wolves 
which proclaim that its ancient inmates were the fierce and warlike 
Vandals. 

The German village comes nearer to being an expression of national 
sentiment than any exhibit made by the empire. The project was warmly 
supported by the government, and the list of its attractions is included 
in the official catalogue issued by the German commissioners. For this 
unique and interesting display, credit is due to Ulrich Jahn, of 
Charlottenburg, a pupil and friend of Professor Virchow. With the 
financial support 

Page 863

of the German and national banks of Berlin, he organized a company styled 
the German Ethnographical Exhibition, with a capital of nearly $400,000, 
C. B. Schmidt of Omaha being placed in charge of the enterprise in 
Chicago. The ethnological exhibits are valued at many times that amount, 
the museum of armor and arms alone being estimated at $1,000,000. This 
collection is the result of fifteen years of labor on the part of Richard 
Zschille, a town councillor of Grossenheim, near the Dresden, and a friend 
of the king of Saxony. The plan and scope of the entire display were 
matured with the assistance of a committee of artists and scientific men, 
such men as Professor Virchow, rector of the university of Berlin; Baurath 
Wallot, the architect of the new German Reichstag building; Eugene Bracht 
and Von Heyden, celebrated painters; A. Voss, director of the Royal 
Ethnographic museum, and Cohn, Siemens and Magnus, the Berlin bankers. The 
architectural plans were made under the direction of Carl Hoffacker, a 
professor in the Berlin Art academy, and the village was built by the firm 
of Philip Holzmann and company of Frankfort-on-the-Main, all the wood-work 
being of German material. 

Few nations have developed their inner culture more fully than the German 
empire. Though many tribes may have broke loose from the strong ties of 
the ancient Germanic family, each adhering tenaciously to tribal 
peculiarities of thought and custom, there nevertheless has obtained among 
them all a unanimity of sentiment, a warm of instinct of kinship, which 
has at last ripened into the empire of United Germany. As the tribal 
peculiarities are in no particular more sharply manifest than in variety 
of costume and domestic architecture, the management of the German village 
has fully illustrated, and in most graphic and interesting form, these 
phases of national life. 

Zoopraxiscopic hall is the building of formidable name in which are given 
illustrated lectures on animal locomotion as applied to art. The 
discourses and the pictures are both entertaining and instructive, and 
through them one may learn surprising facts as to animals in motion and 
the positions which they assume. Investigation in this line is a 
speciality which has been pursued within comparatively recent years, among 
the most prominent of those who have engaged in it being Ottomar 
Anschuetz, of Lissa, Prussia, whose tachyscopes are exhibited in the 
electricity building, and Eadmund Maybridge, who displays some of his 
results in the hall on the plaisance. With photographic apparatus so 
perfected than an exposure of one ten-thousandth part of a second is 
sufficient for a truthful impression, the labors of such men have been 
prolific as results. The step of a man in the act of walking has been 
photographed at various points of motion, as well as the jumping and 
galloping of a horse, the climbing of a monkey, and the flight of a bird, 
with its motions upon the ground. Thus long established ideas which have 
obtained even among the most observant artists have been corrected, these 
investigations being of interest and value to the scientist as well as to 
the world of art. 

Adjoining this exhibition is the Persian palace, which reproduces a 
portion of the royal residence of the shah of Ispahan, the large hall on 
the first floor being decorated with all the richness of coloring 
characteristic of Persian taste. On the second floor are a restaurant and 
tea house, the beverage being brewed in large urns and containing floating 
slices of lemon, as in Russia. In various booths near by are weavers of 
carpets, rugs, shawls, and plain and striped silks, for which the Persians 
are famous. There are also makers of satins, brocades, and velvets, 
manufacturers of bronze work, engravers in brass and other metals, cutters 
and polishers of gems, and those who prepare the candies and sweetmeats of 
which Persian women love to partake. Although the caf‚ contains, besides 
its black-eyed waiters, a number of dancing girls, there is a special hall 
in another part of the palace, in which are entertainments of a 
questionable character. In the theatre a troop of men supply the 
amusements, performing in a small pit, where magicians thrust knives and 
swords into various portions of the body, and athletes, tall and swarthy, 
swing clubs, wrestle, and lift and throw heavy weights. These with 

Page 864

sleight-of-hand men, merchants, waiters, danseuses, artisans, and others, 
number about seventy, and make the Persian building a lively place for 
those who care for such entertainments. 

Beyond it, to the north, are the manifold sights and noises of the street 
in Cairo, whose plastered walls, irregular buildings, and babel of sounds 
do not at first create an agreeable impression, though when the picture is 
examined in detail, the contrast between the unsightly and the picturesque 
is not without interest. The principal entrance is through the broad, low, 
eastern portal, where at once the visitor finds himself in the ancient 
African city. Here from the brick courtyard and the tiny booths one gazes 
down the street, with its curious bay-windowed houses, and bazaars on 
either side, and above, the graceful minaret of the mosque. Visitors are 
scattered more plentifully among the Arabs, merchants, Soudanese, donkey 
boys, performing monkeys, and snake charmers, than in Cairo itself; but 
here is a thoroughfare on which are people of many races and proclivities. 
Arabs, Soudanese, Egyptians, and Europeans have all their separate 
quarters in Cairo; but in the city as in the street they sometimes wander 
abroad amid the cosmopolitan throng. It is when the wedding or the 
birthday procession passes along that the populace turns out in force and 
conjurers, astrologers, snake charmers, and dancers strive to win 
admiration and reward. The wedding procession is of daily occurrence, pert 
Arabian and Soudanese children running ahead as heralds, and 

Page 865

the torch-bearer waving aloft his sign of office. The oriental band brays 
in honor of the event, which is succeeded by a parade of donkeys and half-
naked wrestlers, while swordsmen with scimitars and shields indulge in 
special contests of skill. Jesters, mounted upon camels and fantastically 
dressed, slap each others' faces, and do as would their brothers at 
Barnum's or Forepaugh's circus, while after all comes the central figure, 
amid the commotion - the coy bride, hidden under a rose-colored canopy, 
preceded by her bridesmaids and an unladen camel gorgeously caparisoned. 

The mosque, around which swarms so much of this heterogeneous throng, is a 
substantial counterpart of that of the sultan Kait Bey, all save the 
minaret, which is a reproduction of the tower above the mosque of Abou 
Bake Bazhar. The massive doors of this house of worship are rich in 
metallic ornamentations and gorgeous in coloring. Entering the sanctuary 
the scene is one of oriental splendor, softened by the graceful draperies 
and the mellow light shed by its many pendent lamps. Regular services are 
held every Friday at noon, but five times daily the priest from the 
gallery of the minaret summons the faithful to prayer. At daybreak, just 
after high noon, in the middle of the 

Page 866

afternoon, immediately after sunset, and at nightfall is heard the chant: 
"God is great; God is great. There is only one God, and Mohammed is his 
prophet. Let us pray; let us begin. God is great; God is great." 

Across the street from the mosque is the restored dwelling of one Gamal-el-
Din-el-Yahbi, a rich Arab of the seventeenth century. Its facade is more 
elaborate, and its balconies, which extend from the upper stories, are 
larger than are found in the average residence. The doors are inlaid with 
ivory and exquisitely carved, while the gilded ceilings, mosaics, 
elaborate draperies, and beautiful rugs which adorn the living apartments 
tell of luxury if not of refinement. Beyond this aristocratic mansion is a 
long row of shops and dwellings - bazaars below, and living apartments 
above - a turn in the street leading to a marble pavilion, its lower story 
pierced with arched windows, while above are light arcades covered with 
arabesques and crowned with balconies. In the Kuttab or mosque school the 
children are taught to read the koran, and there is a model school in 
operation, the upper room of which is thrown open to visitors as a 
convenient observatory. Near by is a handsomely decorated theatre, where 
dark-eyed Egyptian girls in gauzy garments, with great golden ornaments in 
their head-dresses and tiny cymbals upon their fingers, dance in dangerous 
proximity to sharp swords and lighted candles. The semi-circular stage is 
line with divans and on either side are richly curtained rooms, these for 
the dancers and musicians. 

Through the handsomest portal in the street one passes into the Okaka, a 
quadrangular court or arcade. Here is the commercial quarter or exchange, 
more pretentious than the place where shopmen spread their wares in what 
are little more than niches in the house walls. On all sides of the court 
are pointed arches, one above the other, every quarter of the Nile country 
contributing to the varied and picturesque display. Ivory, jewelry, 
pottery, and brasswork, embroidery, ancient gold and silver coins, 
Soudanese arms and draperies, mummies, beetles, national costumes, lotus 
soap, toilet appliances, and myriads of household articles are offered by 
merchants in gay attire, both goods and salesmen adding to the 
architectural attractions of the court. Many of the articles here 
contained are being manufactured in the houses, where are makers of 
slippers, silk-weavers at their looms, fez and tent-makers, embroiderers, 
smiths fashioning the filigree work of the Soudan, potters turning and 
decorating jars, candy makers, manufacturers of musical instruments, and 
carvers in wood, ebony, and ostrich eggs. 

A noted character in Cairo street is Hadj Hamud Nuir, a fortune teller and 
descended from the long line of seers, the first of his family sitting in 
the shade of the sphinx and bidding Egyptian damsels beware of white men 
who came to them from the Red sea with promises which they never intended 
to fulfil. He is a dignified personage, but somewhat eccentric in his 
habits, conning his books during the witching hours of night, when all 
others are sound asleep. 

Around the court in the west end of the street are the ancient temple of 
Luxor and the section given over to Soudanese and Nubians. The 

Page 868

temple is a close copy of the one near Thebes, built about 1,400 B. C., 
and afterward the principal seat of ancient worship. Two obelisks stand in 
front, the exterior walls being painted to represent the warlike deeds of 
the Rameses, during whose dynasty the glory of the ancient faith was 
restored. The third monarch of that line is also represented by two mighty 
figures at the entrance, and the inner walls are depictured with events in 
the lives of the Pharaohs, whose dried and embalmed remains are 
represented in rows of cases which extend to the altar of Isis at the 
farther end of the hall. Rameses III is first in the line of mummies, and 
back of the altar are the tombs of Thi and Apis the Sacred bull. 

North of the temple are the Soudanese and Nubians, living in bark huts, 
oval in shape and thatched with split reeds or corn-stalks. The former, 
with their sword dances and mimic contests with long-bladed weapons, 
revive memories of the campaign undertaken for the relief of General 
Gordon. A large portion of the contingent came from Khartoum or its 
vicinity and, within the walls of Cairo street is one who performs a 
warlike dance in which the long Egyptian gun, often levelled at the 
soldiers of the British army, is handled with telling effect. The dancing 
of girls and children, some of the latter little more than infants, is 
merely a series of writhing and contortions offensive to taste and 
disgusting to look upon. The Boushreens are the most savage of the tribes 
whose representatives come from Soudan, while the Nubians appear to 
conform more to the appearance and costumes of the Egyptians. The women 
have pendants of gold and silver in their ears, such as are worn by their 
sisters farther to the north, with an abundance of bracelets around arms 
and ankles. 

About midway in the plaisance, and the most conspicuous object therein, is 
the mechanical wonder of the Fair, one that is to the Columbian Exposition 
what the Eiffel tower, yet standing in the Champs de Mars, was to the 
Paris Exposition of 1889. This is the Ferris wheel, named after its 
artificer, G. W. G. Ferris, president of a Pittsburgh engineering firm 
whose specialty is the construction of bridges. It was not until December, 
1892, that the concession was granted, and in the following month the 
materials used were still in the form of rough lumber and pig iron; on the 
20th of March ground was broken for the foundations, and on the 20th of 
June the completed wheel began to revolve. The structure consists of two 
wheels some 30 feet apart and connected by iron rods and struts, which 
nowhere come within 20 feet of the periphery, It is 320 feet in diameter 
and 30 in width at the exterior rim, rising from a platform raised 15 feet 
above the ground. The rim of each wheel is composed of a curved, hollow 
frame of iron, within which is another wheel with lighter frame. In the 
centre of the circle is the iron axle on which it turns, nearly three feet 
thick and 45 in length, the entire mass resting on a pyramidal framework 
at either side, and held together by steel rods, extending in pairs from 
the axle to the circumference, where they are 13 feet apart. Viewed at a 
distance these rods appear like spider webs, giving to the fabric, with 
its freight of human beings, a dangerous and unsubstantial aspect; but 
more clearly to explain its mechanism, it may be stated that the interior 
portion of the wheel is constructed as in a bicycle, with the difference 
that the former hangs by its axle while the latter rests on the ground. 

Page 869

Ascending a broad staircase, the visitor passes through a doorway, between 
two iron beams, into a cheerful looking apartment with plate glass 
windows, and on either side, rows of revolving chairs. Except that the 
windows are barred with iron gratings, and that above are other chambers 
poised in air, he would not know that he is already on one of the cars of 
the Ferris wheel; but so it is. Of these cars there are six and thirty, 
with iron, wood-covered frame, each 27 feet long, 13 in width, and 9 in 
height, with a weight of 13 tons and seating accommodation for 40 
passengers. All are connected with the outer rim by an axle which passes 
through the roof, the wheel being moved by cogs and the motive power 
resembling that of the power-house of a cable car company. 

Presently is hear the click of a latch, and with a slight creaking sound, 
but almost without perceptible motion, except what is apparent to the eye, 
the car starts on its twenty minutes' trip. At first the passenger may not 
be perfectly at ease, though assuming an air of careless unconcern; but in 
each compartment is a conductor, who by calling attention to objects of 
interest, banishes the fear of what might happen should the car break 
loose from its moorings and launch into space. Apart from a little 
rattling of windows and a gentle swaying motion, as of a vessel rocked on 
a summer sea, there is nothing to unsettle the nerves of woman or child, 
though on the first voyage many close their eyes. As the ascent is made, 
one first looks down on the roofs of the plaisance villages, and then 
toward the north, the south, and west the great midcontinent metropolis 
lifts into vision in fleeting and kaleidoscopic vistas. Eastward are the 
temples of the Fair; beyond, the blue waters of Michigan; and still 
beyond, the opposite shores of the lake, some 50 miles away, are dimly 
outlined on the horizon. As the huge, revolving orb approaches the apex of 
the circle, the mammoth structures of Jackson park dwindle into liliputian 
proportions, the park itself into a plaza, and its throng of sightseers 
into a pygmean host. Then from an elevation of 250 feet, almost on a level 
with the summit of the dome which crowns the Administration building, the 
descent is smoothly made, and the visitor has completed his initial tour 
on the Ferris wheel. 

By night the trip is even more attractive; for the great wheel is ablaze 
with 2,500 electric lights attached to the outer rim, to the inner circle, 
to the spokes, the portals, the enclosing fence, and wherever else such 
lights could be placed to advantage. Far above the myriads of lamps that 
illumine the city of the Fair, towers this rainbow of revolving light, 
seen afar on the prairie and lake, like the bow of scientific promise set 
athwart the blackness of the night. As with the entire Exposition, by day 
its aspect is imposing; by night it is beautiful, with an almost 
supernatural beauty, as though in this Midway plaisance with its 
nondescript buildings, its babel of tongues, its discordant music, and 
raucous outcries, were placed by way of contrast a glimpse of fairyland, a 
vision of the Arabian Nights. 

As to the mechanical part of this stupendous fabric it may further be said 
that, while itself of no great practical value, it is a step forward and a 
very decided step, in the science of engineering. Both in the Eiffel tower 
and the Ferris wheel are more or less adapted the principles of the 
cantilever bridge; but while the former was merely a bridge set on end, 
the latter was a bridge whose extremes were united in the form 

Page 870

of a revolving circle, in a structure solid and safe in every component 
part, with a total weight of more than 1,100 tons, aside from its 
supports, and yet with workmanship in parts almost as delicate as that of 
a chronometer. When a novelty was demanded for the Columbian Exposition, 
one that should be at least as striking and original as the tower, many 
plans were submitted, but none that fulfilled the conditions. Then it was 
that the Pittsburgh engineer bethought him of his wheel, which while 
serving as a medium of observation for passengers, would stand as one of 
the architectural monuments of the Fair. To insure its safety, each bolt 
and beam, each rod and girder was thoroughly tested, and the strain at 
every point was calculated with the utmost nicety. Early in the season a 
hurricane with a velocity of 100 miles an hour passed through the 
structure without the least symptom of damage, save that on the night of 
the hurricane the cars ran somewhat bare of passengers. 

Within the shadow of this mechanical triumph of the Exposition stands a 
small wooden building which contains a model of the Eiffel tower, 20 feet 
in height, with a miniature representation of its environment. In this 
were used 650,000 pieces of metal, as in the tower itself, the elevators 
being in constant motion, while 1,000 incandescent lights are displayed on 
the model and on the miniature grounds and street adjacent. Groves of 
trees are woven in silk, and at the foot of the structure an electric 
fountain plays from a basin of marble decorated with statues and vases, 
the entire reproduction being true to the original, and costing as is said 
$100,000 to place it in Jackson park. 

Among the most interesting structures in the plaisance, though one that 
appears somewhat out of place in this pleasure ground of the Exposition, 
is a model of St. Peter's, an exact reproduction of that 

Page 871

monumental edifice on the scale of about one sixtieth of the original. 
Begun in the sixteenth century, the model was completed in the eighteenth, 
from drawings by Michael Angelo, San Gallo, Bramante, and other architects 
and artists of world-wide repute. After being in possession of several of 
the pontiffs, it became the property of Ludovic de B. Spiridon, by whom it 
was tendered for exhibition purposes. It is 30 feet in length, 15 in width 
and height, and constructed of carved wood covered with a substance 
closely resembling marble. All the more imposing features, together with 
the minutest details, are faithfully reproduced. There is the great dome, 
630 feet in circumference and more than 300 above the roof, completed in 
1590 in the Pontificate of Sisto V, who kept 600 men at work upon it day 
and night at an annual outlay of 100,000 gold crowns. Beneath it is the 
canopy above the high altar and the tomb of St. Peter, weighing nearly 100 
tons and fashioned of bronze stripped from the Pantheon. There are the 
capellas Clemintina and della Pieta; the chapels of the Holy Sacrament and 
the Madonna, and the sacristy which Pio VI erected, with its fluted 
pillars from Hadrian's villa. In the centre of the court inclosed by the 
colonnade is an Egyptian obelisk, 130 feet high, and carved from a single 
piece of solid marble. There is the vast, central nave, with its imposing 
arches and aisles, its shrines and sanctuaries, and near the central door, 
the slab of marble on which the Roman emperors were crowned; all these an 
other features reproduced in miniature from this masterpiece of mediaevel 
architecture, the execution of which cost $60,000,000 and extended over 
the reign of three and forty pontiffs. 

In the building which contains the model are portraits of the popes from 
Gregory IX to Leo XIII; with the coats of arms of pontiffs and cardinals. 
There is a facsimile of the bronze statue of St. Peter, near which in 
miniature is Trajan's column from the Roman forum which bears him name. Of 
other cathedrals, chapels, and monuments there are also models, as of the 
cathedral of Milan, in dimensions second only to St. Peter's and with no 
superior in architectural and decorative sceme. The St. Agnese church is 
here, erected by Innocenzo X in 1664, and there is the pantheon that 
Agrippa completed a few years before the Christian era, and which Boniface 
IV consecrated in 609. By night the entire fabric is illuminated with 
incandescent lights, and in attendance are men armed and uniformed in 
exact imitation of the Vatican guards. 

Second in interest to the German village, and second only, is the Austrian 
village, or as it is more commonly termed, "Old Vienna," reproducing in 
part its ancient market place, with portions of the wall that encircled 
the city and one of its gates, flanked by gray towers and guarded by a 
portcullis. Opposite the entrance way is the rondello, the original of 
which was erected in 1622, and so-called from its large low windows built 
in the form of towers, a typical feature in Austrian architecture, and one 
largely adopted even at the present day. A conspicuous object is a model 
of the rathhaus or town-hall, completed in 1799, and one of the 

Page 872

oldest structures in the metropolis. There is a church where services are 
held as at home, and there are some thirty houses and stores, 
representing, with the aid of carpentry and scene painting, the fronts of 
venerable buildings, so far at least as the exteriors are concerned. A 
clever architectural delusion is created by painted stucco fronts, with 
inscriptions in old German and Roman text. On one of them, on a dark 
background inclosed in scroll work, is the inscription, "Ano D. M. 1587." 
On another, bearing the date of 1590, is a picture of children at play, 
and on a third a virgin and child are surrounded by a halo of glory, 
beneath them the words "Soli Deo Gloria." 

A feature of Old Vienna is its restaurants and cafes, its beer garden, and 
its daily concerts by the emperor's band. Near the entrance is a favorite 
resort conducted by the owner of vineyards whose products are of European 
celebrity. At the western end is a caf‚ where the infanta Eulalia partook 
of refreshments served by a former apprentice to the court confectioner at 
Buda-Pesth. On the southern side is a booth where the Voslau-Goldeck wines 
are displayed, a favorite brand among the clubs and hotels of the United 
States. The beer garden is somewhat of a novelty, occupying three sides of 
a square, with tables scattered around a music stand, with bill of fare in 
German script, and Viennese waiter-girls of whom none can speak a word of 
English. Each one carries a satchel strapped to her waist-band in which 
her money is kept, and as flirting or conversation with guests is 
forbidden, the only rivalry is as to the number of glasses of beer which 
each one can carry without spilling their contents. The shops are stored 
with articles of jewelry and bric-a-brac, one of them especially 
displaying excellent workmanship in gold and silver, enamel and rock 
crystals. 

In the ratthaus several of the chambers are fitted up as a museum of the 
Hellenic period, and here are portraits in wax nearly 2,000 years old, 
exhumed not many years ago from Egyptian mausoleums. The pictures come 
from the tombs of Rubijat in the ancient province of Memphis, where, after 
his conquest of Egypt in the year 320 B. C., Alexander left behind him 
artists whose names have perished but whose works survive. They are 
uniform in size, about 14 by 8 inches, and though merely executed on thin 
boards in colors of wax, probably laid on with knives or other steel 
implements, are not without artistic qualities. In Berlin they excited 
much interest and were widely copied, one of the foremost of German 
artists remarking, "We can paint as well, but no better." But not all are 
of equal merit, some being the crudest of amateur productions, and a 
defect that is noticeable in most of them is the exaggerated size of the 
eye, due to over-coloring of the lids with a view to increase the effect. 

The subjects represented are of course unknown, some being portraits of 
Egyptian and others of Syrian and Phoenician personages; but as a rule of 
light complexion and of no special race type. Among the best is 

Page 873

one of an aged may of earnest, intellectual features, lustrous eyes, and 
finely chiselled mouth, on his shoulder the stripe which is often noticed 
in pictures unearthed from Pompeiian ruins. This was copied by Meissonier, 
who pronounced it one of the finest portraits he had seen. Another 
painting is of a priest of Isis, on his breast the golden badge worn by 
the dignitaries of that ancient order. More comely of aspect is the head 
of a girl, with symmetric outline and head-dress of purple, showing that 
the wearer belonged to some family of exalted rank. Finally there are 
small wooden boards which served as tombstones for mummies, inscribed with 
Greek characters such as were used in the second century of the Christian 
era. 

Adjacent on the east to the Austrian village is the Chinatown of the Fair, 
containing under one roof of a bazaar, restaurant, theatre, museum, joss-
house, and elsewhere, a tea house and garden. The building is of typical 
Chinese architecture, 150 by 100 feet, 80 in height, with bell-shaped 
towers and minarets painted in prismatic colors, beginning with the violet 
hue of the rainbow. In the bazaar are silks and embroideries, toilet 
appliances and table ware, with other articles such as are offered for 
sale in Chinese stores of the better class. In the restaurants meals are 
served and cooked in mysterious fashion. Here one may partake of the 
regular fare of the Chinaman; a dish of rice and vegetables, with perhaps 
a few small pieces of meat or fish; or he may order an elaborate dinner, 
with courses innumerable and savory, tempting viands, so they be not too 
closely scrutinized. 

But the theatre is the centre of attraction; not for its amusements, its 
acting, or its equipments; for in these there is little worthy of note; 
but for the oddity of the performance and for the nature of its themes. In 
China, as in ancient Greece, the drama is a national and in part a 
religious institution, controlled by law and forming a prominent factor in 
religious festivals. Most of the plays are of an historic character, but 
with little attempt at delineation of character, and with nothing of 
psychological interest. As in Chinese literature, the pervading tone is 
morbid and ultra-pessimist, virtue in woman and honor in man being 
conceded only to a few. But this may be no very unjust aspersion; for 
here, as has been said, "is a country where the seat of 

Page 874

honor is the stomach; where the roses have no fragrance and the women no 
petticoats; where the laborer has no Sabbath and the magistrate no sense 
of integrity." 

Six months is no unusual time for the acting of a Chinese drama, even with 
daily performances; but as this represented the entire term of the Fair, 
the plays must of course be condensed. No scenery is used, and each actor 
appears to be his own manager and his own property man; so that on this 
mimic stage, as on the stage of life, it is the unexpected that always 
happens. Beards are a feature in the performance, good men wearing long 
white switches, and those who are evil disposed appearing in whiskers of 
brown. But these are changed as occasion requires, especially for "blood 
and thunder" effect. The leading players are what are termed lightning 
change artists, wearing all the garments needed for their several parts 
and changing them as required. Thus a man transforms himself from a hero 
into a villain by simply discarding his suit of blue and standing revealed 
in green, while a mandarin of the red button who is about to personate an 
angel, does so by merely changing his pantaloons. A soldier appears on the 
stage intent on rescuing his betrothed from a band of Tartars, and 
presently comes to a river which he can only cross by swimming. For this 
he prepares by stripping to his undergarments, and after standing for a 
moment as though posing for the nude, ducks his head and disappears 
through a convenient exit. A moment later he is seen in front of the 
footlights, dripping with water, and resuming his attire and his armor, 
sets forth with waving sword in pursuit of the foe. 

No women appear on the stage, these being represented by female 
impersonators in raiment of gorgeous hue, their cheeks thickly coated with 
pink and white paint, and on their lips the same meaningless, stereotyped 
grin. The leading impersonator is a man of national repute with 
intelligent features and searching glance, swift and bright as the 
falcon's. Pang does very much as he pleases; the more so as there is no 
call boy and no cue save that which dangles from his head. Seated on a 
box; for chairs are no part of the property, he leisurely smokes his 
cigarette while chatting with his fellow histrions. Presently bethinking 
him that it is time to 

Page 876

appear on the stage, he slowly discards his attire and arrays himself in 
female garb. Then proceeding to the mirror, he contorts his features into 
the required expression, and wetting his palms transfers to his face with 
nimble touch the pigments placed before him. Finally he dons his wig, 
gives his skirts a final shake, and a moment later his high falsetto voice 
is ringing through the Chinese theatre. 

That "the religion of God is one, but the religions of man are many" was 
never more forcibly exemplified than in the Midway plaisance, and 
especially in the Chinese joss-house, with its multitudinous idols and 
graven images, suggestive not only of Confucianism but of Buddhism and 
Taoism. Joss is the central figure, and there are many josses, the chief 
one occupying the post of honor enthroned in hand-embroidered robes. In 
front of him are incense burners, cups of tea for him to drink, calabashes 
of water for his toilet, and vases filled with huge artificial roses, 
while prayers and praises are inscribed on the sides and background of the 
dais. Lions and griffins guard the doors and keep watch beside the 
shrines; and illustrating episodes in Chinese history are figures in wood 
and clay, with lanterns in many fantastic forms. Here and in another 
gallery is a collection of curiosities, with literature and works of art, 
or art applied to objects of common utility. Among them is the great 
dragon of China, 36 feet long and mounted on a pedestal, with mirror-like 
eyes and scales of burnished brass. Then there are umbrellas for the 
josses, with other appliances for their comfort and protection. On a large 
screen is shown a plough of primitive pattern, fashioned of two bent 
pieces of timber, with share of wood roughly tipped with iron, and harness 
of plaited grass fitted to the heads of oxen. A scythe for cutting rice, 
shaped like the letter V, and with a blade on one of its sides, is a no 
less ancient implement, one probably in use at least four centuries before 
the Columbian era. Finally there is the most expensive flag on the 
grounds, costing, it is said, $3,000, hand-embroidered in silk, and 
designed for presentation to the emperor. 

On the opposite side of the plaisance is the Algerian and Tunisian 
village, where are reproductions in miniature of streets and bazaars, with 
fountains and ornamental gardens, a concert hall, a Moorish cafe, a Kabyle 
hall, and the houses and tents of Arabs. Most of the buildings are covered 
with tiles imported from northern Africa and richly glazed and colored; in 
many are embroidered hangings and other interior decorations, 

Page 877

and in not a few, music is rendered by native artists on instruments of 
native manufacture. Of the two concessionaires one is a medallist of all 
the international expositions held since 1865, winning at Paris in 1889 
the highest award for an exhibit of similar character. 

In the bazaars are many curiosities side by side with most of the 
commodities known to the world of commerce, from gems and jewelry to long 
barrelled muskets and old fashioned flint-lock pistols. There are 
scimitars whose finely tempered blades are damascened in gold with 
passages from the koran, and whose hilts are aglow with precious stones. 
Of daggers there is a wonderful collection in every conceivable pattern, 
from such as are worn as ornaments to those intended fro more deadly work, 
some of them poisoned and kept in a case by themselves. There are brocades 
embroidered with silver and gold; the daintiest of cushions and table-
covers with tracings arabesqued in golden threads; laces of film-like 
fineness, and tissues tasselled and tinted in every hue. In one of the 
tents cotton cloth is being woven by native women seated on the floor, and 
elsewhere jewellers are at work fashioning rings and bracelets. Perfumery, 
with attar of roses, sweetmeats, and seraglio pastilles are offered by 
dark-eyed damsels swart of complexion but shapely of form; these and many 
other articles intended to delight the eye and deplete the purse. 

Around a Bedouin camp, suggestive of desert life, camel drivers are 
shouting at their stubborn beasts, which refuse to rise when too heavily 
burdened. Not far away snake-charmers are swearing by Allah that their 
serpents are the deadliest of their kind. Conjurors are prepared to 
measure their skill against all others of their calling, one of them a 
dark Kabyle Arab making his lunch on living coals of fire. There are 
swordsmen and swordswomen, two of the latter also from Kabyle, each 
fencing with a scimitar in either hand, and picking a card from the girdle 
of her lightly-clad opponent without symptom of injury or fright. Entering 
the caf‚, richly furnished in oriental fashion, the visitor may partake of 
light refreshments, as ices, confections, and cooling drinks; but here no 
intoxicating liquors are sold, and there are none within the village. 

The concert hall is the favorite resort; not for its music but for its 
dancing-girls, who are beauties in their way, though with strongly marked 
features and somewhat too plump of outline. Their attire is modest and not 
without elements of the picturesque; for the Algerian dancing-girl wears 
clothes, much more of them at least than the Parisian coryphee, and here 
is no unseemly display of tightly hosiered limb. Most of them are attired 
in skirts that reach to the ankle, with loose embroidered waists of silk 
and bolero jackets spangled with tinsel ornaments. From a bench where all 
are seated side by side with the orchestra, one of the damsels steps 
forward and begins to dance, swaying her lithesome form in rhythmical 
fashion, at first slowly and then in accelerated measure. As the orchestra 
warms to its work her figure appears to tremble and undulate, as though in 
an ecstasy of delight; for the motion is rather of the body than of the 
feet, yet agile and far more graceful than the pirouetting of a premiere. 
As a rule only one girl dances at a time, each introducing some special 
feature, while the rest look on with critical eye and applaud when 
applause is deserved. Among the most pleasing is the scarf dance, where 
the performer waves scarfs above her head while posing in symmetrical 
attitudes. But there are other dances, as the sword dance and the torture 
dance, the latter executed by men, too revolting to be witnessed or 
described. 

Dahomey has a village on the plaisance in the form of a hollow square 
adjoining Old Vienna, its huts built in native fashion, with rough mud 
walls thatched with the bark and boughs of trees and with wooden 

Page 878

floors and windows. There is little furniture in these rude habitations 
and there is not a single pane of glass, the inhabitants sleeping on the 
floor rolled in skins or coarse blankets of home manufacture. One of the 
huts, an open structure, serves as kitchen and dining-room, where men and 
women take their meals al fresco. Here is a modern cooking stove - about 
the only thing that is modern amid this African community. Other buildings 
serve at once as workshops and dwellings. In one lives the village 
blacksmith, whose principal business is the sharpening of spear heads and 
the repairing of the spikes which protrude from Dahomean war-clubs. This 
he does seated squat on the ground in front of his domicile. Elsewhere a 
man is stooping over his embroidery; for in Dahomey this is the work of 
men, the women, if not nursing their babies, going forth to till the soil 
or to fight. 

In the centre of the enclosure is the theatre, if such can be called a 
large, open shed, unwalled, with thatched roof and floor of rough 
planking. Here is the strangest sight among all the spectacular wonders of 
the plaisance. At one end are grouped the musicians, all of them 
Dahomeans, all lean and lank, and all supremely hideous. They wear nose 
and earrings of metal, and as little clothing as decency permits, their 
dark, shining bodies showing the scars of many a hard fought battle. 
Seated on the platform is the king, a coal-black potentate, sleepy and 
fat, with thick, bush beard and head and jaws like a bull-dog. All day 
long he sits dozing with half-closed eyes and changeless expression of 
face, if his face can be said to have any expression save that of ferocity 
and lust. But leaning forward with his hands resting on a cane, and a 
slave holding an umbrellas above him, his majesty enjoys the music and 
dancing more perhaps than anything else in life, unless it be the cutting 
off of heads. 

The instruments are as grotesque as the performers, and some of them are 
fearfully and wonderfully made. The best is a stringed instrument, 
resembling somewhat the zither seen in the Tyrol, but of ruder 
workmanship. There is an orchestra of drums and bells, with a single 
flute, a rattle, and an ivory horn of most primitive pattern. The last is 
used for giving signals by the warrior who keeps guard over the village, 
and is similar in shape to the brazen war trumpets used by the ancient 
Kelts, such as have been exhumed from the bogs of Ireland. There are other 
horns of wood; with stones shaken in a bag of skin, producing sounds like 
the hissing of serpents, and vessels and disks of copper clashed together 
like cymbals. The singing is much better than the instrumentation; for the 
Dahomeans have a certain knowledge of harmony, and their dances are 
accompanied with choral song as well as the beat of drum. 

The drum-major opens the performance with gentle, rhythmic tapping of 
drum, rapidly increasing int tone. Then another drum is heard, and 
presently the clashing of a cymbal, the sound gradually gaining in volume 
until all the musicians are hard at work. As the concert opens, the men 
and women crouching in the centre of the floor, some 30 in number, are 
aroused from sleep or stupor, and rising to their feet, begin to beat time 
to the music. When all are ready the war-dance or march begins at a signal 
from their leader. Forward and backward passes this motley crew, 
brandishing war-clubs and grinning as only Dahomeans can grin. Louder and 
yet more loud grow the beating of drum, the blast of horn, and the clash 
of cymbal. Then the posturing begins; but in this there is nothing of the 
graceful or sensuous; simply a contortion and quivering of limb and body, 
with swinging of weapons as though nothing would delight them more than to 
kill and destroy. It is in truth a barbaric spectacle, and the more so as 
many of the performers are women, the amazons of western Africa, trained 
for the service of the king and esteemed as the choices of his troops. 

From the Arctic zone there are also two Exposition colonies, one of 
Eskimos from Labrador, and the other from the portion of Lapland near 
North cape in Norway. The former is likewise termed the Innuit colony, and 
consists of several families, each living in a cabin covered with moss or 
bark. There was also a snow 

Page 879

house during the earlier part of the season, and in a topek or lodge are 
kayaks or canoes, with paddles, harpoons, nets, sleeping bags, and all 
other articles needed for the outfit of an Innuit hunter. Within the 
enclosure is an arm of the lagoon, where are illustrated Eskimo methods of 
boating, fishing, and seal hunting; and on one side is a pen for dogs, of 
which many are running around the village, such as are used for draught 
animals, offensive to sight and smell, but strong, powerfully limbed, and 
with thick coating of hair. Sledges are driven by an Eskimo boy, armed 
with a heavy whip fifteen feet in length, the crack of which is heard afar 
in the grounds. Not a few of the inhabitants have learned to speak the 
English language and conversely freely and intelligently about the Fair 
and the part which they play therein. Their winter dress is of seal skin, 
and in summer a suit of pearl-gray color trimmed with fur - a tunic, 
pantaloons, moccasins, and a hood. Both sexes are attired alike, except 
that in the garb of the women is more of ornamentation and that their 
hoods are larger; for these also serves as baby holders, in which the 
little one rests on the mother's shoulders. 

The village of the Laps is a miniature reproduction of a Lapland 
settlement, with huts of skins banked with moss, in which a fire is always 
burning, the smoke escaping through a hole in the roof when the wind is in 
the right direction, and if not, remaining where it is. There are but two 
dozen inhabitants in all, and the oldest of them is King Bull, whose 
descendants represent several generations. The king is 112 years of age, 
and with him is a son aged 90, a grandson of 73, and a great granddaughter 
of 59, the last the mother of a son of 41, whose own son is 29, this 
latter having a daughter of 14, who herself has a daughter two years old. 
The patriarch of the flock is as active as any of the rest, especially in 
the solicitation of fees, taking whatever is offered him, from a bottle of 
beer to a piece of money; but he like beer the best. Most of them are very 
religious, belonging to 

Page 880

the Lutheran faith; but some have no religion at all; among others the 
king, who believes in nothing greater than himself. There is a small herd 
of reindeer in the enclosure, and these are fed and tended with care; for 
the reindeer is the main support of the Laplander, its flesh serving as 
food, and at times as his only food; its skin as clothing and for tents; 
its milk as a beverage and for cheese; its sinews for ropes; its hoofs for 
glue, and its bones for sledges and implements of the chase. The entire 
village is different from the rest, and together with the Eskimo colony 
and several others, forms a most interesting ethnological display. 

Located for the most part at the western extremity of the plaisance are a 
number of attractions, some more or less valuable from an ethnological 
standpoint and others mainly of a commercial character. One of the most 
remarkable is the encampment of Bedouins, already briefly mentioned. It is 
popularly know as the Wild East show, and consists of a typical group of 
Arabs with their dromedaries and steeds, the men dressed in native 
costumes and armed with scimitars and spears. They parade along the 
avenue, chanting in discordant notes, and otherwise advertising themselves 
and their exhibits. Upon the fence of their encampment are crude paintings 
showing Arabian life in the desert, and within the enclosure Bedouins are 
living in their tents, with their wives and children, as they do at home. 
Here, also, the horsemen indulge in various games and contests of speed 
and arms, as with loud shouts they race around the course or run across 
it, ostensibly filled with all the emotions which possess them when 
ranging the desert. In close proximity to the Johore bungalow, already 
described, is a Brazilian concert and dance hall, in which the performers 
are somewhat gross looking Indian women. Elsewhere are several exhibits by 
North American natives. 

Page 881

In the Winnebago Indian village are not a few tasteful articles of native 
manufacture, and within another enclosure is said to be the original log 
cabin of Sitting Bull. Near by are what purport to be relics from the 
battle field where General Custer met his death, while purely or partially 
commercial in character are the Ice railway and the display of French 
mosaics and spun glass work. There are also such special attractions as 
the captive balloon, and the California ostrich farm, the latter harboring 
some 30 birds. In this vicinity, and at the western extremity of the 
plaisance are the Hungarian caf‚ and concert garden, and the grounds 
devoted to military encampments. The former contains a vaudeville stage, 
and on the roof are given the concerts which form a popular feature of the 
plaisance. 

World's Fair Miscellany

From the opening of the Fair until its close, the amount of revenue 
derived from the concessions of Midway plaisance was over $4,000,000, 
while the Paris Exposition received only about one-sixth as much from all 
such sources. Cairo street led in popularity, the admissions exceeding 2,
250,000. During the same period the Ferris wheel carried 1,500,000 
passengers; into Hagenbeck's arena passed more than 2,000,000 persons; 
about 800,000 entered the gates of the German village; nearly as many 
visited Old Vienna, and more than 670,000 the Javanese village. Lady 
Aberdeen's exhibit of Irish industries was also a most popular feature of 
the plaisance, attracting during the Exposition season more than 550,000 
visitors. 

As to the Irish Industries association, represented in Lady Aberdeen's 
village, the following are some of the results accomplished during the 
seven or eight years of its existence, as stated in substance by the 
management. It has brought the cottage and home industries of Ireland into 
communication with a common centre, drawing public attention to these 
industries and to the excellence of their products, thus creating for them 
a reliable market. Depots for their sale have been established in Dublin, 
London, and other business centres, with the result that in 1892 many 
thousands of dollars were forwarded to the homes of Irish peasantry. 
Designs and instruction have been furnished free of cost, and the workers 
trained to business-like habits. Influential men of all political and 
religious creeds have united for the common purpose of bettering the 
condition of the peasantry, some serving on the council and others 
tendering their support and sympathy. Among them are Gladstone, Balfour, 
John Morley, Justin McCarthy, John Dillon, 

Page 882

Horace Plunkett, Lord Aberdeen, Lord Londonderry, Cardinal Logue, 
archbishop of Armagh, and William J. Walsh, protestant archbishop of 
Dublin. 

When the Donegal Irish village was formerly opened, its promoter, Mrs. 
Ernest Hart, who is also president of the Donegal industrial fund, was 
gratified by a demonstration of the good will entertained for such 
enterprises in the United States. A representative of Archbishop Feehan, 
accompanied by several Fair officials, including president Higinbotham, 
with many friends and spectators, passed through its ancient looking 
archway into the semblance of the historic ground of Ireland. As with Lady 
Aberdeen's village, a depot was opened in Chicago for the sale of its 
surplus stock, a large portion of which was sold during the progress of 
the Fair. 

The visit of Lordmayor Shanks, of Dublin, to be further mentioned in 
connection with foreign exhibits was a notable occasion not only for Irish 
men and women, but for Fair pilgrims generally. Among the receptions 
accorded him, the one which occurred at Mrs. Hart's village was the most 
enjoyable. In a speech the mayor referred gracefully and feelingly to the 
work accomplished, and Judge Moran, another speaker, alluded to the fact 
that Mrs. Hart had expended more than $60,000 or its equivalent from her 
private fortune in promoting Irish industries. 

It is said that the project for the Ferris wheel was suggested to its 
artificer at a banquet given by the director of works to the architects 
and engineers of the Exposition more than a year before the opening day. 
After commending the labors of the former, the director complained that 
the latter had fallen short of expectation, suggesting nothing novel or 
original for the Fair in the way of engineering science, such as was the 
Eiffel tower at the Paris Exposition. Taking to heart this rebuke to his 
profession, Ferris conceived and worked out his design for the wheel, 
presenting it with all the details to other engineers, by whom it was 
somewhat coldly received. Still her persisted, expending $25,000 on plans 
and specifications before he obtained his concession. Later a joint stock 
company was organized, with a capital of $600,000, of which more than $250,
000 was expended on the wheel, the Fair managers receiving one-half the 
profits, which were very considerable. 

By the Libby Glass company, whose exhibits are described in the text, was 
manufactured for Georgia Cayvan, the actress, a gown of spun glass, in 
appearance resembling grenadine, but of a brilliant satin-like surface. It 
is described as being made in the fashion of 1830, the skirt fitted 
closely to the hips and the gores outlined with a braided gimp of glass. 
At the foot there is a puff of glass, and over it a fall of chiffon 
covered with a gleaming glass fringe. The bodice is deeply Vandyked from 
the belt toward the shoulder, and between the points are puffs of chiffon 
narrowing toward the belt and broadening toward the top, where a fall of 
the former is covered with the glass fringes which finish the low cut 
neck. The hug puffed sleeves of the period are all of glass, draped in 
approved fashion and finished with fringes. The dress attracted the 
attention of the infanta Eulalia, who ordered a similar garment for 
herself. 

The people of all nations made the season of the Fair one of betrothals 
and marriages. Several American couples were married on the Ferris wheel 
while it was in motion. In the Java village Mimi, a boy of some ten years 
of age, was united to Samaon, a little maiden somewhat his senior, the 
ceremonies being conducted according to Mohammedan rites. From the house 
of the bride groom being borne in a palanquin at its head. An aged priest 
blessed them in Malay, and pronounced the simple words from the koran 
which made them man and wife, all the native spectators repeating a 
prayer; and then the formal ceremonies were over. Afterward the procession 
escorted the couple to the groom's cottage, prettily decorated with flags 
and bunting, where the marriage feast was spread and the couple received 
the congratulations of their friends. Presently the party returned to the 
theatre, where the natives performed the marriage dance, a serenade 
completing the programme. The ceremonies attending the marriage of Ahmed, 
the donkey boy, and Nabitia, the flower girl, both familiar figures in the 
street of Cairo, extended over a week, during which period neither the 
bride nor groom were allowed to see one another. Ahmed was formally 
congratulated, the marriage contract was signed in the presence of the 
priest, and there was singing by the bride beneath the window of the 
bridegroom, and vice versa, after which the young wife, surrounded by the 
female relatives of the groom, was taken to the home of her spouse. 
Inspired perhaps by these marital events, a member of the Kabyles, a 
warlike tribe of Algeria, endeavored to seize upon a dancer with whom he 
had become enamored since their departure from their native land. He 
failed, however, to carry her away, on account of the cries of her female 
companions and the intervention of a Columbian guard, the over zealous 
lover being escorted to the nearest police station to answer for his 
violation of American laws. 

Under the management of F. D. Millet, master of ceremonies, several 
popular features were introduced, tending to bring together the motley 
collection of people whose headquarters were in the plaisance, and to 
demonstrate to the public what a wonderful gathering was here. On the 17th 
of June, an international parade, some 2,000 strong, marched along the 
avenue and through the main portions of the Exposition grounds, followed 
by bipeds and quadrapeds from all portions of the earth. First came a 
delegation of men, women, and reindeer from the Lapland village, led by 
famed King Bull; then a squad of muscular amazons of the Dahomey 
settlement, with bare, scarred legs and suggestive weapons, singing a war 
song as they passed. Gorgeously attired in flowing robes of silk, long 
files of Chinamen were seen, bearing upon their shoulders a huge dragon, 
beating their gongs, and clashing their cymbals in competition with the 
huge drum of the Dahomeans. From the contingent of Algerians the shrill 
and excited cries of the dancing girls, who rode in rolling chairs, rose 
above the din of drum and clarionets. Then came a delegation from Cairo 
street, including camels and donkeys, soudanese and Nubians, swordsmen, 
clowns, and merchants. Dancing-girls of the Persian palace posed in 
carriages, and there were troops of Bedouins and Turks in picturesque 
costume, South Sea islanders clad in seaweed, and representatives of the 
International beauty show, not to mention animals attached to Hagenbeck's 
arena, and employees of such concessions as the Eiffel tower, the Libbey 
glass-works, the Irish villages, and the Ostrich farm. 

Paul du Chaillu, the famous African traveller, was a frequent visitor to 
the Fair, and instinctively gravitated toward the plaisance. He spent much 
time in the Dahomey village, and made warm friends with the Samoans and 
other members of the South Sea settlement. On one occasion the latter 
formally entertained and feasted him, roasting a pig on hot stones and 
furnishing chickens, ducks, fish, and other viands, with kara for drink. 

Most of the oriental employed on the plaisance took home with them a 
considerable sum of money; the Turks from $200 to $300, the dancing girls 
at least $500, and the donkey boys a larger amount. Of the last many had 
enough to purchase a camel or a number of donkeys on their return to 
Cairo, where they would probably start in business for themselves. Nearly 
all carried their funds in sovereigns or napoleans, exchanging therefor 
the silver which they received and hoarded until it amounted to a larger 
sum than they had ever seen before. They were experts on coin, it is said, 
and neither Turk nor Egyptian was ever know to accept a counterfeit piece, 
though some were deceived by counterfeit or confederate notes. 

For the Arabian horse Aigme, exhibited in the Bedouin encampment, it is 
stated that $12,000 was offered and refused on his arrival in New York. He 
is said to be the fastest Arab steed that was ever brought to the United 
States.