A WORLD'S FAIR NUMBER. The Columbian Exposition de- scribed by Ex- President Harrison, Walter Besant and many others, with nearly 100 illustrations. A World's Fair: Illustrated. Introductory : The World's College of Democracy. A First Impression. WALTER BESANT The Foreign Buildings. PRICE COLLIER Notes on Industrial Art in the Manufactures Building. Illustrated. GEORGE F. KUNZ An Outsider's View of the Woman's Exhibit. Illustrated. ELLEN M. HENROTIN,--- 528 540 547 560 Foreiqn iident. The Woman's Branch of the Congress Auxiliary. at the Fair. Illustrated. JULIAN HAWTHORNE--- 567 Electricity at the Fair. MURAT HALSTEAD nius. 577 Transportation, Old and New Illustrated. j. B. WALKER 584 Mines and Metallurgy. Illustrated. p. J. V. SKIFF, Chief Dept.-- 592 Chicago's Entertainment of Distinguished Visitors. H. C. CHATFIELD-TAYLOR6oo Lullaby. (POEM.) ALICE A. SEWALL mus. 602 The Government Exhibit. F. T. BICKFORD, chief De P t. 603 Ethnology at the Exposition. FRANZ BOAS, Chief Dept, ... 607 Points of Interest. EX-PRESIDENT HARRISON^ In the World Of Art and Letters. Headpiece by J. Habert-J>ys. 6l2 FRANCISQUE SARCEY, H. H. BOYESEN, ANDREW LANG, THOMAS A. JANVIER. Twenty Books of the Month. Alienation. (POEM.) . EDWARD L. WHITE 618 The PrOgreSS Of Science. Headpiece by * Habert-Ityg. 619 Astronomical Note, C. A. YOUNG. Electric Welding, GEORGE H. KNIGHT. Chemistry at the Fair, S. E. TILLMAN, COL. U. S. A. JHamonds at the Fair, GEORGE F. BECKER. An JSlectric Comparison, A. E. DOLBEAR. WILLIAM R. LIGHTON--. 624 J.V.CHENEY (POEM.) 628 Illus. by Alice Barber MARK TWAIN 629 W. D. HOWELLS 635 Jos6. The Stronghold of the Gods. Is He Living or is He Dead 1 Stephens. A Traveller from Altruria. VOL. XV. OHN BRI5BEN WALKER ARTHUR 5HERBURNE HARDY EDITOR ASSOCIATE. EDITOR. PRICE, 12%, CENTS. NATURE does not make P U R E S A L T, Nash, Whiton &Co. do and they call it WORCESTER SALT. Suited to every use. NASH, WHITON & CO., NEW YORK. N. B. There are no lumps in "Worcester Salt A Midsummer Night's Dream is very, very often ruthlessly dis- turbed by the unwelcome song and burning touch of a young- lady mosquito. Place a bottle of POND'S EXTRACT by your bed- side, bathe the punctured spot therewith, then wrap the drapery of your couch about you and lie down to pleasant dreams. You will live through it without the POND'S EXTRACT, the attack is not fatal, unless to the mosquito, but oh, my ! how much comfort there is in a bottle of POND'S EXTRACT, especially in hot wea- ther! Use it for anything in- flammatory. Always efficacious. Now, don't go and buy something else and blame us because it won't .do what we say POND'S EXTRACT will do. POND'S EXTRACT Co., 76 Fifth Ave., New York. This shows the EXHIBIT of the." world-known LiebigCOMPANY'S EXTRACT OF BEEF At the WORLD'S FAIR CHICAGO. It is in the northeast part of the AGRICULTURAL BUILDING, north aisle, in the Uruguay Department. Every visitor at our interesting exhibit receives, free of charge, a cup of LIE BIG COMPANY'S delicious, refreshing Beef Tea. Note where we are and call when you visit the Fair. The Cosmopolitan Magazine, Sixth Avenue and Eleventh Street, New York. AFTER THE WORLD'S FAIR, 15 WITH NEARLY 200 ILLUSTRATIONS. ? EN TT ^2w^mg^iiraW ( /W VEwwffifts^wm Frontispieces; by Yiergeand "The Basin Illuminated." .. 130 A Farewell to the White City. PA ^L BOURGETJ MS . I33 Lessons of the Fair. Jtfw*. JOHN j. INGALLS .... I4I A White Umbrella at the Fair. F - HOPKINSON SMITH I50 Illustrated by the Author. Coast Gun L 33. (POEM.) MARTHA F. CROW .. I57 Illustrated by Ethel Webling. People Who Did Not Go to the Fair. 158 Illustrated. ROBERT GRANT Amateur Photography at the Fair. ::--_::-_i-_ii-^-_-- l6 5 Illustrated. H. H. MARKLEY H. H. BOYESEN . 173 H. C. TAYLOR l87 A. S. HARDY LYMAN J. GAGE MARK TWAIN. I9S 2OI 207 A New World Fable, nius. A Nation of Discoverers, ittus. Last Impressions, ittus. The Finances of the Exposition. Travelling With a Reformer. Illustrated by Dan Beard. Letters of an Altrurian Traveller. 218 Illustrated. W. D. HOWELLS. One Fatherland. (POEM.) CHARLOTTE F. BATES 232 American Notes. II. In the Year of the Fair, illustrated by F. G. Attwood. WALTER BESANT ... 233 Apres. Ittus. by Vierge. GUY DE MAUPASSANT 241 244 Chicago at Rest. (POEM.) MARION c. SMITH In the World of Art and Letters. Headpiece b v j. nabert-i> vs . 245 FKANCISQUE SAPCEY, A. LANG, THOS. A. JANVIER, i. ZANGWILL, AGNES REPPLIER. Twenty Books of the Monti'. The PrOgreSS Of SCienCe. Headpiece by J. Habert-Dya 252 \atnre, CAMILLE FLAMMARION. Molecules and Atoms, S. E. TILLMAN, COL. U. S. A. The Electric Search-Idffht, A. E. DOLBEAR. The Latest Determination of the Sun's ZHs- tancf, C. A. YOUNG. Geology and Cosmogony, GEORGE P. BECKER. WLieatt+n nd the Fair, JOHN S. WHITE. VOL. XVI, f OHN BRI5BEN WALKER ARTHUR 5HERBURNE HARDY EDITOR ASSOCIATE. EDITOR. Illustrated by Vierge, Reinhart, Gibson, F. Hopkinson Smith, Kemb e. Remington. Fenn. Small. Attwood. Dan Beard. Knight and Henckel. The best baking powder made is, as shown by analysis, the "Royal." Com'r of Health, New- York City. BAKING - -POWDE I regard the Royal Baking Powder as the best manufactured. Author of "Common Sense in the Household. The Cosmopolitan Magazine, Sixth Avenue and Elevtnth Street, New York. THE COSMOPOLITAN. From every man according to his ability : to everyone according to his needs. VOL. XV. SEPTEMBER, 1893. No. 5. Copyright, 1893, By J. R. WALKER. INTRODUCTORY: THE WORLD'S COLLEGE OF DEMOCRACY. BY JOHN BRISBEN WALKER. A SENSE of surprise, of delight, a suggestion of enchanted regions, come to one as he stands for the first time in the great court of the World's Fair. During the first hour spent in this region of wonders three thoughts take possession of the mind, and when, a week later, one is passing for the last time down the Court of Honor toward the Exposition Ter- minal Station, those thoughts are still predominant. The first is of the vast change which this object lesson will make in the minds of the millions who visit it, broadening, opening, lighting up dark corners, bringing them in sympathy with their fellow-men, sending them back to homes, however humble, with thoughts that will beautify and gladden entire life- times, furnishing a topic for countless winter nights' exchanges of opinions and themes of stories for gen- erations yet unborn. It is safe to estimate that our civilization and ad- vance in the liberal arts will be moved forward by a quarter of a centurj 7 as the result of this marvellous Exposition. The second thought which forces itself A WORLD'S FAIR. upon the mind, and remains as an under- tone at every minute of a memorable week's stay, is the ever present proof of the pleasure which this enchanted land brings to the millions who are visiting it. What a satisfaction to the men who have given their time and labor to building up this great work, to see upon the faces of the throngs who are moving up and down every aisle and every avenue, proofs of such pleasure, satisfaction and jo> , such complete and absolute surrender to the surrounding beauty and interest, as come but seldom into the lives of even the luckiest of humanity. It was my good fortune to be present on the Fourth of July, when the number of people on the grounds exceeded three hundred and five thousand. It was most interesting to study the faces, to note the looks of appreciation, to hear the ex- clamations of admiration, to listen to comment which was intelligent even when the garb was homely. I walked through many miles of avenues on that day: ev- er3'where unmistakable signs of enjoy- ment, everywhere the comment of intelli- gent appreciation, and above all, every- where the utmost good-nature. That, to my mind, was the most marvellous ex- hibition of all, that in a crowd containing more than three hundred thousand souls there was not .so far as I was able to see, and I carefully searched for it, one ill- tempered face, one drunken man. What a change has come over our civilization in the past twenty-five years ! Such a crowd, anywhere in the United States, be- fore the sixties or seventies, would have been the .scene of endless personal con- flicts, of drunkenness, not of the hun- dreds, but of tens of thousands, and women and children could not have taken part in such a gathering without the risk of personal injury. Yet here were only happy, smiling faces, women and children moving with perfect freedom, without even a thought that they were in the largest crowd of people ever brought to- gether within a single enclosure upon the THE CENTRAL ARCH OF THE PERISTYLE A WORLD'S FAIR. 519 A PRODTTCER. American continent, all feeling kindly toward each other, all taking part in the general joy and universal pride that this was the creation of their countrymen. The contrasts between the stage-coach and giant locomotive, between the birch-bark letter of the Indian and the telautograph message of Gray, the canoe of the Esqui- maux and the electric railway, were not so great as that between the customs prev- alent in my boyhood and this realization of hopes for a new civilization in the midst of which I walked on this Fourth of July, 1893.* What a collection of people amidst what magnificent surroundings! No monarch in the history of the world ever had such palaces erected. No monarch could have brought together such objects of interest. Not even the wealthiest of monarchs could have expended a sum, which probably two hundred millions does not represent, in such palaces and such exhibits. And these palaces are not the whim of one man for the pleasure of himself and his courtiers, but the first great creation of a government intended originally to be of the people, for the people and by the people, a government that perhaps has not yet attained that ideal, but promises in the early future to scientifically solve the problems of distribution a consummation which will give to the common people the riches which they create, just as in this ex- hibition every bounty of nature, every magnificence of architecture, every crea- tion of art, is brought together and opened for the benefit, not of the rich, not of the great, not of genius, not of the fortunate class, not of the few but of all, including the humblest citizen. Nor * A word here in regard to the Columbian Guard. A week's intercourse with these officers gives one a new idea of what a police force may be : not bulky, burly punishers by physical violence of the law's in- fractions, but public servants, placed there to aid in maintaining the law by advice and assistance, ready at all times with kindly word of information alert to the necessities of visitors and determined to make the stay of each in their precincts as pleasant as possible. They convey the modern socialistic idea ofgentlemen serving their fellow-men ; gentlemen by the courtesy of their actions, recognized as gentlemen and treated as gentle- men by all with whom they come in contact. I had frequent occasion to call upon these guardians, 111 hav- ing photographed the various illustrations required for this number, and I found them at all times anxious to aid in what was evidently a useful purpose, and handling the crowds with a gentleness and consideration that made the stay of all persons pleasanter within the grounds. It is evident that the burly policeman is likely to be relegated to the niche adjoining that occupied by the volunteer fireman. :' LOOKING INWARD FROM THE PERISTYLE. did the wisdom which has brought to- gether these many people from every part of our vast nation intend this fairy land of democracy simply as a means of pleasure. Looking down the great basin toward the Statue of Liberty, toward the peri- style with its magnificent columns, sur- mounted by its exquisite groups, the whole seems a creation for pleasure. Turning one's back upon the peristyle, with its glimpses of blue lake between the columns, the whole aspect changes. Read the inscriptions over the great building on the right, which covers more than forty acres of floor space : " Liberal Arts ;" over the great building which stretches down the length of the basin on the left : ' Agriculture ; ' ' the other magnificent structure on the left and beyond: "Machinery Hall;" the inscriptions over those two structures of beautiful proportions on the right of the great Hall of Administration : ' ' Mining ' ' and " Electricity." The scene takes on a new meaning. It is no longer a play- ground ; this is the great College of De- mocracy. It is a school in which the millions are entered for a course of in- struction, which embraces the following branches : 1. Political; government by the people. 2. Ethical ; the love of our fellow-men. 3. Art ; the knowledge and apprecia- tion of the beautiful. 4. Science ; not alchemy and astrology, but modern science, useful, up to date, made to serve the purposes not of the few but of the many. 5. Agriculture ; the noblest of man's pursuits, with its thousand attendant branches. 6. The study of transportation, of such vast import to every human being ; an object lesson going to show that transpor- tation, from the movement of a letter or telegraph message up to the carriage of human bodies, is essentially a govern- mental function and that only when it is taken from the hands of individuals, who The Editor of THE COSMOPOLITAN desires to acknowledge the courtesy of Mr. C. D. Arnold, the offi- ial photographer of the World's Fair, who personally superintended the taking of the photographs for . . this series of articles. A WORLD'S FAIR. 521 522 A WORLD'S FAIR. use it to create great fortunes at the ex- pense of the many, will it cease to be a menace to our freedom and become the economic factor which it should be in our development as a people. 7. Woman's place ; her equality with men ; her ability and right to fill places in life on the plane occupied by the male sex. 8. The functions of government as shown in the Governmental exhibit. 9. A school of applied mechanics and engineering^. South American neighbors, and perhaps those of Europe as well. Each student takes in a smattering of the entire course, and when he has taken his degree in the general college turns his steps to the school of his own special branch, where his education becomes specific. Is he an engineer ? He finds in the great trusses of the Liberal Arts building, the con- struction of the Ferris wheel, whose thir- teen-ton cars holding filteen hundred peo- ple, move around a circumference of 785 feet, the highest car hanging 264 feet ON THE LAGOON. But why go on ? The list does not readily resolve itself, even under these general classifications. It is endless in its subdivisions. Perhaps no better idea can be given of the vastness of the ex- hibit than by repeating the calculations, made recently by someone familiar with the subject as a whole, to the effect that two minutes spent upon each exhibit at the Fair would consume a period of thir- ty-two years. To this .school students are being drawn by every train from the most remote quar- ters of the land, and it will even have its influence upon the civilization of our above the ground, in the exhibits of the Transportation building or Machinery Hall, the special subjects which attract his attention. Is he an humble shoe- maker, or perhaps a manufacturer of shoes ? He finds in a building devoted to the leather art the latest patterns, the latest processes of tanning, the latest machinery for manufacture, the most novel and artistic designs in the thousand and one objects to which leather is de- voted. If an artist, he has beauties which will require days of study in the great Art Palace at the north end of the Lagoon, where are endless mazes and A WORLD'S FAIR. 523 labyrinths of walls covered with the work of the artists of all lands. A printer finds in Machinery Hall the most modern typesetting machinery, presses which turn out their ninety thousand per hour, folding machines of the most recent, delicate and complicated pattern. If a horticulturist, he wanders under acres of glass, examining fruits and plants brought hither at great expense from dis- tant lands, and known to him only by book illustration. If a fanner, he has acre upon acre of the productions of other lands to compare ; he has in the Govern- ment building an opportunity to make a scientific study of the pests which infest his crops, or the most scientific methods of fertilizing. If an electrical engineer, he finds the most perfect works of all the great elec- trical establishments which have sprung up almost within the past ten years, and which now constitute so important a branch of our industry. But it is not the expert alone who seeks the electrical exhibit. It is the one which interests all comers, where all are open-mouthed at the marvels of invention and discovery of the past quarter of a century, where men stand trying to gaze into the future and ponder upon the marvellous uses of electricity which must be in store for us at no very distant date. One electrical engineer said to me : 1 ' You have here everything that was un- dreamed of twenty-five years ago. You have here the culmination of invention and science. You see here the acme of modern progress. It is worth while to note this carefully, because if we should have an- other exhibit twenty five years from now the probability is that not one of the things which seem so wonderful to you now, will then be valued. They will have passed into the realm of those which were in the beginning but have become useless. They will have been superseded by in- ventions so much more useful, so much more wonderful, that it is barely within the compass of any mind to even conceive THE FERKIS WHEEL. A WORLD'S FAIR. of what the future has in store for us." And so each student, after completing his curriculum in the general university, turns to the school of his own applied art or scienca, and having completed his edu- cation, will go back to his bench or work- shop or laboratory with new thoughts, with a broader comprehension of the pos- sibilities, with enthusiasm for what the future holds in store for him. Nor has the world ever seen such a course of lectures as has been delivered at this university under the auspices of the World's Congress Auxiliary. They have been given on every branch of sci- ence, every branch of art, every branch of religion. Art, medicine, journalism, au- thorship, philology, all have sent to these congresses their greatest thinkers. The very brain of the world may be said to have been concentrated in the lecture halls of this University of Democracy. Leaders in all branches of thought have come together for consultation and com- parison of notes. What will not be the result to these leaders themselves ? What new ideas will they not receive? What great results will not be evolved from this meeting of brains? But is it all work and no play? On the contrary, after his morning at the university has been spent in study, the student wends his way to the playground, the Plaisance. And no afternoon could be devoted more delightfully. Hither have come the nations of the earth to minister to his enjoyment: the Arab, on his splendid steed with nostrils dilated and champing at the bit, spurs, blunted lance in hand, gallops after his fellow. And we may see the sports of the desert and take part in the applause which comes up from the encampment of Arab w 7 omen and children on the other side of the enclosure, when one spearman has planted his blunted lance fairly in the back of the man he is pursuing. A street in Cairo, with its donkey ride, its camel ride, its confused, .shouting, noisy, good- natured crowd. Then, at close of day, the dinner may be taken in old Vienna, at a table in the open air, with band playing and lights gleaming from the ancient windows which surround the courtyard, until a man-at-arms of an age long past, in slashed breeches and hose, lantern and spear in hand, makes the rounds and re- calls the fact that another day of enjoy- THE AGRICULTURAL BUILDING. A WORLD'S FAIR. 525 ment, of instruction, of unalloyed inno- cent pleasure has come to a close. That knowledge which comes by hard- est work and hardest stud}- is undoubtedly the most valuable, but the university of the future will recognize that the vast majority of mankind is incapable of men- tal acquisition if toil and labor are re- quired. The kindergarten idea must be the foundation of all schools for the mill- ions : to hold the attention, to cause the mind to work unwittingly. That in- struction will be the most valuable which makes the process of learning easy, which impresses the mind by object lessons, holds the attention and fills the brain with information, or starts, without the knowl- edge of the recipient, a process of thought leading to a more perfect knowledge of life and its affairs. What was the other thought with which this subject was started, this subject so absorbing, so interesting, so full of possibilities, so endless, that one might wander on forever were this not merely to serve as an introduction to the articles of those who will treat the World's Fair from the standpoint of professional knowledge or wider ex- perience ? Ah, yes ! The third thought was this : What a pity to destroy all this beauty, all this loveliness, all this costliness, all this that is so well adapted for man's education and enjoy- ment. The great university which Chicago is establishing is rearing its first buildings just beyond the Plaisance. Why should it not embody this Universit}- of Democ- racy as part of a magnificent whole? Is it right to spend twenty millions of dol- lars upon buildings which are to disap- pear as in a night ? These structures are really not of an impermanent character. They are of strong steel arches, and even the exterior can be easily repaired and kept in shape. In China I have had buildings pointed out to me as more than a hundred years old, whose outer walls were lathed and plastered. The things Oiiiilliir"***^ THE ART GALLERIES. A WORLD'S FAIR. 527 THE HORTICULTURAL AND ILLINOIS STATK BUILDING. that are now done in these great build- ings for exhibition purposes, could be car- ried on for profit. The city of Chicago should become the owner of these build- ings as it already owns the ground upon which they are erected. Then it could lease the leather building, for instance, to a great manufacturer, who would bind himself to make his plant so complete that it would be a school of instruction at all times to the maker and dealer. The press manufacturers of the United States could well afford to keep under one roof every model of their skill. I had occasion, less than a year ago, to make a study of this class of work, and spent many wear}- days tramping through printing establishments in order that I might be able to comprehend the latest improvements and get an idea of the best machinery required for the manufacture of The Cosmopolitan. I could have ac- complished this purpose at the Exposition with one-tenth of the labor then required, So the great hall of cars and locomo- tives and boats could become a place where transportation and railway officials could be sure to find at all times the latest improvements in rolling-stock or boats. And this applies with like force to the Electrical building, and equally to almost every other class of exhibits. The Lib- eral Arts building could be turned into a great bazar, and the exhibits be main- tained in proportions so vast that buyers would flock from all parts of the countr}-. It is Chicago's opportunity. The whole range of arts within easy daily reach for demonstration ; an object lesson, teach- ing the dignity of labor ; an opportunity for the poorer student to earn the needed portion of his college expenses ; greatest of all, a central point, at which could be exhibited the progress of invention, the perfection of mechanical skill, the most recent advances in the whole range of art and science. It will be a pity if Chica- go, which has shown itself so full of re- sources, shall fail to seize this oppor- tunity. A FIRST IMPRESSION BY WALTER BESANT. ON the opening of a certain Congress one of those recently held in con- nection with the World's Fair there was an evening Reception. At this Func- tion, after the manner of the American and English folk, speeches were deliv- ered. There were nine of these, not counting the chairman. Eight, still not counting the chairman, though they be- gan on other subjects, presently, because it was impossible to avoid it, dropped into the subject of the World's Fair, and spoke of it in such terms of eulogy as the Exhi- bition itself compelled and their command of language allowed. When it came to the last speaker, a modest Englishman, and therefore no orator, he too would fain have spoken of the World's Fair, after two days' experience, but all that he had proposed to say had been said before he arose by the preceding eight. All his ad- jectives, in fact, had been already used. Without adjectives how can a man ex- press admiration or amazement or their opposites ? And his those that he needed had all been used already by the speakers who came before him. There- fore he had to content himself with a few phrases of commonplace and then to sit down, conscious of the comparison, greatly to his own disadvantage, that would naturally be drawn between his halting hesitancy and thenational fluency; between American and English speech- making. Something of the same diffi- culty is met with again, when, after all the special correspondents and all preceding visitors have been at work upon the Fair forthree months, describing, admiring and exhausting the adjectives, one sits down to write on first impressions. What whose impressions, first or last, have not been already offered to the public over and over and over again ? Yet, after all, man is individual. Each of us sees with his own eyes, and no two pair of eyes are alike. To begin with, such a paper cannot be critical. The exhibition, the whole world's industries, the illustration and record up to the day of the whole advance of science in every department, the col- lection of all the arts now practised in the A WORLD'S FAIR. 529 world of art : such a colossal enterprise can only be surveyed, subject by subject. The World's Fair, in short, is another edition, the latest and most complete, and by far the best illustrated, of an Ecumeni- cal Encyclopaedia, published in one enor- mous volume. In this collection of his- tory, geography, science, literature, art and everything else, one can, perhaps, by careful search, discover omissions, and an expert might amuse himself, and gratify his envy, by reporting, or pretending to find, incompleteness of treatment in his own subjects. But no ordinary visitor, no single writer, can hope to produce any paper, appreciative, critical or adequate, of this Encyclopaedia as a whole. The wise man, therefore, will not attempt such a thing. Where the visitor happens to be a liter- ary man, one who is in the habit of writ- ing and speaking of things offered to the public, he wanders about the courts and galleries of the Exhibition, oppressed, far more than the inarticulate person, by the vastness of the subject. To such a man the great truth that he cannot say any- thing adequate, and that he need not try, falls upon his spirit, when it is once grasped, like a cool shower upon a hot afternoon. It lends a new and quite pecu- liar charm to the Show. He is free from the obligation of thinking what he should say ; he need not try to reduce impres- sions into phrases, as the school - boy turns the conditions of a problem into equations ; he need not cast about for a formula, or an epigram, or anything in- cisive, or a new adjective ; he need not be anxious to pronounce a judgment worthy of his reputation, if he has any ; he can become an ordinary visitor, silent, open- mouthed of whom nothing is expected ; he can be carried away by the mere sem- blance and outward show of things, by the mere profession of beauty and mag- nificence. Into every other Art gallery, every other kind of Show he carries his measuring rod and his canons of art. These, in the World's Fair, he can leave behind him, unless he means to conse- crate a considerable part of his natural span to the contents of the buildings: he will be content to enter into the spirit of the designers, and to suffer himself to fall into the restful spirit of one who re- ceives without question and is thankful. My own method, with a new poem, a new play, a new novel, a new essay, is to yield myself up altogether to the story ; I place myself in the author's hands ; I try to find out what he wishes to tell me, and I give him every chance to hypnotize me into absolute and complete subjection A WHEEL-CHAIR STATION NEAR THE WOMAN'S BUILDING. 34 530 A WORLD'S FAIR. to his will. When he has finished ; when the story is over ; when the afterglow it- self, which should last a long time, is also over : then, and not till then, let me bring to bear upon the subject such critical powers as may be mine. And, since other things press, the latter process is fre- quently deferred and finally forgotten. You would be astonished you who want to criticise first, and to enjoy, afterwards, anything that may be left if you could find out how much mental worry is saved by this, the inverted method, and how much more solid satisfaction one may get in this way from modern art. Yonder por- trait, for instance. It is a striking face ; there must be an interesting story written on that face, if one could read it ; it is in- structive to stand in front of it for a while, in order to read that story. Says the critic : ' ' The painting is thin ; the shadows are not deep enough ; the drawing is feeble ; the face is flat ; the flesh is hard." Very likely. Very likely, indeed, my friend. I do not greatlv care if it is as you say. And, to be su/e, now one has finished reading the story, and has begun upon the critical chapter, one perceives but let us go on to the next picture. Per- haps we shall find another episode from the Human Comedy written there ; it is a pity to waste time, of which we have so little, in the discovery of faults which we cannot mend, and in telling the world what the world may, if it cares, find out for itself. For these reasons, I am not sorry to have no adjectives left. They have all been used already by descriptive and crit- ical writers. There is not a single pict- uresque word left for me to use, not a phrase left for me to invent. Yet these are to be my " first impressions." Let us fall back on the old adjectives. It is so big, to begin with. The guide- books spare one not a single fact to illus- trate this vastness : They tell us, to a cart- load, how many tons of materials have been used, how man}' acres of glass give light to the whole, how many acres of ground are covered. Yet figures by them- selves convey no impression of vastness. THE ILLINOIS BATTLESHIP. A TERRACE ON THE CALIFORNIA BUILDING. The human mint! cannot grasp the mean- ing of figures when they get beyond a certain number ; the native Australian, for instance, who can only understand the number of his ten fingers, uses for all numbers above and be}-ond the tenth, one single expression he says "eighty- eight." Why eighty -eight instead of anything else ? I know not. But, to me, as to the Australian child of nature, these figures of tons, acres, cart-loads, are exact- ly represented by theterm ' ' eighty-eight. ' ' It is big oh, so big ! How big ? < ' Eighty- eight." What on earth does one want more ? And its cost has been an amount hitherto inconceivable. How much ? O, 'eighty-eight." Is it possible? These statistics are most interesting. We will now lay the guide-book on the grass, for any one to pick up, and go on without it. Apart from their curious tendency to become "eighty-eight," figures, when they are very large indeed, and things in general, when they are very large have a way of saddening him who con- templates them. Vastness of all kinds oppresses the soul with sadness. For in- stance, from the railway between Turin and the top of the pass over the Alps, one looks out upon the grandest mass of mountain icy glaciers, ruthless precipices, snowy slopes, relentless aiguilles that one can find in Europe. One is overawed with the mere vastness of this mass. I once observed, during the journey, a girl who turned from the contemplation of that mighty mass of mountain with eyes over- flowing. She quickly put up her hand- kerchief and blushed for shame that she should be thus moved. I longed to say to her, but could not, for the ordinary rea- sons : "My child, you cry because the thing is so great ; for the same reason, too, I could cry. How this effect is pro- duced ; what is the connection between vastness and this emotion ; why the lach- rymal duct is affected and the pockethand- kerchief required I know not. If you please, we will look out once more and weep together." Or there is which must be the leading case on this subject the Weeping Xerxes. He wept at the sight of his immense army when he held his big March Past. He said he wept to think that in a hundred years they would be all dead. The Persian monarch did not know much. He wept, in reality, be- cause the immensity of the multitude 532 A WORLD'S FAIR. (the total number or men who marched with him into Greece was ' ' eighty -eight") quite over- powered him. That was the reason, and nothing else. The Bigness of the World's Fair first strikes and be- wilders one tries in vain to under- stand it and then it saddens. I ob- serve that most peo- ple, like Xerxes, set down their tears to the evanescent na- ture of the show. "Three months more," they say, 1 ' and it will be gone like a dream. We weep. The pity of it!" Nay, dear friends, but the Vastness of it ! Then there is the Unexpectedness of it ! Never was any place so Unexpected. The special correspondents and the illus- trated papers have done their best to bring the place home to us: but, you see, descrip- tion never describes. Read any descrip- tion you please, written by the most pict- uresque of living word painters: nothing that he writes can ever convey a real im- pression. Oh! you may point at once, on arrival, to the Woman's building, or to the Manufactures build- ing; you recognize them because you saw the pictures in the Illus- trated London News. Quite faithful pictures they were, yet yet did you expect, at all, what you see before you ? What did the de- scriptive writer and the artist between them, teach you ? The form of the thing, not its sur- roundings and its set- ting; not its atmos- phere; not its color ; not its individuality. These things can- not be put into words or into draw- ings, and they make up the Unex- pectedness. Then again, the Poetry of the thing! Did the conception spring from one brain, like the Iliad ? Were these buildings every one, to the unprofessional eye, a miracle of beauty thus arranged so as to produce this marvellous effect of beauty by one mas- ter brain, or by many ? For never before, in any age, in any country, has there been so won- derful an arrange- ment of lovely buildings as at Chi- cago in the present year of grace ! The Hanging Gardens of Babylon which some of us may remem- ber as belonging to a previous existence were fine. There were some very fine things in Rome, especially when Nero was emperor and architect, but the common people saw little of his palace. There was rather a nice little show in London thirty years ago, and another, not with- out its points, in Philadelphia, seventeen A TRADE BUILDING ON THE CANAL. A WORLD'S FAIR. 533 years ago. But no where, at any time, has there been presented to the world any group of buildings so entirely beautiful in themselves and in their arrangement, as this group at Chicago, which they call the World's Fair. No one who has not seen these build- ings believes those who unreservedly pro- claim the unexampled beauty of the group. Why? First, because, as maintained above, description cannot describe; and next, because out of America, no one be- lieves that there are any beautiful build- ings in America; and thirdly, because, to the English mind, Chicago presents itself as the most prosaic spot on the whole of this earth. Those English travellers who have writ- ten of Chicago dwell upon its vast wealth, its ceaseless activity, its enormous blocks of houses and offices, upon everything that is in Chicago except that sjde of it which is revealed in the World's Fair. Yes, it is a very busy place; its wealth is boundless, but it has been able to conceive somehow, and has carried into execution somehow, the greatest and most poetical dream that we have ever seen. Call it no more the White City on the Lake; it is Dreamland. Apollo and the Muses with the tinkling of their lyres, drown the bells of the train and the trolley; the people dream epics; Art and Music and Poetry 7 belong to Chi- cago; the Hub of the universe is trans- ferred from Boston to Chicago; this place must surely become, in the immediate future, the center of the nobler world the world of Art and Letters. As for Exhibitions things shown I do not love them. Early in life I was prejudiced against them. It was in this way. I wish now that I had been born in the seventies, in which case I should at this moment bedelightfully young. Not having been consulted, so far as I remem- ber, I was born in good time for the exhib- ition of fifty-one. I was taken there as one of a small company of boys. The visit was designed strictly for instruction. Improve- ment was " rubbed in " as they say in ninet3 r -three during the whole of that long, dull , dreary day. We were told not to ARCH OVER CANAL. 534 A WORLD'S FAIR. LA RABID A. forget this and to make a note of that. I remember it is forty-two years since that day how wonder and delight quickly gave way to satiety, and that, in its turn to utter weariness, and that to silent apathy. What do I remember out of it all? The Koh-i-noor because it was so small a thing to have such a fuss made about it the statue of the Greek Slave, because one of the boys afterwards said that had it not been for an assurance that tea and cakes would begin immediately, he would have hit that Greek Slave over her unprotected head in order to begin a row and a group of stuffed marmosets playing a game of quoits. That is all I remember about the great Exhibition of 1851. Exhibitions thus became, to my youth- ful mind, collections brought together for the instruction and improvement of youth under the pretence of amusement. I still regard exhibitions with some prejudice, and I still look around I never fail to find them for the family party trailing round the galleries; for the weariness of the children's limbs, the dragging of their feet, the set mouth and the glazing eye. What I have desired all 1113- life is an Ex- hibition without exhibits, and at Chicago that great and long-felt want is provided. There are, I believe, exhibits provided in the buildings, if you choose to go and look at them. But }-ou need not. For the un- commercial drummer, the bagman with- out his bags, for one who is not in the least interested in machiner}', processes, and the way in which things are made, there need be no exhibits at all and one can meditate undisturbed by the intrusion of exhibits, as long as he pleases, about and around and among the buildings, and the waters and the walks of the Fairy palace beside the lake. Next, there are the people at the Fair. It is part of my profession to watch peo- ple. As they pass along the street, or as the}- sit in the tram car, or in the railway train, it is a never ending joy to watch them. When they are silent one can read their faces, build tip stories out of the sad- ness, the resignation, the impatience, or the happiness which they cannot choose but reveal all unconsciously. When they talk, which they do whenever they have companions, they reveal themselves still more. Then one listens to the most curi- ous details and the most astonish ing anec- dotes. Thus one becomes aware that in our crowded cities there are indeed many A WORLD'S FAIR. 535 536 A WORLD'S FAIR. AN ENTRANCE TO THE FISHERIES BUILDING. other ways of life than we know. There- fore, it goes without saying, that next to the buildings, the most interesting ex- hibit in the World's Fair is that of the people who crowd it. At present, they are all Americans. Once or twice, here and there, one per- ceives an Englishman; one catches the English accent, thicker of speech, quicker of speech, than the American. Once or twice one hears, not without a sense of incongruity, that intonation of East Essex which has conquered London, and pro- duced the patois known as Cockney. Here and there are Germans, but they are American Germans. The great mass of people are Americans, and as might be expected, people of what in Europe they call the lower class. Perhaps this invid- ious distinction cannot be admitted in a land of equality. Let us say then, that the mass of the people are, apparently, of that very large class who do not possess thehighestculture, thewidest knowledge, the finest education or the largest fortunes in a word, the Average People. It is for them that this Fair has been designed; every national work must be designed for the Average People; not for the few at the top or for the helpless lot in the gutter, WEST FACADE OF THE LIBERAL ARTS BUILDING. A WORLD'S FAIR. 537 COURT OF LA RABIDA. but for the Average. Therefore, I walked with the crowd, and looked on with their eyes, and tried to learn what they were learning. Even a small crowd is difficult to follow collectively; one presently has to make a selection. A pair is best, a married pair, not too young, of the average age, ap- pearance, dress and manners. Such a pair I found at the Fair, both of them, to look at, from thirty-five to forty years of age. The>' had a rustic look, yet not of the rusticity which we find in Great Britain. They came from the country that was certain but one can hardly explain \vhy it was certain. This pair, at the time when I lit upon them, had been walking about for a long time; the woman was almost over- come with weariness; the man had still some strength and resolution left, but the lines in his face were hardening; he had seen already more than his mind could absorb : the rest of the da}*, though this he knew not, would be unprofitable. " See here," he said, "I must see this" he stood before I know not what exhibit in I know not what gallery " If you must," his wife murmured patiently. Then she found a bench and sat down waiting. A sudden change fell upon her face; the deep lines vanished; the glazed eye brightened, but with a far-off gaze; she lifted her drooping head and her lips parted. For, you see, though she was sitting all in the midst of marvels; though she was in a treasure hou.se, she had gone clean away out of it, careless of all ; in the flesh she was in it, but in the spirit she was back again in her own home, and she was put- ting out the cups and saucers, for it was near time for supper. No traveller, sa\ r s the philosopher, can take away from a place more than he brought thither. This is a hard saying. What, then, will this Average couple who are so tired out by the many things they have seen, carry away from the Fair ? As- suredly, if they were ignorant of machin- ery, of science, of arts, of the thousand inventions, ingenuities and cunning de- vices of men before the}- entered the place, they will go out of it in equal ignorance. 538 A WORLD'S FAIR, To see the whirring of wheels does not teach the application of steam, nor is one taught the conquest of electricity by listening to the tubes of a phonograph. A machine will remain, to the Average Pair, a contrivance for saving labor and for doing a thing quickly. In the same way one does not learn Art by walking through a picture gallery. A picture, to the Average Pair, will remain a painted story and generally a story not worth the trouble of telling. But they will see something that they know ; something done infinitely better than they ever saw it before. Agricultural implements and scientific cultivation of the soil, women's work needlework and all kinds of work food stuffs, carriages, harness, house- hold furniture all the things that belong to the daily life, and seeing these things they will compare, learn, reflect and go home all the wiser. Again ; they have had a vision. Let us remember that many of these people be- long to that vast country west and south and northwest of Chicago which is newly settled, newly populated, and without noble or venerable buildings. Americans of the east are brought up in, or near, cities which are full of great buildings, some of which are beautiful and even venerable. Our own people live among the most beautiful village churches and the most lovely old houses. Our little island is crammed with an- cient memories and places made sacred, even to the rus- tics, by mere memories. This Average western couple have no such surroundings, and no such memories. Here they see, for the first time, such buildings as they have never before imagined. These lines of columns ; these many statues standing against the deep, blue sky; these domes; these carvings and towers and marvels reflected in the waters of the Lagoon will this Pair ever forget them? When they have seen at night the innumerable lines of white electric light ; the domes outlined with the yel- low light ; the electric fount- ain ; the illuminations ; the gleaming waters will this weary Pair from an unlovely Average village can they ever forget the scene? Never. It will remain in their minds as the Vision of St. John an actual sight of the New Jeru- salem ; all the splendors that the apostle describes they will henceforth understand. A new sense has been awak- ened in them. Possessed by this great gift, they will go home again. Is this all ? I think not. In the achievements of science, machinery, elec- tricity; in the thousand applications of Art ; in everything that has been brought before them ; they will learn re- spect for things if not for those who make them things which they cannot make for themselves. Respect is a lesson very hard to teach to people who are ignorant A WORLD'S FAIR. 539 of what things mean. How can they re- spect a great painter when they do not know a great painting ? Therefore, this Average Pair will not respect this or that great man, because the}- cannot compare, but they will respect the great thing done. And they will see what is done by other countries, which is a very whole- some lesson for the Average Man, who is apt to think all other countries, in every- thing, far below his own. This Average Man will in future acknowledge that some good things may be done even in England and France and Gentian}'. And if they are so fortunate as to be guided in the right direction the Average Pair will be led to look a little into the his- tory of humanity. They will, if they are so guided, learn to take a wider view of this world, to see in the advance of man the development of some purpose hitherto ob- scurely understood. There arethesavages in their place, the archaeological things in their place ; everything that tells of man's slow and gradual advance, step by step. Do you think it is a bad thing for the Av- erage Pair so to be lifted out of their in- sulation and made to feel themselves, how- ever imperfectly, part and parcel of the chain whose beginning can never be traced, whose end will never arrive ? But I fear they will not get that guidance. To make an end of First Impressions : It is a very good thing for all of us, espe- cially for those who live in cities andeasily fall into the belief that " all the world is old, and all the leaves are brown, and all the tales are told, and all the wheels run down,' 1 that the world is, on the other hand, still quite young and vigorous ; that there are places where the abounding vitality of youth is always in evidence ; that there is no past but that of child- hood, and the present is nothing but an eager race, a contest of athletes, and the future is they know not what, save that they live in sure and certain hope and faith that it is rich and splendid and that there will be glorious battle for the foremost prize. Such a place is the Capital of the West ; of such youth and strength are the actual working burgesses of that city. UNDER THK LIBERAL ARTS BUILDING. THE FOREIGN BUILDINGS. BY PRICE COLLIER. IN addition to the exhibits in the differ- ent departments of the Fair, many foreign nations haveerected separate build- ings, in which they have their headquar- ters and, in most instances, also objects of national interest. They are very hap- pily situated along the lake front, ex- tending back as far as the North pond. If one were to choose the most costly building, or the most quaint, or the most attractive, or the most bizarre, for a first description, it \vere easy to make a selec- tion. France, however, in her own words, " En acceptant, la premiere entre toutes les nations etrangeres, de participer a 1' ex- position universelle a Chicago," deserves, perhaps, first mention. The main build- ing, with two pavilions connected by a semi-circular colonnade, and the inclosure thus formed is a lovely garden, brought to its present beauty by the skill of the assistant municipal landscape gardener from Paris. The pavilion at the north end contains an exhibit from the munic- ipality of Paris. Here one may see mod- els of everything used in the fire depart- ment, police and street-cleaning depart- ments, the public and the technical schools the exhibits, in fact, being an object lesson in the study of the care of Paris. In the south pavilion is a large room which is an exact copy of the salon d'Her- cule at Versailles, where Louis xvi. re- ceived our ambassador, Benjamin Frank- lin. Tapestries and furniture of exqui- site texture and form, and rare paintings, and many relics of the patriot Lafayette, are here. Indeed, this room is an expres- sion of sentiment, and a very fitl} T chosen one. The only bit of bad color in the room is, alas ! a chair - cushion embroidered for Lafayette by Martha Washington. A WORLD'S FAIR. 541 Next door is the Ceylon pavilion. This is built throughout of native woods and was put up in Ceylon, brought here in pieces, and put together again by native workmen. The architecture is represent- ative of the ancient temples in Kandy and the main object of its being here is to represent the enormous tea industry of the island, which exported twenty million pounds of tea in 1892 alone. A beautiful pillar of carved ebony and satinwood, in the middle of the building, contains a stairway leading to a daintily-furnished tea-room above. Below are exhibits of ebony and other woods, basket work, tea, coffee, minerals, and samples of practically all the products of the island. The delicacy and intricacy of the hand-carving through- out the building almost makes the eyes impatient, and one sees how time and la- bor are of no account there, and how, verily, fifty years of Europe are better than a cycle of Cathay. The Germans may be proud of the build- ing next in line, probably the largest and most costly of all. The massive walls are richly decorated and the roof is covered with glistening glazed tiles, and the style is technically that of the early German re- naissance. The chief exhibits inside this German house are the publishers' collec- tive exhibit, and examples of church dec- orative art, the latter arranged becomingly in a chapel adapted to the purpose. The construction of this building alone cost the German government something over a quarter of a million of dollars, and there is no evidence here in this splendid example of middle-age Teutonic architec- ture of the internecine monetary discus- sions now rife in the Vaterland. South of this and also facing on the lake front, stands the rather somber-look- ing building of Spain. It is an exact re- production of a three- fourth's section of the silk exchange at Valencia. The sec- tion here represented shows the column- hall and tower, wherein bankrupt mer- chants were confined. Inside the build- ing are the offices of the Spanish com- mission and many interesting relics of Columbus, including some of his letters, and a sword which belonged to his vi- vacious and lovely patroness, Isabella. At the extreme south end of this line of foreign buildings, and still facing on the lake front, are the Canadian and English buildings. The Canadian building is a plain, unornamented structure, designed by the Department of Public Works in 542 A WORLD'S FAIR. NEW SOUTH WALES. Ottawa. The main building is two stories high with three entrances and around the whole of the house runs a broad veranda. In the building the interior walls, floors and ceilings are of highly polished native woods. Strange to say, the English building, officially named the Victoria house, has for near neighbors the two detestations of the provincial Britisher, viz. : a huge soda-water pavilion and a colossal clam- bake pavilion. Thehouse itself is said to be, at any rate by the ' ' bobby ' ' at the entrance, ' ' haf the time of Enery Heighth." It is a half-timber build- ing, with facings of red brick and oval windows. Inside the building are the offices of the British commission, a large reception-room and library, a post-office exhibit showing the development of the postal system in Great Britain, and some few pieces of fine pottery. The crowd who pass through the build- ing, between cords, become animated only when they see the large oil painting of the "Queen's Garden Party," which introduces them to royalties in profusion and in frock-coats and to such celebrities as Henry Irv- ing, Ellen Terry, Gladstone and others, at whom they point rejoicingly with fing- ers and umbrellas, in the vain desire to feel at home and welcome, amid such a labyrinth of red-tape. Leaving the lake front now, the other foreign buildings are grouped together be- hind the line of houses just described. A WORLD'S FAIR. 543 The most imposing are those of Brazil, Sweden, the East India building, and that of Venezuela. If one will consent to take his luncheon at the Polish cafe and probably no one having reached the age of gastronomic consent would willingly do so without some special inducement he may sit upon the upper balcony of that hostelry and get a capital panoramic view of the foreign buildings. At the extreme right end of the line he can see England's house, and near it the Australia house of her colony New South Wales ; the Hayti government building, with its broad piaz- zas and central dome ; the back of the Spanish building ; the towers and turrets of the German building ; and just under his right elbow is the East India build- ing, of yellow staff, with decorations in the heavy, luscious colors of the East, with j^ards and yards of delicate tracery, and inside all idols, ivory, tapestry and tea. Just in front of him he may look right through the handsome entrance into the Swedish building, and farther to the left there are the buildings of Brazil, Tur- key, Venezuela, and, way to the north and west and just out of sight, on an island, the dainty house of Japan, where dolls might take tea together, but into which no man belonging to the civiliza- tion of double- soled boots would think of going. The lacquer work and the cun- ningly-devised joinery work of the Japan building must be seen to be appreciated. One is somewhat surprised to find that bankrupt Turkey contrives to be so charmingly en evidence, surrounded as she is by the pavilions of her creditors. The building is entirely of native woods, carved by hand, and represents thousands of hours of painful chiselling. The ur- bane and beturbaned Turk, who, in a half hour's chat, claimed that his re- ligion was quite as good, and showed con- clusively, by material proofs, that his ENGLAND. 544 A WORLD'S FAIR. cigarettes and coffee were much better than ours, told us that here were concen- trated all of Turkey's exhibit. There is a wild profusion of inlaid work, minerals, rugs, ores, dried fruits, mineral waters, wines, tobacco and silks and brilliant- colored stuffs galore. The building rep- resents a Turkish kiosk, or summer cha- teau, and is almost the most remarkable of the smaller foreign buildings. Directly north of this Turkish kiosk is the splendid, great, white building of Brazil. The plan is in the form of a Greek cross, and a central dome rises to a height of nearly 150 feet. There are al- legorical figures, representing the repub- lic of Brazil, in bas-reliefs on the fafades. Among many other remarkable achieve- ments of the guide-book, with which the visitors are all armed, the most daring is the construction of the Venezuela build- ing ' ' out of white marble, in the Greco- Roman style of architecture. ' ' The build- ing is of staff, pure and simple staff be- ing, by the way, a composition of plaster, cement and hemp but so cunningly col- ored as to resemble marble. The exhibit includes paintings by Cristoval Rojas, Herrera, Torro, and one or two other na- NORWAY. tive painters, and many samples of min- erals, marbles, woods, coffee, cocoa, drugs, fibers, and other products; and here again, as in thecase of Turkey, the wholeof theex- hibit from Venezu- ela is under the roof of this building. The Swedish building, which suffers no indiges- tion, apparently, from its nearness to the Polish cafe, has a floor area of more than 10,000 feet and was manufactured in Sweden, tempo- rarily put together there, taken to pieces and brought here. It is built of wood and different kinds of brick from the different brick- kilns of Sweden, and imposes, rather than is imposing, by virtue of its amor- phous outlines. Un- derneath its roof is a collection of sporting goods, A WORLD'S FAIR. 545 furniture, embroideries, ores, steel, mod- els wearing the native costume, and a handsome painting of the capitol of Sweden. The Swedish peasant girl pluck- ing the petals of a daisy, to see " s'il m'aime, un pen, beaucoup, passionement ou pas du tout," who stands in a niche in the wall, gives a friendly air of kinship with all the world and makes one feel at home. Sweden is represented in this building also by a well-arranged exhibit of gymnastic apparatus, and of the world wide known Sloyd-school methods. The building of Norway, not far away, is a small, oddly-built affair, all gables and corners, with queer-looking orna- ments sticking out from the gable-ends, which look like the prows of vessels. It is of Norway pine throughout, and stands in grave contrast to its more pretentious neighbor Sweden. Russia has no building, nor are Holland, Austria, Italy and China rep- resented. Costa Rica, at the east end of the North pond, has a plain, modest-looking structure of the Doric type, with wide porticos and a profusion of pillars, but, like the modest woman who goes inconspicuously clad in the street and only blazes forth, all white and jewels, in her own drawing-room, so Costa Rica, in an unsurpassed exhibit of tropical birds and flowers indoors, fairly flames with color. Each of these buildings has its charm, and one may spend more than one day in rambling about this pleasant part of the Fair grounds, enlarging one's horizon at almost every step. There is something more than architecture, there is a moral and ethnical significance in the friendly propinquity of these foreign buildings. They come to know one another better and we get to know them, and " com- prendre c'est pardonner." Much national as well as personal enmity is based on provinciality and misunderstanding. We discover that many of our virtues are equalled and surpassed by countries that we know little of, and this discovery makes us more modest and at the same time serves as an incentive to progress. GERMANY. 546 A WORLD'S FAIR. NOTES ON INDUSTRIAL ART IN THE MANUFACTURES BUILDING. BY GEORGE FREDERICK KUNZ. THE building devoted to the Depart- ments of Manufactures and Liberal Arts, at the Columbian exposition, has an unheard-of amplitude of dimensions, its central hall being 1276 feet long, 387 feet wide, and 210 feet in height above the floor. While it was still empty, the most forcible reminder of its magnificent pro- portions was an apparent absence of per- spective an impossibility of realizing the space travelled over by the ej-e when looking from the one end to the other. It was plain to the most casual observation that an exhibition booth of ordinary di- mensions would be reduced to insignifi- cance under so spacious a canopy. With the notable exception of Great Britain, the European nations to which space was allotted in the central hall, have fixed the height of their pavilions with special ref- erence to the altitude of the* roof and the vast expanse of the floor. Karl Hoffacher, the architect of the German court, at- tacked the problem with a certain forceful deliberateness which has produced a very striking result. The structure is of the style of the German renaissance, and its front on the central circle is flanked by two square towers, having supporting Ionic pillars, and a decorated plinth up- holding golden eagles. The ascending series of towers, domes and arches have a grandiose effect, and from the fountains at the base to Reinhold Begas superb "Germania" group in hammered copper, which surmounts the highest pedestal, every detail bears the stamp of artistic breadth and decision. The great wrought-iron gates, by Arm- briister, of Frankfort-on-the-Main, which mark the main entrance to the German pavilion, are the finest and most impres- sive specimens of this kind of work of which our country has seen. France has reared a less lofty pavilion than Germany, but all through it, has preserved a quiet, tasteful dignity which commands admiration. The French in- stallation in this department is an object lesson in the artistic method of industrial Nothing can give a better idea of the vastness of the Liberal Arts building than the photograph which ights depend fifty people on the floor appear as mere spots. 548 A WORLD'S FAIR. presentation, as well as in the true theory of exposition organization. None but representative firms in their special lines were admitted as exhibitors, and the selection was made by committees of the various arts and industries whose products are shown here. The government architects originated the general plan of the court, prescribed the details of its external decoration, designed the central hall, devoted to the products of the national fac- tories of Gobelins, Sevres and Bauvais, and the room in which the bronzes are displayed. For the rest, the committee of each class of manufactures furniture, textiles, ceramics, etc. had its own arch- itect and decorator, and the installation, from the form of the show-cases to the ornamentation of the panels, has a care- fully studied congruity, heightened, if possible, by a strict attention on the part of the exhibitor to the artistic grouping of his wares. A FRIEZE. ARCH IN AUSTRIAN SECTION. Among the other nation- al pavilions the most characteristic are those of Russia, Den- mark, Nor- way and Ja- pan. The Russian, which is the work of Pe- trovo Ropet- te, shows an effect iv e and massive combination ofByzantine style with Slavic meth- od and de- tail , a nd will, we hope, become the property of some American museum. German}', France and Great Britain have each 100,000 square feet of exposi- tion space, and they occupy three great squares, grouped around the central circle of the building, in the middle of which is the clock-tower erected by the Construc- tion department of the exposition. On the fourth square are the exhibits of the United States, but these occupy the whole northeastern .section of the building, cov- ering in all some 300,000 square feet. Xo attempt was made to treat this as a whole to arrange it in a series of trade courts as was urged by the intelligent and far- seeing chief of the department, Mr. James Allison. The rule was that each exhibitor should be left to provide for his own booth, the design of which should be ap- proved by the Construction department. A WORLD'S FAIR. 549 A RECEPTION-ROOM FRENCH SECTION. and as much harmony of plan and group- ing secured as the extremely varied char- acter of the exhibits would permit. But the fact forced itself on the attention of those in authority that, facing the pavilion of Germany on one side and that of France on the other, the scattered booths of Amer- ican exhibitors would look shabby by con- trast. A similar conclusion impressed it- self, after the opening of the Fair, on the minds of the exhibitors of the united textile industries, and Mr. Henr}- Ives Cobb was summoned to do for their som- ber and unadorned assemblage of show- cases what should have been done at the beginning. Three New York firms accepted the task of making for the United States section a front pavilion that would "maintain the dignity and reputation of the country. The result is a very successful piece of work, which may fairly challenge com- parison with that of any of the foreign constructors. It is a product of the archi- tectural skill of Mr. John Du Fais, of New York city. The design is conceived in a more severe and classical stvle than would be deemed fitting for an ephemeral exhibition booth, intended solely for the purpose of displaying its contents. The order chosen is Doric, but Doric treated in a more airy and playful manner than if it were designed for execution in an enduring material. It is fancifully en- riched with pale color and a profusion of gold. The column rising from the center of the facade attains, with its crown- ing ball and eagle which is by the hand of the now well-known sculptor, Philip Martini a height of one hundred feet, and is strictly classical in its proportions. At the point where art and manufact- ures meet, there is no more interesting class of products than those in bronze. Of these the United States show but few examples, the best being the busts by Rhind in the Gorham Manufacturing Company's exhibit. The impression which Russia made with her bronzes in 1876 has been repeated here, but in the interim the works of the chief Russian artists in bronze have become familiar to the American public. The two exhibitors of Russian bronzes at the exposition are 550 A WORLD'S FAIR. N. Stange and C. F. Woerffel, both of St. Petersburg. The former of these is the sole possessor of the right to reproduce the works of Eugene Lanjeray, whose death in 1885 closed a picturesque and brilliant artistic career. Lanyeray's last work, an "Arab Fantasy," a .spirited equestrian piece done by the artist when fresh from the study of the types of the desert, is on exhibition here, as are also many of his earlier and better known productions. The chief contributors to the Woerffel collection are Lieberich, Ober, Posen, Laveretsky, Popoff, Grat- scheff and Bach. Prince Potemkin, the favorite of Catherine n., has the reputa- tion of having given the first artistic im- pulse to Russian bronze founding. In the earl 5- part of the century Russia's achieve- ments in this line were more remarkable than the}- arein our time, as the monument- al works of the horses on the Anitchikoff bridge, the doors of St. Isaac's cathedral and the statues of Peter the Great and Alexander i. sufficiently attest. The most characteristic features of the Rus- sian bronzes of today are their realistic modeling and finish, and the almost uni- formly national stamp of their subjects. In this they show a marked difference from the productions of the French school represented here in the exhibits of LeBlanc Barbedienne, Thiebaut Freres, Susses Freres and half a dozen others. Among the most notable pieces in the Barbedienne collection are Barye's " La Force and L'Ordre" and " Theseus fight- ing the Centaur." Other works worthy of attention are the " Plaint of Orpheus," by Howard Verlet, and "The Tiller" ( A la Terre), by Boucher. The lovers of artistic tours de force will be interested in examining the reproduction of a fa- mous bronze from the Museum of Madrid, representing Charles v. standing over the prostrate figure of conquered heterodoxy. The armor of the emperor is adjustable, and when taken off shows a strongly molded figure harmonizing perfectly with the whole composition. In the same col- lection is a great cabinet of ebony and bronze equally remarkable for workman- ship and design. Among the Susse bronzes the most ambitious is a repro- duction on a scale of one-third of the monument to General Chanzy erected at Le Mans. An " Orpheus and Eurydice," by August Paris, an " Algerian Girl," by Barrias, a very delightful conception of " Mignon," by Mengin, and a delicate NEAR THE CENTER OF THE BUILDING. A WORLD'S FAIR. 551 LOOKING DOWN ON THE EXHIBITS. and spirited study by Moreau called "After School," are among the other notable pieces. Interesting examples of the Cire-Perdue or ' ' Lost Wax ' ' process of bronze found- ing may be studied in the Thiebaut ex- hibit. The process, which consists of casting, in one pouring and in a single piece, from a model in wax which is fused and expelled as the molten metal takes its place in the surrounding mold, is said to have been first employed by Rhaecus of Samos, 700 years B.C., but its revival dates from the age of Columbus the Italian renaissance. The much-ex- hibited Dore vase (L,a Vigne) occupies the place of honor among the Thiebaut exhibits. In the Belgian court there is a " Leoni- das at Thermop3 7 lae, " by Georges Geefs, the artistic force of which is not enhanced by the statement that it is a product of the " Cire-Perdue" process. There is less question about the fitness of employing the wax model for the other great Belgian bronze, a huge twelve-fronted vase, the chief feature of whose lavish decoration is a girdling mass of peacock's feathers bent upwards. This shows an unusual perfection of casting and bears the stamp of Japanese art interpreted and applied by an European sculptor and medalist, Ringel D'illzac. The two chief exhibitors of Italian bronzes are Nelli of Rome, and Pendiani of Milan. The most remarkable works shown by the former are reproductions of classic art from the statues in the Vatican gallery, like the two gladiators Damusse- 110 and Creucante which stand at the en- trance to the Italian pavilion. The works from Milan are more varied and popular. As a concession to a commercial taste, Pandiani has several examples in silvered bronze, which may have a certain fitness for a group like " Les Demoiselles de la Cour," but which, like all that tends to change the true patinage of the bronze, is a derogation of its dignity. The "Amour dans la Cave" of Guzzardi is a good ex- ample of the prevailing Italian style of art in bronze, which derives its inspiration chiefly from pictures of attested popu- larity, and reproduces some of the least 552 A WORLD'S FAIR. serious of incidents in the most enduring of materials. Not so with the Japanese, who, with all their devotion to things that sell, have not made any essential changes in their bronzes to suit the re- quirements of western taste. An exhib- itor from Tokio shows two vases, four hundred years old, which are less recog- nizably oriental in treatment than the contemporary products beside them. One may object to the lavish elaboration of detail in the make up of a titanic demigod, standing on the prostrate demons of the nether world, but there can be no dispute about it being pure Japanese. The finest bronzes, as well as lacquer, which Japan sends here, are in the Art building. In jewelry, the United States challenges comparison with the world. The foreign exhibits are not equal, either in quantity or in quality, to those made at the Paris itors being content, apparently, with stereotyped commercial forms. There is a fancifully set case of Baroque pearls which are specialh- interesting, but they do little more than duplicate those of Dinglinger made two centuries ago. The English jewelry exhibit is notably weak, and what there is of it suggests a still more slavish adhesion to accepted designs than those of German}^ The best East India work is not represented at all, and Ital}', with all its profusion, can hardly have been said to have maintained its past great reputation. It is to be regretted that Siam withdrew a superb collection of antique enamel and jewelled gold work for lack of a guarantee of absolute safet}-. In the few exhibits of pure jewelry made by France, that of Vever, one of its greatest jewelers, is preeminent. His case contains man}' fine gems, and some THE RUSSIAN SECTION. exposition of 1889. Three or four of the leading jewelers of France are missing here ; and Russia, Denmark and Norway, with the exception of the transparent enamels which were only in the experi- mental stage, show nothing that is novel. The jewelry of Germany is strikingly deficient in originality, the Hanatt exhib- large floral pieces in diamonds treated with unusual taste and success. There is also a jewel casket, which is an exquisite specimen of enameled work, and an illum- inated missal whose cover is a marvel of rich and beautiful enameling. A night lamp, in gold and silver, is also a fine example of the use of enamel, and some A WORLD'S FAIR. 553 ENTRANCE TO THE ITALIAN SECTION. rock ciystal whist-counters, incised from below with Louis Quinze designs, repre- sent unique and characteristic types of manipulation. In all that suggests progress, either in workmanship or design, in the products of the silversmith, the great American exhibitors show a superiority as clearly marked as in jewelry. England, the home of silverware, sends here a few small cases of articles of antique design, reinforced only by a combined exhibit of the Manufacturing Goldsmiths' and Sil- versmiths' Company, which has patrioti- cally undertaken to occupxthe place left vacant by artificers of greater note. This firm shows a Columbian shield, on which are represented various scenes illustrative of the discovery of America. It is a piece of work more obviously painstaking than artistic. A similar criticism will apply to the caskets in the same pavilion, which are, however, interesting examples of the art of damascening as practised in Eng- land. Germany shows nothing but re- productions of the sixteenth and seven- teenth century and other periods of the past of silverware, but among the Imperial Government exhibits there are a number of presentation pieces of the greatest his- torical value. The liberality with which the most distinguished men of the empire and the representatives of other countries, now no longer living, have lent these priceless articles for exhibition here, is merely part of the generous and magnani- mous policy which Germany has dis- played in her whole connection with the Fair. Russia, Norway and Denmark show a great deal of silver, most of it having a purely commercial stamp. Nowhere has the souvenir rage run riot so manifestly as in the silver exhibits at the Fair. From the Russian and Scandinavian ex- amples in this line it is apparent that 554 A WORLD'S FAIR. AN KXHIBIT OF BRONZES. while such a stimulus as this may have promoted production, it yields nothing in art above the level of the commonplace. The Russians are represented by two of their leading firms. Both have some fine examples of the peculiar Byzantine type of decoration. In the Moscow case there are samples of presentation silverware, like the magnificent platter belonging to the Czarewitch, a bowl of the Preobra-Jensky Life Guard, and a model of a Greek gal- ley, which reveal a noticeable originality and felicit\- of treatment. In the Turk- ish pavilion, there is a vase and a tea-set made of a combination of silver with a green, transparent enamel, which are among the most beautiful examples of such work at the exposition. But the triumphs of the art of the silversmith are to be found in the Ameri- can exhibits. Among the most novel and charming features of the Gorham exhibit are a number of examples of translucent enamels worked on silver fret- work. The gem of the collection is a cup of fine blues, which will stand comparison with the best work of the Russian originals of this kind of art. There are also some fine pitchers and vases, made by blowing colored glass into pieces of silver worked into open engraved designs, and the treatment here of Rookwood pottery by enveloping it in silver and afterwards, by cutting, making a rich combination be- tween the exposed surface of the pottery and the metal, is a novel and interesting achievement. In the Tiffany pavilion the silverwork embraces the blending with enamels of all kinds, both transparent and opaque, but more especialty the latter, of several colors or tints in a single field. There are also superb examples of the inlaying of lapis- lazuli, sapphires, rubies, rhodonite, jade, smithsonite, moonstone, niello and other gems, copper, shodo and other quaint and A WORLD'S FAIR. 555 curious metals. The great magnolia enameled vase, the American flower set in Souchow chasing, the Viking bowls in etched iron and damascene work, are original and decided advances in the silversmith's art. The flower set represents work forty times the value of the silver. The superb Russian exhibit of the Imperial Lapi- dary works at Peterhof, Ekaterinburg and Barnauhl claims attention here. It consists of two very re- markable pieces of a rich green jade, one in the form of a Roman vase, about thirteen inches in diameter and ten inches high, the other an o'blong vessel, fifteen inches by eight, scroll-like in form, in the style of Louis Quinze. Both dishes are of such thinness and translucency that their color seems to be continual^ changing. They are ac- companied by a very striking coupe of rhodonite, a cup of milky quartz, with transparent spots, and a small bowl, with movable handle, made out of one piece of milk}' quartz. The central feature of the PANESE SECTION. exhibit is to be found in three magnificent cabinets of a hard stone mosaic, which, with the dishes grouped around them, constitute prob- ably the most remarkable foreign contribution sent to the exposition. The central cabinet and the one to the right show on their panels richly-colored tropical scenes. The one has a blue fond of lapis-lazuli, the leaves being of green Kalkanski jasper, and the plumage of the trop- ical birds being formed by various colors of amethyst, lapis-lazuli and other gems. The other is remarkable in having a white fond, and shows a pelican with a fish in its beak, set in a rich bit of forest scenery. In the front of the arched entrance to the French court stand two green and two blue vases, the production of the national porcelain factories of Sevres. The blues have the well-known and incompar- able depth of color which 556 A WORLD'S FAIR. the pate tendre foreign imitators have vainly tried to produce. The greens are the latest achievement of Sevres arti- ficers and are the pride of the collection, albeit the casual observer probably takes them for granted, with the same indiffer- ence that he does other triumphs of manufacturing art in this building. The Sevres factory sent here about two thou- sand different pieces, all of which, with the exception of certain pieces which could not be replaced and which are to be returned to the museum, were offered for sale. It is creditable to the discernment The combination and shading one into another of its yellows, bronzes, greens and blues furnish a suggestive study in the use of color. The exhibit of the royal Berlin porcelain factory dominates the German court as much as the pavilion in which it is contained. In the construc- tion of the pavilion itself there is a lib- eral use of hard porcelain. The Sara- cenic columns, called "Old Berlin," in front of it, are of this material, as are the remarkable panels of the seasons, on which are depicted certain charming fig- ures. The portrait of the emperor is OF INTEREST TO CHILDREN. of the American purchaser that all but a very few were sold before the middle of July. The great Limoges factories are well represented here, in white and deco- rated porcelain, and from Yvry-Port, near Paris, there is a very striking exhibit of enameled terracotta. The reproduction, on a scale of one- fourth, of the famous "Frieze of the Archers," brought from Suza, Persia, by M. and Mme. Dieulafoy and deposited in the Loxivre, is a work calculated to take the eye of the artist, no less than that of the archaeologist. shown on the largest piece ever made of hard porcelain. Among other deco- rations of the pavilion are, underglaze, panels about eight feet square, showing a symphony of Spring and of Summer, by Paul Meyerheim. A fine white chim- ney-piece, rococo in style, is a notable feature of the exhibit, and the contents of a bath-room on one side and a din- ing-room on the other bring out very strongly the extent and variety of the product of this great factory, whose rapid advance is largely due to the ad- A WORLD'S FAIR. 557 ministrative energy and taste of Rich- ard Horstman and the artistic skill of Professor Kips. The royal Saxon porce- lain factory at Meissen has an exhibit less ample in extent, but not less interesting and characteristic. Most of the pieces have been made specially for the exposi- tion, and some of them, notably the com- ponents of a dinner service in royal blue and gilt, with Greek border and a large floral decoration filling the center of the plates, are the first of their kind ever turned out from the factory. Only less novel are two magnificent royal blue vases, about three and a half feet high, with platinum decoration and bearing rep- resentations of the four seasons, from original paintings in the Munich gallery, by Cornelius the elder. These, with two pale blue vases, bearing an exquisite pate- sur-pate decoration, are evidences of how magnificent a patron of art was the late King Ludvvig, for whom the originals were made. Flourishing without state aid or any munificent degree of royal patronage, the English potteries make a very fine ex- hibit here. It is, perhaps, the one depart- ment of artistic manufacture in w y hich England demonstrates that she has noth- ing to fear from the competition of the world, and the one in which can be clearly recognized the influence of the art culture of which the South Kensington museum has been the center. Magnificent as is this group of exhibits, it was rivaled in Paris in 1889. The well-established and distinctive excellences of the re- nowned English factories are well illus- trated, and there are some new depart- ures, hitherto unknown to Americans, with which the Fair has made us famil- iar. One of these is shown in the works of Sir Edmund Elton, whose ware, de- signed by himself and made from clay on his own estate, presents deep, harmo- nious metallic blendings of red, green and yellow, in underglazes. The exhibit of the Royal Porcelain Manufactory of Copenhagen shows some remarkable evidences of progress, no less in artistic conception than in the pro- cesses of preparation. The coloring is of the simplest, but the combination of the shadowy blues and greens on the white ground is done with surpassing delicacy and grace. Of blue and white ware there are some excellent examples in the courts both of Belgium and Holland. The large vase with cupids and mask handles, by ENTRANCE TO THE GKKMAN SECTION. 558 A WORLD'S FAIR. A PORCKLAIN EXHIBIT. Bach Freres of Belgixim, is one of the finest pieces of this kind to be seen here. The Delft exhibit has a great profusion of tiles, panels and other articles of a highly decorative character, in the same colors. Among American potteries, Rookwood, so successful in Paris in 1889, has a fine exhibit which amply sustains the claim made on behalf of this institution, that the conditions under which it was founded and has been conducted have developed an American pottery which possesses marked originality. The Trenton pot- ters show many fine pieces, but this is not a representative exhibit. Japan exhibits an immense quantity of enamels of all grades, many of a merely commercial standard, and others debased by misdirected subservience to French art. The Namihawa vases are notably fine, showing on a delicately- colored field, fleurs-de-lys, winged drag- ons, a phoenix, and other decorations. The eight feet high cloisonne chrys- anthemum vases, at the south entrance to the Japanese court, are among the largest pieces of enamel work ever produced. In most of the foreign courts, particu- larly in the Austrian, there is a lavish display of glass artistically treated. Lob- meyer of Vienna, exhibits some remark- able examples of intaglio engraved glass, as well as of glass decorated with gold \ AN EXHIBIT FROM BELGIUM. A WORLD'S FAIR. 559 applied in very high relief in Louis Quinze, rococo and other forms. The entire Austrian section, but notably the glass exhibits, show the influence of an exceptionally advanced system of indus- trial education under which well equipped art schools are maintained in towns of only 10,000 inhabitants. In the German court, Fischer of Berlin, shows some deli- cate glass forms very artistically en- graved. In the French, Leveille and Dauni Freres expose engraved and rich- ly colored original pieces of glass simu- lating jade, rock crystal, amethyst and hard stones, as well as antique Chinese glass. In glass mosaic combined with gold the great portraits by Troloff of St. Petersburg, of Vladimir the Great, and St. Cyril are among the richest examples of this kind of work to lie seen here. In cut glass the exhibits of the Libbey Glass Company and of L. Straus & Sons fully sustain the reputation which the United States have gained in this field. Lack of space renders it impossible to do justice to some superb exhibits of wrought-iron work Of the inlaying of gold on iron the two superb, gigantic. Damascened vases sent by Felipi Sanchez of Spain, are most magnificent exam- ples. One cannot either make even casual notice of the great furniture ex- hibits. In the absence of makers like Herter Brothers, Cottier and others, the American display in this group leaves a good deal to be desired, but a charm- ing reproduction by Herts of a Louis Quinze boudoir in cream and gold does much to relieve the common-place char- acter of the American exhibit. In fur- niture and interior decorations the French are notably first, but mention should be made of the very artistic in- stallation made by Professor Seidl of Munich, under which are comprised the reproduction of interiors from one of the royal palaces of Bavaria. Of the same order is the re- duced facsimile of the din- ing-room inHatfield House and the interesting exhibit made by our own Sypher in the gallery, not the least of the contributions made here to the education of popular taste in the highest forms of the combination of beauty with utility. FACADE, FRENCH SECTION. AN OUTSIDER'S VIEW OF THE WOMAN'S EXHIBIT. BY ELLEN M. HENROTIN. NOT until the close of the Columbian exposition and the statistics have been compiled and the juries announce their awards, can a complete report be written of the woman's exhibit at the Columbian exposition, for woman's work at the exposition is exhibited side b}- side with that of man, so that in the main buildings it is impossible to distinguish without an exhaustive study of the cata- logue, to which sex the honors are due, unless some special feature like the boat of Grace Darling in the Transportation building challenges our attention. When the board of lady managers was organized in 1890, it was thought best not to make the Woman's building an exhibit building, but as the installation pro- gressed, and the work of women devel- oped and crystallized there was found to be a general desire that the really fine ex- hibits which were to be installed in the Woman's building should not be .shut out from award. The director-general recommended that the Woman's building be declared an exhibit building, and it has been so declared. In all respects the exhibits of women are upon the same basis as all other ex- hibits in the Columbian exposition. Great results are expected from the presence of women on the board of judges in the department of Liberal Arts, as in liberal arts is included the exhibition re- lating to education, philanthropy, reforms and relative subjects. This exhibit comes from the whole world, and if examined with the painstaking care which women bring to ever}- subject, the specific points ~bf excellence in these various exhibits will be brought to light, and the women judges will, no doubt, have the sustained enthusiasm to earnestly urge the adoption of new methods. The tale has been so often told of the inception of the Woman's building, and of Miss Sophia Hayden's being awarded the first prize and appointed the architect, A WORLD'S FAIR. that it is superfluous to further enlarge on that theme. The decorations of the build- ing are a part of the woman's exhibit, as they were executed by women, and the entire decoration and installation of ex- hibits was placed in charge of Mrs. Can- dace Wheeler, who through the long, bit- terly cold months of March and April was carried away by enthusiasm for her task and was always cheerful and hopeful. The court of the Woman's building has a frieze at each end, painted by American women, Mrs. Mary MacMonnies and Miss Cassatt. Both decorations are too high to be effective, and the space is too small in which they are placed; the subject of one panel is "The Primitive Woman," and of the other "The Modern Woman." Mrs. MacMonnies work is reverent in tone and dignified in treatment. This frieze is not divided by sharp lines as is that of Miss Cassatt, and, if hung where it could be seen to better advantage, would be the most successful example of mural decora- tion in the building. Miss Cas- satt's panel is "cynical," and is the one note of discord in the har- mony of color. On each side of the main entrances are panels painted by Emma Sherwood and Rosina Emtuett Sherwood. The mural painting, in the east vestibule, is by Anna Lea Merritt, of England, and, while the friezes in the main hall are too high for the delicate handling of the many figures, the panels in the en- trance are too heroic in treatment, and hung too low to be seen to advantage. Anne Whitney's statue of Lief Ericson is a masterwork of art, deserving to be placed where the nobility of its proportions may be seen. It is at present, unfortu- nately, hidden from view by a pillar behind it, and the fountain in the center of the rotunda in front of it. To continue with the art exhibit. The library designed and executed by Dora Wheeler Keith is the most beautiful room in the building. The Cincinnati parlor, the work of Miss Agnes Pitman, is extreme- ly cool and pleasing. In this room can be found a most interesting ex- hibit, showing the evolution of the Rookwood pottery which was discovered by a woman and w r hich may be said to be the only national potter}'. Of the pictures which hang in the main hall, one of the best is ' 'Jean and Jacques, ' ' by Marie Bashkirtseff ; and also apastelle by Miss Cassatt is good. Viewing the entire collection of paint- ings as a whole, they seem comparatively inferior to the other exhibits, lacking warmth, color and depth of tone. Woman has not as yet (if the collection in the Woman's building is a faithful represen- tation of her work) mastered the art of painting. The exquisite etchings and drawings by women emphasize what is lacking in the paintings, which is not woman's inabilitj r to master technique, but her in- abilit}' to use color. The most valuable exhibits are those of the applied arts, in which tapestry, china, stained glass, mechanical drawings and fabrics may be included. 562 A WORLD'S FAIR. The stained glass win- dows in the assembly room especially the two back of the platform, designed and executed by Elizabeth Parsons and Edith Brown, of Boston emphasize the skill of women in stained glass. In the Applied Arts sec- tion the gold china attracts a great deal of attention, being the result of many experiments on the part of a young woman who has been offered large sums of money to reveal her secret. She keeps it, however, and continues to produce the beautiful china herself. In the Cincinnati room, in the section of the Associated Artists of New York, and in the Chicago and Massachusetts cases, as well as in the ex- hibit made by the Associated League of Mineral Painters, there is a very beauti- ful display of decorated china. The Scientific department shows re- searches on the lines of botany, geology, mineralogy and zoology. One most notable collection of minerals and fossils has been made by Mrs. A. D. Davidson, of Omaha, Neb. Perhaps no display illustrates more fully the advance of women in new fields than does the scientific exhibit. The ethnological room contains many cases filled with articles of wearing ap- parel and implements for home and farm use, also relics which Mrs. French Shel- don collected during her extensive ex- plorations in Africa. In the invention room are manj* interesting devices, though none of the most valuable and scientific inventions are shown in this room, and it seems a pity that when the patent books of the United States show such hundreds and hundreds of women's names, that more might not have been represented. The Nursing section, in which wonder- ful appliances are exhibited, is of great interest. Through the influence of these exhibits sanitary conditions and future methods of caring for the sick will un- doubtedl} 7 be greatly improved. There is also a model kitchen in the Woman's building, where daily lessons in the art of cooking are given. The organization room is the headquarters for all the women's clubs and organi- zations in America. The space allotted to each is beautifully decorated, and a custodian is in charge for each organization, to an- swer questions and greet the members. In the assembly room lectures are given twice a day, of general interest. The Children's building would take a long article for itself. Its educational value as an object lesson is immense in all that per- tains to the care and educa- tion of children. Among the nations which have made special exhibits of women's work are the following : British. This exhibit is small but very interesting, containing articles which were made and sent to the Columbian exposi- tion by their Royal Highnesses the Prin- cesses Christian, Beatrice, Louise, the Duchess of Teck, Princess of Teck, and Her Majesty the Queen. The queen's water-colors hanging in the east galley receive the most atten- tion. The Baroness Burdett-Coutts' phil- anthropic work is most extensively dis- played by photographs, pamphlets and medals in the assembU'- room, the walls of which on the south and west side are thickly hung with photographs of the world's most noted \vomen. Mrs. Bedford Fenwick is installed the Nursing section, which is extremel} r well done and one of the most valuable exhib- its in the Woman's building. Siamese. Here the principal exhibit is needlework, that being the work of the women of that country. The embroider- ies are of fine execution and design, one piece representing the passing of the king before one of the temples. Norway. This exhibit principally con- sists of industrial needlework, crochet- ing, some specimens of weaving, etc. Table covers and rugs form a consider- able portion of the exhibit. Dolls are dressed as brides from the different parts of Norway. A case of hair flowers made A WORLD'S FAIR. 563 5 6 4 A WORLD'S FAIR. wall side of the exhibit, is the needle- work of one of the schools, in a repro- duction of the silk curtains and plush lambrequin belonging to the president of the republic. Some vases of un- usual size, in Sevres underglazing, by French artists, are exceedingly pretty. A history of Frenchwomen's dresses, commencing with the primitive epoch, is clearly and effective^ 1 shown, some of the costumes having been scrupulously copied from portraits of the famous queens of France, from tapestry and from paintings in the Louvre. The dolls are not the ordinary children's dolls, but have evidently been made for this exhibition, as they show the pro- portions of a woman's figure, and the full record of French fashions may here be seen. Much needlework in infants' clothes is shown, from the dainty cradle, down- lined and silk-covered, to the short dress of the toddler. Every lace thing that can be thought of is exhibited in this department ; to try to enumerate them would be but endless repetition, and one scarcely knows what to select. Gloves are also shown as manufactured by women. Ribbon flowers are exhibited of so high an order as to quite surpass the ordinary art. So high a value is put upon this work that none but the girls and women who make it can buy the ribbons. fifty years ago shows that little if anything new has been learned since that time. Sweden. In this department is a series of models illustrating Miss Hulda Lundin's sys- tem of teaching needlework in school. Here, also, is shown some fine lace-work and hand- some wood-carving. Mexico. The specialty of Mexican women seems to be fine drawn work and embroidery ; the rest of their work is crude in coloring and material, but the lace effect produced in their crochet is marvellous ; for instance, a lace- edged handkerchief crocheted out of pineap- ple fiber is exceedingly delicate. They excel in wood-carving, much of which, in fine white wood, is so delicate as to be called an etching. Mexican costumes are here shown, probablj^ festival dresses of the middle and lower classes. French. The first thing in this section which attracts attention, beginning at the A WORLD'S FAIR. 565 MRS. POTTER PALMER'S OFFICE. To so high a degree of perfection is needlework carried in France, that famous paintings are reproduced in silks with excellent effect. The young ladies of the College of the Legion of Honor have a specimen of their work in guipure cur- tains and silk-embroidered lambrequin. Italian. This exhibit consists entirely of lace. Besides the finished laces, there are sections of it in different stages of making, and dressed figures of peasant women, with their pillows and bobbins, showing the process of making. Here is shown the queen's collection of laces, valued at one hundred thousand dollars. Japan. Here is a Japanese woman's boudoir. It is exceedingl}' interesting as showing the surroundings of a Japanese woman in her home. Her -wardrobe is conveniently hung on a rack in the room, the dress hanging on the upper bar of the rack, and the sash on the lower. Adjoin- ing the boudoir is a study or reception- room. Here is the ciistomary mat in the center of the room, on which are placed musical instruments and little low read- ing tables. Also a brazier for fire. Spain. Priestly vestments are here embroidered with gold and jewels. A rep- resentation of the cathedral where the king attends divine worship is shown in fine thread embroidery, which is most del- icate. Medallions of the Queen Regent, the deceased king, and the little king are exhibited, reproducing the features most faithfully. Pillow-lace work is here in process of making, with the bobbins hanging to the pillow as if the worker had just left it. Most wonderful medallions, embroid- ered of finest thread, are made "by the Spanish women, showing the features as distinct!}' as if cut in marble. Ceylon. There are embroidery and laces here, though the principal exhibit in this booth is tea, a sample cup of which can be had for five cents. Austria. The lace in this department is a rather meager collection, but of beau- tiful design. Kid gloves of beautiful qual- ity are elaborately decorated with paint- ing, small flowers, chiefly lilies of the val- ley and forget-me-nots. Fans are also elaborately decorated with hand-painted designs. Fine gold thread embroider}' is exhibited. A screen painted by Her Im- perial Highness the Archduchess Maria Theresa is shown ; the frame is of simply carved antique oak, the center panel is of flowers, painted, and the side panels of palms. Belgium. This exhibit is principally of the peas- ant woman's lace-work which attracts special at- tention for the dainty designs. Germany. The bent iron-work done by the wo- men of Germany, one of whom sits at a table and manufactures it before the e}-es of the wondering vis itor, is exhibited in hanging-lamps, can- dle holders, ink-stands, etc. Over in one corner of the German exhibit is a beau- tifully mounted lyre, unstrung, the center filled with swinging leaves containing photographs of Germany's noted women musicians. Next is a case filled with dolls dressed in the uniforms of the various orders or organizations of the different provinces of German}-. Leather- work in great variety is shown in tables and screens. A mod- ern kindergarten house and working ap- paratus is exhibited in detail. To compare the exhibits of woman's work with that of previous expositions is to realize that a revolution has been ef- fected, not alone in woman's position, but in modern civilization. Had such a change taken place in the social and economic conditions of one race of peo- ple, the whole civilized world would have heralded it with acclamation, but as it affects the peaceful half of the popula- tion of the civilized \vorld it awakens hardly a ripple of excitement. Several salient points present them- selves to the consideration in connection with the material exhibits. First, that woman is now a great factor in the economic condition of all countries ; for in continental Europe she is the hewer of wood and drawer of water, in order that men may be soldiers to keep em- perors and kings on tottering thrones ; in England and America the stretch of commercialism has pushed her out of the home into a competitive civilization. Her work this far is secondary. When her labors in the home as wife and mother are considered, joined to her exertions in the labor market, it will be seen that wo- man, lovely woman ! has few leisure moments to cultivate her charms. Her wages are gradually working up to a living basis she is constantly entering new 7 fields of employment and making them her own in a word, her condition is slowl} 7 improving. When the statistics are compiled which will demonstrate the part she is taking in all countries in preventive, educational and reformatory work they will be of immense value. No exhibit could have been more timely or carried on with greater wisdom than has this ; it shows to woman at the most opportune time in her career the weak points in her position, while the advance she has made along all lines of work and thought, encourage her to renewed efforts and greater bravery in claiming her right to the pecuniary reward of conscientious labor. MIDWAY PLAISANCE WEST FROM TOP OF FERRIS WHEEL. FOREIGN FOLK AT THE FAIR. BY JULIAN HAWTHORNE. THE Midway Plaisance is classified in the catalogues under the head of ethnology. Scientific appellations al- ways have a chilling sound. They are to nature what the scalpel of the surgeon is to the fair show of the human body. Botany is a sequel of murder and a chron- icle of the dead. The application of dead languages to the living forms of this real phantasmagory that exists around us scientific nomenclature, in other words, is one of the lingering remnants of the curse of Babel, and would, if it could, make us think of nature as not less dead than itself. Luckily, we are not to be so constrained; and so long as children and country people continue to be born, we shall call things by natural names, and always feel a disposition to smile at the jaw-breaking absurdities of the multifa- rious 'ologist. The lover, as reported by the poet, is always ready to give to his mistress the world for her plaything. It is a charming conceit, and every lover has invented it for himself. Yet I do not know that it has been ever shown to be practically achievable before the present summer. But this summer, fortunate lover, you may do it, and it need cost you neither the treasures of Croesus nor the toil of a lifetime. Fifty cents will bring the greater and essential part of it to her feet or her feet to it; and for ten or twenty 568 A WORLD'S FAIR. times that sum (the precise amount has not as yet been finally determined) you can endow her absolutely with the entire thing. Schopenhauer gave to his scheme of creation the title of " The World as Will and Idea;" and I give to what the cata- logue calls " Department M. Ethnology. Isolated Ex- hibits Midway Plaisance. Group 176," this, I say, I call the "World as Pla} T thing." Here are the elements out of which the human part of the planet has been devel- oped ; it is all within the compass of a daj-'s stroll; and everything that is te- dious, ugly, cruel and evil is left out. There is nothing which your lady-love would find unsuited to her play- thing, and yet there is no- thing omitted which, were she and you actually to make the tour of this great rolling sphere of earth, either of you would much care to see. You may think that I am forgetting the scenery the mountains, seas and valleys of delight; but no! For a matter of twent} - -five cents you may take her to the top of the Swiss alps, or down to the awful bottom of the giant crater of the sea of fire at Honolulu, or to other similar world wonders of landscape, while all along your route are samples of the ar- chitecture, inhabitants, manners and customs, home-life and characteristic products of the wild and civilized races of the world. Upon the whole, it is the most magnificent and satisfactory pla} - thing ever 3~et devised for the de- lectation of mortal woman or man. It extends west by north a mile or more at right angles to the main west- ern boundary line of the park, begin- ing at the rear of the Woman's build- ing. It has a width of some three hun- dred feet. The fun begins as soon as you enter, and continues with increase all along the line. I have only one criticism to make, and that is, that it. should have been made circular, as the world of which it is the epitome is spherical. But probably even Chicago A WORLD'S FAIR. 569 has its physical limits. When you have been through it, you have not the ad- vantage of finding yourself where you started from ; but on the other hand, you have to go through it again, and it is a journey which, if you have" a human soul in your body, and any reasonable legs, you are only too ready to make, not once only, but again and again. The Midway Plaisance could not take the place of the Fair; but the Fair would not be half as delightful as it is without the Plaisance. There is more of the human here than elsewhere ; and the study of mankind is not onl}-, as Pope says, the proper study of man, but it is likewise incomparably the most entertaining. From the moment you first came within hail of the city of pork and the Fair, you have been catching glimpses of that semi- miraculous wheel which uprears its pre- posterous immensity about halfway down the Plaisance. It is not so tall as the Eiffel tower, but it is all but half as tall as the Washington monument, and by the time 3'ou have been round its stupen- dous circumference, in company with up- wards of two thousand of your fellow- creatures, you are ready to believe that it is all but as big as the earth. It is impossible for the non-me- chanical mind t o understand how such a Brobdingnag contrives to keep itself erect ; it has no visible means of support- none that ap- pear adequate. The spokes look like cob- webs ; they are after the fash- ion of those on the newest make of bicy- cles ; and yet the vast tires, weighing thousands of tons, sweep round their in- comprehensible orbit, as easily as if the attraction of gravitation were one of those moss-covered prejudices which the march of progress has enabled us to outgrow. When you get into your bucket, you are * A WORLD'S FAIR. bound on such a journey as nobody ever undertook before, and you will remember it, awake and asleep, as long as you live. I wonder if any one of the millions who come within reach of this fearful fascin- ation, will resist it ! I don't believe any one will, no matter how much they may fancy otherwise beforehand. For my part, I intend to spend an entire day in the wheel, some time, which, at the rate of three revolutions per hour, will cost me some ten dollars. It will be worth every mill of it. From the height of this perimeter, you may contem- plate the whole extent .of the Plaisance, and make up your mind at leisure where you will go next. As a matter of fact, you have probably visited a number of places alread}'. Roughly speaking, you have before you the civ- ilized, the half-civilized and the savage worlds to choose from or rather, to take one after the other. To my mind, the half-civilized world is the most delectable ; then the savage, and finally the civil- ized. And on the principle of the best last, I counsel all those who think as I do to begin with the latter. There is a beauty-show at the very start thirty or forty belles from as many different parts of the earth, dressed out in their several appro- priate costumes, and ranged in pens round a big room, like cattle in a show. Whether this be civilized or uncivilized, I won't undertake to say ; but I fear that so far as beauty is concerned, unless you are easily satis- fied, you will be much disappointed. At least, you will be surprised. What I like best about it is the kilted High- lander outside, who lures the passing public with the sweet piercingness of his bagpipes. He is a handsome chap, and quite intelligent enough to know it. You cannot spare your ej-esight at any step of the journey down this en- chanted avenue. For not only are there unfamiliar spectacles in the way of buildings on either hand, but the strange people themselves have escaped from their proper abiding places, and are out walk- ing and looking, almost as much interest- ed in you as } - ou are in them. There are Mussulmans of all tribes, and Cingalese, and wild Arabs in their bour- nouses and swathed heads, and Javanese in skirts and jackets, and stately Soudan- ese, with their black hair braided in strings, and dirty ^ white togas bellying in the breeze ; and Algerians and Persians and unspeakable bashi-bazouks, and the more familiar figures of Chinese and Japanese, and perhaps a savage Dahomeyan or two, and Numidians and Nubians from the tropical interior. Ever and anon, as you pass, 3-011 will see an interested, craning group ringed round some object of fascination in the center, and if you peep over their heads or between their shoulders, j-ou will al- ways find a swarthy, smiling face and a queer costume in the midst, with whom the local American is striving to hold converse. Cigars or cigarettes are given or ex- A WORLD'S FAIR. changed, there is a dropping fire of hu- morous remarks, and then the group breaks up, and the swarthy ones continue on their way. The ends of the earth are meeting, and finding one another good fellows. Chicago is not a predominately Irish town, like some that might be named in this country; but the two Irish villages are always full enough of visitors. In one of them, besides studying the opera- tions of lace-making, bog-oak carving, and dairy work, as carried on by native Irishmen and women in cottages which look exactly like those one sees in the ould sod, you may visit a very fair repro- duction of Blarney castle, and try the virtues of a piece of the genuine Blarney stone. The other is mainly devoted to making you think that you are looking at real Irish castles, market crosses, halls, gardens and cottages; and in place of the rival Blarney stone on the other side of the way, is a practical copy of the Wish- ing Seat of the Giant's Causeway though whether they have contrived to import the magic of the original into the repro- duction I am not prepared to say. There's nothing good or ill but thinking makes it so. As for Germany, she has left a broad mark in the Plaisance as well as in the Fair proper. Her "village" is quite as ex- tensive as many real villages I have seen in the Vaterland, and has in it reminders of most of the things, music and beer in- cluded, which that entire amiable and formidable country contains. The " me- diaeval stronghold ' ' which blocks your way at the beginning with its towers and battlements, moats and drawbridge, turns out to be a harmless museum inside, fur- nished not only with ancient and modern apparatus of war and hunting, but with a waxen emperor and other German heroes. Within the spacious enclosure round about the castle walls are houses of many types and clusters of booths with workmen in them. Meanwhile, one or other of the two bands are thundering in your ears, and the nimble kellner is at his old tricks with mugs and change. You are in the midst of double distilled Germany, and there is no more to be said about it. In this country, and especially in this town, there cannot be anything very novel to 572 A WORLD'S FAIR. us in it; but it is cram-full of people all the time, and you ought to hear them cheer the Wacht am Rhein and other pieces of patriotism. Like the rest of us, Germans are more patriotic abroad than at home. Austria gets herself up to look like an older Germany. Her Altmarkt is really picturesque; it is a continuous square of antique city houses and shops, environing a band-stand and a beer garden. As you sit at 3'our table in the evening, the lathe and plaster buildings, as they echo back the sallies of music, assume the veritable aspect of rich antiquity that you remem- ber in 3'our }-outhful days at Vienna. If they would only engage a group of stu- dents with slit noses and cheeks to stroll through the platz, and pick a quarrel with somebody, the illusion would be complete. Let us have done with Europe, and try a cycle of Cathay. Beyond the great wheel, as to spatial distance, and who can tell how many thousand } - ears away from us as to appearance, modes of life and traditions, is the Dahomey village. The great open square is surrounded by native huts, in which, besides the native furniture that you might see in Dahomey itself, are some good Chicago cooking stoves, which cause you to hang in space, as it were, between the remote and the near. If it be near meal time, you will see some Dahomey cooking; the cooks have the appearance given in school ge- ographies to cannibals, but I have failed to discover signs of any other food in their tiny kitchens than such as the reader and I might with propriety partake of. When they are not cooking, they sit in silence and make things out of metal, fiber and wood, which, being made, have a strange and outlandish aspect. Now and then you come upon a mother squat- ting in a corner, suckling her baby, which sits upright astride her knee. There are no beauties among the Dahomeyans, A WORLD'S FAIR. according to our notions of that attribute. But the attraction here is the dance. A platform has been made in the center of the arena, about thirty yards square, with* a wooden roof or awning over it. It is protected from the incursions of the public by a railing ; but after looking at the dance awhile, you are not likely to need a railing to help keep you out of reach. The dancers get excited present- ly, and their spears and hatchets are very sharp. The orchestra, members of which occasionally are moved to abandon their mu- sical instruments for a turn with lance and tomahawk, is massed at one end of the platform ; at the other is a treble or quadruple row of dancers. In the midst of the musicians, on a sort of chair, with a crown on his head which is made either of iron, leather or copper, I don't know which, sits an elderly and particularly mild-looking savage, as king. In the space between the two part- ies, and in and out among them, with an indifferent, abstracted air, as one who bears a charmed life, and can regulate these wild frights at his will, saunters the medicine man, in a short projecting petti- coat of fiber, and an indescribable tackle of chains and wallets, all supported upon the thinnest possible pair of legs. When the music strikes up and what a weird and ear-splitting racket that music is, made by hammering on wooden drums and iron bells, accompanied by a sort of hoarse, wrangling noise, with rapid pul- sations, representing Dahomeyan singing four brawny persons appear, and stand between the army and the orchestra, facing the former with gestures of defiance. Everybody except the medicine-man is singing at the top of his or her voice, for a third part of the warriors are of the gentler sex, and have become recently known to contemporary history under the title of Amazons. The dance consists of a rhythmical hopping and jumping, accompanied by a peculiar shaking of the shoulders, and a brandishing of weapons. The costume is simple in its elements, though it has a rather complex appearance. There is a strip of cloth about seven feet long, with a breadth of two feet, and a hole through the middle of it for the head. It is striped green and yellow. Being put on, it is confined at the loins by a white sash. This, of course, leaves the costume open at both sides ; and it is the same for both men and Amazons. In profile, the wear- ers are practically naked. Their legs are bare ; though, in deference I presume to 573 our prejudices, they wear short drawers reaching to. the knee. Their feet and heads are also uncovered ; and what re- mains of their gear consists of necklaces, iron anklets and armlets, pouches and suspended objects of all sorts. They hop and whirl about with surprising vigor and persistence, and with evident enjoy- ment to themselves ; and between the pauses of the dance, they gather round the orchestra, and all hands converse with alarming vi- vacity, as if still thirsting for one anothers' blood. Anon, the turn- turn sounds once more, and the mimic warfare recommences, either part}- advancing and re- treating alternately, and both, apparently, remaining victors in the end. As the Javanese village is not open to the public at this writing, I am unable to say more about it than that it looks very pretty through the wicker-work fence which surrounds it, through the gate of which a crowd of specta- tors is ever gazing. Huts, which appear to be a kind of basket adapted to purposes of hab- itation in a land which knows not winter, are ranged round a large space con- taining larger and more pre- tentious structures ; all are thatched with dry palm leaves, and amongst them stroll about the diminutive figures of the Java natives. They are no bigger than so many boys and girls. The full - grown women are ad- mirably shaped, and not uncomely in face ; but they are of the size of a ten-} 7 ear- old American child. In the background of the enclosure is a cage with a big our an g- outang climbing about in it, and performing prodigies of gymnastics with an effort- less, abstracted air. The Turkish village to take the first step upward from the unsophisticated children of nature is not fenced in, though it will cost you a quarter to go up stairs in the restaurant and see the girls dance, or to enter the theater where a representation of home-life and adventure in Mahom- medan countries is given. There is an open street, with booths along one side of it ; and a covered bazaar, loaded with the spoils of the Sublime Porte. In the upper end of the street is a mosque, with real priests and religious rites, and a minaret, from the lofty balcony A WORLD'S FAIR. 575 of which, at the hours of sunset, noon and sunrise, a real Muezzin exhorts the faithful to remember Allah, and to give him glory. And the American populace gathers beneath and speculates whether he is advertising the dance-house or sell- ing pop-corn, or crying for somebody to put up a ladder and bring him down. In another building is an Arabian tent, and a facsim- ile of a house in Damascus. The tent is pitched in the court in front of the house, and in it sit cross-legged Arabs, male and female, who play on odd instruments and chant monotonously, while others of them boil coffee or make thin wafer cakes, and bake the same on a heated hemisphere of iron. There are no Arabian steeds, and as for the camels, they are in the Cairo street. The Damascus room for there is but one room in the house is oblong and high, with windows just beneath the cornice. In the center is a fountain, and on either side a floor slightly raised and thickly berugged, with di- vans, and festooned walls, and hanging lamps, and or- naments of dark woods in- laid with ivory. A beautiful, luxurious, peaceful place it is ; and a very well-be- haved and explicit little Turk explains everything to you in clear but quaint- ly intoned English. In such a house lived people in one of the oldest historical pe- riods ; and it is hard to see in what re- spect we have sur- passed them in the essentials of comfort and beauty since. You have never spent ten cents to better purpose than when you ex changed it for a ticket admitting you to the Cairo street. This assertion is founded not upon my own opinion alone, but upon the testimony of the crowds who throng it every day ; it is perhaps the most pop- ular rallying-ground at the Fair. The gate being passed, you are in a street square, with a cafe open to the street on A WORLD'S FAIR. the right, in which we shall do well to sit down. A friend of mine who knows his Cairo as well as I do my New York, tells me that this scene is more like Cairo than Cairo itself. One could almost di- vine that, without a guarantee. In fact, only the walls and the fashion of them are artificial ; they are built on the exact model of the reality, and the doors and wooden - grated windows are veritable Cairo relics, brought bodily from that de- licious city. The colors are sunny and warm, with harmonious blendings of pale 3'ellow and pink and purple ; there are projecting balconies and airy loggias and mysterious archways ; and every- where are tiny shops, overflowing with things 3"ouwant tobu}-. The shop-keep- ers w T ant you to buy them, too ; and you must either leave your purse at home, or be rich and reckless, else you may have to leave Chicago on foot. But you inevitably turn from the shops and houses to thecrowd in the street. Right beneath us, as we sit, is the donkey and camel-stand that is, the donkeys stand and the camels lie down, in the peculiar fashion possible for camels only. Their drivers, living pieces of human Egypt, in long caftans, fez and turban, brown- skinned and black-eyed, and with naked feet, lounge about, or lean upon their beasts, and let no possible customer es- cape them. And customers are plenty, ru en , women and children . The donkeys are very small and the camels very large, so that whichever the rider selects, he or she is sure to be the object of attention to the laughing, cheering, surging, good- humored American crowd that presses together even'where, and follows them on their course down the narrow thor- oughfare, or dodges to escape the too pre- cipitous onset of their career. That fat man has just been almost upset Toy a donke\- no bigger than a Newfoundland dog; and a camel has knocked askew the bonnet of the deaf old lady who was looking at the Nubian soothsayer on the steps of the fountain. Are we not in Egypt indeed ? What signifies the mere ground beneath our feet ? Here are the architecture, themerchandise, the manners and the populace of Egypt; its atmosphere is in our nostrils, its lan- guage in our ears. What is it that con- stitutes a country ? " Coelum non ani- mam mutant qui trans mare current." And we, without changing our sky, have nevertheless come to another land, and surely to one of the loveliest and most charming in the world. And we may pass through a score of others besides this in traversing the little length of this world plaything, the Midway Plaisance. ELECTRICITY AT THE FAIR. BY MORAT HALSTEAD. TIPPED with golden domes, touched with the pomp of Asia, in the midst of the White City, beside the gleaming waters of Lake Michigan, look- ing upon the rippling Lagoon and the dazzling fountains of the ideal Venice that in the heart of America is the radi- ant shell of the Columbian World's Fair, one of the exhalations of that wonderful frozen dream, whose exquisite hues and airs and lines are a picture in which genius has been prodigal, and where are gathered the glories and mysteries of hu- man achievement, rises the Electrical building, stored with the most marvellous of the marvels of the age. The potentialities and splendors of elec- tricity were never before so exhibited as under this picturesque roof. It is not the building alone, stored as it is with won- ders, that is the chief exhibition of the pervading and shining power that is marching from conquest to conquest, and ever finding amazing new worlds to con- quer, for whether it is the crown of fire that glitters over the offices of adminis- tration ; the basin, on whose blue waters the gondolas seem so at home, turned into a pool rich with colors as a sunset sky; the magnificent search -lights that sweep the horizon with shafts of flame that are revealing revelations ; the lofty jets on either side of the MacMonnies fountains, -converted to leaping rainbows, glowing, fantastical, mystical ; the swift and silent launches, wafted without sail or oars or steam, burdened with people, through scenes of enchantment surpassing those by the waves of the Adriatic when the doges were wedded to the sea ; the in- tramural railway-cars that fly over elevat- ed roads without visible means of locomo- tion, and give the myriads of spectators incomparable rapid transit from the Span- ish convent to the Krupp exhibit of artil- lery, and then to the clambake and bat- 37 578 A WORLD'S FAIR. tleship ; or the haunted corners where one talks to friends a thousand miles away and enjoys the familiar charm of their voices and the magnetism of their pres- ence the same might}-, subtle, delicate, formidable agency and mastery permeates the atmosphere that compasses the uni- verse, and all this is but one breath of the all-embracing vital air, one sparkle of the surf that is the boundary of oceans, the great deeps beyond, unfathomed, but one may believe not unsearchable, not past finding out, but holding their treasures for the swift unfolding of the slow cen- turies. The Fair, considered as an electrical exposition only, would be well worthy the attention of the world. Look from a distance at night, upon the broad spaces it fills, and the majestic sweep of the searching lights, and it is as if the earth and sky were transformed by the im- measurable wands of colossal magicians ; and the superb dome of the structure, that is the central jewel of the display, is glowing as if bound with wreaths of stars. It is electricity ! When the whole casket is illuminated, the cornices of the palaces of the White City are defined with celestial fire. The waters that are at play leap and flash with it. There are borders of lamps around the Lagoon. The spectacle is more resplendent than the capitals of Europe ever saw when ablaze with festivals to celebrate triumphant peace or victorious war. It is all an electrical exhibit. You would see the fronts of the structures that are of the white flowering of the art that creates, adorns and captivates at once with grace and magnitude ; and the elec- tric launch glides for you through the canals and basins, while the matchless panorama seems to drift by the winged boat, an enchanted country, studded with fair\ r citadels. The energy that drives is stored electricity. You would ride over the grounds, where the sumptu- ous offerings of the nations are gathered, looking down upon the surprising accu- mulations, sweeping around the enormous buildings burdened with the embarrass- ment of riches, and you ride in chariots moved by hidden fire to do your bidding ; and the City by the lake where the shadows of the past are materialized, and the mellow, balmy winds of glorious climes breathe over the solemn temples that are the bloom of architecture and the homes of hope the castles of Spain, the romance of Arabia realized. It is elec- tricity that whirls the chariot wheels the thunderbolts are harnessed at last. It is the same sorcery that day and night tell the wondrous story b}- telegraph and telephone to the ends of the earth, and will }'et signal the stars in their courses, that carries orders and rings alarms ; that bids the nations of the earth good evening and good morning. There is a map showing the electrical features at Jackson park, and the simple recital of the items shows their strange variety, and in how startling a degree they are comprehen- sive. The whole electrical service at the ex- position comprises these systems : arc lighting, incandescent lighting, electric power, telephone service, police signal service, fire alarm service, telegraph ser- vice, electric transportation! There are many minor matters with new applica- tions of electricity. In 1889, in Paris, far the greatest of preceding expositions and the only one with which it is worth while to compare the Columbian Fair, there was used for electric lighting 3000 horse- power. There is devoted in Chicago to electric light and power in the main plant alone 17,000 horse-power, 14,000 for light and 3000 for the transmission of power. There is 1000 horse-power in ad- dition in isolated plants and 5000 horse- power for the plant of the intramural railway compan}'. The aggregate is 23,- ooo horse-power. The Paris exposition electric lighting was furnished by 1150 arc and 10,000 incandescent lamps about 1,000,000 candle-power. The Chicago electrical illumination at the Fair is pro- vided by 90,000 incandescent lights of 1 6 candle-power, and over 5000 arc lamps a total of 11,400,000 candle-power. These figures are from original estimates that have been largely exceeded. The reserved forces brought up the grand to- tal capacity of the electric plant to 5000 arcs of 2000 candle-power each, and 120,000 incandescent lights of 16 candle-power, the total amounting to about eight times all the plants at Paris. The greatest electrical feature we cannot, however, compare with anything in Paris, because it is new ; this is the almost exclusive A WORLD'S FAIR, 579 A WORLD'S FAIR. use of electricity for the transmission of power. There is an immense array of motors. The electric power was used ex- tensively in construction. The tem- porary power plant, in the language of Mr. R. H. Pierce, "ran day and night seven days in the week, operating motors in the daytime which furnished power for the saw-mills, hoists, pumps and paint- ing machines, and at night grinding out light, so that the construction could be carried on day and night where neces- sary, and the engineers and draughts- men could la}* out work for other days and nights. Electricity helped to pre- pare the material, to hoist the heavy beams and trusses, to paint the build- ings, and at the same time to prolong the labors of the overworked engineer and mechanic and light the rough or muddy pathway of the Columbian Guard." The power was therefore creative as well as illustrative, and ready in rough work as well as brilliant in decoration and serviceable as a force. About one- third of the arc lamps are used in the grounds, the rest in the buildings, and Mr. Pierce says : "The crowning glory of the arc lighting is the lighting of the central nave in Manufactures building. This is undoubtedly the most unique and beautiful piece of arc lighting ever at- tempted. This space, which is about 1300 feet long and 368 feet wide, with a height of 202 feet in the clear, is lighted by five great coronas. These coronas are suspended 140 feet from the floor. The central corona is 75 feet in diameter and carries 102 lights ; the other four, which are equally distributed along the main longitudinal axis, are 60 feet in diameter and cam- 78 lights each, making a total of 414 two thousand candle-power lights. The lamps are hung in two concentric circles." The splendor of the coronal illumination is remarkable. It is literally the light that never was before on sea or shore. The Columbian intramural electric rail- way is a work that is intensely suggestive of a great hereafter. It gives read}- access to the prominent buildings of the Fair, and is the great resource of the public in quickly and easily overcoming the difficul- ties of transit arising unavoidably from the unparalleled extent of the grounds. Without this special service of electricity the fatigue and loss of time in moving from one attraction to another would be excessively increased. The length of the road is six and one-quarter miles and the round trip takes three-quarters of an hour. Fifteen trains of four open cars, seating one hundred passengers to the car, are run, and at certain points a speed of thirty miles an hour is permitted. The first car of each train is provided with four motors, developing 133 horse-power each, at twenty-five miles an hour. The power plant has a capacity of 3700 kilo- watts. There is an ability to handle 16,000 passengers in an hour, and in a part of the mechanism there is an appar- ent intelligence that seems something superhuman. The track is equipped with a block signal system and electrici- ty is used to release the block setting the signals of safety, and there is " a device which throws off the current and sets the brakes on the train in case the motor- man runs past a danger signal," and we are even told "a signal out of order acts likewise," and notifies the motor- man. Mr. C. H. Macloskie explains : " The current is carried from the power station to the trains through a conductor consist- ing of a T rail, supported on insulating blocks just outside of the tracks. Four sliding shoes, two on each side of the car, make the connection with the conductor, the current returning through the wheels to the rail, and thence through the steel girders of the superstructure to the power station. To make the necessary connec- tions between girders, large plates of cop- per have been riveted to the steel with cop- per rivets." With such an exhibition as this, it is not surprising that revolutions in railroad systems are believed to be imminent ; that all the splendid apparatus for transporta- tion in the gigantic locomotives are rea- sonably certain, in a generation, perhaps in a few years, to be superseded, and the machinery that is the pride of artisans thrown aside, as the stage-coaches have been. Transcontinental electrical rail- ways may be considered foreshadowed. The trolley tells the story, and it will be no more strange to see the locomotives gone to the scrap-iron store, than the street railway horse relegated to the farms. A WORLD'S FAIR. The adaptability of electricity to the service of man has a daily development, and it gains incessantly new territories of usefulness. It was necessary to place lighted buoys for seven miles along the shores of Lake Michigan, from the Chi- cago river to the grounds of the exposi- tion, to indicate the shoals, and there are thirteen spar buoys. Of the way the work was done, this account from the Western Electrician is of the greatest interest and the largest suggestiveness : ' Each buoy carries an incandescent lampofioo candle- power in a wrought-iron cage or lantern at the upper end of the spar, the lower end of which is fastened to a heavy cast- iron anchor. The current for each of these lamps is supplied from a small West- inghouse converter, of special design, placed in the upper end of the spar. These converters are connected in series, the cur- rent for the entire series being obtained from a special Westinghouse converter of 1400 volts. This large converter is placed at the outer end of the main pier at Jack- son park, where all necessary switches, fuses, regulating devices and Wurts non- arcing metal lighting arrestors are also placed. For this work a single wire Bishop gutta-percha submarine cable is laid from the pier to the first buoy ; from there to the second, and so on. From the last buoy at the city the cable returns by the most di- rect route to the pier at Jackson park." That this system of warning lights will be adopted for harbors on the sea-coast and the navigable rivers is certain. From the height of each advantage gained is seen a wider area of opportunity. The fleet of electric launches, fifty in number, each thirty-five feet ten inches long, with a beam of six feet and a draft of twenty-eight inches, and seating thirty persons, testifies the motive power of stored electricity on the water. The speed of the boats is six miles an hour. They easily make eight miles in that time. They run on the average forty miles a day. The batteries are grouped in two or three divisions. In each launch there are seventy-eight cells, and Mr. C. H. Barne}* states: "When a launch returns to its dock at the charging station, from its forty miles run, the work of charging is begun in less than one minute by an inde- pendent switch-board connected to feeders from large dynamos in Machinery hall." Without burdensome weight the stored 582 A WORLD'S FAIR. electricity is used for a voyage of twelve hours, and there is no trouble in hand- ling. This promises almost as much for the navigation of the rivers and the sea, as the trolley lines for the land. Providing electrical machinery has be- come a steady and huge business. There are as many features of mechanism adver- tised for the production or utilization of electricity, as for the provision and appli- cation of steam power, and the faculty of invention is stimulated in the highest intelligences of the period, to cany for- ward the discoveries of the further secrets of the prodigious power that envelopes the spinning earth. There is nothing so delicate or so gigan- tic that the touch of electricity is not found equal to the task of manipulation. The inventions of Edison, that range from working with four currents on one wire to catching on a cylinder the music of an orchestra or the performance of an opera, are assembled at Chicago, revived and improved since they were the glories of the exposition of 1889 in Paris; and he has added other miracles to his reper- toire of immortal accomplishments, and ascends from one astounding altitude to others still higher, until conjecture is confounded by his soaring steps. The Bell telephone exhibition begins with the rudimentary instruments, in which the first thoughts that were on the way to the impending discovery are rudely recorded, and each little disc and filament is history to be read in living light forever ; and there are the transmitters and recorders for the commanders of ships and of armies, and those that span for human speech the abyss of space across the con- tinent. There are a thousand details, im- possible of recitation, and the imagination falters in the footsteps of achievement. These things tell for the ennobling educa- tion of humanity the diffusion of knowl- edge, the broadening of the sympathies of communities the better mingling of the country and the town, the elevation of the labors, the expansion of the ambition, the illumination of mind and matter all one broad, bright, generous, glorious advance- ment, awakening the dull, inspiring the despondent, cheering the broken, arming the weak for the greatest cause, that of the common good. A WORLD'S FAIR. 583 TRANSPORTATION, OLD AND NEW. BY JOHN BRISBEX WALKER. AT the left of the superb arch which gives entrance on the lagoon to the Hall of Transportation is a relief which shows an ox-cart, its cumbrous wheels dragging slowly along through the heav} T sand, and on its seats the most uncom- fortable of travellers, who look upon the journey as an ordeal a forcible picture of the discomforts of travel in ages gone by. On the opposite side of the arch, in strongest contrast, is a luxurious section of a palace car, its occupants reading or looking out through the plate-glass win- dows, an attentive porter serving their luncheon in a word, travel made a pleas- ure and a delight. Higher up on the archway are two in- scriptions, one from Macaulay : " Of all inventions, the alphabet and the print- ing-press alone excepted, those inven- tions which abridge distance have done the most for civilization," and one from Lord Bacon : " There are three things which make a nation great and prosper- ous, a fertile soil, busy workshops and easy conveyance for men and goods from place to place." Standing in the mas- sive doorway beneath these inscriptions, between these pictures of past and pres- ent, one catches a glimpse of the devel- opment of transportation from the ox- cart to the palace car in ten thousand exhibits. He is impressed with the idea that just at the present time this question of transportation is probably the most important of all others to the people of the United States. Neither Bacon nor Macaulay thought that methods would so soon be invented which would sur- pass the wildest dreams of their days and generations, which would be replete with possibilities for human happiness, but which, under the peculiar system of the times, would be used to enslave com- merce and almost threaten the existence of free government. They saw only seeds of invention from which would spring great plants of beauty and riches, but containing within the kernel of the full}' ripened fruit a worm which, if not de- A WORLD'S FAIR. 585 stroyed, will consume plant and flower. What a wide world the word transporta- tion has been made to cover under one roof. A great section of the hull of one of the modern steamships rises up sixty or seventy feet into the air, significant in the strength and perfection of engineering, in the splendor of its furnishings, and in the skill shown in the construction of its parts, of ever} r modern art. Everything has been brought into play for the com- fort and safety of the ocean traveller, every device, from the most complicated of triple expansion powers down to the tiny electric are. A little beyond this stands the ex- hibit of another kind of transportation, the transportation of energy through a mighty forge hammer from one of the great steel works, which have sprung up in re- sponse to the needs of naval construction. Near by, a specimen of the work which it forges, a giant shaft, made to carry the power from the ship's great engines to the mammoth propeller. Oh, the strength of it ! The mightiness of it ! And yet, the littleness of it all ! The story is told by this piece of crepe on the mainmast of this beautiful model of the greatest of modern battleships, this model which has in place its turrets and armor seem- ingly so impenetrable, its huge guns, be- tween decks, lighted up with tiny electric lamps, filled with tiny figures of its com- plement of six hundred sailors ; the Ex- position gallery overlooking it is crowded with spectators ; they wear solemn faces and speak in low tones. "How was it possible ? " is the question the}- ask of each other. The model at which they are looking is that of the Victoria, sent here as the pride of the British navy, the perfection of mechanical skill, the great- est work of the greatest naval artisans of the world, a floating fort, which seemed almost bej-ond the reach of in- jury, yet by an experiment which sud- denly has placed the powers of the ram infinitely beyond all other modern de- structive powers sent to the bottom of the sea within a short quarter of an hour. What a curious transposition of intentions. This model, sent to con- vince the world of England's naval pow- er, now that the original lies bottom EARLY LOCOMOTIVE AND TRAIN. 586 A WORLD'S FAIR. SECTION OF A GREAT OCEAN STEAMSHIP. upward beneath the waters of the Medi- terranean, serves as an object lesson be- fore which the officers of all navies come to ponder and determine that the devel- opment of naval construction has been brought to a reductio ad absurdum. Under the head of ' ' Transportation ' ' we find in one corner an exhibit of rapid- firing guns, and in unhappy juxtaposi- tion, the complement of this a magnifi- cent vehicle for the transportation of bodies, gorgeously carved in ebony, splen- didly panelled, funereally draped with waving plumes. Near by, an exhibit for the transportation of pleasure, a Rus- sian sleigh, supported on dolphins which are exquisite productions of ceramic art, in appearance too beautiful and too frag- ile to trust beyond the drawing-room. Still another exhibit combines both pleasure and usefulness ; these are long galleries devoted to the highway-pervad- ing bicycle, the workingman's pleasure vehicle, the most recent step in the prog- ress towards putting the poor man upon an equality with the rich man. And, by the way, it is worth while re- flecting, as a train on the most modern of electric roads rumbles by, that there is a steady advance in this levelling of dis- tinctions between the poor and rich. Long before his death, Mr. Jay Gould had seen the day when he could no longer ride in his carriage from his home on Fifth avenue to his office on lower Broadway. Invention, utilized by his hand, had lev- elled the distinction in carriage between himself and the poorest laborer of Xew York. He could not afford to spend an hour in rattling over the rough paving- stones of Broadway, when with a min- ute's walk to an elevated station he would be able to save two-thirds of the time, to him so precious. And, while on this subject, I must allow myself to be diverted by another thought. A WORLD'S FAIR. 587 The electric railway which traverses the length of the Exposition grounds, is one of the greatest delights of the entire Expo- sition. Without smoke or cinders, without the discomfort of closed windows in hot weather, it swiftly glides over a well-con- structed roadbed, the breeze fanning the passenger into comfort in the warmest weather, and the ride one of absolute pleasure. It will be incomprehensible if Mr. George Gould, after visiting the Ex- position, and seeing the perfect and al- most noiseless working of this elevated road, shall not immediately discard the use of engines upon the elevated roads in New York, no matter how many mill- ions may be tied up in them. It is such a question of comfort to the commu- nity that its consideration should not be delayed. Two-thirds of the nuisance of the elevated road would be removed for those living along its route. A ride in an open car from Harlem to the Battery would be preferable to a carriage ride in Central park, and the cars, which now travel without passengers for many hours of the evening, would be filled as completely as are the top seats of the Fifth avenue omnibuses on a very hot summer night. Another interesting exhibit of trans- porting power, though not so distinctly in evidence as the elevated railway, is an operating model of an electric car, with a cone - shaped electric motor at either end, resting between wheels which are ten feet in diameter and steadied by pairs of horizontal wheels pressing against third or fourth rails for the sake of security. This car is intended to cover distance at the rate of from one hundred to one hun- dred and fifty miles per hour. It may be merely a dream of the inventor at the present, but unless some superior method takes its place, it will be an actuality within a very few years. Inasmuch as the postal service is growing more exacting in its de- mands for rapid transportation, a bill will probably be introduced into the next congress, providing for the construc- tion of an electric service between New York and Chicago, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Pittsburg, Washington and Philadelphia, providing for the construction of an elec- tric railway, to be used exclusively by the postal service, upon which the mails may A MODEL RAILWAY POST-OFFICE. 588 A WORLD'S FAIR. ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FIVE MILES AN HOUR. be sent through at the rate of at least one hundred miles an hour. Should it pass, the execution of the plan will be an object lesson in the governmental control of public highways. Should it not pass, then inquiries will be made in the course of time as to its fate. The people always wake up and ask these questions in the course of time. Side by side on the beautiful canals and lagoons, which give access to ever}- por- tion of the Exposition grounds, are two classes of boats, which represent almost the oldest and the newest form of trans- portation. Here the Venetian gondolier, standing in the high stern of his craft, a boatman trained by the centuries, pictur- esque in costume, with the graciousness of a hundred generations of public service. But as he moves his oar in long, graceful sweeps through the water, there glides past him the most modern of convey- ances, noiseless, without apparent power, with no evidence of steam, no evidence of any human agency, swift, graceful, cleav- ing the water in lines that are scientifi- EVOLUTION OF STEAMSHIP DIMENSIONS BETWEEN 1840 AND 1893. A WORLD'S FAIR. 589 cally calculated for least resistance. It is the boat par excellence of the coming race. Whence comes its motion ? It is obtained at night, when it has been put in the dock. A copper wire is attached to the boat, through which, during the hours of darkness, energy has been transfused in the space around its seats and beneath its deck, as subtly as h3*podermically in- jected morphine spreads through the vic- tim's veins. Storage batteries have taken up the energy which has come from this living wire, and with the daylight it is ready for man's use. Seventy miles of transport at fifteen miles per hour is put away in these invisible interstices. When day comes the engineer, sitting in the bow, puts one hand on a lever, which est periods of railroading. They stand side by side with the most magnificent engines of modern building, which tower with their seven- foot driving-wheels above the originals like giants. Here are the lo- comotive of Stephenson, the locomotives used on the Baltimore & Ohio in the early days, with their driving shafts not much larger than one of the bolts used in the modern locomotive ; the passenger cars, which were nothing but stage-coaches built on iron wheels, and which, by the way, might be a very pleasant form of car in these days of electrical locomotion. Step by step you trace the whole history of the locomotive and railroad train from their inception through all their rapid development up to the present hour. MODEL OF H. M. BATTLESHIP VICTORIA. a child might operate, so simple is its working, and another on a little pilot- wheel, the invisible propeller turns rapid- ly xipon its axis and the boat is in mo- tion, forging ahead, slowly backing, turn- ing to the right and left, with a very minimum expenditure of human energy. From the point of interest rather than usefulness, the objects which attract the greatest crowd in the Transportation building are the locomotives of the earli- And when the mind has fully grasped the meaning of this development, the thought suddenl}' comes that this is the last exhibition that will ever be made, in all human probability, of the locomotive as a mode of propulsion for passenger traffic. At this exhibition we see the most imperfect locomotive in its almost tea-kettle form, and we also see the most perfect locomotive that will ever be built : the beginning and the end of 590 A WORLD'S FAIR. stearu railway traffic. Next year, or the year after, or at most in eight or ten years, steam power applied directly to pas- senger trains will be a thing of the past. And, while in this mood of prophesy, why not hazard the conjecture that this exhibition will also be the last at which the public highways, so logically belong- ing to the state, will be found in the control of individuals, using them for private aggrandizement ? The railroad, upon which the happiness and prosper- ity of so many depend, which is such a factor in the public safety and comfort and in the production of wealth, will, before this country sees another exhibi- tion, pass where the control rightfully be- longs. It is a governmental function just as truly as is the function of taking charge of, preparing and distributing mail. We may not have, at the present time, a civil service equal to such requirements, but that is because our civil service has been of no great matter to the public in one way or the other. Such functions of the government as have been exercised by the civil service have been compar- atively unimportant. But if we have a necessity for a thoroughly organized and well-appointed civil service, we will find the way to organize and appoint that ser- vice. If I were a holder of a great railroad property today, I would be more anxious that the government should purchase that property than the people could possibly be to have me sell it. It is an hour of change. No one can exactly predict what the future contains, and railroad properties, which are now very valuable, which cross zigzag in many directions, which have rolling- stock worth many millions, may become almost useless under the demands of new engineering, under the conditions of a new invention, under the possibilities of a new science . A WORLD'S FAIR. MINES AND METALLURGY. BY F. J. V. SKIFF, CHIEF DEPARTMENT OF MINES AND MINING OF all the architectural panoramas that on many sides surprise and delight the visitor to the exposition, none excels the prospect from the Upper La- goons. The great Palace of Mines, with its companion structures surrounding the Court of Honor, rises at the distant southern end of the Lagoon, its white massive outlines being thrown into high relief amid an environment of natural and artificial splendor. As we trace the details of its architecture, there is brought to mind the long historical evolution that has occasioned this building and its exhibit. Imagination carries us back to the dawn of the metal industries the bronze age and to the patriarchal times with their abundant metals playing such an import- ant part in the commercial and belliger- ent life of the Orient. Jew, Venetian, Roman and Spaniard, impelled by an insatiate desire for wealth and possessions, were in- spired and urged on to discover and widen the world's boundaries. Cornish tin brought the culture of Rome to Great Britain and gold to re- deem the Holy Sepulchre leads Columbus to search for the western conti- nent. Today are the A WORLD'S FAIR. 593 onward tides of population and prosperity directed by a deposit of coal or a vein of metal, whole armaments of nations ren- dered useless by the discovery of a new and more impenetrable alloy. We seem to gaze at the long line of ex- hibitions that shine like bright points, marking off the world's progress until in the dim perspective of Charlemagne's time is shadowed forth the smiths and miners of the Hartz mountains, bringing down samples of their pure and wrought metals to display at the yearly festival of Frank fort -on -the -Main the first re- corded mining exhibit. One by one, fairs, festivals, commercial exhibitions and in- ternational expositions arise in quick suc- cession Frankfort, St. Denis, Maison d'Orsay, Dublin, London, Vienna, Paris, in each, mining and metallurgy per- forming a continually growing and im- portant part, proportionate to the rapid development of the industries themselves. From the one solitary class which com- prehended their exhibit at the first great exhibition, the classification has expan- ded until the Columbian Exposition has devoted to a generic enumeration in these lines no less than twenty-eight groups and one hundred and twenty-eight classes, be- sides conferring on them the title of a de- partment. These reflections conduce to an appreci- ation of the antiquity of the theme and the fundamental character of these indus- tries as factors in the economies of na- tions. The judgment that has magnified and honored this mineral and metallic wealth with an elaborate classification and magnificent architectural covering, appears amply justified. Within the building itself, the first feat- ure to attract attention is the openness of the interior construction. The discerning genius of the architect perceived at once that the first requirements of an expo- sition building for exhibit purposes was simply unencumbered space. He adopted the suggestion of the Niagara bridge. With one-half million pounds of steel, he built up a series of cantilever trusses and overlaid them with frame and glass, cov- ering five acres of practically unobstruct- ed floor. This is the first example of the application of this system to roof con- struction. The heavy steel supports gracefully throw out their branches and meet at the apex nearly one hundred feet from the floor. From the broad gallery that extends entirely around the building and next to the wall, is to be had the most attractive and satisfactory bird's-eye view of the varied display. The scene if anything repeats and matches in symmetry and decoration, the dramatic presentation of architecture and landscape without. Here is spread out a fairy city within a city a creation of delicate and handsome in- stallations, laid off in regular avenues and boulevards, and set off with towering pyramids and trophies, shields, banners and streamers. From above the great assemblage of mineral materials, heaps of ores, bullion stacks, marble and coal arches, and ornamental . pavilions that appear in such profusion below, here and there a monolith, or spire, of metal or mineral rises, thus relieving any possible monotony of level. The many individual displays contrib- uting to make up this scene are so amal- gamated the separate members are so unified that they seem to fuse into one great collective exhibit. Yet an order and system of installation is throughout clearly visible. The plan is simple, and, carefully observed, will be of great service to the visitor, affording him a better com- prehension of the display in its entirety as well as in detail. Over beyond the main central avenue of the building Bullion Boulevard float the flags of German^', Great Britain, France, Spain, Japan and divers foreign nations, occu- pying the entire western portion of the floor. A line of pavilions in ever-varying styles of architecture is drawn up in festal array along the east side of the same avenue, and at intervals are discernable the inscriptions or coats of arms of our own states and territories. From beneath the east gallery comes the whirl and clatter of operating machines and we glimpse whizzing wheels or the steady movement of running belts and chains. Looking about us in the gallery a grouping of materials as materials is noticeable. The minerals, the rocks, the metals, salts, abrasives, stone, oil and coal, are here ranged in separate colonies, as distinct as are the substances themselves. The two main facts of installation, then, are the massing of exhibits according to geog- 38 594 A WORLD'S FAIR. raphy, as exemplified in the state and foreign sections ; and their collection along lines of essential similarity as il- lustrated by the machinery and gallery groupings. In order to prevent confusion in the presence of such an aggregation of objects offered for inspection, the visitor will do well to keep in mind the particular prin- ciples controlling such an exhibit. The ex- position of today is no longer, as were the fairs, a mere market for the exchange of commodities. The railroad and the tele- graph have brought the bu3'er and seller into such intimate communication that the purely advertising function of the earlier exhibitions is retired. Entertain- ment, recreation, invention, education, progress these are the aims of the great modern exposition, and by superiority in these directions its success is insured. Let us now turn and examine how far and in what way the exhibit under study responds to these demands. We have already seen how pleasing an impression is produced by a first glance over the ensemble of the exhibit. In an exposition like the Columbian, so lavish with beauty of form and arrangement, the first thought of both management and exhibitor was, naturally, mode of ex- pression. In this case, materials were abundant, but the artistic arrangement dif- ficult. Yet, on that artistic presentation in large measure depended the popularity and success of the exhibit. The general plan, as laid out, contemplated the free use of the architect's skill and the taste of the decorator. The enthusiasm of the hour, added to motives of national and state pride and of commercial rivalry, led exhibitors to employ the most original as well as the handsomest designs. Our foreign guests, versed in exposition practise, have not been slow to improve the opportunity, relying -chiefly upon the munificence and enterprise of private ex- hibitors. Germany, for instance, arrests attention from all sides by the magnificent and imposing iron and steel trophy ex- hibit of Baron Stumm, a display made upon the personal solicitation of the em- peror and at an outlay of nearl3' $200,000. Pyramids and branching columnsof struct- ural iron and steel are built up to a height of nearly a hundred feet and assume fig- ures as bewildering in ramification as they are graceful in outline. An entrance arch is surmounted with bronze allegorical figures, while within the space statuary groups of metal workers and metal-work- ing appliances form an ornamental foun- tain. Lofty obelisks of polished beam and rail sections stand at the corners, and a rear wall is the background upon which is worked out, in mosaics of burnished blast furnace slags, plans of the works and names of the products. Great Britain and her colonies occupy a central position on the floor and present the particular metals of those countries in attractive and artistic forms, New South Wales outshining the other colonies in this respect. Pyramids of copper ingots encircled with hoops of burnished copper, stacks of tin ingots adorned with metal streamers and rosettes, a silvered shaft with a base of silver ores and topped with a stooping Atlas bearing the world, are gracefully arranged along the principal front, arches of coal being thrown across the rear section of the court. Spain, Brazil, Japan, France, and others, adopt fitting symbols and characteristic methods by which to show forth their mineral treasures and at the same time to heighten the animation and gayety of' the scene. In all this entertaining exuberance of ornamentation and design the great min- eral-producing states of the United States have a prominent share. Their array of architectural fronts forms, on the east side of Bullion Boulevard, a fa9ade as unique and interesting as that of a street in Paris or Cairo. Classic pediments and col- umns, parapets, arches, and turreted bat- tlements, make a beautiful and interesting spectacle, each separate pavilion forming a fitting temporary habitation for the of- ferings of the states. Nor is all this mere empty and meaningless form, for every* marble slab, clay brick, and tesselated pavement is material selected out of a great abundance, to represent the charac- teristic minerals of the state exhibiting. In this way a monotonous repetition of mineral riches, either as heaps of ores or in carefully arranged cabinets and cases, is avoided and we are continually sur- prised and delighted with the ever chang- ing pictures of mineral and metal wealth, fashioned and embodied in the most beautiful and graceful shapes. A WORLD'S FAIR. 595 The series commences at the north with Pennsylvania, the great coal producer, and ends at the south with Colorado, the great silver producer. The intervening exhibits are, as a rule, those of the states that can assert supremacy in a particular line of production, such, for instance, as Michigan, the queen copper state ; Mis- souri and Wisconsin, the ranking lead and zinc producers ; California, the gold country ; and Montana, leading in the output of associated metals copper, sil- ver and gold. Where all have done superbly well, it is somewhat difficult to choose any single one for particular approbation. Ohio has executed one of the most striking exam- ples of mineral architecture. An entrance arch, with the inscription "Ohio" in fancy tiles, as well as the bays on either side, with their copings and columns, are constructed of a variety of Ohio building and ornamental stones, enameled brick, and mosaic tile. These different mate- rials represent the contributions and ex- hibits of many individuals, corporations and counties. Kentucky, her neighbor, receives vis- itors through a castellated entrance of can- nel coal. The conchoidal fracture of the facing gives it a glistening appearance, which, with the murky color of the mate- rial, makes this turreted front one of the most conspicuous objects in the building. The columnated arches of California are faced with polished marbles of white, green and gray, pure, necked and mot- tled, and are surmounted with two gilded bears, symbols of the state. Michigan's exhibit is reached through a massive en- trance of red Lake Superior sandstone, decorated with a border of little Brownie miners and capped with a statuary group representing the coat of arms of the state. A parapet of the same material marks the boundaries and harmonizes well with the shiny colors of copper to be seen on all sides within the court. Wisconsin has set a monolith at each corner of her space huge needles of sandstone quarried in single pieces and adorns the interior with a glittering crystal and mineral fountain. Each stone in the arch of Minnesota bears, worked in gilded letter- ing, the name of the quarry or the forma- tion from which derived. Did space allow, a description would be in order of the elaborate details of the pavilions of other states, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, New York, Missouri, South Dakota, Idaho, Montana, Colorado, North Carolina, Wyoming, Washington, New Mexico or of Utah. Suffice it to say that in all, the fine arts have brought out in varied lights the surprising adaptabil- ity of common minerals to the highest artistic ends, and in a way that gratifies the senses of the beholder. The exposition manager, both local and general, must of necessity be something of a showman. Although his work is laid out along scientific lines and the tastes of diverse classes are to be consid- ered, he has the responsibility of a world to entertain. And he can only expect to reach the great majority by means of his "special attractions," by exhibits that will hold the interest of the multitude. In the exposition itinerary, such exhibits are like the art galleries and museums of a European tour, the objects of special pilgrimages. They form retaining points in the mind of the hurried visitor and from them he gains his impressions and makes his estimates of the entire display. Reference may be made to many. The diamond-washing and cutting ex- hibit is probably the principal center of at- traction in the Mining building. Through the glass windows enclosing the Cape Colony space, the interested spectator can watch the blue diamond - bearing earth crushed and pulverized and the pebbles washed out and sorted with the actual machines em ployed at the great Kimberley diggings of South Africa, where twenty years ago the Boer settler farmed in peace. The machines are operated by native Zu- lus, imported for the purpose. Togged out in their holiday attire with beads and feathers, and leaning on club or spear, they give a vivid impression of social life as it exists in and near the diamond dig- gings. The rough diamonds are handed over to the lapidarist in another room, who passes them through several differ- ent stages of grinding and polishing, deftl}*, but gradually, gives a touch here and there, and holds them up a perfect gem sparkling in the sunlight. Upon the main central court, Great Britain has a collection of rare metals and the salts of rare metals valued at $85,000, one block of pure palladium alone repre- 596 A WORLD'S FAIR. senting $35,000. An ingot of pure plat- inum first exhibited at the International exhibition of 1862, is valued at $28,000, and is not exceedingly large either. Plat- inum, indium, osmium, ruthenium, crys- talline silicon and boron, together with a model of the first platinum vessel used in the concentration of sulphuric acid and an entire gold-plated platinum plant for the same manufacture go to make up a display of great costliness. The most notable display in precious metals is the renowned Montana statue, "Justice," cast in solid silver, worth $61, 800, and resting on a plinth of solid gold representing $230,000. Several valuable gold collections are to be seen in different portions of the building. In the New South Wales court, mounted on plush, are a series of nuggets and alluvial golds valued at $35,000. A big mass of gold, called the " Maitland Bar Nugget," con- tains over three hundred and thirteen ounces and is appraised at $6000. Col- orado's chief attraction is the gold display arranged in cases about the marble col- umn in the center of the court. Twenty thousand dollars in the finest specimens of crystallized golds, the rarest and most beautiful forms of flake, leaf, and wire gold found during the last year in the Breckenridge region, are here on exhi- bition. The largest and most complete exhibit of nickel ever made is to be found in the Ontario space. Upon a base of heavy masses of pyrrhotite and other nickel ores rest the cone-shaped concentrate, or nickel matte, surmounted in turn by a huge ingot of nickel containing several thou- sand dollars worth of the pure metal. One of the most interesting and valu- able collections of gems and semi- precious stones is that made by Mr. George F. Kunz, the author of the au- thoritative work Gems and Precious Stones. His brilliant exhibit contains amazon stones, noble opals, amethysts in geodes, hydrophanes or mad-stones, sec- tionized and polished jades and agates, quartz, a tiger' s-eye ball four inches in di- ameter, a collection of cones, flakes and chips of obsidian illustrating the ancient method of making spear and arrow points, and a great variety of gems, antiques and curios, together with a set of illustrated works of ancient writers on gems. The diamonds, sapphires, emeralds, opals, amethj'sts, garnets and topaz of New South Wales, and the sapphires, ori- ental emeralds, garnets, quartz of differ- ent colors, sagenites, beryls, spinels and other gems both cut and uncut of North Carolina are among the other large and fascinating displays. Much in public favor are the cases in the Wisconsin sec- tion filled with lustrous round and pear- drop pearls from the streams of the Badger state. The colors are the richest shades of white, pink, lavender and blue and some of the little satiny beads are held at as high as $5000. The great copper mining companies of Arizona have in that territory's space an assortment of variegated ores of copper, that vie in color with the transformations of the kaleidoscope. Surrounding the massive piece of azurite streaked with green malachite that forms the central trophy are pictures and symphonies in blue, green and silvered plush and satin mineral surfaces. Polished sections of agatized wood and a thousand and one showy specimens make this exhibit as typical and beautiful a mineral display as can be found in the building. The min- eral-covered miner's cabin of New Mexico with the accompanying life-sized figures of prospector and burro, takes one back to the slopes of the mountain and vividly calls to mind the natural grandeur of the landscapes that form a setting for these interesting types of mountain mining life. The entire north gallery has been sumptuously furnished by the Standard Oil compan}-, which here has probably the most complete and extensive presen- tation of the petroleum industry ever made. In elaborate cases and cabinets are to be seen glass jars of uniform size filled with different grades of crude and refined petroleums, from the heavy black to the pure white; the series embracing every quality known to the industry. An interesting collection of all the bi-products, such as candles, gums and waxes, salves and ointments, form an interesting feature of the display ; also models of pipe lines and refineries illustrating the drilling, transportation and refining of oil. An operating model of the greatest coke es- tablishment in the world, that in the Con- nelsville region, is shown by the H. C. Frick Coke company. It exhibits in de- A WORLD'S FAIR. 597 tail the different steps in the manufac- ture of this material so necessary to mod- ern metallurgy. Many other special at- tractions could well be cited ; the evapora- tion of salt as carried on in the Ohio sec- tion; Oregon's exhibit in miniature of hydraulic mining; the preparation of Chilian nitrates; and panoramas of famous mineral springs. These with what have been already enumerated, form a list of attractive features that the most casual observer desires to see and that well repay visitation. But the mining exhibit has a higher mission than simply to draw up the states and nations in dress parade and furnish a novel entertainment for the multitude. To carry out the modern exposition idea it must also aim to educate, to impart and disseminate knowledge. It calls upon science, art and industry for suggestions, ideas and facts that shall bring about a better understanding of the inorganic side of nature's domain. State pride and com- mercial rivalry have adopted ornamenta- tion simply as a species of advertisement to tell the capitalist where to invest and the emigrant where to settle; to inform the miner as to what can be cheaply and easily produced, and to enable the manu- facturer to discover new materials for new uses. In this way the great facts of eco- nomic importance in the mineral world are brought out with the greatest distinctness. Samples and specimens tell but half the tale. They become exhibits, and only gain their principal value to the practical commercial man when they carry detailed information as to geological and geo- graphical locality, cost of production, fa- cilities for transportion, and adaptability to special manufacture. The motive leading the foreign coun- tries to participate at the exposition was in the first place, of course, the commer- cial one. Each one had necessarily to maintain its rank in the industrial world, and the exposition afforded a battlefield upon which, at the time set, was to be fought out and settled future commercial supremacj-. With such a .stimulus it is natural that the desire to set forth pro- ducts and commercial advantages in the completes! manner should be paramount. Nor was this battle beneath the dignity of emperors and presidents, for the ex- hibits of Germany, Austria, France, Mex- ico, Spain and Japan represent the active supervision of foreign governments and the personal enterprise of potentates. In the state pavilions the concentration of the representative minerals of thou- sands of square miles into an area of com- paratively a few square feet cannot help but form in the minds of both the public and the professional miner, a better com- prehension of the mineral productiveness and commercial activity of each state ex- hibiting. The West has a story to tell of the opening up of new fields of wealth and hopes to secure the financial aid of interested investors. The " New " South exposes maps and information proving her boundless but undeveloped mineral belts, and is eager to turn the tide in her direction. The stable East brings the mineral and metal products it confidently intends to introduce into wider and more profitable markets. In the group exhibits the commercial enterprise of competing firms has organ- ized valuable instructive features. The application of the mechanic's skill to the mineral extractive industries, as epito- mized in the mining machinery section, furnishes a serviceable object lesson in mine engineering. The new coal cutting and drilling machines, the improved auto- matic hoists and patent breakers explain how fuel is cheapened and how the exten- sion of iron producing regions is made possible. Improved stamp mills, roast- ing furnaces, and other apparatus for the mechanical, chemical or electrolytic re- duction of the metals illustrate the metal- lurgical factors that revive languishing regions. In other groups the advertisement is secured by enlargement upon the histor- ical and evolutionary sides, or by exhibit- ing the successive stages in the processes of extraction and manufacture. The orig- inal converter first used, by Kelly the in- ventor, for the manufacture of Bessemer steel is the introduction to a display of iron and steel ; the first kit of tools used in drilling for oil, brings to notice a large well supply exhibit. The singular but important use of asbestos as an incom- bustible fabric is called to public attention by operating machines that take the crude rock fiber through the processes of sepa- ration, carding, spinning and weaving, and produce a theater curtain. An as- 598 A WORLD'S FAIR. phalt firm endeavors to enlarge its busi- ness by showing in map and model, the natural sources of supply, mode of man- ufacture, and usage in the construction of roofs, conduits and boulevards. The Mining building is indeed a hall of science, scientific methods and scientific appointments being everywhere apparent. The entire display is an exemplar of ap- plied geology, mineralogy, lithology, of chemistr}', physics, metallurgy and engi- neering. It is the great Columbian school of minerals, mining and metallurgy. The scholar finds it a technical museum, re- plete with the choicest illustrative speci- mens. In fact, the maps, reliefs, dia- grams, models, systematic rock and min- eral collections and statistics here pre- sented probably exceed in both quantity and variety the equipment of the largest scientific schools and colleges. In the collection and arrangement of the state displays the different geological surveys had a leading part. The survey of Pennsylvania, Missouri, New Jersey and North Carolina, by map, chart and relief model, outline superficially and in depth the limits of vast deposits of lead, zinc, coal, iron or precious minerals as the case may be, and illustrate strati- graphical evolution by sets of specimens. New York has built up at her entrance a geological monument, showing to scale with actual specimens, the successive strata underlying the state, from the low- est archaean to the most recent formation. Colorado's geological history is told by separate maps of different periods each age having its corresponding record of rock series. The United States Geological Survey, at the north entrance, has erected a pyramid of minerals and metals show- ing in succession from coal to gems the average amount produced in the United States every second. The length of the American section itself constitutes a lesson in national ge- ology. At one end the iron and coal of the Appalachian chain is exhibited by Pennsylvania, West Virginia and New York; at the other the great mineral states of the Rockies show the metals extracted from the mountainous backbone of the contin ent ; whil e i n termediate are arran ged the salts, clays and stone of the states of the great interior basin. The result is a quick contrast between the products of igneous action and those of sedimentation. Germany occupies a large space with a united exhibit of its ro\ 7 al mining bureaus and technical academies, and presents graphically and by model, the modern methods of coal and metal mining, schemes of metallurgical reduction, as well as the magnificent detail work of her geological surveys. This superb techni- cal exhibit reveals the intimate and im- portant relation sustained by the scientific and engineering professions to the min- eral industries in the German empire and also affords a good idea of the advanced state of technical science in that county. The geology of France, New South Wales, Spain, Brazil and Mexico is inter- preted by means of characteristic fossil and rock collections and by extensive wall maps. The Dominion of Canada has brought a large part of its Ottawa museum in order to demonstrate the structure and mineral possibilities of the great territory under its jurisdiction. The Imperial geo- logical survey of Japan surprises the occi- dental scientist with the completeness of its geological maps. The different recon- naissances, published bothin Japaneseand English and framed in bamboo, show the scientific proficiency of this progressive people. Geographic distribution, however, occa- sions too wide dispersion of certain min- erals and mineral materials and dissipates or obscures the scientific knowledge and information yielded b) r a united or collect- ive exhibit. The department itself there- fore has collected and grouped in the gal- lery a series of case and cabinet national displa3 7 s accompanied by general data of widespread interest and value. In this way have been formed a technical miner- alogical collection, a series of the salts and mineral waters of the United States, and a cube exhibit of building and orna- mental stone from the principal quarries. A large plate glass map shown in con- junction with the technical display of the coals of the United States determines by numbered cross reference the exact source of each coal specimen. The four hundred and fifty samples represent every field and carry careful analyses by the de- partment chemist. The departmental as- say laboratory in addition to this work carries on regular determinations of ores and is in itself an interesting exhibit. A WORLD'S FAIR. 599 An extensive metallurgical display ex- hibits the ores, the extraction samples, and the products of each metal used in the arts. Of particular interest to the visitor are the aluminum processes and specimens, the metallurgy of nickel, and the electrolytic refining of copper. Many processes are here shown for the first time, such as the desilverization of base bullion, the tempering of copper (hitherto reckoned one of the lost arts) the complete series of gold and silver alloys and electroplating with iridium. The history of mining and metallurgy is the theme of a long line of transparen- cies suspended before the gallery windows. These plates are reproduced from the works of ancient writers on these subjects and, beginning with the divining rod of the ancient prospector, illustrate the pe- culiar mining and metallurgical applian- ces and methods of primitive times. A library of from five to six thousand volumes on mining, metallurgy, miner- alogy, geology, and allied* arts and sci- ences, together with a reading-room where technical periodicals and journals are on file, cover the literature of the industries. We have now passed in review the mul- tifarious exhibit of the Mining building. The higher requirements of the modern exposition as unfolded in this exhibit has in some degree been investigated. Its harmony with the refined artistic stand- ards of the whole exposition, its overtures to entertainment and recreation, and its function as an educator in the science and technology of the industries on exhibi- tion, are unmistakably marked. To what degree it will stimulate research and inven- tion, or what may be its permanent influ- ence upon progress and civilization, can- not at this early time be predicted. It stands as the materialization and conclu- sion of the congressional enactment that provided for the exhibition of the ' ' prod- ucts of the soil, mine and sea," and let us hope that the effectiveness and dignity with which the Columbian mining and metallurgical display has discharged this responsibility may make it a prototype for many future international expositions. CHICAGO'S ENTERTAINMENT OF DISTINGUISHED VISITORS. BY HOBART C. CHATFIELD-TAYLOR. WITH the dedication ceremonies of the World's Columbian exposi- tion in last October young Chicago made her debut in the society of the world. Previous to that time she had been looked upon as a vigorous though somewhat uncouth exponent of western energy, whose efforts were characterized by the boisterousness of untrammelled youth rather than by the repose and grace of well-bred maturity. In October she ap- peared to the world as its hostess, and by her dignified performance of the ardu- ous duties the occasion demanded she won the admiration of her guests and demonstrated her almost inherent knowl- edge of social amenities. Society, in its expansive sense, is such a generous term that, when a city becomes the hostess of the world, there must, of necessity, be many centre temps which would not characterize an exclusive May- fair drawing-room ; but in the entertain- ment of Chicago's guests in last October there was a lack of ostentation, and a dig- nity which were truly gratifying to every Chicagoan. There were no social feuds among the entertainers, no struggles for supremacy ; and each Chicagoan to whom a duty was allotted went to work with a will which ensured its successful per- formance. Fortunately for Chicago, the city is too young to maintain an exclusive aristoc- racy, holding aloof from its neighbors, and viewing their efforts with the disdainful mistrust the world calls snobbishness. There are, of course, sets and cliques in Chicago society ; there are, of course, men of the world, and men of the West only ; but these cliques and sets are owing rather to the gregariousness of man's nature and the principle of natural selec- tion than to any apparent attempt to create class distinctions. The best proof of this lies in the fact that in any public enter- tainment the people of all sets work side by side for the credit of the city, desirous only of enhancing the reputation of their beloved Chicago. I say beloved, because Chicagoans do love their city. It is not an heritage that has come to them from a vague and distant past. It is their own creation ; it is the result of their own ef- forts ; it is part of themselves, and if, at times, they permit the exuberance of their satisfaction to bubble forth, the world should smile good-naturedly and pardon them, as it does boisterous college boys after a well- won race. In the entertainment of its guests, Chicago was imbued with true western hospitality and a desire to show herself a citizen of the world. Like a newly-created ambassador presenting his credentials at a foreign court, she was for the first time appearing before the world as a metrop- olis, representing a new civilization. Her guests, the representatives of all the na- tions of the world, were her critics. For the first time in the city's history, the vice-president of the United States, the cabinet, the diplomatic corps, and com- missioners of foreign countries, the su- preme court, senate, house of represent- atives, and the governors of over thirty states, gathered in Chicago, to accept her hospitality and, in the case of most of them, to form their first impression of their hostess. What those impressions were, except when favorable, cannot be said, for the guests whose opinions might be valuable refrained from public crit- icism and confined their expressions to compliments most generously bestowed. It is the hope, however, of all Chicagoans that they carried back to their respective countries and homes at least a favorable impression of the young western de- butante, who had just made her bow in the society of the world. During May and June the city was called upon to entertain the nation's guests : the Infantes Eulalia and An- tonio of Spain and the Duke of Ve- ragua. The distinguished descendant of America's discoverer remained in the city long enough to cast aside the con- strained cloak of officialism and mingle with the people. His familiar face was to be seen in every drawing-room. He met his friends on a footing of democratic equality, and after the official ceremonies in connection with the opening of the ex- A WORLD'S FAIR. 601 position, he came and went like a citizen of the city, respected and liked, but re- ceiving no more attention than would be accorded to a most distinguished citizen of our own country. In the case of the Infanta Eulalia it was different. She was royalty, and the glamor surrounding that name seems to have affected, in a great measure, people and press alike. Fortunately, the ridicu- lous subservience with which she was sometimes treated, was not confined to Chicago, and it may be that the western metropolis was too timid to assert its own democratic spirit. Unfortunately, this royal princess was abused and even slan- dered because she was courageous enough to assert her independence. She showed a marked distaste for ceremonies, and while visiting the exposition she preferred a wheel chair to a coach and four, and her own suite to ceremonial committees and Columbian guards. For this she was criticised, when Americans should have been the first to applaud her democratic desire to avoid senseless adoration and gaping crowds. During the past year, in addition to the guests of the nation and the exposition, hundreds of distinguished men and wom- en of different nationalities have been at- tracted to Chicago, and their presence has produced an attractive cosmopolitanism which cannot be completely obliterated even when the magic White City is but a memory. This meeting and mingling with intelligent men and women of the world cannot fail to benefit the society of a city, heretofore provincial, and its effect will be felt long after French, German and Spanish have ceased to be spoken in western drawing-rooms. This year the eyes of the world are upon Chicago. The city is a metropolis in every sense of the word, and the pres- ence in the streets of Cossacks, Bedouins and Javanese attract little more attention than does the average German immigrant. This liberalizing of a great inland city ; this contact with the world must produce a lasting benefit, and likewise its society heretofore retiring, exclusive perhaps, and certainly puritanical, must become liberal, elastic and comprehensive. The day when society can be governed by church ascendency is passed. The time when society must reflect the best cult- ure, refinement and artistic taste of the community, and by so doing become sparkling, vivacious and attractive to cosmopolites, is just beginning. There is room for the artistic development of Chicago, and that is what the Columbian exposition is doing. The city needs more studios, and publishing houses, more con- servatories and universities or rather greater, for we have them in embryo al- ready. Chicago is a commercial metropo- lis. It must become an intellectual me- tropolis as well. The Columbian exposition, through it superb educational facilities and the ex- ample of the ' ' distinguished guests ' ' it has gathered together, has given the impe- tus to intellectual development. If every dollar invested in the exposition is irre- trievably gone, if ten years are required by the citizens of Chicago to recuperate their financial losses, time and money will yet have been well spent. The artistic taste has been created. There is enough energy and perseverance in the city to overcome far greater obstacles than temporary financial embarrassment. The sense which appreciates the beautiful has been cultivated, and never again can Chi- cagoans judge a man entirely by his abil- ity to accumulate wealth. Heretofore Chicago has formed a civili- zation somewhat apart from the world. Its reputation certainly has not been aes- thetic. Its society, naturally sensitive to criticism it considered in a great measure undeserved, and geographically removed from the social centers of the East, has lived apart from the rest of the world. It has grown and thrived and imbibed the spirit of Americanism. During recent years it has begun to acquire successfully the subtle polish the world requires from those who aspire to social distinction, but so far this western society has been com- paratively free from the extravagancies and vices which are too apt to follow in the train of the highest civilization. Chicagoans have been too busily en- gaged in building their city and their for- tunes to find time for dissipation, but now all that must change. The city and the fortunes have been built. Chicago has taken its rank among the great cities of the world ; the people of the world have entered her drawing-rooms and found her society energetic, progressive, and, in 602 LULLABY. most cases, well-bred. Fortunes have been created to be spent. Will they be spent wisely or ill ? That is a question Chicagoans must decide for themselves. That life in the western metropolis will never return to the simplicity of a decade ago, is an assured fact. But behind the splendid trappings of metropolitanism a foe is always lurking. That foe is idle- ness and its attendant demon is dissipa- tion. Yet Chicagoans welcome the advent of the luxury which wealth renders possible ; it is the natural accompaniment of refined civilization, and, wisely chosen, it cannot fail to prove beneficial to the community ; but let them avoid the mistakes of older civilizations, and, by creating an intel- lectual social standard, drive the dissi- pated dawdler to more congenial climes. There are in the best society of Chicago today and I say it boldly in the face of probable challenges from persons ignorant of the facts fewer scandals and fewer divorces, in proportion to its size, than in that of any city of over a million inhab- itants in the civilized world. Now that Chicago has become a metropolis ; now that its society has been brought in con- tact with that of the world at large, and its people, having money, are pre- pared to spend it let the same moral standard be maintained. By that means alone the western metropolis may surpass its rivals, and stand as the highest type of the world's civilization. er I&e. a:\coc.K^- CtT^es tty Will te c-oKynjg 1 t^e clover a ^dt t)^e /*ye to /^Ti2&t' c.t7oL "to - W ' n to foul )ji5 sc^tl^e aw~ very J^earts tlpxt i-ca,r tye fyeat ^o/^a^y pretty turjes ?cs a,f/d ire- stars y***.!* THE GOVERNMENT EXHIBIT. BY F. T. BICKFORD, SECRETARY BOARD OF MANAGEMENT GOVERNMENT EXHIBIT. THE Governmental exhibit at Chi- cago is the largest, most costly and most comprehensive single exhibit ever prepared for any exposition at home or abroad. It is an exposition in itself. Its immediate cost, including that of its buildings will have been $1,350,000, while the intrinsic value of materials, drawn from the departments, arsenals and insti- tutions of the Government is probably twice as much more. The law creating the board indicated ten natural great divisions of the work, comprising the eight executive depart- ments, the Smithsonian institution and National museum (under one head) and the United States Fish commission ; and a bare enumeration of the articles exhib- ited, without descriptive matter or com- ment, would fill a volume twice the size of this magazine. The contribution of the Department of Agriculture is almost entirely a creation of the board. This department has no store of historical or spectacular material to draw upon, and inasmuch as it does not farm an acre of ground on its own account, the abnormal growths and " fancy " products, animal and vegetable, which form the staple attractions to agri- cultural fairs, were inadmissible as illus- trative of governmental functions. Nevertheless, this department, the youngest in the executive brotherhood, is recogni/.ed as among the most important in an exposition sense, being the only one of which special mention was made in the law providing for American partic- ipation in the last and greatest of the French expositions. This is a depart- ment of processes and experiment, and its annual output is found in the libraries of the country, comprising its reports and bulletins upon the multifarious subjects, which interest, or are supposed to in- terest the American farmer. Its exhibit is a material illustration of the processes and experimentation pursued by the emi- nent scientists at the head of its several sub-branches. Enlarged models of familiar things ; charts of distribution ; scientifically class- ified specimens of products designed to bring to the attention of the farmer the more unfamiliar secrets of agricultural science, and thereby excite a deeper and more profitable interest in the publications sent out from Washington in his interest, comprise the weight of its contribution. The diseases of domestic animals, their or- igin, nature and effects ; the blights and rusts and afflictions to which the vegetable and fruit families are heirs, with the best remedies and methods of their applica- tion ; the beneficial or detrimental effects of transplantation, of changes of soil, climate, altitude ; the study in compar- ison, of like products of different regions of the country ; the havoc of insect pests with the methods of their discourage- ment ; and the illustration in the pres- ence of the visitor of the more interesting and instructive processes of investiga- tion are among its attractions. The United States Fish commission, the least of the ten branches in an exec- utive sense a mere unattached bureau of the Government is among the most prolific in the adaptability of its functions to exposition purposes. It has won high honors in all the great events at home or abroad in which it has taken part, and its methods have by these media become known to and copied by the kindred in- stitutions of civilization. Probably the most popular single feature of the expo- sition is the aquarium a procession of fresh water beauties and deep sea horrors more striking, varied and unfamiliar than the illusive fictions of insanity's dream. This commission illustrates by an interesting series of models the devel- opment of the sea-going fishing marine, from its germ the ancient tub, whose sine qua non was room and inertia, to the thing of lightness and beauty, which ri- vals the racing yacht in speed, and makes the Cape Cod fleet the finest of like cre- ated things. The Department of the Interior em- braces several mammoth bureaus, having no more intimate relationship to each other than is imposed by their subordina- tion to a single head. Its exhibit as a whole, therefore, lacks homogenity, while the fact that the functions of some of its 604 A WORLD'S FAIR. branches do not readily materialize in "articles" robs it of completeness. The Pension office makes no appearance at the Fair ; and while the Census office, the General Land office, the Bureau of Edu- catign, and the Indian bureau contribute interesting features, these afford no ade- quate idea of their importance respectively in the economy of the general Govern- ment. But the United States Patent office and the Geological Survey are re- garded as among the most prolific of the "show" branches of the Government; and had the available means and space been quadrupled the expenditure might still have been prudent and praiseworthy. The Patent office began its work of prep- aration early, by the creation of a board of expert examiners, who set for them- selves the task of proving to mankind the leading influence exerted by the American patent system, upon the material progress and prosperity of the country, and the world. The display embraces nearly three thousand models gems of the model makers' and metal workers' art, which illustrate, serially, the march of invention in fifty-four selected classes. These begin with the germinal device, in comparison with which are shown the types of suc- cessive improvements, leading up to the perfected article of modern commerce. The series range numerically from that illustrating improvements in bridges, con- sisting of only nine models, up to that comprising the two hundred and eighty- three models, showing the progress in marine propulsion screw propellers, pad- dle-wheels, and their like. In a spectac- ular sense they embrace everything from the hand-made output of the proverbial^ poor inventor, to the "sextuple" print- ing-press of polished steel and brass, less than three feet in maximum dimension, yet capable of turning out tiny imitations of the metropolitan dailies, legibly printed and ready-folded for the mail. The ob- servant visitor cannot fail to share the regrets of the experts that the laws for- merly requiring that working models shall form a part of the ' ' records ' ' in respect to patent devices are no longer in force. It is impossible to conceive a more instructive and profitable display than that under consideration. The field of the Geological Survey is as wide as the continent. The task of its agents was found to be one of selection from the mass of available material rather than of invention and creation. In the display of " contour " or relief maps the casual student of geology may gather, at a glance, proof of the fundamental facts of terrestrial creation which are among the fruits of research extending over mill- ions of square miles, and embracing years of time. The kindred or contributing sciences of mineralogy, metallurgy and paleon- tology are illustrated by classified collec- tions and restorations, while the office methods of the organization are made more intelligible by the display of photo- graphs, charts, transparencies, and by the instrumental exhibits. The purely com- mercial feature of geological research is left for exploitation by the private exhib- itor in another branch of the great Fair ; but an arrangement of the specimens pre- sented here is made to illustrate the com- parative mineral wealth of sections. The Bureau of Education has" commend- ably exploited a somewhat unpromising field. The Government supports no schools for the youth of its miscellaneous public ; and though the national bureau gathers and disseminates all material facts with regard to educational matters, the institutions of the country are all- sufficient exhibitors in their own behalf. The central feature of the display is a model town library of five thousand volumes, incidental to which are illus- trated the most approved methods of library administration, and devices of library equipment. The publications of the bureau, and its machinery of collec- tion and dissemination of intelligence are adequately represented in the display. The area is a rendezvous of the educators who visit the Fair. - The Census office contributes but one conspicuous feature, consisting of a set of the curious machines, electrical and me- chanical, which were first used during the taking of the last census for tabulating the returns. Crowds surround the tables during all exposition hours, watching the deft fingers of the lady experts detailed from Washington to operate them. From Alaska there has been gathered a collective displaj- of great popular and commercial interest, illustrative of the A WORLD'S FAIR. 605 mineral, animal and forestry resources of that region, as well as the ethnic and in- dustrial attributes of its aboriginal peo- ples. The National Parks contribute a sin- gle object a section of one of the mon- archs of the forest, twenty-six feet in diameter and thirty feet in length. This variety has been accorded the pivotal place of honor the center of the rotunda in the main Government building. It is somewhat dwarfed by the lofty dome, whose spangled apex hangs two hundred and fifty feet above ; but its popularity is evidenced by the fact that extra guards, military and civil, must be drafted on all fete days to manage the crushing throngs which seek entry to its interior. The two fighting branches of the Gov- ernment were more fortunate than the majority of their fellows. Pomp and panoply were with them professional, and display w r as a fixed habit ; while their ar- senals, armories and work-shops were un- failing store-houses of available exhibit material. There was promise, at the outset, of rivalry, by reason of the fact that so many functions of the one are counterparts of those of the other. But the audacity of meteoric genius paved the way for the avoidance of duplication, and contributed to the "harmonious arrangement" pre- scribed by law. " Let us show," said genius, " to the prairie-born citizen what a modern battle-ship is like. He pays his proportion of the taxes, and should have a chance to see how they are expended." Through scoffings and discouragements, pertinacity bore down opposition, and the "crank" notions of the early stages be- came a thing of brick and cement, of iron and paint, of sponsons, turrets and towers -in short, to all intents and pur- poses, a modern battle-ship, of full size, rigging and equipment. It is an exhibit, pure and simple, and, viewed from with- out, simulates in every feature an im- mense iron-clad, moored to her wharf in the lake. The main deck, however, lacks the obstructions common to actual vessels of war, and space is thereon found for a comprehensive museum of naval material, A detail of officers, marines and blue-jack- ets carry on, so far as may be, the life of a ship of war in commission. The enterprise of the naval branch of the Board of Management left a clear field for the War department which has filled it literally to overflowing. In addition to a varied exhibit of ordnance, the opera- tions of gun and ammunition making are carried on in the presence of the visi- tor. From the Engineer department the more striking and important of the public works undertaken for the improve- ment of the interior waterways and har- bors of the country, are illustrated by cu- rious and costly models. The Quartermas- ter's department contributes specimens of all the stores, articles of equipment and supply in use, and displays by the means of lay-figures, mounted and foot, the uni- forms of the American army, from the colonial period to the present day. The Signal Service has developed a combina- tion of panoramic and realistic art com- memorative of the release of Greely and his companion prisoners in the north; and the Army Medical department, in an aux- iliary building furnishes a fully equipped modern post hospital, incidental to which the inventions, studies and developments of surgery and medicine form a collection of rare value to the medical profession. The Smithsonian institution and Na- tional museum were embarrassed by no other limitations than those of money and space. Whatever might be studied or exhibited was, to their management, a ' ' function. ' ' With the over-crowded halls of the National museum in Washington to draw upon, with all created things to be illustrated, it paused only long enough to learn what its sister branches proposed to do, and then selected for its field what was left. Trained by years of practice, profiting by an experience embracing all preceding expositions, it selected speedily, modestly and well. Its twenty odd thou- sand sqviare feet of space are filled with the handiwork of the taxidermist and modeller, illustrative of that which is rarest in natural history and ethnology, while gems, instruments, curios and works of mechanical art help to teach, in their arrangement, casing and display, all that is most valuable in the modern museum management. The Post-office department, following and improving upon its own precedents at Philadelphia, New Orleans and Cin- cinnati, exhibits a model working post- office, so arranged that all the internal 6o6 A WORLD'S FAIR. workings may be studied by the visitor; and serving at the same time the postal necessities of the Fair. The leading features of the display made by the Treasury department are from the offices of the coast survey, the marine hospital service, the light-house board and the mint. The first named the eldest of the scientific institutions of the Government exhibits a wealth of in- strumental equipment, for the determina- tion of all the problems in geodesy and hydrography, and publishes specimen charts in the presence of the visitor. The exhibit of the Mint comprises a press in operation, from which souvenir medals, not unlike double eagles in size and appearance, are struck off twenty to the minute. Its numismatic collection embraces more than seven thousand coins dating from the Greek and Roman republics to the present day. The Marine Hospital service has con- tributed the equipment complete of a model hospital ward; models and appara- tus of the National maritime quarantine and articles illustrative of the methods of the inter-state quarantine. The varied processes of disinfection, of bacteriological research, and of the collection of informa- tion with regard to the health of our own and foreign peoples, may be studied exhaust- ively from the material and records at hand. The Light-House establishment makes a brilliant exhibit of illuminating appa- ratus, embracing the mammoth hyper- radiant, within which a dozen persons may stand in comfort, and which will ul- timately be placed on the outer diamond shoals off Cape Hatteras. The exhibit of the Department of State is largely documentary. It is designed to illustrate the processes of negotiation of whatever nature with foreign powers ; of correspondence between the national and state executives ; of the issuance of proc- lamations by the president, and the pub- lication of the laws of Congress, and of the collection and publication of intelli- gence relating to foreign trade and com- merce. Under the last-named function an extensive collection of pictures and mate- rial has been made illustrative of the life and commercial needs, taste, and habits of the Latin- American peoples, with whom this nation is seeking to establish more in- timate relations. The contribution of the Department of Justice is also chiefly of a documentary nature, illustrating the beginning, growth and present conditions of various features of our judicial system, colonial, state and national. It is enriched for the interest of the lay visitor b}- man} 7 mementos and paintings of the leading jurists of American history, and by fac-similes of rare historic documents. The Government exhibit comprises aux- iliary features of great value and interest, among which are a fully equipped life-sav- ing station, manned by a picked crew ; a light-house of iron, nearly a hundred feet in height, built for, and soon to be placed at Waackaack station in the Lower Bay of New York harbor ; a weather service station in which are carried on all the op- erations of that branch of the public ser- vice, from the taking of periodic observa- tions to the printing and distribution of weather maps ; an Indian school, with teachers and pupils drafted from the schools and maintained at Government expense ; a model militar}- camp of two companies of United States infantry, and a model marine camp of one company of United States marines. The Board of Management of the Gov- ernment exjiibit has undertaken nothing for the mere purpose of display. It has limited itself religiously to the illustra- tion of Governmental functions, and of these it has selected only those which do not come into active competition with the private exhibitor. It has not attempted in respect to any department, bureau or division of the Government, to show all that was possible, or to illustrate all their functions, holding that the branch which dealt more largely with facts, theories or principles, could reach the people with sufficient readiness through the publica- tions authorized by Congress ; while the branches dealing more largely with un- publishable //'#.? "Articles and materi- als "to quote the terms of the law de- served the preference in this enterprise. The purpose of its creation as defined be- ing to prepare an exhibit of ' ' such articles and materials as illustrate the function and administrative facult}- of the Govern- ment in time of peace and its resources as a war power, tending to demonstrate the nature of our institutions and their adapt- ability to the wants of the people." ETHNOLOGY AT THE EXPOSITION. BY FRANZ BOAS. AT great expositions the achievements of individuals and of nations may be set forth in two ways : either by com- petitive exhibits, in which each individual and each country endeavors to show to best advantage the points of eminence of its products ; or by selected exhibits, which are arranged with a view of giving a systematic series of exhibits covering a certain field. The latter method gives the best result for the student of the his- tory of civilization ; the former is unavoid- ably pursued in all portions of an exposi- tion which have a commercial interest, as the producer considers the exhibition of his works a profitable investment, and as the consumer or trader is given an op- portunity to find the best source of sup- ply for his demands. This method can- not be avoided even in art exhibits which rely upon contributions of living artists. It is the method which subserves best the interest of the exhibitor ; it is the exposi- tion method. The method of selected ex- hibits is more advantageous to the stu- dent ; it is the museum method. Many departments of the World's Co- lumbian exposition have a series of ex- hibits arranged from the latter point of view ; but it is the distinctive feature of one only of the Department of Ethnology. If the department had relied upon con- tributions of exhibitors only, there would have been danger of an accumulation of heterogeneous collections, arranged ac- cording to the fancy and taste of collect- ors ; a systematic representation of the present status and methods of ethnology would have been almost out of the ques- tion. Besides this, the best available material is massed in museums, which naturally can send a small portion of their collections only to an exposition. The abandonment of the plan to bring to- gether isolated ethnological collections, and the effort to create a systematic and comprehensive exhibit, characterize the ethnological department of the World's Co- lumbian exposition. The lines on which the exhibit was to be developed were laid down in the request of the World's Fair committee to Professor F. H. Putnam, of Harvard university, to present a plan for a department which should illustrate early life in America, from remote ages down to the period of Columbus. Thus the an- thropology of America was made the lead- ing point of view and determined the direction in which the department de- veloped. Professor Putnam was selected chie/ of the department, and at his suggestion a considerable sum of money was set apart for original scientific work on the anthro- pology of America. The results obtained by means of these funds form the nucleus of the ethnological exhibits at the World's Fair. First in importance stands the work in American archaeology. Four subjects, which cover some of the most important problems in this field, were selected for special studies : the age of man in Amer- ica; thecultureof the mound-builders; the archaeology of Central America ; and the ancient culture of Peru. Therefore, these subjects are most fully represented in the exhibits of the department. The work has been favored by good fortune, and it may safely be said that some of the most im- portant finds have been made during those investigations. The much-disputed palaeolithic imple- ments are fully represented, together with material relating to their stratigraphical position. The question of the antiquity of man hinges upon the undisputed find of rude stone implements in undisturbed layers, the geological age of which can be determined beyond doubt. Disputed ground has been subjected to a new ex- amination, and a number of new finds have been made, which seem to favor the theory that man inhabited the Delaware valley at the time when the glacial grav- els were being deposited. Incidentally, numerous remains of the Indians of this region have been found, and a series of well-preserved graves have been opened, the contents of which are shown in the collections of the department. The culture of the mound-builders of the Ohio valley is represented by a mag- nificent collection. Models of a series of 6o8 A WORLD'S FAIR. earthworks illustrate a number of types of those structures. The beaiitiful im- plements and ornaments made of stone, copper, bone and shell, the clay altars on which burnt offerings were found, the variety of objects buried with the dead, convey a most vivid idea of the arts, in- dustries and customs of those people. They also show that we must not imagine the mound-builders to have been a people very far in advance of the Indian tribes at the time of their discovery, but that their culture was on a similar level. The results of those systematic explora- tions form the nucleus of the exhibits on North American archaeology. They are supplemented by a series of collections which give a comprehensive review of types found in certain regions. Ontario, Ohio, Missouri, Wisconsin, Tennessee, Arkansas and California deserve special mention in this connection. The archaeological exhibit of the state of Colorado is also the result of special ex- ploration, and the ancient culture of the cliffdwellers is one of the best represented subjects at the exposition, as, outside of the Anthropological building, where the department collections are exhibited, the " cliff dwellers exhibit" is devoted en- tirely to this subject. Perhaps the most impressive exhibit of the archaeological section is the one de- voted to Central America. Never before has so complete a collection of sculptures of the ancient peoples of this region been attempted. In front of the Anthropological building are found facsimiles of some of the most remarkable edifices of Yucatan -the famous portal of Labna, the Parade of the Serpents, the arch of Uxmal, and several others. The moulds which served for the construction of these facsimiles were taken by agents of the department. The collec- tion of sculptures in the Anthropological building contains casts from Mexico, Guatemala, Yucatan and Honduras, and is supplemented by an excellent series of photographs. The achievements of the Central American Indians, and the stage which their civilization had reached in early times and long before it was so ruth- lessly destroyed, is forcibly illustrated by these works of art. Costa Rica has fur- nished a collection of beautiful stone carvings, of pottery and gold ornaments, which shows another side of the varied arts and industries of Central America. The civilization of the highlands of South America is well represented through collections made under the direction of the department. Explorations in the necropolis of Ancon have yielded a large series of mummies, with which are found specimens of pottery and wonderfully pre- served textile fabrics, woven in highly ar- tistic designs. The exploration was not confined to this region, but covered all the more important centers of South American culture. Another section of the department is devoted to ethnology and endeavors to set forth the customs and arts of various peo- ple before they were influenced by the whites. Naturally, American collections predominate in this section as well as in archaeology. Although nowadays it is difficult to obtain good collections, which show native industries entirely unaffected by our civilization, they have the ad- vantage over archaeological collections that the implements can be seen in actual use and that the meaning of ceremonial objects and of ornaments can be learned from the people who use them. The Es- kimo of North Greenland and of Alaska, the numerous tribes of the North Pacific coast, the Indians of the northwest terri- tories of Canada and the tribes of Wis- consin are best represented. The Indians east of the Rocky mountains have been so much modified by contact with the whites that, taken as a whole, a small amount of material only has been gath- ered. A number of excellent collections from South America represent the ethnol- ogy of parts of that continent quite ex- haustively. Brazil sends a large collec- tion of its curious pottery, dancing masks and drums and stone implements. Par- aguay has a magnificent display of feather ornaments, weapons and utensils of the tribes of the Gran Chaco, of Paraguay and of southeastern Brazil, which can hardly be equalled by any other collec- tion. British Guiana and Venezuela, Bolivia and Peru add their share to the ethnological exhibit, which illustrates the recent status of the Indian. All this material is arranged in geographical groups, in order to convey to the mind as clearly as possible the culture of each tribe. This tribal exhibit is supplemented by a few very good collections illustrative A WORLD'S FAIR. 609 of certain manufactures of the American Indians. There are collections of basketry, of beadwork and of pottery, gathered from all over North America. The meaning of the ethnographical .spec- imens is made clearer by the presence of a small colony of Indians, who live in their native habitations near the Anthropolog- ical building. The most striking among these buildings are the houses from British Columbia, with their carved totem posts. The collection from this region is partic- ularly strong in paraphernalia used in re- ligious ceremonials, and their use is illus- trated in the dances which the Indians perform. Another instructive group of dwellings are the bark-houses of the Iro- quois Indians, which are inhabited bj' a number of members of the various tribes composing that stock. Other tribes and dwellings represented in this group are the Eskimo, Cree, Chippewayan, Winne- bago, Navajo, and the Arawak of British Guiana. In this connection must be mentioned the highly instructive villages of Midway Plaisance, in which a great variety of races are found. A mere enu- meration will give an idea of the scope of these exhibits : Java, the South Sea Islands, Dahomey, the Soudan, Lapland, Arabia, Turkey and Algeria are represent- ed here. The ethnological collections from for- eign continents are not numerous. Those from Australia, the South Sea Islands, and from parts of Africa, are fairly good, but cannot be compared with those of the great museums of Europe. One section of the Department of Eth- nology is devoted to religions, games and folk-lore. In this section the historical development of a number of games is il- lustrated by an elaborate series of speci- mens. Naturally, the games of the Old World, the history of which can be traced through long periods and through many countries, have received fullest attention, but homologous games of primitive peo- ple are not wanting. In the arrangement of this section the wide spread of ideas as well as the recurrence of similar ethnic phenomena among a great variety of peo- ple, is- brought out with great force. Ob- jects of worship, idols and amulets form another attractive group in this section. The anatomical and psychological as- pects of anthropology are treated in the anthropological laboratories. The meth- ods of studying the anatomy of races are illustrated by means of a series of the principal apparatus used in anthropolog- ical investigations. The results of re- searches on certain races, and on people of the same race living under different conditions, exemplify the scope and the objects of these researches. In order to attain this end more satisfactorily, a num- ber of instruments are shown in operation, and measurements of visitors who present themselves are taken. A very full collec- tion of crania and skeletons illustrates the anatomy of human races. A second sec- tion of the laboratories is devoted to the anatomy of the nervous system. The growth of the brain and its anatomy are set forth by means of specimens, casts and diagrams. The third section of the laboratories is devoted to experimental psychology. There a very full collection of psychological apparatus is found, and the methods of investigation are illus- trated in a working laboratory, in which a number of the simpler tests are shown. These laboratories serve to explain the objects of psychological and anthropolog- ical research, but at the same time the ac- cumulating material will prove to be of considerable scientific interest. The remaining parts of the laboratories are devoted to two special subjects : the development of children, and the anthro- pology of the North American Indians. In the former section the results of spe- cial investigations on the physical and psychical development of American chil- dren are exhibited. This collection of material will be of special interest to edu- cationists who believe that the experi- mental study of children is the true basis of the art of education. There also are found Dr. D. A. Sargent's statues of the t3'pical American man and woman, the dimensions of each being derived from an extensive series of measurements of col- lege students. This brief sketch of the ethnological exhibit at the World's Fair shows that its strong side lies wholly in a full represen- tation of American anthropolog}-. Its great meritis thelarge amount of material, new to science, that has been accumulated and which has considerably advanced our knowledge of the history and character- istics of man in America. 39 POINTS OF INTEREST. BY BENJAMIN HARRISON. I READILY comply with your request for a few words about the World's Columbian exposition, because my inter- est, which has followed the great enter- prise from the beginning, has been kin- dled into enthusiasm by a recent visit. It was a national invitation that assem- bled the representatives of all nations and tribes at Chicago. Our official represen- tatives at foreign courts, at formal audi- ences and under the great seal of the nation, announced the event and bade them come. Chicago could not corre- spond with them. A nation must be the host at this great entertainment. Our arrangement with Chicago was a private one wholly within the family. There have been complications they were to have been expected ; but their solution would have been easy if the national character of the enterprise had been con- stantly kept in mind. Chicago was to supply the grounds and buildings, in consideration of the enormous special benefit that the location brought to it. The city had much beside money at stake upon the success of the Fair, but the na- tion had more. It was hard for those who had assumed a gigantic financial burden to surrender the direction in mat- ters that affected the question of the re- turn of contributions that had strained the public spirit of the most enterprising and public spirited of our great cities. We do not know how much patience and wisdom has been expended in the effort to keep the national commission and the local corporation from going apart, and to organize an effective and harmonious executive direction. But the work we can see, and it is wholly and greatly creditable. Only upon coie question Sunday clos- ing has the divergence between the gen- eral and the local direction been so serious as to attract much attention. I do not enter into the question of Sabbath ob- servance at all ; it was not before the commission, because it had been authori- tively settled. Before the acceptance of the $2,500,000 in souvenir coins from the United States it was an open question after acceptance it was a closed question. The promise to repay the par value of the souvenir coins, which had brought to the treasury of the Fair double that value, was not a good rescission in law or in conscience. Not a promise to pay, but payment of the full value received was the condition if the act of congress in diverting some part of the donation, which I do not justify, furnished ground for a rescission. It is not pleasant to have our foreign visitors see a national exposi- tion open on Sunday which the law of congress requires to be closed on that day. In everything else Chicago has done so magnificently that this bad break is the more to be regretted. But I have no sympathy with those who threaten to boycott the exposition on account of Sunday opening. The Sabbath observer does not refuse to avail himself of the Monday train because of the Sunday train. No more should we deny ourselves the inspiring and instructive spectacle which the ' ' White City ' ' offers on week days. If the American Sabbath, that great conservator of health and social order, to say nothing of its higher uses, is not illustrated, there is much to the praise of man and to the glory of man's Creator to be seen, without involving the spectator in Sabbath desecration. Five days at the Fair does not qualify even the most industrious and retentive for the work of description. He must go again and again. A benevolent and wise Christian friend of mine, who has a Sun- day-school class in a western city, com- posed largely of young mechanics, has planned to take them, three or four at a time, to see the exposition. What a spread of thought and imagination, what an education in mechanics they will get ! To them, coming from humble homes and grimy shops, a new world will be opened like that Columbus exposed to the geog- raphers. It is a suggestive example, and one that the employers of labor might well imitate. Some will have to inaugu- rate economies if they see the Fair but it is worth while. I use the words of sober- ness when I say that it is worth while to A WORLD'S FAIR. 611 cross the continent just to see the outside of things ; and the interior of anyone of the greater buildings is worth as much. I am not a travelled American, in the New York sense. My own country I know, but no other. Consequently, I cannot- compare the Columbian exposition with those of London, Paris or Vienna. The Centennial exposition at Philadelphia, however, when contrasted with this, gives a glorious vision of the growth in power, wealth, in- vention and art, which sixteen years have brought to the world. But we are not without competent comparisons with the greatest previous expositions. Sir Henry Trueman Wood, the English represent- ative, says over his own signature : " So far in advance is it of all expecta- tion, that I find it hopeless to convince my countrymen of the marvellous nature of the spectacle, or to make them believe how well it is worthy the long journey from England. Only those who have seen it can justly appreciate how far this latest of international exhibitions has sur- passed all its predecessors in size, in splen- dor, and in greatness both of conception and of execution." The German commissioner, the Hon- orable Adolph Wermuth, in response to a request from one of the Chicago news- papers for his opinion, very happily and tersely expressed the feeling of every true American who sees the exposition. His answer was, " Hail Columbia ! " President Anderson, of the Royal Insti- tute of British Architects, in presenting the queen's gold medal of that society to one of the designers of the great buildings at Jackson park, said : " These buildings are the most wonderful development to which international exhibitions have at- tained, or are likely to attain in the fut- ure." They are, indeed; and, when the awards are made, suitable recognition should be given to the architects who de- signed them. It would be altogether ap- propriate for congress to give them medals of honor. The acreage enclosed is three times greater than was ever before set apart for an exposition, and the roof space nearly twice as great. If this " expansiveness" subjects the visitor to added labor, he is more than compensated by the fact that a wider distribution enables him to see everything closely, and with comfort. Only in the fisheries exhibit, about the aquaria, did our party find any difficulty in getting a near and satisfactory view. The transportation facilities, to and from Jackson park, are adequate and excel- lent. I have avoided statistics they have their use the dealer in art has to do with inches ; the lover of art, with tone, color, perspective, expression. I like to keep in mind the indefinite sense of vast- ness which one gets as he ascends towards the high roof of the building dedicated to manufactures and liberal arts. To be told that the building covers thirty-one acres of ground rather limits than en- larges. The Fair is not only a success, but a triumph an American triumph. When it closes we can think rightly and gratefully of the men who made it such. They would be knighted in England or Germany ; but, perhaps, all they can expect in free democratic America is that the newspapers and people, who knew all along, and in everything, a better way, shall admit that on the whole it was well they were not in the management, and that New York shall admit that there are two cities in the United States that can adequately and creditably entertain the world. IN THE WORLD OF ART AND LETTERS. MBERANGER is undergoing the fate of a "Turk's head." I am not sure . whether the English language affords a satisfactory translation of this emi- nently Parisian locution. In the fairs of Neuilly and St. Cloud are to be seen certain blocks, fashioned after the human figure and invariably bearing a Turk's head. Two sous pay for the right to test one's muscular strength as with a heavy mallet he strikes this Turk's head and, according to his vigor, scores four hundred or five hun- dred pounds. Thus a man who has become the Turk's head of his fellow-citizens is one who has got to be hit by every passer-by, without having the privilege of retali- ating. There is a proverb with us that says that the ultimate form of celebrit}-. which con- sists in one's likeness ornamenting clay-pipes, can only befall men who have been first " Turk's heads." A man's glory can, to a great extent, be measured by the abuse offered him ; the stones thrown in his garden serve so w y ell to erect his pedestal ! Using that material, M. Beranger will be able to raise for himself one as high as the Eiffel tower. Seldom has a but been chosen with such unanimity by the Parisian press and the worldly chronicles as has been the unlucky organizer and speech- bearer of the League against License in the Streets. In America you cannot form an idea of the excesses which we had gotten to. We are so ready to profess our hate for Itypocrisy, that, really, we had ceased to have enough of it left. Do you remember that pretty anecdote of the eighteenth century ? Duclos, maintaining before two great ladies that honest women were those who befet prized frankness and who could smile without false shame at a spicy story. To sustain his argument, he treated them at once to a very risky tale, followed it with another still worse, and as he lingered on the details " Now, Duclos, beware ! " interrupted one of the ladies. " You take us for much more honest women than we are." Evidently, our national taste for Gallic salt has been unduly stretched consider- ing those papers whose specialty was off-color stories and the display of licentious illustrations, often verging on the obscene, with which our news-stands were decked from earl}- morning. The sacred name of art was invoked as palliative. Art, alas ! has little to do with those exhibitions, which most of the time are simply unclean. Police and magistrature kept still ; we are very ticklish on that subject in France. There is no doubt that had a writer or an artist been prosecuted for infringing on the laws of decency, the immediate result of this step would have been to call on the offending one an attention far from unfavorable to him. The best course was to wait until the public, saturated with these spectacles, called for repression. IN THE WORLD OF ART AND LETTERS. 613 By that time was founded the League against License in the Streets. Its pro- moters were three prominent men : M. Beranger, M. Passy and M. Jules Simon. At first their initiative was very well received in Paris. The campaign the}' opened seemed quite legitimate. They were the cause which decided the disappearance of those licentious prints so offensive to public decency. And this won them applause. A number of adherents enlisted -in their ranks. These were the palmy days of the league its honeymoon, which came to an end as all honeymoons do. Public favor encouraged the leaders so well, that they imagined the} 7 could go ahead and would be followed with the same confidence. They did not reckon suf- ficiently on the instincts of our race, devoted to artistic freedom and to a lenient phil- osophy. Where great tact and great deftness were needed to carry on the pursuit and repression, their hand was a trifle too heavy. The pupils of our national school of fine arts are wont to give every year a fete, where merriment bears a rather decollete character. I believe that this year, on the occasion of that famous and much-talked-of ball (the ball of the four branches of art), our students rather overdid the thing. An exhibition of almost nude women in a gar- den is not to be countenanced, to say the least ; yet it would have been more sensible not to take any heed of it. Instead of that, M. Beranger goes and denounces the stu- dents' lark to the court. The court, of course, cannot do otherwise than to prosecute ; the tribunal cannot do otherwise than to pass a sentence of condemnation, which, although lenient, sets all our young men in ebullition. They start, Indian file, three or four thousand in number, to call on poor M. Beranger, whom they have nicknamed "Old Pudor;" they hoot him, and they smash his x^ndow-panes. All this row, however, cannot be tolerated ; the police interferes, blows are exchanged, blood flows. A young man, wounded in the fray, dies next morning. Thus matters grow worse ; for very little " Old Pudor " would be charged with the accident and be called an assassin. Interpellations at the house and at the municipal council follow. At the hour I write these words it is uncertain whether the prefect of police will not be compelled to resign, and whether the cabinet will not topple over this ridiculous pebble thrown by fate across its way and all that because two or three foolish virgins disported themselves in too slender attire at a ball given in artistic Bohemia. FRANCISQUE SARCEY. CHRONIQUE PARISIENNE. M BERANGER est en train de passer tele de turc. Je ne sais si vous trouverez dans la langue anglaise pour vous traduire cette locution toute Parisienne. Dans les fpires de Neuilly ou de St. Cloud, il y a des mannequins sur lesquels on achte pour deux sous le droit d'essayer sa force. Ces mannequins sont mvariablenient une tte de turc. On tape dessus, et 1'on anieiie quatre ou cinq cents, selon sa vigueur musculaire. Passer tgte de turc, c'est done se mettre dans le cas de recevoir sur le crane les coups pour uu personnage tres en vue, c'est devoir sou visage sculpte en bois orner le fourneau d'une pipe. II n'y a que ceux sur qui 1'on a fortemeut daub6 qui cotiquierent une illustration suffisaute pour 6tre choisis paries fabricants de pipes, comme parure a leurs produits. La gloire d'un homme se compte en grande pattie des injures que ses adversaires lui ont adressees. II se fait un pidestal des pierres que 1'ou a lancees dans son jardin. M. Beranger pourra s'en Clever un monument aussi haut que la tour Eiffel. C'est dans ce moment-ci dans tout le journalisme parisien, dans toute la chronique mondaiue un feu de file des plus nourris centre la ligue dout il a et6 1'organisateur, dont il est aujourd'hui le representant et le porte paroles. Cette ligue c'est la ligue centre la licence des rues. Vous ne pouvez vous imag^ner la-bas en Am6rique a quel excs cette licence 6tait monte chez nous. Nous nous faisons volontiers gloire de notre haiue pour 1'hypocrisie mais vraiment nous avions fini par ne plus en avoir assez. Vous rappellez-vous une jolie anecdote du xvme siecle. Duclos causant avec deux grandes dames soutenait cette these que les honnetes femmes taient celles qui estimaient le plus la franchise et qui sayaient sans fausse pudibonderie rire d'une anecdote sale. Etla- dessus il enfile une histoire 6grillarde, qui estbient&t suivie d'uue autre plus nue encore, et comme il jouissait de son effet. "Ah ! prenez garde, Duclos ! " lui dit uiie de ces dames 1'arrgtaut du geste, "vous nous croyez aussi par trop honnfites femmes." Peut-etre aurait-on abus de notre gout pour la gauloiserie. Nos kiosques eialaient chaque matin une foule d'images liceucieuses, certains journaux s'fitaient fait de contes graveleux une sorte de spcialite; ils les illustraient de dessins dont quelques-uns 6taient presque obscenes! Ils alleguaient les droits sacrs de 1'art. L'art helas u'avait pas graud chose &. voir dans ces exhibitions qui n'etaieut le plus souvent que fort malpropres. La police et la magistrature lie disaieut rieu. Nous sommes tres-chatouilleux eu France sur 1'article, et si 6i4 IN THE WORLD OF ART AND LETTERS. 1'on se fut avise de poursuivre soit un ecrivain soil un artiste pour outrage a la pudeur on eut Etc sur de provo- quer un mouvement d'opinion en faveurdu prevenu. On atteudait done que le public sature de ces spectacles se rEvoltftt de lui-mfime et appelat la repression. C'est alors que se fonda la hgue contre la licence des rues, dont les promoteurs furent trois personnages tres- considerables: M. Beranger. M. Passy et M. Jules Simon. A Paris on leur sut gre d'abord de leur initiative. La guerre qu'ils avaient dEclaree & une pornographic dEcidement trop ehontee, parut legitime. Ils firent disparaitre des vitrines les images licentieuses qui offensaient la pudeur publique. On les applaudit; iiombre d'adherents se rangerent derriere eux; ce fut le beau temps, la lune de miel de la ligue, lune qui ne dura guere comme toutes les lunes de miel. Ces messieurs encouragEs par la faveur publique crurent qu'ils pouvaient aller de 1'avattt et qu'on les suivrait toujours avec la m6me confiance. Ils ne tinrent pas assez de compte des instincts de notre race qui aime par dessus tout deux choses, la liberte dans 1'art et la gaite dans la gaudriole. II aurait fallu beaucoup de legerete et de tact dans les poursuites et les repressions; ils eurent la main uu peu lourde. Les eleves de notre Ecole des beaux arts ont 1'habitude de donner chaque annee une fgte oft la joie est uelque peu decolletee. Je crois bien que cette annee dans ce fameux bal des guatre-z-arts, qui a fait tant e bruit, ils etaient alles un peu loin. Des exhibitions de femmes a peu pres nues dans un jardin, c'est un peu raide! Mais il eut EtE plus spirituel de ne pas s'en apercevoir. M. Beranger dEnonce cette gaminerie au parquet; le parquet est oblige de poursuivre; le tribunal de con- damner. II 1'a fait d'ailleurs avec une grande moderation. Mais voila tou? ces jeunes gens en Ebullition! Ils organisent des mondmes contre le pauvre M. Berauger qu'ils appellent ironiquement le pere " la pudeur; " ils vont au nombre de deux ou trois mille le "conspuer " sous ses feugtres et lui casser ses carreaux. On ne peut pourtant leur laisser faire impunement tout ce tapage. Voila la police en mouvement; on cogne de part et d'autre; le sang coule, un jeune homme est blessE dans la bagarre et meurt le lendemain. Les tfites s'Echauffeut. Peu s'en faut qu'on n'accuse le pere " la pudeur " de cet accident, et qu'on ne le traite d'assassin. Interpellation a la chambre, interpellation au conseil municipal. A 1'heure ou j'ecris on ne salt pas si le prEfet de police ne sera pas force de donner sa demission, et le miuistere ne culbutera sur le mechaut caillou jete par le hazard au travers de la route. Et tout cela parceque quelques rapins en humeur de rire ont promenE, gorge au vent, dans un bal deux ou trois filles de demi vertu ! FRANCISQUE SARCEY. HEINRICH HEINE, the daring cosmopolite \vlio professed to labor for the abolishment of national prejudice, would seem to be an ideally appropriate subject for a World's Fair number. His familiar letters to his mother and sister now for the first time published under the title " The Family Life of Heinrich Heine," (and admirably translated into English by Charles de Kay) supplement his character on rather an important side; but make an end, too, of some of the picturesque legends which had gathered about his name. The pathetic story, for instance (for which Heine's first biographer Strodtmann is responsible) that he \vrote the jolliest letters home while he was writhing in agony, in order to conceal his terrible condition from his old mother, is apparently a piece of generous imposture which the lovers of Heine will be loath to dismiss. However, here the unpleasant fact stares you in the face. He entreats, to be sure, his sister to keep the old lady in ignorance as to the nature of his illness; but a few weeks later he must have forgotten this request, for he himself informs her that he has all the symptoms which are the forerunners of paralysis. Our fundamental conception of Heine as a brilliant, dashing, but rather unreliable guerilla in the warfare for human progress, is strengthened and clarified by many of these intimate confessions. He was an egotist to the core, and essentially lacking in nobility. Though he is fascinating, he is never truly admirable. He was too much of a scoffer and too much interested in the figure he was cutting, to surrender himself with generous ardor to any cause. Though a lover of liberty and a professed hater of tyranny, Napoleon was his hero, and every instinct of his soul was aristo- cratic. It was the fact that (being born a Jew) he felt the thorn in his own flesh, which inspired him with a sympathy for the under dog in the struggle for existence. But when the under dog encouraged by this printed sympathy, presumed to grow IN 7 HE WORLD OF ART AND LETTERS. friendly and companionable, Heine's first impulse was to kick him down stairs. As for the three grand abstractions which the French revolution emblazoned in blood and fire upon the horizon of the expiring century, Heine's devotion to them, as ex- emplified by his life, was more than half Pickwickian. He loved liberty, except in so far as it made men free; equality, except in so far as it made his inferiors unpleas- antly familiar; and fraternity, exdept in so far as it made the mob his brothers. He loved with the instinctive predilection of a fastidious soul, what was eminent, excep- tional and heroic, and I cannot but believe that it was the accident of his birth, identifying him with those whom he disliked, which made him enlist in the ranks of the revolutionists. In a beautiful passage, written on his bed of agonized suffering his mattress-grave as he called it he begged that a sword, rather than a laurel wreath, be placed upon his coffin. " For," he said, " poetry, much as I have loved her, was with me nothing but a divine plaything But I was a valiant soldier in the cause of the emancipation of humanity." Matthew Arnold has already remarked upon the pathetic self-delusion of this pass- age. And yet it is not to be denied that Heine, in his own inconsequent way, did effective service in the cause which he professed to have at heart. If not a sword, then at least, a dagger ought to have been placed upon his coffin a keen, bright, jeweled dagger, the beauty of whose workmanship half disguises the fact that it is a deadly weapon. HJALMAR HJORTH BOYESEN. S THE MONTH IN ENGLAND MR. CHIVY SLIME described himself as "the most literary fellow breathing," and, assuredly, Mr. Gosse's " Questions at Issue " (Heinemann) is the most literary book of the month. It is entirely concerned with literary problems, modern literary problems, so that Mr. Gosse is able to say, " that Homer is a great poet is not a question at issue." Alas, it is a question at issue, for the immense majority of critics believe Homer to have been : one great poet, one inferior ditto, one multitude of reciters and ballad-mongers, four or five redacteurs (all bad), a crowd of inter- polators, and ancient editors beyond all reckoning. Indeed, Wilamowitz Mollen- dorff frankly avers that Homer (as we take him) is not a great poet. So the question is at issue, though not for Mr. Gosse, with his eyes fixed on the magazines, the newspa- pers, the successors of Lord Tennyson. But all this discussion deals only with a casual remark in a preface. The book is lively and easily read, and provocative of controversy. Mr. Gosse, asking "What is a great poet?" makes up an English twelve, and remarks : "In the case of Scott, I must still be firm in excluding him." The attitude, the voice, are those of Miss Pinkerton, arranging the prize list of her academy for young ladies. It is very difficult to select, say, an eleven of England, or even of Oxford, at cricket. Are 3-011 for Mr. Arkwright, or for young Mr. Palairet ? There is no certainty, no absolute test, in such selections. Personally, I might put in Scott, and exclude Byron and Pope, if I were making up a poetic team. But would not Mr. Gosse think it funny if I wrote : "In the case of Pope, I must still be firm in positively excluding him." It is extremely funny. But everyone who still cares for the literature of the day is sure to read " Questions at Issue," to agree or dis- agree ; but to disagree in a friendly and sympathetic manner. The " Lucianic " essay is diverting, though it rather reminds one of " Friendship's Garland " than of Lucian. The amateur of Scotch history and manners will welcome Mr. T. F. Henderson's " Old World Scotland " (Fisher Unwin). The style is rather heavy and complicated, in places, and the essay on the " Border Reiver " somewhat jejune. But the study of 6i6 IN THE WORLD OF ART AND LETTERS. " Kirk Discipline" must open Presbyterian eyes to the truly monstrous and intoler- able pretensions of the kirk, when she was like " an army with banners." Every statesman, however profligate, selfish, or dull, who lived between 1560 and 1688, had to fight the kirk for the very life of the state ; thus even Morton, even James vi., even Lauderdale, became sympathetic and appear as friends of human freedom. The essay on Darnley's murder tries to knock another nail into the coffin of Queen Mary's reputation but the subject demands minute discussion, impossible here. Mr. Whibley has edited old ^ren's delightful " Young Cricketer's Tutor " (1833), with a preface. He takes Nyren, not Charles Cowden Clarke, for the writer of the book. But Mr. Whibley cannot have read Clarke's preface to the second edition (1840), where Clarke says "his little book was compiled from unconnected scraps and reminiscences during conversations concerning his old playmates." This settles the question, A critic in the Academy is correct : Clarke is the author, Nyren only provides the materials of this charming book, as English as cricket itself. (Published by Nutt.) Though I edited it myself, I will venture to mention another reprint : Mr. Kirk of Aberfoyle's "Secret Commonwealth of Elves, Fauns, and Fairies." (Nutt.) Mr. Kirk was carried away from earth in 1692, by the "good folk," the fairies. His manuscript lay unpublished till 1815, when Messrs. Longmans put out one hundred copies. Mr. Kirk's charmingly innocent psychical researches may be compared with those of Mr. Ernest Hart in " Hypnotism, Mesmerism, and the New Witchcraft." (Smith & Elder.) Mr. Hart has rather a domineering style. What he believes in (hyp- notism) is a fact in nature ; many queer phenomena, which, in all ages, and by Mr. Kirk, are said to accompany the hypnotic state, Mr. Hart rejects as "impostures." It may be so ; but Mr. Hart's arguments and manner are very far from being per- suasive. Among books of fiction, Mr. Kipling's "Many Inventions" (Macmillan) is far the most popular, and deserves its popularity. There are great varieties of excellence in the tales. The fun of " The Children of the Zodiac" I fail to see, but " In the Rukh" is a surprising piece of modified were-wolfism ; "The Best Story in the World" is one of the five or six best stories in the world. "The Lost Legion" shows a new kind of skill in the supernatural, and the three soldiers are as good as ever, except in ' ' Love o' Women, ' ' which seems, to my taste, rather dully disagreeable than really " powerful." But it is all a matter of taste. A writer quite new to me, Mr. Hope, published last year a most diverting novel, " Mr. Witt's Widow," and this year " Change of Air." (Methuen.) As Mr. Hope is apparently young, and ma} r be guileless, it might pay to pirate "Mr. Witt's Widow." It is full of humor and of irony, reminding one of Mr. Norris at better than his best. Mr. Hope has written other novels, which I have not read. A. LANG. IN Peru (as is told by travellers returned hence out of that far country) there hap- pens once perhaps in a century a rain-fall in the high region back from the coast near two miles above the sea-level that otherwise, from generation to gen- eration, is parched by the unclouded sun. And scarce is this rare luxury of water poured out from heaven (the travellers say farther) than is all that desolate region until that moment as bare as the peaks of rock above it covered over with delicate fN THE WORLD OF ART AND LETTERS. 617 green grasses and all manner of flowers : for God so manages this matter that seeds remain always in that dry earth, in waiting for the time when He shall bid them germinate by sending them His rain. Much in the way of the Peruvian miracle, as it has seemed to me, was the sudden npspringing of refining influences in this country which followed the Centennial Ex- hibition of 1876 when, the needed conditions being fulfilled, there was instantly a germination of gracious seeds which all along had lain hidden in a neglected yet not sterile soil, Then was reached one of the deeply, yet at the moment not clearly, marked turning-points in our life national : when, without proclamation, silently, al- most unconsciously to ourselves, began our emancipation from undivided ultilitarian- ism and we openly (yet still a little shamefacedly) made the principle of beauty an active factor in our lives. And so great has been the national change wrought by the refining influences then implanted influences which somehow all at once put us in the way of knowing that we needed ideals and of creating them and of striving to realize them that those of us who are so unfortunate as to be old enough to remem- ber distinctly how matters stood seventeen years before that Centennial sometimes now, seventeen years after it, being pulled up short by a sudden confronting with one or another of its many elevating results, fall to wondering if we have not slipped by accident across an orbit or two into another and superior planet revolving in a purer sort of space. There is no record in Peru (for the reason that the event has not occurred there) of what luxuriant beauty of vegetation would cover all those bare mountain heights should fresh rain descend upon them ere yet the first growth of flowers and grasses, withering for want of moisture, had fallen into the soft slumber which is rest with nature but with men is death. Therefore the parallel that I have drawn between the revival of those desert places of the Andes and of the not less, yet differently, desert places of this our own country is not a complete one : for the fortunate reason that with us, while the growth of the first germination prosperously continues, a second germination is about to begin. As we all know, the Columbian creations of beauty at Chicago, before which the present world stands still in a wondering admiration, are the flowers which less than a score of years ago at Philadelphia sprouted in the Centennial soil ; and we have but to contrast the two exhibitions, point by point, to arrive at a just appreciation of the prodigious advances which we have made on the lines of intellectual development since an understanding love of things beautiful became consciously a part of our national soul. This much we perceive easily. But to perceive, in a spirit of prophecy, the logical outcome of the fresh and wider germination which now "has begun at Chicago puts even the most sanguine of us because of the very dazzle and glory of it almost to a stand. For though the matter, obviously, is but a simple enough calculation in the rule of three the Centennial Exhibition of 1876 being to the con- dition of the country now as the Columbian Exhibition of 1893 is to the condition of the country in 1910 the result thus arrived at is so overwhelming in its promise of magnificent achievement that to accept it demands great steadfastness in faith. Also, being perceived, this result demands great thankfulness. I believe for I hold that happiness and sorrow, with the emotions thereon attendant, are not the monopolistic attributes of man alone that those high desert places in the Andes are full of gratitude when God sends His rain upon them and their seemingly dead and forgotten solitudes for a little while are gladdened (yet through that short season are made as blithe as the freshest garden in the tropics) by an outburst of beautiful life. Far deeper, then, should be our gratitude for the beauty which has been added to our natures, and for the open promise that yet greater beauty will be given us in the ripening fulness of time. For in our case, as in the case of those thankful mountains, our barrenness in part has been hidden ; and with the happy difference in our favor that with us the beautiful growth continues, and promises to be aug- mented continually, instead of being lost in a long trance again at the end of one bright year. THOMAS A. JANVIER. 6i8 ALIEN A 7 ION. TWENTY BOOKS OF THE MONTH. FICTION. THE NIAGARA BOOK, by W. D. Howells, Mark Twain and Others. Underhill & Nichols. $1.25. PIETRO GHISLERI, by F. Marion Crawford. Macmillan & Co. $1.00. THE REFUGEES, by A. Conan Doyle. Harper & Bros. $1.75. THOSE GIRLS, by John Strange Win- ter. Tait, Sons & Co. $1.00. A TILLYLOSS SCANDAL, by J. M. Bar- rie. Lovell, Coryell & Co. $1.00. THE PRINCE OF INDIA, by Gen. Lew Wallace. Harper & Brothers. $2.50. SCIENCE. --DECIPHERMENT OF BLURRED FINGER PRINTS, by Francis Galton. 80 cents. A DICTIONARY OF BIRDS, by Alfred Newton. Part i. Macmillan & Co. $2.60. THE UNSEEN FOUNDATIONS OF SO- CIETY, by the Duke of Argyll. Mac- millan & Co. $3.50. ESSAYS. WOMAN'S MISSION, edited by Baroness Burdett-Coutts. Charles Scrib- ner'sSons. $3.50. NATIONAL LIFE AND CHARACTER : A FORECAST, by C. H. Pearson. Macmil- lan & Co. $4.00. RELIGION. THE DEFENCE OF PROF. BRIGGS BEFORE THE GENERAL ASSEM- BLY. Charles Scribner's Sons. 75 cts. BIOGRAPHY. MEMOIRS OF CHANCEL- LOR PASQUIER. Brentano. $2.40. WOMEN ADVENTURERS, edited by Menie Muriel Dowie. Macmillan & Co. $1.50. EDWIN BOOTH, by Lawrence Hutton. Harper & Bros. 50 cents. AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GEORG EBERS, translated by Mary J. Safford. D. Ap- pleton & Co. $1.25. TRAVEL. AMERICANS IN EUROPE, by one of them. Tait, Sons & Co. $1.00. THE JOURNAL OF MARIANNE NORTH, edited by Mrs. John Addington Sy- monds. Macmillan & Co. $3.50. THE COLUMBUS MEMORIAL, edited by George Young. Cranston, Stowe & Co. $1.00. THE EMPIRE OF THE TSARS AND THE RUSSIANS, by Anatole Leroy-Beaulieu. G. P. Putnam's Sons. $1.00. ALIENATION. BY EDWARD LUCAS WHITE. THE stars shine out above the barren wold, Each sending unto me some weary light, Starved and diminished by an endless flight Through everlasting samenesses untold. And lower ; yea, and brighter ; I behold Your lamp that glimmers in the aching night, Some clovered furlongs from my yearning sight, Piercing with mellow rays the dripping cold. As I perceive the wind-tunes in the trees, I seem to feel the music of the spheres Thrill all about, from every chanting star ; But the near songs you sing I cannot seize, With my strung soul or with my eager ears, Your heart is distant from my heart so far. THB great Fair has its scientific features, and some of the exhibits in this line are said to be admirable. So far, however, as one, prevented by circumstances from seeing for himself, can learn, astronomy is not specially conspicuous, though scattered here and there through the various sections a great deal is to be found which is really interesting and important. The principal exhibits by our American instru- ment makers are those of Warner & Swasey and Saegmuller. The former presents a part of the mounting of the great Yerkes telescope, which when finished will be by far the most powerful instrument in the world with its 4o-inch object-glass (by Clark) and its tube nearly seventy feet in length. They also show a very beautiful 12-inch telescope, and a number of smaller instruments. Saegmuller shows some elaborate equatorial telescopes, an excellent meridian-circle, and various field instruments. Brashear exhibits a number of the magnificent and really epoch-making " diffraction-gratings " of Professor Rowland, and with them some fine spectroscopes, which contrast in a very interesting way with the historical apparatus of Kirchoff and Bunsen exhibited in the German section. The foreign makers of astronomical instruments appear to have sent very little. Queen & Co., of Philadelphia, in their extensive exhibit of scientific apparatus, show a collection of imported telescopes and minor instruments, and Sir Howard Grubb, of Dublin, has some astronomical instmments in his exhibit in the English section. But so far as we can learn the great French and German opticians are not represented at all. To one interested specially in the progress of the science, the most noteworthy objects are the astronomical photographs of various kinds. The English section, in addition to many eclipse photographs, contains the wonderful nebula photographs of Roberts and Common. In some respects Professor Pickering's collection in the Harvard college exhibit, is still more notable, containing not only the latest results obtained at Cambridge and in South America by the Harvard observers, but begin- ning with Bond's historical daguerreotypes of the moon which excited so great interest in 1851 at the Crystal Palace exhibition. There are numerous other negatives, well deserving notice, from the Ienwood observatory of Chicago, and other astronomical establishments. Quite probably, before the meeting of the Astronomical congress, on August 2ist. the exhibits will have been considerably increased by specimens of recent work brought with them by the various delegates. From information received since the above was written, we learn that Mr. Brashear' s exhibit also contains two fine object-glasses, one eighteen and the other fifteen inches in diameter : also, that in the Electricity building, in the exhibit of the German op- ticians, there are some fine specimens of the new Jena optical glass, including a pair of disks twenty-three inches in diameter. There are also a number of object-glasses by Merz, from ten inches aperture down, and a considerable collection of small 620 THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE. telescopes, spectroscopes, etc., by Merz, Steinheil and others. The Johns Hopkins university exhibits a number of Rowland's diffraction gratings and his unrivalled photographs of solar and metallic spectra. There are also numerous other exhibits of considerable astronomical interest, which we have not space to mention. C. A. YOUNG. WITHIN the recollection of men but little past middle life, means of travel were nowhere in advance of those possessed by the most remote recorded antiquity. The chariot of English Elizabeth was no whit better than that of Egyptian Rameses three thousand years earlier. Even the seventeenth century contrivance of carriage springs marked no radical advance. It was during this prenatal period of "rapid transit " that, as a child, I witnessed, in the city of London, a panorama of a strange new contrivance called a "steam railway," said to be in actual operation somewhere in "the north countrie." A few j^ears later, while employed in one of the great loco- motive shops of Lancashire, I became an eye-witness of the system in some of its early stages and of the throng of distinguished visitors. Among these, the venerable astronomer, Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel, is well remembered, because it became my duty to condvict the measurer of astral spaces through the establishment. The Liverpool and Manchester railway was the work of men who " builded wiser than they knew." The original scheme simply contemplated the application to a public thoroughfare of an iron tramway such as long used in mines. The type of tram adopted required, indeed, a special form of track-wheels, but vehicle-propulsion by a self-contained power, was an afterthought. Such vehicles, however, and such a track were soon found to be essential complements of each other, but, of the two, no one then thought that the seeminglj 7 far simpler problem of a perfect track would be the last to reach a satisfactory solution. Every traveller is aware of the annoyances arising from lack of continuity in the track ; to some, it has come in the serious form of impairment of vision or hearing, to the railroad manager it means wear and tear of rolling stock and of the track itself. In the incipiency of the system, the mills could supply only short sections, and the greater lengths since obtainable, having been accompanied by a corresponding accel- eration of travel, the frequency of jolts due to the still numerous and constantly de- teriorating joints has remained about the same. The various expedients of bolted fish-plates, chairs, etc., have proved only temporaril)- effective. When the propo- sition of welding end-to-end in situ was first suggested, the objection was raised that contraction after summer welding would result in transverse fracture, and expansion after winter welding in dangerous lateral swerving of the track, but, in default of any then known mode of welding in situ, these objections possessed no practical signifi- cance. Inasmuch, however, as under the method now to be described the sections are welded in situ, it may be proper to call attention to the fact that the now ascer- tained change of length of a bar of Bessemer steel (the present material of track- rails), under the greatest known range of atmospheric temperature, being considerably less than its limit of elasticity, no trouble is expected by the projectors, especially where, as in the present case, welding is confined to the hottest months, and, therefore, only the lesser evil of contraction need be considered. The Problem Solved. End-to-end welding of the rail-sections, coupled with perfect alignment has, at last, been made possible by Professor Elihu Thomson's electric THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE. 621 welding process. The application of this invention to railway engineering is now undergoing its first practical application on the Harvard Square electric railway of Cambridge, Mass., under direction of the engineer, Mr. Milton Brown. As has so often been observed with inventions of the first rank, the details are extremely simple. Before application of the welding apparatus, the sides of two abutting rail- sections, near their respective extremities, are scoured at four places, each about eight square inches, by means of an emery-wheel mounted on the end of a flexible revolving shaft, differing in size only from those which, it may be feared, have already been familiarized to the reader in his dentist's laboratory. This flexible shaft is rotated by a small motor having electrical connection with the trolley -wire. Before application of the weld-plates, any opening found between the abutting sections is closed by sheet-iron plugs. The weld-plates, two to each joint, consist of slabs of mild Bessemer steel, 1x4x8 inches. Against these plates two copper-faced jaws (cooled by currents of cold water) of a powerful vise are brought to bear. A switch en- ables the operator to include these jaws, together with the rail-sections and their en- closing plates, in an electric circuit. The plates having been placed in position and the jaws made to bear against them with the desired pressure, the electric current is turned on, and, accumulating in the relatively slow-conducting plates and rail-sec- tions, these parts, in a few seconds, reach a white heat. As the parts become thus softened, the operator gradually increases the jaw-pressure. In about three minutes, the current being switched off, a final squeeze of the still glowing metal completes and solidifies the weld. Where a joint is found to be in proper alignment this final squeeze perfects the work for that particular joint, but, where otherwise, the opera- tor, while the parts are still in the glowing and plastic condition, takes the oppor- tunity thus afforded to bring them into line. The red-hot plates and rail-ends yield and take new forms under the swinging blows of a ponderous hammer, but the welds hold fast. The operation thus combines the advantage of continuity and perfect alignment. The weld-plate, in its horizontal section, being of i 1 form, touches the rail-side only by its two flanges, which become flattened against the rail by the joint action of the heat and mechanical pressure. In the experiment noted, a continuous current of about five hundred volts four hun- dred amperes, is taken from two trolle}"- wires into a motor-dynamo on the operating car by which it is converted into an alternating current of three hundred and fifty volts electrical pressure, thence, traversing a system of induction coils, the electric force becomes transformed into a current of four volts fifty thousand amperes, that is to say, a current of large volume having just sufficient electrical pressure to force it through the point of contact. In the present early stage of the experiment the work proceeds at the rate of about four joints an hour. GEORGE H. KNIGHT. CHEMISTRY AT THE FAIR A KNOWLEDGE of chemistry is undoubtedly more essential to all classes and consequently more general than that of any other science. The hygienic requisites to reasonable health and comfort enforce this knowledge upon all peoples of whatever clime, country or condition. The greater the knowledge of the more general laws of chemistry the higher is the physical life of the people. Chemistry is likewise the science most generally and generously drawn upon by all the learned professions and liberal arts. These facts are strikingly illustrated in the exhibits at the Columbian Fair. More 622 THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE. than three- fourths of the general departments represented at the exposition have chemical laboratories as part of their equipment. In nearly all of the buildings are model laboratories for special purposes, and in all are shown the results of the practi- cal application of the science. These applications are entirely too numerous for any attempt at general mention in this place ; indeed, such mention would include a large proportion of the arts and industries whose products are shown at the Fair and which are seen on every side. While chemistry could not be expected to prepare new bodies especially for the Fair, it may be interesting to note that the Johns Hopkins university has on exhibi- tion a series of such bodies which have, at different times, been isolated at that in- stitution. Among the exhibits of the Mining building the curious will find many of the rarer elementary bodies, such as will never be seen, except by specialists, out- side of show-cases. Among these may be mentioned silicon, boron, osmium, iridium, ruthenium and palladium. Along with these is shown, by a London firm, a single appliance of chemistry, made of platinum, for concentrating sulphuric acid, which is valued at over fourteen thousand dollars, and which is capable of concentrating thir- teen tons of acid in twenty-four hours. In the same building may also be seen con- siderable quantities of the valuable metal aluminum, becoming constantly more im- portant because of its increasing cheapness. Perhaps the most remarkable and valuable Columbian contribution to the science of chemistry is a volume bearing the title, " A Select Bibliography of Chemistry, 1492 to 1892." It is the work of Professor Henry Carrington Bolton, already widely known to the scientific world through his previous researches and writings, and now president of the New York Academy of Sciences. The book is shown in the model library exhibited by the Bureau of Education in the Government building. It contains the titles of the principal books on chemistry published from the rise of the literature to the end of the year 1892, and embraces over twelve thousand titles in twenty-four languages. It will be of great value to librarians as well as to chemists. This portly octavo of 1212 pages forms Vol. xxxvi of the Smithsonian Miscellane- ous collections. S. E. TILLMAN, COLONEL U.S.A. * # DIAMONDS AT THE FAIR. ONE of the most attractive exhibits in the Mining building is that of South African diamonds. Here one may see not merely the familiar finished gem, but the process of cutting ; and not merely the uncut stones, but lumps of dark rock from which large, more or less well-formed crystals of diamond protrude like pieces of citron from a fruit pudding. This rock is a very basic one of eruptive origin ( peridotite or a closely allied rock), and the diamonds are porphyritic constituents which probably reached their full size before the molten mass started upon its journey toward the surface. The precise depth from which eruptive rocks reach the surface is not known, but that the distance is a considerable number of miles no one doubts. It is scarcely possible that it should be so little as ten miles and is probabl3' nearer twenty. In either case the eruptives originated below the stratified rocks of sedimen- tary origin, and therefore the carbon of which these diamonds are formed is not de- rived from vegetable or animal matter. On the contrary it must be furnished by subterranean supplies of the element which have never entered into organic structures. The diamond has also been found in meteoric iron from Diablo canon, Arizona, in the form of small grains, which display all the physical and chemical properties of the gem. These meteorites contain some carbon, too, in another form, namely, in imion with iron and nickel. This is the same way in which carbon exists in the nickel- steel now being manufactured for armor-plates, and it is never absent from the me- tallic meteorites in this form. Metallic iron, again, has in some cases reached the sur- face of the earth embedded in basic eruptions containing, like peridotite, a mineral called olivine, also known in meteorites. Now, since diamonds, metallic iron and olivine are all interterrestrial substances and all also meteoric constituents, it is ex- tremely probable that portions at least of the earth's interior are similar in composi- THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE. 623 tion to the meteorites. The great average density of the earth, five and a half times that of water, would be quite intelligible if one were to assume that it consisted in great part of nickel-steel like so many of the meteorites. Real translucent diamonds have been artificially produced by Mr. Henri Moissan, whose method was stated in the July Cosmopolitan. GEORGE F. BECKER. AN ELECTRIC COMPARI- SON. HOW rapid the development of the electrical arts has been within the past few years may be seen by comparing the electrical exhibits at the Centennial ex- hibition in Philadelphia, in 1876, with those at the Columbian exposition now at Chicago. Then, electrical apparatus consisted mostly of telegraphic devices, gal- vanic batteries, static machines, ley den jars, etc., for school illustrations and measur- ing instruments such as galvanometers and resistance coils. There were a few crude dynamos and one small imported Gramme machine, none of them intended to main- tain more than one arc light. Now, there is rivalry for space in which to exhibit dynamos capable of lighting fifty or more in one circuit. Then, there was not a single incandescent lamp in the world. Now, they are to be seen by the tens of thousands and with all degrees of brightness from that of a tallow dip to those but little inferior to the arc itself, and every exhibit is thus lighted. Then, there was not a single electrical motor that was more than a toy to be run by a galvanic cell. Now, motors for all kinds of service from driving a fan to those run- ning printing-presses, looms, machine shops, and threatening the existence of the locomotive itself. Then, all welding was done by hammering at the forge. Now, electricity heats the ends to be joined and in less time than it takes to describe the process, heavy shafts and rails may be welded even better than was possible before. Then, it was not pos- sible to weld steel or other metals than iron. Now, almost any metal may be electri- cally welded to another as easily as iron to iron. Then, there were induction coils for producing sparks a few inches long. Now, such sparks have been made five feet long and it is believed could be made fifty feet long if it were worth the while. Then, induction coils were employed only for changing low potentials to higher. Now, the transformer reverses the process and makes elec- tric lighting feasible miles away from the dynamo. Then, it was possible to send but two telegraphic messages in opposite directions simultaneously. Now, seventy-two messages can be sent, thirty-six in each direction, on one wire without interference. Then, the telephone was first exhibited on a line the length of a building. Now, one can talk with another a thousand miles away. Then, it was believed that a continuous conductor was essential for doing any kind of electrical work. Now, it is shown that all kinds of such work may be done without material connections. Then, it was thought that light was one of the physical forces. Now, it is believed that light is an electro- magnetic wave. Then, it was believed and taught that electricity could never be economically em- ployed for driving machinery and that its light could not be subdivided. Now, it is believed that electricity is in its infancy. Then, all the electrical exhibit could be put in a space fifty feet square. Now, a huge building, covering acres, is found insufficient for the needs of exhibitors. All this since '76. A. E. DOLBEAR. OSE LOPEZ was standing ankle- deep in the sand beside his lamed pony, swinging his sombrero back and forth by his side and swearing in a rich, sonorous mellif- luous strain which swept on and on as uninterruptedly as the winds ranged over the plains. Introduction : andante, pianis- simoa soft-voiced appeal to some of the lesser saints of his calendar to stand by and see fair play. Opening strain : a creditably performed presto movement in good, short, stout oaths, serving to inspire the performer with confidence and to ac- quaint the listener with the theme of the composition in its simplest expression ; then theme in octaves, allegro ftirioso, with elaborate appoggiatura effects, drift- ing in the third strain into a short fugue movement, difficult of execution and bringing the perspiration in beads ; then, finale, a mighty crescendo, woven close with sweeping arpeggios an unreserved condemnation of all things earthly to an eternity of existence in a very lurid and real perdition of unimaginable horrors. When he had done, and was panting for breath, he made his pony limp a few steps along the trail. It was of no use ; the beast was hopelessly lame, and there was nothing in Jose's immediate future but a weary march of ten miles on foot over the sinuous dusty trail which stretched out ahead of him, a streak of brown desolation, toward Socorro. So, with a final brief anathema upon the head of the prairie-dog w r hich would dig a burrow in the middle of a trail, and upon the awk- wardness of the pony which would blindly thrust his foot into it, he threw the bridle rein over his arm, gave a fierce hitch to his buckskin trousers and took up his walk. The mere circumstance of walking was bad enough in the abstract, for he was possessed of an infinite capacity for ease. But that was not the worst of it ; tomor- row was the day of the correr el gallo, with the fandango in the evening. It was in honor of that that he had attired himself in his best buckskin and his sil- vered sombrero and was going on this pilgrimage. And now in the game he would have to ride a strange pony, one unaccustomed to the work perhaps ; there was no dependence to be placed upon the temper of a strange pony : it might mean defeat in the game, and ignominy in the sight of Florita Espalda. Ah ! Florita Espalda was the attraction to Socorro, and not the correr a curse upon the breakneck game ; he would not have stirred a step but for the hope of seeing her and winning a mark of her favor a smile or a glance or some sign of her pleasure when she should bow acceptance of the token of his valor. JOSE: A TALE OF OLD SOCORRO. 625 Was there ever so fair a senorita ? Even now, when he half closed his own lids, he could see the glorious languid eyes, the round throat and the oval face, and he swore a soft little oath of simple ecstacy. But that died away unfinished, before a sharp spasm of jealous fear. It was a month since he had seen her a whole month. What might not have happened in a month ? When they had parted he had held her little fingers for an instant long enough to carry them passionately to his lips. But a month ! The lips of a dozen lovers might have kissed her hand : the right might no longer be his. But even the passion of love or the pangs of jealousy will take on a secondary im- portance under present pressing physical discomfort, and it was a mighty discomfort to lift the dead weight of his feet through mile after mile of yielding dry sand under a broiling sun, with nothing to relieve the monotony but the interminable red hills and the patches of cactus and sage-brush, reduced to the same tiresome color by their coat of yellow dust. They did not relieve the monotony ; they only served as accent and punctuation marks. At last the red sun went down behind the low range to the westward, with Jose's blessing vipon it, and the outer confines of the dreary landscape grew confused and indistinct under the gathering dark- ness, the circle of shadows narrowing closer and closer about him until he could only see the trail with difficult}'. Then the moon came up, blood-red, looking tired and hot, too, and kept him company on the last mile of his walk, until he reached Socorro and became one of the roisterers upon the plaza, who were drink- ing themselves into a state of proper en- thusiasm for the festivities of the morrow. When a Spaniard unbends, he grows thirsty ; it is a natural sequence. Thirst, fathomless and unquenchable, had pos- session of every human soul upon the plaza. No one tried to disguise it ; no one pretended to satiate it ; what the}' drank only teased and irritated it to a more vigorous expression of itself. Jose drank too. Again that fair round-throated vision rose before his eyes ; the pulque had dis- pelled his fears as it warmed his blood. He pronounced her name, and bade his friends drink with him to his success. " There is need to drink to thy success in strong liquor," one of the revellers said, with lips smiling over the rim of his glass. There was a question in Jose's eyes, half closed, menacing, and in the poised hand with its glass of pulque. " Thy sefiorita has not suffered of lone- liness," the other explained; "Only to- day I saw her, forgetful of propriety, walk- ing under the cottonwoods with a seiior Atnericano, and she listened to him will- ingly. He is entered for the correr to- morrow, too, and if he wins, I doubt not she will wear his favor." "Caramba!" Jose burst forth. "A senor Americano ! And she looks at him ! She shall see ! And he is entered for the correr ? It is well ; she shall see. Drink ! Drink!" The poised glass went to the lips and the narrowed eyes widened. He shared a common contempt for los Ameri- canos. He had soon drunk himself into forgetfulness of the despised dog of a gringo. * * # Upon the northern side of the pictur- esque sunlit plaza which formed the cen- ter of life in the village of Socorro, there opened a narrow, winding adobe-walled lane, its snake-like course cast into deep grateful shade by the interlaced branches of the giant cottonwoods growing in the yards and courts upon either side. Here and there throughout its length rude seats of stone or hewn timbers were placed, wooing the idle Spaniard It was the one cool retreat in the village from the persis- tent desolating glare of the southern sun. John Vannerson was keenly alive to the charms of the place as he loitered among the shadows that August afternoon, with the warm breath of the valley air stirring in the cottonwoods and fanning his bared head. He was still more keenly alive to the delicate charms of the companionship of Florita Espalda, the dark-eyed sefiorita, the belle of every village fandango, who sat upon the bench beside him listening, with kindling color and dainty deliciously natural coquetry, to his speeches in badly muddled Spanish. She too was charmed ; her lovers had been of the fiery, compelling Spanish type hitherto ; she had known nothing of the winning ingenious gentle- ness of the Yankee lover, who pleaded in- stead of commanding. And John him- self, with his sturdy Saxon height, laugh- ing blue eyes and fair hair, was so differ- 40 626 JOSE: A TALE OF OLD SOCORRO. ent a man. And .so she listened, with her pretty head bent, with round bared arms crossed in her lap, with brown bosom ris- ing and falling gently under the folds of the loose mantilla, while John Vannerson talked. It was this that Juan Pino, Jose's friend, had seen. Poor Jose ! * * # In their parlance the next day was a "saint's da} 7 ," although it might have puzzled the saint whoever he was to discover just what part he had in it. An extra candle or two burned in the little adobe church, and the wrinkled old men and withered women who knelt about upon the earthen floor were somewhat more gaily attired and a trifle more pre- cise in their prayers than was common, but other signs were wanting. Outside the church, in the warm air, all was life and fervid activity. Age was the dominant element among the worshippers ; youth was in the ascendant without pretty speech, softly intoned laughter and shy juggling tricks of the dark eyes. The wide plaza was all aglow with its gay decking of green branches, colored rib- bons and mantillas, and brave with holi- day trappings of men and ponies. Even the low red hills which hedged them in were not altogether unlovely today. A shout, a gay babbling of many tongues and a scattering of the multitude toward the center of the plaza disturbed the slow noon. It was the beginning of the game the correr el gallo. An im- pressive figure in jeweled sombrero and brilliant scrape stood apart from the others, urging them to listen. Under his arm he carried a finely plumed barnyard cock, which jerked its head about with many chucklings of surprise. He of the brilliant serape declared the rules. The bird, with neck well greased, would be buried in the earth so that nothing but the head and neck remained in sight ; the contestants would mount, retire to the further end cf the plaza, fifty yards away, and as each one's name was called he would strike his pony into a gallop, charge upon the unlucky fowl, throw himself upon his animal's side, and en- deavor to seize the bird's head in his hand, and tear it from the body or lift the body from the earth. This done, the suc- cessful sportsman was at liberty to present a bit of the plumage to his chosen lady, as a token of esteem, and if accepted she would wear it at the dance in the evening, as a mark of her favor. It was soon ar- ranged : then the master of ceremonies had a hole made in the earth of the court, where the bird was buried, too much sur- prised now to do aught but blink his round eyes helplessly. Jose was mounted, as he had feared, upon a strange pony, a beast of pure white with trappings of yellow. Vannerson had a sturdy bay. Upon the breast of his shirt he wore a tiny knot of ribbon. The furtive e}"es of the Mexican, measuring the lithe figure, detected this fleck of color and his brow lowered. Florita wore ribbon of the same hue in her dark hair. There was a dangerous light in his glance now, but Vannerson was innocent and calm. Twice in the morning Jos6 had sought Florita ; twice he bad found her and the mad re with John Vannerson. His nervous fingers toyed with his belt and his sensuous lips were compressed and colorless. "Ready!" the master of ceremonies called, and the contestants grouped them- selves in their place, waiting. "Manuel Espejo ! " It was the name of him who stood first upon the list. A bit of a lad, hardly out of his teens, struck spurs into his pony and leaped forward. He was but a novice ; he went wide of the mark, but the crowd cheered his effort. "Carlos Baca ! " The second had no better success, nor the third, nor the fourth ; then the fifth succeeded in grasp- ing the hapless bird's head lightly, but it slipped through his fingers. At last, ' Jose Lopez ! " A sharp stroke of the heels, and Jose was away. He was a bold rider, and the fire of determination burned in his heart and shone out of his eyes. But a prairie-dog had dug a burrow in the trail back there on the plains ; upon such little things do events hang. With cool courage Jose threw himself down upon the pony's side and stretched out his eager hand, but the beast was not used to the correr. He shied nervousl}- out of his path, reared, and Jose sprawled in the 3*ellow dust of the plaza, while the gay throng laughed. He picked himself up and limped away, furious ' ' Juan Gonzales ! ' ' But Juan was luck- less. Then, " El senor Americano, Juan Vanareson ! " JOSE; A TALE OF OLD SOCORRO. 627 The bay was off like a shot, and in a moment the assembly was cheering gen- erously. John swung himself from the saddle, his sinewy hand closed about the neck of the buried fowl and lifted it bodily from its place and waved it high in the air. He clipped a dozen feathers from the cock's bright plumage, then loosed him, squawking. With bridle rein over his arm he walked to Florita and knelt before her. "Will you wear these for me?" he asked, and her pretty hand thrust the feathers into the fine masses of soft hair coiled upon her head. # * * " Drink ! Drink ! " Jose and his friend, Juan Pjno, sat together through the after- noon in a small room back of one of the saloons. "Drink ! Drink !" was Jose's constant plea, and Juan drank. Why not ? JosS was paying, and the wine was rich and warm and cheered his heart. For hours they had sat together thus, drink- ing now and again, until Juan was well mellowed. When Jose saw that his eyes were dancing and heard his loosened tongue wagging, he drew his chair close to the other and bent forward, whispering impressively. Did you ever know that whispers will inspire attention and con- fidence where thunders would fail ? "Juan, brother of my soul," he began, and Juan's tongue ceased its din : "We have always been friends ; is it not .so? " "Always, my Jose always, "Juan re- turned, warmly a warmth bred of Jose's wine. ' ' And now I have that to ask which will show thy love of me. Drink ! Drink!" and he filled his companion's glass with the dusky liquor. Juan lifted it to his lips ; it was ripe and fragrant. "Ask what thou wilt ! " he cried, wip- ing the beads of wine from his moustache, " ask what thou wilt." "Softly, softly!" Jose warned in his most winning whisper ; " it is of vast im- port and none must hear. I shall not ask it of thee for mere friendship's sake ; I have gold to give thee too, if it is well done," and he held some shining pieces in his hand. Juan's eyes glistened ; the world was not a bed of roses for him ; his couch was commonly the hard ground of the mesa, among his few sheep. A piece of gold was an unaccustomed sight. Juan extended his hand and locked it in that of his friend. "I am thine," he said, " thou hast but to command." '.' It is well," Jose answered ; " I knew I should not ask amiss. Thou hast seen my deep love of the seiiorita Florita, and thou hast seen the greater success of the dog of an Americano. Caramba ! it makes my blood boil in my veins ! He has won the correr, and she has taken his favor and tonight she will wear it in the dance. Is it not enough ? But she does not love him, think 3*ou ? She is only charmed by his big bod\- and his blue eyes. She loved meonce, andDios ! she must love me again! It is this that I ask of thee ; here is liquor drink.drinkwhatthouwiltandstrength- en thy heart. Then tonight, at the dance, thou must find cause to quarrel with this dog. It will be easy, for I have seen him drinking today, too. Thou must have thy knife convenient dost thou compre- hend ? " His narrowed eyes were search- ing his friend's face; the coins chinking in his hands were speaking eloquently. Juan smiled, nodding and draining his glass. "It is so simple," he said ; " I wonder that thou hast need to ask it of another. ' ' Jose's face brightened. < ' Ah ! " he said, " thou forgettest that the seiiorita will be there ; it must not be my quarrel with the Americano ; it must not be my knife, or she will not look upon me again. It is well. Drink ! Drink !" # -x * By ten in the night the fandango was well a-going ; the low-ceiled wide room was stifling with the smoke of the lights, but through the sultry air sounded the ceaseless, throbbing, palpitating music of guitars and mandolins, and no foot could be still. Even the shriveled dames and men seated in the corners, out of the way of the dancers, trod in quaint rliythm with their old feet, and here and there a faint color came into the hueless cheeks, beneath the strangely bright eyes. Florita was the gayest of all, and the most beautiful. She had no charms but were shown tonight, as she danced with Vannerson, smiled upon Vannerson, co- quetted with Vannerson, until his sus- ceptible Yankee heart burned and glowed, and Jose, watching with eager eyes, mis- took the flush upon the blonde cheeks for 628 THE STRONGHOLD OF THE GODS. the work of the wine, which flowed with- out limit. He thought that Juan's quar- rel would be easy. Then there came a brief lull in the hum of the music, and John sat apart, alone, with head bared to the grateful air enter- ing through a low window. He had left Florita's side, but his eyes were still upon her, seated over on the woman's side of the wide room. He saw her leave her place and cross toward him, laughing shyly, her hands hidden be- neath her mantilla. She paused before him for a brief instant, quickly re- leased her hands and dashed upon his head a beribboned egg shell, which burst and threw over him a spray of delicate perfume. It was a direct challenge: he must catch her before she regained her seat ; then he might kiss her. He was quick to move ; his long legs were agile, and midway on the floor his arm encircled her and the merry spectators cheered the sounding kiss upon the brown cheek. They were in gay humor ; they would have cheered the appearance of the evil one, had he come with some fresh diversion. Then, in the midst of the throng, Juan, inflamed, passionate with wine, brushed rudely against the American. It was a studied insult which he muttered under his breath. He saw that there was no knife or pistol at Vannerson's belt, and he felt quite safe. He had forgotten that the great American fist is sometimes a most effective weapon ; he only remem- bered it when he lay sprawling upon the floor, with a deep cut over his eye. He was up again like an infuriated beast, with long, slender knife bared in his hand. Vannerson, unarmed, await- ed the savage rush, then stepped aside, thinking to avoid the knife and grasp his fiery little antagonist in his sinewy arms and deprive him of his weapon. Juan, maddened with his long carouse, furious under the ignominy of his floor- ing, blinded with the blood which flowed from the cut on his forehead, did not see what was done ; he only knew that he had leaped forward, writhing his arms and legs about the figure of the man who stood in his path, and then once twice he sent the slender blade deep into the breast of his victim. ' ' Juan ! Mother of God ! " It was a long, shrill wail of agony, but Juan knew the voice. " Jos6 ! " He brushed the blood from his blinded eyes and bent over the pros- trate man : ' ' Jose ! Jose ! Look at me ! God in heaven, what have I done ! Jose, brother of my soul, speak to me ! " But there was only a gasping sigh, and the ^dsses^&x awed revellers loo k e d glazed in eyes THE STRONGHOLD OF THE GODS. BY JOHN VANCE CHENEY. HERE, in this monastery of the rock, Be mine the kingly comfort of a soul At peace. In stronghold of the gods' control I rest, well-sheltered ; safe against the shock Of change, against the horrors all that knock At hope's lone door. Here life is sweet and whole, As Heaven means it ; doubt is not, no dole, Pain's bony finger cannot break this lock. The stanchest monarch never wore this crown ; High on the hilltop, trouble lies far down. IS HE LIVING OR IS HE DEAD ? BY MARK TWAIN. I WAS spending the month of March, 1892, at Mentone, in the Riviera. At this retired spot one has all the ad- vantages privately, which are to be had at Monte Carlo and Nice, a few miles further along, publicly. That is to say, one has the flooding sunshine, the balmy air and the brilliant blue sea, without the marring additions of human pow-wow and fuss and feathers and display. Mentone is quiet, simple, restful, unpretentious ; the rich and the gaudy do not come there. As a rule, I mean, the rich do not come there. Now and then a rich man comes, and I presently got acquainted with one of these. Partially to disguise him, I will call him Smith. One day, in the Hotel des Anglais, at the second breakfast, he exclaimed : 1 ' Quick ! Cast your eye on the man go- ing out at the door. Take in every detail of him." "Why?" 1 ' Do you know who he is ? " " Yes. He spent several days here be- fore you came. He is an old, retired and very rich silk manufacturer from Lyons, they say, and I guess he is alone in the world, for he always looks sad and dreamy, and doesn't talk with anybody. His name is Theophile Magnan." I supposed that Smith would now pro- ceed to justify the large interest which he had shown in Monsieur Magnan, but, in- stead, he dropped into a brown study, and was apparently lost to me and to the rest of the world during some minutes. Now and then he passed his fingers through his flossy white hair, to assist his think- ing, and meantime he allowed his break- fast to go on cooling. At last he said : " No, it's gone ; I can't call it back." " Can't call what back ? " " It's one of Hans Andersen's beautiful little stories. But it's gone from me. Part of it is like this : A child has a caged bird, which it loves, but thoughtlessly neglects. The bird pours out its song unheard and unheeded ; but, in time, hunger and thirst assail the creature, and its song grows plaintive and feeble and finally ceases the bird dies. The child comes, and is smitten to the heart with remorse ; then, with bitter tears and lam- entations, it calls its mates, and they bury the bird with elaborate pomp and the tenderest grief, without knowing, poor things, that it isn't children only who starve poets to death and then spend enough on their funerals and monuments to have kept them alive and made them easy and comfortable. Now " 630 75 HE LIVING OR IS HE DEAD ? But here we were in- terrupted. About ten, that evening, I ran across Smith, and he asked me up to his par- lor to help him smoke and drink hot Scotch. It was a cosy place, with its comfortable chairs, its cheerful lamps and its friendly open fire of seasoned olive-wood. To make everything perfect, there was the muffled booming of the surf outside. After the second Scotch and much lazy and content- ed chat, Smith said : ' ' Now we are properly primed I to tell a curious history, and you to listen to it. It has been a secret for' many years -a secret between me and three others ; but I am going to break the seal now. Are 3 r ou comfortable ? ' ' " Perfectly. Go on. " Here follows what he told me : A long time ago I was a young artist a very young artist, in fact and I wan- dered about the country parts of France, sketching here and sketching there, and was presently joined by a couple of dar- ling young Frenchmen who were at the same kind of thing that I was doing. -mi.sKKltmfVif.tt. We were as happy as we. were poor, or as poor as we were happy phrase it to suit your- self. Claude Frere and Carl Boulanger these are the names of those boys ; dear, dear fel- lows, and the sunniest spirits that ever laughed at poverty and had a noble good time in all weathers. At last we ran hard a ground in a Breton vil- lage, and an artist as poor as ourselves took us in and literally saved us from starving Franjois Millet ' ' What ! the great Franjois Millet ? ' ' Great ? He wasn't any greater than we were, then. He hadn't any fame, even in his own village ; and he was so poor that he hadn't an}-thing to feed us on but turnips, and even the turnips failed us sometimes. We four became fast friends, doting friends, inseparables. We painted away together with all our might, piling up stock, piling up stock, but very seldom getting rid of any of it. We had lovety times together ; but, O my soul ! how we were pinched now and then ! For a little over two years this went on. At last, one day, Claude said : " Boys, we've come to the end. Do you understand that? absolutely to the end. Eve^body ha's struck there's a league formed against us. I've been all around the village and it's just as I tell you. They refuse to credit us for another cen- time until all the odds and ends are paid up." This struck us cold. Every face was blank with dismay. We realized that our circumstances were desperate, now. There was a long silence. Finally, Millet said, with a sigh : " Nothing occurs to me nothing. Sug- gest something, lads." There was no response, unless a mourn- ful silence may be called a response. Carl got up, and walked nervously up and down a while, then said : " It's a shame ! Look at these canvases : stacks and stacks of as good pictures as anybody in Europe paints I don't care SS HE LIVING OR IS HE DEAD f 631 who he is. Yes, and plenty of lounging strangers have said the same or nearly that, anyway." " But didn't buy," Millet said. " No matter, they said it ; and it's true, too. Look at your ' Angelus f there ; will anybody tell me " Pah, Carl my Angelus ! I was of- fered five francs for it." "When !" " Who offered it !" " Where is he ! " " Why didn't you take it ! " " Come don't all speak at once. I thought he would give more I was siire of it he looked it so I asked him eight." " Well and then ?" " He said he would call again." ' ' Thunder and lightning ! Why, Fran- cois ' ' " Oh, I kn'ow, I know ! It was a mis- take, and I was a fool. Boys, I meant for the best ; you'll all grant me that, and I " if an illustrious name were attached to them they would sell at splendid prices. Isn't it so? " " Certainly it is. Nobody doubts that." " But I'm not joking isn't it so ? " " Why, of course it's so and we are not joking. But what of it ? What of it ? How does that concern us ? " " In this way comrades we'll attach an illustrious name to them ! " The lively conversation stopped. The faces were turned inquiringly upon Carl. What sort of riddle might this be ? Where was an illustrious name to be borrowed ? And who was to borrow it ? Carl sat down, and said : 1 ' Now I have a perfectly serious thing to propose. I think it is the only way to keep us out of the almshouse, and I be- lieve it to be a perfectly sure way. I base this opinion upon certain multitudinous and long established facts in human his- tory. I believe my project will make us all rich." "Rich! You've lost your mind." " No, I haven't." " Yes, you have you've lost your mind. What do you call rich ? ' ' 1 ' A hundred thousand francs 'TAKE IN EVERY IJETAII " Why, certainly, we know that, bless your dear heart ; but don't you be a fool again." "I? I wish somebody would come along and offer us a cabbage for it you'd see ! ' ' " A cabbage ! Oh, don't name it it makes my mouth water. Talk of things less trying." " Boys," said Carl, " do these pictures lack merit ? Answer me that. ' ' "No!" " Aren't they of very great and high merit ? Answer me that." " Yes." " Of such great and high merit, that, apiece. " He has lost his mind. I knew it." " Yes, he has. Carl, privation has been too much for you and " " Carl, you want to take a pill and get right to bed ! " " Bandage him first bandage his head, and then " No, bandage his heels ; his brains have been settling for weeks I've noticed it." "Shut up!" said Millet, with osten- sible severity, "and let the boy say his say. Now then come out with your project, Carl. What is it? " "Well, then, by way of preamble I will ask you to note this fact in human his- tory : that the merit of many a great artist has never been acknowledged until after he was starved and dead. This has happened so often that I make bold to 632 /S HE LI} 7 I NO OR IS HE DEAD f found a law upon it. This law : that the merit of every great unknown and neglect- ed artist must and will be recognized and his pictures climb to high prices after his death. My project is this : we must cast lots one of us must die. ' ' The remark fell so calmly and so unex- pectedly that we almost forgot to jump. Then there was a wild chorus of advice again medical advice, for the help of Carl's brain ; but he waited patiently for the hilarity to calm down, then went on again with his project : " Yes, one of us must die, to save the others and himself. We will cast lots. The one chosen shall be illustrious, all of us shall be rich. Hold still, now hold still ; don't interrupt I tell you I know what I am talking about. Here is the idea. During the next three months the one who is to die shall paint with all his might, enlarge his stock all he can not pictures, no! skeleton sketches, studies, parts of studies, fragments of studies, a dozen dabs of the brush on each mean- " EVERY FACE WAS BLANK WITH DISMAY ingless, of course, but his, with his cipher on them ; turn out fifty a day, each to contain some peculiarity or mannerism easily detectable as his they're the things that sell you know, and are collected at fabulous prices for the world's museums, after the great man is gone ; we'll have a ton of them ready a ton ! And all that time the rest of us will be busy support- ing the moribund, and working Paris and the dealers preparations for the coming event, you know ; and when everything is hot and just right, we'll spring the death on them and have the notorious funeral. You get the idea ? " " N-o ; at least, not qu "Not quite? Don't you see? The man doesn't really die ; he changes his name and vanishes ; we bury a dummy, and cry over it, with all the world to help. And I" But he wasn't allowed to finish. Every- body broke out into a rousing hurrah of applause ; and all jumped up and capered about the room and fell on each other's necks, in transports of gratitude and joy. For hours we talked over the great plan, without ever feeling hungry ; and at last, when all the details had been arranged satisfactorily, we cast lots and Millet was elected elected to die, as we called it. Then we scraped together those things which one never parts with* until he is betting them against future wealth keepsake trinkets and suchlike and these we pawned for enough to furnish us a frugal farewell supper and breakfast, and leave us a few francs over for travel, and a stake of turnips and stuff for Millet to live on for a few days. Next morning early, the three of us cleared out, straight- way after breakfast on foot, of course. Each of us carried a dozen of Millet's small pictures, purposing to market them. Carl struck for Paris, where he would start the work of building up Millet's fame against the coming great day; Claude and I were to separate, and scatter abroad over France. Now, it will surprise you to know what an easy and comfortable thing we had. I walked two days before I began business. Then I began to sketch a villa in the out- skirts of a big town because I saw the proprietor standing on an upper verandah. He came down to look on I thought he would. I worked swiftly, intending to keep him interested. Occasionally he SS HE LIVING OR IS HE DEAD? 633 fired off a little ejaculation of approbation, and by and by he spoke up with enthusi- asm and said I was a master ! I put down my brush, reached into my satchel, fetched out a Millet, and point- ed to the cipher in the corner. I said, proudly : " I suppose you recognize that? Well, he taught me ! I should think I ought to know my trade ! " The man looked guiltily embarrassed, and was silent. I said, sorrowfully : ." You don't mean to intimate that you don't know the cipher of Fra^ois Mil- let !" Of course he didn't know that cipher ; but he was the grateful lest man you ever saw, just the same, for being let out of an uncomfortable place on such easy terms. He said : " No ! Why, it is Millet's, sure enough ! I don't know what I could have been, thinking of. Of course I recognize it now." Next, he wanted to buy it ; but I said that although I wasn't rich I wasn't that poor. However, at last, I let him have it for eight hundred francs. " Eight hundred !" Yes. Millet would have sold it for a pork chop. Yes, I got eight hundred francs for that little thing. I wish I could get it back for eighty thousand. But that time's gone by. I made a very nice picture of that man's house, and I wanted to offer it to him for ten francs, but that wouldn't answer, seeing I was the pupil of such a master, so I sold it to him for a hundred. I sent the eight hun- dred francs straight back to Millet from that town and struck out again next day. But I didn't walk no. I rode. I have ridden ever since. I sold one picture every day, and never tried to sell two. I always said to my customer, " I am a fool to sell a picture of Fja^ois Millet's at all, for that man is not going to live three months and when he dies his pictures can't be had for love or money." I took care to spread that little fact as far as I could, and prepare the world for the event. I take credit to myself for our plan of selling the pictures it was mine. I sug- gested it that last evening when we were laying out our campaign, and all three of " ALL JUMPED UP AND FELL ON EACH OTHER'S NECKS." us agreed to give it a good fair trial be- fore giving it up for some other. It suc- ceeded with all of us. I walked only two days, Claude walked two both of us afraid to make Millet celebrated too close to home but Carl walked only half a day, the bright, conscienceless rascal and after that he traveled like a duke. Every now and then we got in with a country editor and started an item around through the press; not an item announc- ing that a new painter had been discov- ered, but an item which let on that every- body knew Franois Millet ; not an item praising him in any way but merely a word concerning the present condition of the " master " sometimes hopeful, some- times despondent, but always tinged with fears for the worst. We always marked these paragraphs, and sent the papers to all the people who had bought pictures of us. Carl was soon in Paris, and he worked things with a high hand. He made friends with the correspondents and got Millet's condition reported to England and all over the continent, and America, and everywhere. At the end of six weeks from the start, we three met in Paris and called a halt, and stopped sending back to Millet for additional pictures. The boom was so high, and everything so ripe, that we saw that it would be a mistake not to strike 634 75 HE LIVING OR IS HE DEAD? now, right away, without waiting any longer. So we wrote Millet to go to bed and begin to waste away pretty fast, for \ve should like him to die in ten days if he could get ready. Then we figured up and found that among us we had sold eighty -five small pictures and studies, and had six- ty-nine thousand francs to show for it. Carl had made the last sale and the most brilliant one of all. He sold the Angelus for twenty-two hun- dred francs. How we did glorify him ! not foreseeing that a day was coming by and by when France would struggle to own it and a stranger would capture it for five hundred and fifty thousand, cash. We had a wind-up champagne supper that night, and next day Claude and I packed up and went off to nurse Millet through his last days and keep busy- bodies out of the house and send daily bulletins to Carl in Paris for publication in the papers of several continents for the information of a waiting world. The sad end came at last, and Carl was there in time to help in the final mournful rites. You remember that great funeral, and what a stir it made all over the globe, and how the illustrious of two worlds came to attend it and testify their sorrow. We four still inseparable carried the coffin, and would allow none to help. And we were rightabout that, because it hadn't anything in it but a wax figure, and any other coffin-bearers would have found fault with the weight. Yes, we same old four, who had lovingly shared privation together in the old hard times now gone forever, carried the cof ' ' " Which four? " " We four for Millet helped to carry his own coffin. In disguise, you know. Disguised as a relative distant relative ' ' " Astonishing ! " But true, just the same. Well, you re- member how the pictures went up. Money? We didn't know what to do with it. There's a man in Paris today who I SUPPOSE YOU RECOGNIZE THAT ! owns sevent}' Millet pictures. He paid us two million francs for them. Andasforthe bushels of sketches and studies which Millet shoveled out during the six weeks that we were on the road, well, it would astonish you to know the figure we sell them at now-a-days that is, when we consent to let one go. "It is a wonder- ful history, perfectly wonderful ! ' ' Yes it amounts to that. " Whatever became of Millet ? " Can you keep a secret ? " I can." Do you remember the man I called your attention to in the dining-room today ? That was Francois Millet. " Great" Scott! Yes. For once the}' didn't starve a genius to death and then put into other pockets the rewards he should have had himself. This song-bird was not allowed to pipe out its heart unheard and then be paid with the cold pomp of a big funeral. We looked out for that. A TRAVELLER FROM ALTRURIA. " BY W. D. HOWELLS. XI. i l T COULD not give you a clear ac- -l count of the present state of things in my country," the Altrurian began, "without first telling you something of our conditions before the time of our evo- lution. It seems to be the law of all life, that nothing can come to fruition without dying and seeming to making an end. It must be sown in corruption before it can be raised in incorruption. The truth itself must perish to our senses before it can live to our souls ; the Son of Man must suffer upon the cross before we can know the Son of God. " It was so with His message to the world, which we received in the old time as an ideal realized by the earliest Christ- ians, who loved one another and who had all things common. The apostle cast away upon our heathen coasts, won us with the story of this first Christian re- public, and he established a common- wealth of peace and goodwill among us in its likeness. That commonwealth per- ished, just as its prototype perished, or seemed to perish; and long ages of civic and economic \varfare succeeded, when every man's hand was against his neigh- bor, and might was the rule that got itself called right. Religion ceased to be the hope of this world, and became the vague promise of the next. We descended into the valley of the shadow, and dwelt amid chaos for ages, before we groped again into the light. "The first glimmerings were few and indistinct, but men formed themselves about the luminous points here and there, and when these broke and dispersed into lesser gleams, still men formed them- selves about each of them. There arose a system of things, better, indeed, than that darkness, but full of war, and lust, and greed, in which the weak rendered homage to the strong, and served them in the field and in the camp, and the strong in turn gave the weak protection against the other strong. It was a juggle in which the weak did not see that their safety was after all from themselves; but it was an image of peace, however false and fitful, and it endured for a time. It endured for a limited time, if we measure by the life of the race; it endured for an unlimited time if we measure by the lives of the men who were born and died while it endured. " But that disorder, cruel and fierce and stupid, which endured because it some- times masked itself as order, did at last pass away. Here and there one of the strong overpowered the rest; then the strong became fewer and fewer, and in their turn they all yielded to a supreme lord, and throughout the land there was one rule, as it was called then, or one misrule, as we should call it now. This rule, or this misrule, continued for ages more; and again, in the immortality of the race, men toiled and struggled, and died without the hope of better things. "Then the time came when the long nightmare was burst with the vision of a future in which all men were the law, and not one man, or any less number of men than all. " The poor, dumb beast of humanity rose, and the throne tumbled, and the sceptre was broken, and the crown rolled away into that darkness of the past. We thought that heaven had descended to us, and that liberty, equality and fraternity were ours. We could not see what should again alienate us from one another, or how one brother could again oppress an- other. With a free field and no favor, we believed we should prosper on together, and there would be peace and plenty forall. We had the republic, again, after so many ages now, and the republic, as we knew it in our dim annals was brotherhood and universal happiness. All but a very few who prophesied evil of our lawless free- dom, were rapt in a delirium of hope. Men's minds and men's hands were sud- denly released to an activity unheard of before. Invention followed invention ; our rivers and seas became the woof of 6 3 6 A TRAVELLER FROM ALTRURIA. commerce where the steam-sped shuttles carried the warp of enterprise to and fro with tireless celerity. Machines to save labor multiplied themselves as if they had been procreative forces; and wares of ev- ery sort were produced with incredible swiftness and cheapness. Money seemed to flow from the ground ; vast fortunes < rose like an exhalation,' as your Milton says. "At first we did not know that they were the breath of the nethermost pits of hell, and that the love of money which was becoming universal with us, was filling the earth with the hate of men. It was long before we came to realize that in the depths of our steamships were those who fed the fires with their lives, and that our mines from which we dug our wealth were the graves of those who had died to the free light and air, without finding the rest of death. We did not see that the machines for saving labor were monsters that devoured women and child- ren, and wasted men at the bidding of the power which no man must touch. "That is, we thought we must not touch it, for it called itself prosperity, and wealth, and the public good, and it said that it gave bread, and it impudently bade the toiling myriads consider what would become of them, if it took away their means of wearing themselves out in its service. It demanded of the state ab- solute immunity and absolute impunit3 r , the right to do its will wherever and how- ever it would, without question from the people who were the final law. It had its way, and iinder its rule we became the richest people under the sun. The Accu- mulation, as we called this power, because we feared to call it by its true name, re- warded its own with gains of twenty, of a hundred, of a thousand per cent., and to satisfy its need, to produce the labor that operated its machines, there came into existence a hapless race of men who bred their kind for its service, and whose little ones were its prey, almost from their cradles. Then the infamy became too great, and the law, the voice of the people, so long guiltily silent, was lifted in be- half of those who had no helper. The Accumulation came under control, for the first time, and could no longer work its slaves twenty hours a day amid perils to life and limb from its machiner}' and in con- ditions that forbade them decenc}- and mo- ralit}-. The time of a hundred and a thou- sand per cent, passed ; but still the Accu- mulation demanded immunity and im- punity, and in spite of its conviction of the enormities it had practiced, it declared itself the only means of civilization and progress. It began to give out that it was timid, though its history was full of the boldest frauds and crimes, and it threat- ened to withdraw itself if it were ruled or even crossed ; and again it had its way, and we seemed to prosper more and more. The land was filled with cities where the rich flaunted their splendor in palaces, and the poor swarmed in squalid tenements. The country was drained of its life and force, to feed the centers of commerce and industry. The whole land was bound together with a network of iron roads that linked the factories and found- ries to the fields and mines, and blasted the landscape with the enterprise that spoiled the lives of men. " Then, all at once, when its work seemed perfect and its dominion sure, the Accumulation was stricken with con- sciousness of the lie always at its heart. It had hitherto cried out for a free field and no favor, for unrestricted competition ; but, in truth, it had never prospered, except as a monopoly. Whenever and wherever competition had play, there had been nothing but disaster to the rival enterprises, till one rose over the rest. Then there was prosperity for that one. 1 ' The Accumulation began to act upon its new consciousness. The iron roads united ; the warring industries made peace, each kind under a singleleadership. Monopoly, not competition, was seen to be the benef- icent means of distributing the favors and blessings of the Accumulation to mankind. But as before, there was al- ternately a glut and dearth of things, and it often happened that when starving men went ragged through the streets, the storehouses were piled full of rotting har- vests that the farmers toiled from dawn till dusk to grow, and the warehouses fed the moth with the stuffs that the operative had woven his life into at his loom. Then followed, with a blind and mad succession, a time of famine, when money could not buy the superabundance that vanished, none knew how or why. " The mone3" itself vanished from time to time, and disappeared into the vaults of A TRA VELLER FROM AL TRURIA. 637 the Accumulation, for no better reason than that for which it poured itself out at other times. Our theory was that the people, that is to say the government of the people, made the people's money, but, as a matter of fact, the Accumulation made it, and controlled it, and juggled with it ; and now you saw it, and now you did not see it. The government made gold coins, but the people had nothing but the paper money that the Accumula- tion made. But whether there was scarcity or plenty, the failures went on with a con- tinuous ruin that nothing could check, while our larger economic life proceeded in a series of violent shocks, which we called financial panics, followed by long periods of exhaustion and recuperation. There was no law in our econom}^ but as the Accumulation had never cared for the nature of law, it did not trouble itself for its name in our order of things. It had always bought the law it needed for its own vise, first through the voter at the polls in the more primitive days, and then, as civilization advanced, in the leg- islatures and the courts. But the corrup- tion even of these more enlightened meth- ods was far surpassed when the era of consolidation came, and the necessity for statutes and verdicts and decisions be- came more stringent. Then we had such a burlesque of "Look here!" a sharp nasal voice snarled across the rich, full pipe of the Altrurian, and we all instantly looked there. The voice came from an old farmer, holding himself stiffly up, with his hands in his pockets and his lean frame bent toward the speaker. " When are you goin' to git to Altrury ? We know all about Ameriky." He sat down again, and it was a mo- ment before the crowd caught on. Then a yell of delight and a roar of volleyed laughter went up from the lower classes, in which, I am sorry to say,- my friend, the banker, joined, so far as the laughter was concerned. " Good ! That's it ! First- rate!" came from a hundred vulgar throats. "Isn't it a perfect shame?" Mrs. Makely demanded. " I think some of you gentlemen ought to say something ! What will Mr. Homos think of our civili- zation if we let such interruptions go un- rebuked ! ' ' She was sitting between*the banker and myself, and her indignation made him laugh more and more. " Oh, it serves him right," he said. " Don't you see that he is hoist with his own petard ? Let him alone. He's in the hands of his friends." The Altrurian waited for the tumult to die away, and then he said, gently : "I don't understand." The old farmer jerked himself to his feet again : "It's like this : I paid my dolla' to hear about a country where there wa'n't no co'perations, and no monop'lies, nor no buyin' up cou'ts ; and I ain't agoin' to have no allegor) r shoved down my throat, instead of a true history, noways. I know all about how it is here. Fi'st, run their line through your backya'd, and then kill off your cattle, and keep kerryin' on it up from cou't to cou't, till there ain't hide or hair of 'em left " Oh, set down, set down ! Let the man go on ! He'll make it all right with you," one of the construction gang called out; but the farmer stood his ground, and I could hear him through the laughing and shouting, keep saying something, from time to time, about not wanting to pay no dolla' for no talk about co'perations and monop'lies that we had right under our own noses the whole while, and you might say in your very bread-troughs ; till, at last, I saw Reu- ben Camp make his way towards him, and, after an energetic expostulation, turn to leave him again. Then he faltered out, " I guess it's all right," and dropped out of sight in the group he had risen from. I fancied his wife scolding him there, and all but shaking him in public. " I should be very sorry," the Altrurian proceeded, " to have anyone believe that I have not been giving you a bona fide ac- count of conditions in my country before the evolution, when we first took the name of Altruria in our great, peaceful campaign against the Accumulation. As for offering you any allegory or travesty of your own conditions, I will simply say that I do not know them well enough to do so intelligently. But, whatever they are, God forbid that the likeness which you seem to recognize should ever go so far as the desperate state of things which we finally reached. I will not trouble you 6 3 8 A TRAVELLER FROM ALTRURIA. with details; in fact, I have been afraid that I had already treated of our affairs too abstractly ; but, since }-our own experi- ence furnishes } - ou the means of seizing my meaning, I will go on as before. " You will understand me when I ex- plain that the Accumulation had not erected itself into the sovereignty with us unopposed. The workingmen who suffered most from its oppression had early begun to band themselves against it, with 'the instinct of self-preservation, first trade by trade, and art by art, and then in congresses and federations of the trades and arts, until finally they enrolled themselves in one vast union, which in- cluded all the workingmen whom their necessity or their interest did not leave on the side of the Accumulation. This beneficent and generous association of the weak for the sake of the weakest did not accomplish itself full}* till the baleful in- stinct of the Accumulation had reduced the monopolies to one vast monopoly, till the stronger had devoured the weaker among its members, and the supreme agent stood at the head of our affairs, in everything but name our imperial ruler. We had hugged so long the delusion of each man for himself, that we had suffered all realty to be taken from us. The Accu- mulation owned the land as well as the mines under it and the shops over it ; the Accumulation owned the seas and the ships that sailed the seas, and the fish that swam in their depths ; it owned transportation and distribution, and the wares and products that were to be carried to and fro; and, by a logic irresistible and inexorable, the Accumulation was, and we were not. "But the Accumulation, too, had for- gotten something. It had found it so easy to bu} 7 legislatures and courts, that it did not trouble itself about the polls. It left us the suffrage, and let us amuse ourselves with the periodical election of the political clay images which it manipulated and moulded to any shape and effect, at its pleasure. The Accumulation knew that it was the sovereignty, whatever figure-head we called president, or governor, or mayor : we had other names for these officials, but I use their analogues for the sake of clear- ness, and I hope my good friend over there will not think I am still talking about America." " No," the old farmer called back, without rising, "we hain't got there, quite, yit." " No hurry," said a trainman. " All in good time. Go on ! " he called to the Al- trurian. The Altrurian resumed : " There had been, from the beginning, an almost ceaseless struggle between the Accumulation and the proletariate. The Accumulation always said that it was the best friend of the proletariate, and it de- nounced, through the press which it con- trolled, the proletarian leaders who taught that it was the enemy of the proletariate, and who stirred up strikes and tumults of all sorts, for higher wages and fewer hours. But the friend of the proletariate, whenever occasion served, treated the prol- etariate like a deadly enemy. In seasons of over-production, as it was called, it locked the workmen out, or laid them off, and left their families to starve, or ran light work, and claimed the credit of pub- lic benefactors for running at all. It sought every chance to reduce wages ; it had laws passed to forbid or cripple the workmen in their strikes ; and the judges convicted them of conspirac}-, and wrest- ed the statutes to their hurt in cases where there had been no thought of embarrassing them even among the legislators. God for- bid that 3 T ou should ever come to such a pass in America ; but, if you ever should, God grant that you may find your way out as simply as we did at last, when free- dom had perished in everything but name among us, and justice had become a mockery. " The Accumulation had advanced so smoothly, so lightly, in all its steps to the supreme power, and had at last so thor- oughly quelled the uprisings of the prol- etariate, that it forgot one thing : it for- got the despised and neglected suffrage. The ballot, because it had been so easy to annul its effect, had been left in the peo- ple's hands ; and when, at last, the lead- ers of the proletariate ceased to counsel strikes, or any form of resistance to the Accumulation that could be tormented into the likeness of insurrection against the government, and began to urge them to attack it in the political way, the deluge that swept the Accumulation out of exist- ence came trickling and creeping over the land. It appeared first in the countr\-, A TRAVELLER FROM ALTRURIA. 639 a spring from the ground ; then it gath- ered head in the villages ; then it swelled to a torrent in the cities. I cannot stay to trace its course ; but suddenly, one day, when the Accumulation's abuse of a certain power became too gross, it was voted out of that power. You will perhaps be interested to know that it was with the telegraphs that the rebellion against the Accumulation began, and the government was forced by the over- whelming majority which the proletari- ate sent to our parliament, to assume a function which the Accumulation had impudently usurped. Then the trans- portation of smaller and more perishable wares "Yes," a voice called out, "express business. Go on ! " ' ' Was legislated a function of the post- office," the Altrurian went on. "Then all transportation was taken into the hands of the political government, which had always been accused of great cor- ruption in its administration, but which showed itself immaculately pure, com- pared with the Accumulation. The com- mon ownership of mines necessarily fol- lowed, with an allotment of lands to anyone who wished to live by tilling the land ; but not a foot of the land was re- mitted to private hands for purposes of selfish pleasure or the exclusion of any other from the landscape. As all busi- nesses had been gathered into the grasp of the Accumulation, and the manufact- ure of everything they used and the pro- duction of everything that they ate was in the control of the Accumulation, its transfer to the government was the work of a single clause in the statute. " The Accumulation, which had treated the first menaces of resistance with con- tempt, awoke to its peril too late. When it turned to wrest the suffrage from the proletariate, at the first election where it attempted to make head against them, it was simply snowed under, as your pict- uresque phrase is. The Accumulation had no voters, except the few men at its head, and the creatures devoted to it by interest and ignorance. It seemed, at one moment, as if it would offer an armed resistance to the popular will, but, hap- pily, that moment of madness passed. Our evolution was accomplished without a drop of bloodshed, and the first great political brotherhood, the commonwealth of Altruria, was founded. " I wish that I had time to go into a study of some of the curious phases of the transformation from a civility in which the people lived upon each other to one in which they lived for each other. There is a famous passage in the inaugu- ral message of our first Altrurian presi- dent, which compares the new civic con- sciousness with that of a disembodied spirit released to the life beyond this and freed from all the selfish cares and greeds of the flesh. But perhaps I shall give a sufficiently clear notion of the triumph of the change among us, when I say that within half a decade after the fall of the old plutocratic oligarchy one of the chief directors of the Accumulation publicly expressed his gratitude to God that the Accumulation had passed away forever. You will realize the importance of such an expression in recalling the declarations some of your slaveholders have made since the civil war, that they would not have slavery restored for any earthly con- sideration. " But now, after this preamble, which has been so much longer than I meant it to be, how shall I give you a sufficiently just conception of the existing Altruria, the actual state from which I come? " " Yes," came the nasal of the old farmer, again, " that's what we are here fur. I wouldn't give a copper to know all that you went through beforehand. It's too dumn like what we have been through ourselves, as fur as heard from." A shout of laughter went up from most of the crowd, but the Altrurian did not seem to see any fun in it. "Well," he resumed, " I will tell you, as well as I can, what Altruria is like, but, in the first place, you will have to cast out of your minds all images of civiliza- tion with which your experience has filled them. For a time, the shell of the old Accumulation remained for our social habitation, and we dwelt in the old com- petitive and monopolistic forms after the life had gone out of them. That is, we continued to live in populous cities, and we toiled to heap up riches for the moth to corrupt, and we slaved on in making utterly useless things, merely because we had the habit of making them to sell. For a while we made the old sham things, 640 A TRAVELLER FROM ALTRURIA. which pretended to be useful things and were worse than the confessedly useless things. I will give you an illustration in one of the trades, which you will all understand. The proletariate, in the competitive and monopolistic time, used to make a kind of shoes for the prole- tariate, or the women of the proletariate, which looked like fine shoes of the best quality. It took just as much work to make these shoes as to make the best fine shoes ; but they were shams through and through. They wore out in a week, and the people called them, because they were bought fresh for every Sunday ' ' " Sat'd'y night shoes ! " screamed the old farmer. " I know 'em. My gals buy 'em. Half dolla' a pai', and not wo'th the money." "Well," said the Altrurian, "they were a cheat and a lie, in every way, and under the new system it was not possible, when public attention was called to the fact, to continue the falsehood they em- bodied. As soon as the Saturday night shoe realized itself to the public con- science, an investigation began, and it was found that the principle of the Saturday night shoe underlay half our industries and made half the work that was done. Then an immense reform took place. We renounced, in the most solemn convoca- tion of the whole economy, the principle of the Saturday night shoe, and those who had spent their lives in producing shams ' ' " Yes," said the professor, rising from his seat near TIS, and addressing the speaker, " I shall be very glad to know what became of the worthy and indus- trious operatives who were thrown out of employment by this explosion of economic virtue." "Why," the Altrurian replied, "they were set to work making honest shoes ; and as it took no more time to make a pair of honest shoes, which lasted a year, than it took to make a pair of shoes that lasted a week, the amount of labor in shoe- making was at once enormously reduced. ' ' " Yes," said the professor, " I under- stand that. What became of the shoe- makers ? ' ' " They joined the vast army of other laborers who had been employed, directly or indirectly, in the fabrication of fraudu- lent wares. These shoemakers lasters, buttonholers, binders, andsoon nolonger wore themselves out over their machines. One hour sufficed where twelve hours were needed before, and the operatives were released to the happy labor of the fields, where no one with us toils killing- ly, from dawn till dusk, but does only as much work as is needed to keep the body in health. We had a continent to refine and beautify ; we had climates to change, and seasons to modify, a whole system of meteorology to readjust, and the public works gave employment to the multitudes emancipated from the soul-destroying ser- vice of shams. I can scarcely give you a notion of the vastness of the improve- ments undertaken and carried through, or still in process of accomplishment. But a single one will, perhaps, afford a sufficient illustration. Our southeast coast, from its vicinity to the pole, had always suffered from a winter of antarctic vigor ; but our first president conceived the plan of cutting off a peninsula, which kept the equatorial current from making in to our shores ; and the work was begun in his term, though the entire strip, twenty miles in width and ninety-three in length, was not severed before the end of the first Altrurian decade. Since that time the whole region of our southeastern coast has enjoyed the climate of your Mediterranean countries. " It was not only the makers of fraudu- lent things who were released to these useful and wholesome labors, but those who had spent themselves in contriving ugly and stupid and foolish things were set free to the public employments. The multitude of these monstrosities and in- iquities was as great as that of the shams' ' Here I lost some words, for the profes- sor leaned over and whispered to me : " He has got that out of William Morris. Depend upon it, the man is a humbug. He is not an Altrurian at all." I confess that my heart misgave me ; but I signalled the professor to be silent, and again gave the Altrurian if he was an Altrurian my whole attention. THE COSMOPOLITAN. From every man according to his ability : to everyone according to his needs. VOL. XVI. DECEMBER, 1893. No. 2_ Copyright, iSt^. By J. B. WAI.K.KR fiy Vierge. " Apres" page 241. \y \ By Vierge. " Apres,' 1 ' page 242. A FAREWELL TO THE WHITE CITY. BY PAUL BOCRGET. THE fog arose suddenly after a glor- ious morning of blue sky and sun- light. A north fog, cold and gray, envel- oping Chicago, then the suburbs, then the extraordinar}- group of buildings which the popular fancy has so aptly termed "The White City." All white they had been that morning, the morning of my farewell ; white as a marble town outlined against a sky untarnished as themselves. How they stood out, still white, in the dense enshrouding fog ; but it was the whiteness of a phantom vil- lage, whose contours were merged in mist, whose domes, colonnades and towers lost all solidity a dreamy vision of ar- chitecture, vague scenery about a phan- tom crowd. They were no longer men whom I saw coming and going, but moving spots, forms so well obliterated that the hum of voices escaping that crowd, confused and muffled by the fog, became the faintest murmur, so I thought I no longer heard a chorus of individual words, but a concert of the grand, anonymous voices of nature, the plaint of a stormy element. In the last glance I gave that fading, shift- ing panorama, it seemed to me, that chancing there that autumn day, first clear, then veiled, I had experienced in a few short hours the extremes of that city's fascination : first, its dazzling brilliancy, then its fading gloom, all of which would give it legendary charm. I had realized the melancholy touch which even- human masterpiece requires to make it truly beautiful eifacement in the past. How enchanting that glorious sunny morning had been. The eyes of those who, like myself, sauntered by the lagoons, were dazzled by the green waste of Lake Michigan through the white columns. But a greater fairy charm will clothe the scene when we are far from here ; when memory recalls it, freed from the vul- garity necessary to every similar sur- rounding, recalls it distantl}', indistinctly, with that conjured, almost supernatural charm wrought by the magic of this fog. It is only a drifting vapor which a sun- beam will drive away, but a poet, were one there, might keep the symbolism of that, which in this universe, where all is * The manuscript of M. Bourget was placed in the hands of Mr. Walter Learned, to whom the edi- tors of The Cosmopolitan are indebted for its translation. 134 A FAREWELL TO THE WHITE CITY. fleeting, remains the most precious treas- ure of the soul, the poetry of reminis- cence. Reminiscence, the power which trans- forms sensations into thought, images in- to ideas, the frivolous feast of the eyes in- to food for the mind, the pleasure and emotion of yesterday into a precept ! A precept in the truest sense of that word, for one might say that the real philoso- phy of life comes from reminiscences and we all have them a real philosophy, however humble we may be, however enthralled by nature, however enervated by slavery to passion, we all have a hopeful or disheartened way of consid- ering ourselves and our destiny, we all have a faith in man, or a distrust of him, a hope or a despair for our coun- try, our city, our family, the corner where we live, the community to which we belong. That philosophy, clear in the man of moral sense, almost animal in the man of instinct, comes elaborated through thousands of individuals, then loses itself in one of those mighty currents of united wills, which make a nation. So considered, one might say that even* event which leaves a memory of common impressions to many people is a factor of the moral life of that people which should not be neglected. Mere flatterers or fanatics have said that immense national spectacles like the Paris and Chicago expositions mark epochs in the existence of France and America ; but without exaggeration, it is safe to assert that the colossal experience of perhaps the half of her people has modified the conscience of France, and that similar!}* when the gates of the World's Fair are closed, the American conscience will be altered. But how ? Driving back to Chicago that foggy Oc- tober afternoon, this problem, often pre- sented to my mind during my visit to that astonishing rendezvous of industry and art, pleasure and study, took hold of me with even more intensity. Although early, electric lamps burning in the streets lighted my way, and lost in dreaming, I saw through the open window bits of the suburbs passing successively before me. Through the fog they seemed like fragmentary carvings presenting them- selves to my glance one ofter another. Then I saw groups of little, low, wooden houses march by like camps of settlers taking possession of a new territory ; then colossal buildings of brick and iron ; huge cliffs holed with luminous windows, against which the fog broke like a sea of vapor ; then bits of park kept like those of London ; then vague lots, enclosed by wooden fences smeared with posters, with cows inside munching the scanty grass; then more hovels, more buildings ; here a concrete sidewalk, carefully tended, there a battered one of wood ; one moment a properly paved street, the next a sea of mud where the grip-car tracks glistened with a metallic luster. Never has the un- finished state of that enormous city im- pressed me more. A hundred years ago THE ILLINOIS. A FAREWELL TO THE WHITE CITY. 135 supreme result, a final apotheo- sis. The White City of Jack- son Park, with its palatial mon- uments of human achievement lacking only in stability, stand- ing at the gates of a city still in- complete, is not an apotheosis, it is a hope. It is not an end, it is a commencement. It is not a result, it is a promise. Then I felt that was not the only lesson the fete of those six months would teach, but one at least of its lessons, the most general, the most accessible perhaps, the one for which all of us who have had the ecstatic pleasure of that vis- it did not exist. Twenty years ago it had ceased to exist. It began again. It grows still. One sees it grow, like a trop- ical tree which be- tween sunrise and sunset sprouts up- ward the height of a hand. By a singular contrast, the White City I left, con- structed only for a season and finished to the minutest detail, must disappear forever, while the black city, which will endure forever, is only at its commence- ment. Strange contrast. I felt it was unique. I saw it presented the excep- tional feature of this exposition, distin- guishing it from all others. Whether held at London, Vienna or Paris, however vast their buildings, those other exposi- tions were only the inferior or momentary adornment of a city far more beautiful and already finished. Monuments conse- crated by centuries arose beside them whose splendor defied comparison with edifices temporarily reared by the caprice of architects. Those expositions were a FROM THE TOP OF THE ADMINISTRATION BUILDING. ion must remain forever indebted to those who have produced it. A promise, I said. What promise? And to whom given ? To the men of this country first. Chicago, the enormous town we see expanding, the gigantic plant which grows before our eyes seems now in this wonderfully new country to be in advance of the age. But is not this more or less true of all America ? Yes. This vast, ingenuous commonwealth, fed un- ceasingly by heterogeneous elements which it must assimilate ; this vast civ- ilization, with its contrasts of extreme re- finement and primitive crudity, is unmis- takably symbolized by its central city i 3 6 A FAREWELL TO THE WHITE CITY. miracle of native will ; summary of cal- culating, panting energy and inexhaust- ible impulse. But to what end does this impulse tend, toward what goal marches the new world, which the cold, feverish indomitable energy of America is con- structing ? After vigorously organizing the universe of materialism, is that ener- gy capable of reaching that supreme goal of a struggling nation, the creation of a national art, the perfection of an ideal, surpassing the needs of the hour ? That question seldom presents itself so clearly, but it is the question which agitates the mind of ever}' patriotic Yankee. It explains the feverish, often touching crav- ing for culture which drives Americans in bewildering, tantalizing haste towards the libraries, theaters and museums of Europe. Because he feels this hunger gnawing in his heart, the American re- ceives supersensitively the strictures of critics, incapable of appreciating his will- ingness to learn, his longing for knowl- edge, his passion for a superior civiliza- tion. But what form shall this civiliza- * 1 IN THH HOKTICri/lURAI, liUII.DING. A FAREWELL TO THE WHITE CITY. 137 LOOKING WEST DOWN THE NORTH POND. tion take? Shall it be a mere copy of things European ? The national con- science rebels against this thought. It feels its work to be the creation of a per- sonal ideal. That is why, side by side with a passionate craving for French, German and English culture, we find spiteful resentment against those who in- stead of studying, merely imitate. Emer- son understood this when he wrote: ' ' Why need we copy the Doric or the Gothic model ? Beauty, convenience, grandeur of thought are as near to us as to any." That is the promise the White City leaves. Coming after so many others, this exposition is indisputable evidence that the off-shoots of antiquarianism trans- planted here by three centuries of im- migration will, when given leisure blos- som, in this virgin soil, into beautiful flowers. These enormous, splendid palaces of a day, simply and ingeniously con- structed, reared with Aladdin-like magic by the shores of this free inland sea, and announcing, as they do, the birth of a new art, do not realize the absolute orig- inality of Emerson's dream, but they prove that the merely colossal, unaccom- panied by grace and symmetry, can no longer satisfy the taste of their builders. To the innumerable spectators, gathered from the four corners of their stupendous country, those buildings have given, one might say, an indelible object lesson. Speaking of exposition crowds, some one suggested to me that "the people were so anxious to see everything that they forgot to be amused." That is not entirely true. There were many merry faces there, but everywhere was the serious attention of minds imperfectly grasping new ideas. In the gaze of those rustics there was less pride than curiosity or shall I call it the awakening of a dor- mant mind, first learning how to com- prehend ? They saw before them the work of their own country- men, who can repeat it. Those buildings must vanish tomor- row ; but why should their durable coun- terparts not be reared ? What el se were the births of the great schools of antiquity and me- disevalism, what else the enchanting renaissance? Had the Greeks who laid the ponderous stones of the Acropolis of T y r i n t h u s any DIDN>T GET HIS MONEV , S thought but of de- WORTH. 138 A FAREWELL TO THE WHITE CITY. MUTUAL CONGRATULATIONS. fense and employment for their energy ? Did the fugitives of the catacombs, hid- ing their religion in the earth, dream of building cathedrals ? What care had mediaeval Italians but for the thickness of their walls ? Then an impulse was born to ornament that metropolis, this church, those fortresses. The moment when Greeks desired an embellished cit- adel, when Christians dreamed of a basil- ica, when Tuscans conceived a beautiful stronghold, the Parthenon, Notre Dame and the Palazzo- Vecchio of Florence were born. It was only a question of years. A national desire for monuments to admire as well as to use, an artistic capacity able to respond to this need that is the entire genesis of the national lot. The White City proves the possession of this capac- ity. It has awakened this desire. That is its hope. That is its promise. There is, however, another hope, an- other promise. Americans have not been alone amongst the streets and colonnades of the exposition ; we Europeans have come also, some enthusiastically, others defiantly, none indifferently. To us America is not merely unknown land we cross for recreation. Careless though we be, we cannot take a steamer at Havre, or Southampton, regardless of great prob- lems, unmindful that the mighty ocean bears us towards a decisive acquaintance with the greatest example of audacious modernism. Two equally immeasurable, equally uncontrollable forces disturb old Europe. One is democracy, the other science. Both toiling through centuries with ceaseless activity are transforming our world, our heritage, and all we love. What will they makeof it? We know the world in which we live ; we know the worth of its nobility and grandeur ; but we know nothing of the world those unknown toilers are elaborat- ing with their countless hands, irresistible as those of the old Fates. We can see those terrible hands destroying ; we are ignorant of what they are creating. Why hide the fact that the best of us those ready to sacrifice our preferences to duty and to collaborate with the future tremble before those gloomy powers, and ask if their reign does not mark the definite decadence of the great races, of humanity's reason for existence? Let us take two simple examples. Does democ- racy respect disinterested thought, the cult of art beyond its utilitarian phase, letters, or scientific speculation incapable of industrial application? It is doubtful whether those two terri- ble geniuses of the new world are in accord. If they are, may not that im- placable science be the murderer of the human heart, and by de- veloping in ex- treme the positive side of knowl- edge, will it not diminish, even destroy, its other aspects? Is it not destined to dry up the source of mysteries, where for ages the soul has quenched its thirst and found its vitality and solace? Will the reign of science have a poetry? Will it have a re- BEWILDERED. A FAREWELL TO THE WHITE CITY. 139 140 A FAREWELL TO THE WHITE CITY. ligion ? America has not been awed by those drudges of the new age. The} T have made her. Two menacing, vigorous spon- sors, they have fondled her on their knees since the hour of her birth. She was a democracy before she was a republic. A democracy founded upon science, com- pelled from the first to exercise, at all cost, the most drastic methods, and bring the machines of science to bear upon a virgin nature. That is why this county- is so intensely interesting for us. The chance of history has made her try ex- periments in which we recognize, not the anticipated design of our future the conditions are too different but a pro- phetic reflection of that future. Too many signs prove that a democracy cannot easily sever the manacles of utility, and attain the ideal. That is demonstrated too clearly by the rude American cities, so barren of monuments, so scanty in structures of delicate and simple style, or any style whatever. But the delightful grace of the White City proves that de- mocracy is not incapable of conceiving, loving, creating an ideal. The Chicago congresses of the past six months indicate that democracy suffers from intellectual homesickness. I know no book more comforting than the little pamphlet published here last April and bearing this motto: "Not Things, but Men." Its offical title is "The General Programme of the World's Congresses of 1893." What a thirst for knowledge it contains, what a respect for all that con- stitutes the spiritual and moral treasure- house of humanity, and what a sign of the invincible vitality of Christianity, even in face of the triumphs of science, is that religious parliament held in the very capitol of the positivist, industrial uni- verse. The results of that parliament were inadequate. It did not reach, it could not reach a practical and satisfactory conclusion, but it will remain the surpass- ing excellence of that exposition. In the words of the poet, it is the hand of a clock pointing from the spire of a huge cathedral towards heaven. Seated in the amphi- theater of that parliament hall, and seeing a multitude of attentive faces about me amiable faces of tradesmen and laborers I felt the certainty revive, which told me that in spite of the moral and mental transformation the human heart is under- going, it need not fear for its most pre- cious or most mournful gems. I felt that certainty revive again during my last visit to the palaces of the White City. I long to see it again as I left it, in its dreamy whiteness, enshrouded by its weird, gray mist, and behind it the sun. LESSONS OF THE FAIR. BY JOHN J. INGALLS. X TIGHT is the magician of the Fair. 1>I By day the illusion is not com- plete. The outlines and masses, the groups and spaces, the vistas and per- spectives, the lawns and the lagoons, are superb and inspiring ; but the sun is piti- less and reveals too much. The glare be- wilders, and the absence of color and lack of horizon leave a vague sense of desola- tion, like that which broods over tropical cities in the desert. The monotonous multitudes that incessantl3 r wander to and fro, apparently without interest or enjoy- ment in the marvels by which they are surrounded, become oppressive. The un- speakable debris of innumerable lunch- eons seems incompatible with the terraces of temples and the porticos of palaces ; but the Fair was made for man, and not man for the Fair. These are the flies in the incomparable amber, the rift in the lute, the flaws in the gem, necessary to bring it within that limitation in all earthly achievements which forbids perfection. But when evening conies, and the shadows ascend from the feet of the golden statue of the Genius of the Republic to the wings upon her globe and the cap upon her spear, and the effigies above the great gateway stand dim against the eastern firmament, then the reign of enchantment begins. The discordant and inarticulate murmurs are succeeded by silence made audible by the whisper of falling waters. The darkness becomes mysteriously luminous. Distant domes grow translucent with interior flame. Cor- nice and pediment and colonnade are traced in golden beads of fire. The pallid pinnacles are etched upon the ebony sky, and, suddenly, "the long light shakes across the lakes, and the wild cataract leaps in glory ! " Deep beyond words, at such an hour, is 142 the subtle pathos of this transitory beauty and splendor ; of this frag- ile architecture, so soon to vanish, like the insub- stantial fabric of Pros- pero's vision, and leave not a rack behind: gleaming as a marvelous mirage above an alien horizon, only to disappear and be seen no more. That so much glory should be evanes- cent, like a flower, a rainbow or a radiant sunset, seems an incon- gruous catastrophe. It realizes Burns' epitaph on the snowflake in the river "one moment white, then gone for- ever." But its magnificence is imper- ishable. It can never die. These struc- tures are as immortal as the Alhambra or the Parthenon, and more fortunate than these, because they will know neither decrepitude nor decay. Art will retain their lineaments and proportions, and they will survive in the memories of the millions who have been charmed and elevated by their contemplation. The wonder that these noble, artistic con- ceptions were real- ized at all is in- ^ .3^-^** creased by the fact that they were realized in Chicago. It would have seemed pos- sible in ancient and opulent cities, with ' traditions, superflu- ous wealth, hereditary culture, galleries, mu- r seumsandschoolsofart; but Chicago ! The orig- inal suggestion of the name was received with mingled derision and disdain. Its competitors affected incredu- lity. It was not serious. It was a fron- tier joke, an advertisement, a bid for noto- riety. The city was so far inland that failure was inevitable. And after the lo- cation was determined, the cynics sneered and the scoffers jeered, and instead of hearty, generous, cordial, patriotic coop- eration, there was indifference, jealousy and malevolence. Even those who knew the wealth, cour- age and audacious energy of Chicago held their breath for a while. The time was short. The amount of money required was enor- mous, although the largest sum named was one-third less than the amount that has been expended. The site selected was remote and repulsive. But the undaunt- ed spirit that had once lifted the city bodily out of the mo- rass in which it stood, and once rebuilt it from the ashes of the most destructive conflagration of modern times, proved equal to every emergency. Moderate success would be worse than absolute failure. It was nec- essary not only to refute the prophecies of rivals, but to surpass expectation and amaze the world. To enclose a barren waste, prosaic as their stockyards, and cover it with structures rude as their cattle- sheds and grain elevators, would have been a cheap and practical solution of the problem. It would have afforded space for exhibits, room for spectators, and re- munerative salvage at the close. But the men who had built the railroads and ware- houses, and grown rich by the barter in cattle and hogs and corn, sawthegreat- nessof the opportunity which stood at their gates. They summoned a congress of artists, architects, painters, sculptors, landscape gardeners, and commissioned them to design and execute a scheme commensurate with the objects for which it was intended : the as- semblage of the highest achievements of civ- ilization; the frater- nal rivalry of na- tions; the uplift- ing of the hu- man race. The concep- tion w a s Napoleonic, and the result is an epoch in tory. Other exposi- tions will be judged as they approach or recede from this ideal. Chicago is no longer provincial. She has established her claim to take first his- LESSONS OF THE FAIR. rank among the great capitals of the world. With characteristic ardor the twenty- second anniversary of the great fire was observed as "Chicago day," when the largest multitude ever assembled within a space so circumscribed subjected the ar- rangements for public convenience, com- fort and accommodation to the severest test. It was an inundation of humanity, sweeping along every avenue, overflow- ing upon the roofs and terraces and or- namental reservations as resistlessly as the current of the Mississippi river when the June rise conies down. The restraint and discipline were remark- able. It was like a veteran army on the march or in the bivouac, without captains or commanders. There was neither disorder nor rude and selfish disregard of common rights. Court- iers in the garden alleys of Versailles or Fontainebleau could not have been more deferential and observant of the decorum of place and occasion than these obscure and anom r mous myriads of unknown laborers from the bench and the forge and the mill ; country shop-keepers, and sedate farmers from the prairies of the Great Valley. The demonstration was a signal and un- precedented triumph, not alone of Chicago, but for the new empire of the west, of which Chicago is the foreor- dained metropolis. Surveying these un- awed multitudes amid the unwonted splendor and majesty of their environment, it seemed incredible that the fab- ric of this civilization had been reared in the life-time of a single gen- eration ; that there were men in the throng who could remember when this gorgeous arena was the worthless suburb of a squalid hamlet upon the , far frontier ; that Oliver ^ Wendell Holmes had be- gun to charm the world with song, and Gladstone had commenced his extraordinary parliamentary career before the name of Chicago was written upon the map. Any attempt to measure or estimate the lessons of the Fair, its educational re- sults and material benefits must be pre- mature. We know what the investment has been, but what the profits will be is conjectural. They will probably be indi- rect rather than direct, and incapable of computation upon the ledger. They will be gradually unfolded in the future con- dition of the national life. The number of those w 7 ho have seriously studied and compared the exhibits is very small. It is doubtful if one hundred persons will see the entire exhibition and subject it to analysis. B}' the majority of visitors it has not been attempted. The immensity is appaling. Minute inspection is impos- sible. It is an embarrassment of riches from which the spectator shrinks in de- spair. The visits are mostly brief and without previous preparation, and for pleasure rather than advantage. To mill- ions it is only a carnival, a spectacle, a pageant to be enjoyed for a Slimmer holi- day. They stroll through the crowded 144 LESSONS OF THE FAIR. halls, glancing casually at some striking object and then yielding to the invincible fascination of the exterior, wander by the lake and the lagoons, returning again and again to the entrancing Court, which sat- isfies the unspoken aspirations of the soul for unattainable beauty and will be forever luminous in memory with that "light which never was on sea or shore the con- secration and the poet's dream." Others succumb to the harm- less seductions of the Midway Plaisance, which is full of human interest, redeemed from the commonplace by Hagenbeck's marvel- ous display of subju- gated lions, and the Ferris wheel, whose huge circumference seems like a part of the solar system. Here Fatima and the houris smile upon the jeunesse doree of the Dakota plains and the Missouri most favored portion of the globe. We stand on the summit of time. Man has never receded. Nations have decayed ; dynasties have perished ; governments have expired ; races have become extinct; but man has moved, physically, intellect- ually and spiritually, onward and up- ward. Had the exposition taught no other instruction than this, it would have been enough. There is infinite consolation in A GONDOLA IN THE COURT OF HONOR. bottoms ; and the bad men from Borneo, savages from the Cannibal islands, Al- gerians, Bedouins, Turks, Indians, Lap- landers and Javanese represent the man- ners and customs and costumes of their respective countries with reasonable ac- curacy for moderate compensation. But whether in the Court of Honor, or the Midwa}-, or the Palace of Manufac- tures and the Liberal Arts, the most ob- tuse observer cannot fail to perceive that the path of humanity has been upward from the beginning ; that every century has been better than that which pre- ceded ; that development and progress are the laws of the race ; and that we are living in the best age of history and the THE PERISTYLE FROM THE TOP OF THE LIBERAL ARTS. the precept. The strong- est faith often falters in the presence of the ignor- ance, vice, poverty, mis- ery and folly of modern society, and pessimism seem s the only creed ; but doubt is banished here. Never be- fore have the beneficent energies, char- ity, education, religion, been .so active and efficient as now ; never before have the means of knowledge been so nearly adequate to the desire to know, or the op- portunities of happiness so nearly com- mensurate with the capacity to enjoy. Nor can anyone fail to be impressed with the thought that man has advanced further and more rapidly in the last fifty years, than in the previous fifty centuries. The rule of human progress appears to be spasmodic rather than constant and gradual. The condition remains station- ary for an interval, followed by a period of intense and violent activity. It is like LESSONS OF THE FAIR. 145 an intermittent spring that discharges its contents and ceases to flow till its reser- voir is filled again, or ground that lies fallow after an abundant harvest while its fertility is renewed. Without disparaging the great discov- eries and inventions of the past, the mariner's compass, the printing-press, the telescope, the steam-engine, and the cotton-gin, which have rendered modern civilization possible, it is not perhaps too much to say that the exposition conclu- sively shows that those of the present epoch surpass in interest and importance all former achievements of the human mind. The application of steam to land and water tiansportation, which has rev- olutionized the commerce of the world ; the telegraph and telephone, which have annihilated time and space ; the spec- troscope, which has detected the secrets of the universe ; the use of anaesthetics, which has conquered pain and robbed death of its terrors ; agricultural machin- ery, which has subjugated the desert ; truss, tubular and suspension bridges; the application of electricity for light, heat and power; photography ; the phonograph ; the typewriter and the sewing-machine, these are a few of the intellectual trophies of an era extending back no further than the incorporation of Chicago, and the coronation of Queen Victoria. And they have all been in the direction of enriching and enlarging the daily life of the com- mon people, alleviating its harsh con- ditions and equalizing the injustice of destiny. The humblest artisan today enjoys facilities for improvement, travel, knowledge, health and happiness that monarchs could not command from their treasuries when America was discovered four centuries ago. The New York and Pennsylvania workingmen's cottages con- tain conveniences and comforts that were then absent from the palaces of kings. Free schools and universities afford to the poor ample access to the store-houses of learning that were once the exclusive possession of the rich. Instruction in hygiene and the laws of health have lengthened the term of human life. The multitude of scientific applications and laboratory devices have diminished the hours of toil and left more leisure for rest, study and recreation. The harvest no longer yields to the sickle, nor the globe to the furrow of the weary plowman, THK PIER AND TRAVELLING SIDEWALK. 146 LESSONS OF THE FAIR. but the jocund farmer drives his team afield, plowing and planting and reap- ing with appliances that have made agri- culture a sedentary occupation. In all that makes life valuable and worth liv- ing, the intelligent American mechanic and wage-worker live longer, in a single year, than did Methusalah in all his slow and stagnant centuries. The emancipation of the American woman is practically complete. The ten- dency from subordination to equality has than of merit. It would have obtained wider recognition had it been subjected to the general conditions of competition, and relieved from the dwarfy association of a discouraging mass of commonplace mediocrity. It is more obvious now than ever before that woman has no separate intellectual functions, and that her place in the world is with man ; that their in- terests and destiny are mutual ; that they are auxiliaries and not rivals, competitors and not antagonists. Historically, the most interesting and impressive feature of the exposition is the Convent of La Rabida, with its doc- uments, portraits, relics and memorials of Columbus. A truer dramatic insight would have given it a more central and prominent location. The sandy promon- tory with its sea wall of rugged rock and terrace of tropical plants is artis- tic, and the site may have been selected in pursuance of the original design of the architects, that the ART GALLERY. been rapid, and her exhibit marks its tri- umphant consummation. For ages theplaything, or the slave of man, she is at last, in the United States, his acknowledged equal in everything except political sov- ereignty, and this distinction will soon be obliterated. But to the impartial, un- prejudiced, and disinterested observer, which ever way his convictions may be, woman's part in the great exposition has been a disappointment. She has had ample scope and verge enough. Vast space was ungrudgingly accorded without interference or divided control, but the result has not been satisfactory. The Woman's building, its contents and its congresses, have been an object lesson which strikingly illustrates the weak- nesses, defects, infirmities and limitations of woman's nature ; the want of execu- tive force, of self-restraint, of concentra- tion of purpose, of comprehensive gener- alization, and the substitution of a super- fluous multiplicity of petty and trivial details. Much worth}- work has been done by women, but it has suffered be- cause of the demand that it should be judged by the standard of sex rather main entrance should be from the lake front, through the Court of Honor, but its environment is deplorably unfortun- ate. Had it been placed where the Vic- toria House stands, and the caravels moored in the dock with the boat of the Vikings and the brick warship, the ef- fect would have been greatly enhanced. Interest naturally centers about the com- mission of Columbus, protected by an armed guard, and in presence of which gentlemen are somewhat theatrical!}- re- quested to uncover. It is justly described as the most important paper in our his- tory. Supplemented by the charters of the Massachusetts and Virginia colonies, LESSONS OF THE FAIR. 147 the Declaration of Independence, and the Constitution of the United States, the collection would have been complete. It would have accentuated and emphasized the greatest lesson of the exposition the supremacy of the Anglo-Saxon race. When the commission was signed and Columbus set sail on his memorable voy- age, Spain was mistress of the seas and arbiter of the destinies of Europe. Cor- tez, Pizarro, De Soto and Balboa comple- ted the discovery and conquest of the New World, while England was yet a de- tached and semi-barbarous suburb, with less population than the State of New York today. Shakespeare was born sev- enty-two years later, and when Hamlet was written it is doubtful if there were six million people on earth who could speak or understand the English lan- guage. Debauched by the incredible wealth obtained by the plunder of Mex- ico and Peru, Spain has declined into ser- vile decrepitude, while the political ideas and institutions, the laws and the litera- ture of the Anglo-Saxon have dominion over four hundred and fifty million people, occupying one-fourth part of the land surface of the earth. Haughty and rapa- cious, it has displayed the highest capac- ity for conquest, but prefers charters to the sword. It has compelled kings to surrender their prerogatives and priests to relinquish their authority. Vast as has been the material growth and devel- opment of the race, its chief victories have been moral and intellectual. It has triumphed b}' the dissemination of poten- tial ideas and just precepts, rather than by violence and force. It has made states powerful by making them free. It has made men fit for self-government by stim- ulating their intelligence. It has cor- rected the evils of society by establishing liberty of conscience For the divine right of tyrants it has substituted the HORTICULTURAL BUILDING FROM THE WOODED ISLE. 148 LESSONS OF THE FAIR. sovereignty of the people. To such a race nothing is impossible. It recognizes obstacles only to overcome them. It per- ceives barriers only to remove them. It pauses in its career only to meditate new achievements. The genius of the race is intensely prac- tical. It is concerned with the solution of material problems. One of the most not- able facts in connec- tion with the exposi- tion is that nearly all the remarkable inven- tions and discoveries of the recent epoch, to which allusion has been made, have come from English-speak- ing people, and large- ly from the United States. Franklin, factures without the conviction that we are in the vestibule of the temple, and greater wonders are yet to come. That a traveller should make the journey from New York to San Francisco between sun- rise and sunset, is not so incredible as THE AQUARIUM. Fulton, Morse, Field, Howe, Bell, McCor- mick and Edison have accomplished re- sults of immeasurable value to mankind. They have gone so far that it sometimes seems as if the limit had been reached, and that progress must be at an end. But the exposition is not history alone. It is inspiration and prophecy. No one can witness the marvels in the buildings of Electricity, Transportation and Manu- COLONXADK IN THE FISHERIES would have been the prediction when Sut- ter discovered gold in California, that it would be made before the close of the cent- ury, in a week, with the luxurious appli- ances of a metropoli- tan hotel. It is no longer visionar}^ to affirm that the mer- chant in Boston will converse by tele- phone with his cor- respondent in Cal- cutta and St. Peters- burg, or that electricity will supplant steam as a motive power for propelling trains on land and ships upon the sea. The victories of the future are to be in the domain of the application of science to the arts of human life. This is the secure basis for that universal civilization which is the hope of the philanthropist and the dream of the poet. Prodigious as has been our progress, it is depressing to LESSONS OF THE FAIR. reflect how much remains to be done. Of the fifteen hundred million inhabitants of the earth, more than one-half are yet living in huts and caves, or roaming like beasts unclad without shelter or home. Recognizing the brotherhood of man, the times-spirit is striving by these parlia- ments of nations to accomplish the " fed- eration of the world." The thinkers and workers of this era are not engaged in intellectual speculation. The World's congresses, from which so much was anticipated at the exposition, were a disappointment. They were inter- esting, but they made no lasting im- pression upon the public mind. They contributed little to the knowledge or the entertainment of mankind. The congress of religions was unique, and strikingly illustrated the decay of bigotry and the growth of toleration which accompany the extension of the intellectual horizon. Whether it brought the followers of Christ, Mahomet, Buddha and Confucius, Catho- lics, Protestants and Pagans, into nearer fellowship, or promoted the establishment of a universal religion, doesnot yetappear. While the aesthetic sense of the dominant race is strong, and its imagination active and bold, it is evident from the exhibits at the Fair that neither are creative and constructive in literature and art. Archi- tecture, scripture painting and poetry seem to have culminated and passed their zenith. Certainly for centuries they have made no progress. Architecture has re- produced in the Palace of the Fine Arts the outlines, proportions and ornaments of the Grecian Ionic style. The Apollo Belvedere, the Laoccon and the Venus of Milo remain the despair of sculpture, whose excellence isjudged as it approach- es or departs from those ancient models. The Transfiguration and the Sistine Ma- donna have no rivals in modern painting. Poetry flowered three centuries ago in Shakespeare, and Tennyson, Dickens and Thackeray have left no successors. Science has become more dramatic than art. Engines, ships and towers of flame are the poems of today. Utility is the highest beauty, and the genius of the Anglo- Saxon finds expression in action and not in reverie. r mr : **.. .. , THE CENTER OF THE MACMONNIRS FOUNTAIN. \ A WHITE UMBRELLA AT THE FAIR. BY F. HOPKINSON SMITH. T was at the Fifty- Seventh street en- trance. I had pre- sented my pass, for the first time; a sort of trip - slip affair, bound in a book, embellished by a photograph of myself, and stamped by the powers that be, guar- anteeing me the free use of the grounds for every day of the great Exposition. I had just edged my sketch-trap through a complicated turnstile that looked like an umbrella frame turned upside down and wide open, when a }-oung man, with gold letters on his hat, called out : " Say \ Yer can't take that in ! " " Can't take what in?" "That tripod." "What tripod?" 1 ' That there tripod that you've got cov- ered up there. Kodaks is two dollars. Cameras is ten." I mildly denied the suspected smug- gling, and then, as a smile of unbelief broke over his face, insisted, perhaps too pointedly, that the suspicious combina- tion contained onlj r the staff of my white umbrella ; its grateful, protecting cover ; my easel with adjustable legs perhaps misleading to the unpracticed, unartistic eye before me ; my portfolio, stool, palette, ind brush-case. But the 3 T oung man with the officially decorated hat knew better. He had grad- uated somewhere or other or expected to and understood his business. His orders were to seize everything that could pos- sibly conceal every other thing that might possibly reproduce any of the beauty and glory of the white city within, and " that there kit couldn't pass." The designation was irritating. It sug- gested a burglar's outfit. In all my travels up and down the globe my beloved sketch-trap had never before been stigma- tized as a " kit." A crowd had by this time gathered, a crowd of decidedly opposite purposes. One section, with mone\ T , wanted to spend it for tickets and get inside the grounds at once. This section was anxious to throw me over the fence for blocking up the turnstile. The other, having no money, could not get in, and would have been delighted to have broken the monot- ony of peeping through the gates by wit- nessing a free fight in the street outside. This section wanted me to protest and de- fend myself. One cannot fight even one claw of an octopus, and so I disappointed the last half of the mob by unlimbering my " sus- pect ' ' on the sidewalk, jointing its slender legs, erecting the umbrella, and occupy- ing with mock deliberation the easily ad- A WHITE UMBRELLA AT THE FAIR. 152 A WHITE UMBRELLA AT THE FAIR. justed stool. After the agent of the Society for Fostering the Fine Arts in America had turned my brush-case in- side out, pawed over my paint rags, ex- amined carefully the under side of my color-box for a hidden lens, and consulted with a larger and more important official, with less hat but additional buttons, I passed the gate that gate which is commonly supposed to welcome the world and mounted the steps of the Art Pal- ace, as a short cut to the Lagoon. I wanted to paint the West Porch, with its trees and hazy distances, to me the most beautiful of all these entrances entrances of a building whose grandeur, sj'mmetry and faultless decoration will last as long as the memory of the great Exposition itself, even if it does not out- live, in the grateful remembrance of the American people, any other single object within the boundaries of the Fair itself. I had barely reached the center of the superb rotunda, the light falling on groups of marble and of bronze in fact, I was at the moment stud\-ing one of Kerry's panthers when a second agent of the " Soc. F. F. A. in A. " touched me on the shoulder. "Sony, sir; but you can't bring that through here." " It is not a camera." 1 ' I know, sir (he had evidently taken a po?t-graduate course) ; but nobody is al- Icvved to copy pictures here. It's let to a Philadelphia concern." So down the steps I go again, still lug- ging my much-abused trap, and out into the blinding blaze of light, past the great statue of the great master of classic times, who courteously hid his face from me, thereby concealing his feelings at my treatment, no doubt ; past the noble statue of Minerva, who looked at me with a sad- dened expression, indicativeof sympathy ; past the huge white lions guarding one portal to the art treasures of the world even they had a Haggenbecked look, as if willing to obey a wave of my hand, turn head, and devour the Philadelphia well, devour somebody and so on to a quiet nook between fresh green grass and well-swept gravel-walk, beneath the shadow of one portico of the superb structure. Here I tender^ opened my much-maligned trap and began work. Then sweet peace settled down upon me and mine. The gentle water-cart veered half a point and sent its spray just clear of my feet. The little launches blew their whistles merrily as they glided by. A gondolier, w r hom I knew, hailed me as he sailed past, waving his hat. The cata- logue boy leaned over the railing of the corridor above my head, and talked respect- fully and in whispers about my work to a pencil-seller, adding such criticisms as : "That's his tail he's making now ain't it splendid ! " while even the valedictorian of his class, who was snipping half-fare tickets inside the miniature pagoda, used as a pay-office for the electric launches, A WHITE UMBRELLA A T THE FAIR. 153 came over between boats and was good enough to remark that it was ' way out of sight." Suddenly a particularly straight, civil- spoken, brass-bebuttoned and black- braided person, impressing you as occupy- ing a position somewhere between an unusually neat park policeman and a Fourth of July militiaman, stopped squarely in front of my easel, obliterating my beautiful lion and the lovely per- spective beyond, and delivered himself as follows : ' i The captain of the guard has sent me to ask by whose order you paint here." I looked at him in profound astonish- ment Inside the Art Palace, where the descendant of William Penn had mo- nopolized all the privileges 3*es ; but out here, in the sunlight, under the blue sky, and in the shadow of the temple of my guild decidedly, no. If he had asked me by whose order I had neglected it, without opening my trap and beginning my devotions with a pencil as reverent as I would have followed the classic lines of the Parthenon, I could have understood the force of his remarks ; for any painter who loved this line of subject, and who could stand before this marvelous exam- ple, trap in hand, without recording some portion of its beauties, did not deserve the name. Then the absurdity of the in- quiry broke over me. . . . Millions of money spent to develop art in America. A city built, as it were, in a day, the story of whose grandeur and beauty it would take a century to forget. The most ex- quisite art building of modern, and per- haps of any time, casting its shadow at that very moment over my easel, shelter- ing and enshrining the marbles and can- vases of the greatest masters of modern art ; the whole world bidden to come and feast its eyes, and then one of its guests and devotees debarred from paying his tribute on a bit of paper ten inches square. "Do you really mean, guard, that I cannot paint here without somebody's permission ? ' ' The guard said, "Yes," with an ex- pression on his face indicative of a kind of pity for a man who did not realize at once the absurdity of anyone's being al- lowed free use of the grounds, armed with so dangerous a thing as a white umbrella. You might as well have asked him whether you might break the tail of the lion and carry it away as a souvenir, or add a figure to a French masterpiece. " Then present my compliments to the captain of the guard and tell him my or- ders come direct from the genius of Charles B. Atwood, the architect who de- signed this building. ' ' The guard loosened carefully one button of his coat, thrust two cotton-gloved fin- gers into the break of his faultless cloth outline, extracted, as with a pair of pin- cers, a small, narrow book, and with the IX THE TURKISH VILLAGE. 154 A WHITE UMBRELLA AT THE FAIR. stub of a pencil wrote slowly, " Permit of Mr. Atwood," and disappeared. " Well, it can't hurt none," remarked a man, looking over my shoulder. He looked like a farmer. " Guess they don't want no pictures took, they got so many photographs to sell," said his wife. " You can't take any photographs at all, without they give you leave," added a young girl in a blue suit, who looked like a country school-teacher, " for they took my camera away at the gate, unless I paid, and I couldn't afford that." I had no theory, and ventured no reply. I only wanted to be let alone long enough to catch the splash of that noble shadow before the hot sun creeping around that superb column dried it up. If any such rule as to painters exists, it should be abolished at once. Within the limits of the Fair there is material for all the painters of the earth, and with al- most every variety of subject. Fromen- tin, Schreyer and Pasini could have stud- ied the movements of a group of Arab horsemen, mounted on pure-blooded Arab steeds, sweeping over the plain. Constant and Bridgeman could find here today Oriental interiors, peopled with scores of Turkish, Armenian and S3 r rian women, smoking narghiles, and playing upon curious barbaric instruments. Geronie could transfer to his canvas groups of Bedouins in full costumes, among them one beautiful, dark-skinned woman with liquid, melting eyes and low forehead bound with a black silk scarf and fastened at each temple with gold ornaments ; or he could catch, if he chose, the dignified, almost majestic movements of this superb Oriental, when with graceful poise she trips down the Midway in the twilight, her half-nude baby perched on her shoul- der, balanced like a water-jar. Zeim and Rico and Whistler could float in Venetian gondolas along the edges of white palaces that are as real in color, form and water reflections, as their be- loved Bride of the Adriatic. Tadema could find porticos, loggias and courts backgrounds for his figures infinitely more perfect and useful in his studio than could be discovered in a year's travel along the Mediterranean. Remington and Woodville could fill their sketch-books with Indian ponies, cowboys, and a full company of English cavalry, perfect!}- ap- pointed, down to their very spurs ; while a whole new race of painters with untried subjects could find inspiration in South Sea Island and Dahomey war -dances, with brandished clubs and flaring torches. The crowds, too, that would look over the shoulders of all these painters would be almost as interesting and various as the subjects themselves. For myself, I have painted in almost all paintable lands, and have had the experiences generally incident thereto ; but never with such variety as here. In Venice, where today white umbrellas are almost as thick as- field-daisies, you rarely attract the idlest of the idle. They all know what you are doing, as they have all known what their own painters have done, from the great Bellini down. In Mexico and Constan- tinople, the natives swarm like flies about you, so seldom is a painter seen ; while in Havana they block up the narrow thor- oughfare and every overhanging balcony is filled, so eager is the populace to see a man seated quietly in an open fiacre, sketch- ing a Cuban street. Yet what patience, and what courtesy, too, these people have shown ! While in Mexico, the eye of ev- ery bystander was riveted on my brush, ever}' tongue was silent. If any onlooker had any positive opinion on outdoor work in general, and landscape work in partic- ular, or any criticisms to make, he kept them to himself. This crowd here, however, is peculiar and individual, and unlike any other within my experience. I regret, too, to be obliged to state that the ratio of its- courtesy is in exact proportion to the number of half-civilized lookers-on scat- tered through its whole mass. In the Cairo street, for instance, where by far the largest number consists of donkey boys, canal drivers, and other Arabs and Soudanese, one little savage, without word from anyone, ran to her bungalow and brought a curious fan, gently waving it over my head while I worked. Up the Midway, on the contrary, near the great wheel, where the crowd of bystanders was thickly impregnated with types of our American life and the culture of our time, the remarks of those about me, if I correctly translated the several dialects, were strongly indicative of the intention on the part of one at least A WHITE UMBRELLA A T THE FAIR. 155 SKETCHKD AT THE CORNER OF THE ART GALLERY LOOKING ACROSS THE NORTH POND. 156 A WHITE UMBRELLA AT THE FAIR. of the cultured, to produce certain in- dentations in my head, for getting in his way and obstructing his view. An- other expressed an especial desire to dry up certain portions of the road with my person ; while a third, after the excitement had been subdued this time a flat, angular female in black bom- bazine, lace collar and a daguerrotype pin, gave vent to the criticism that " it warn't no more like it than nothin' " an opinion, I regret to say, which was con- curred in b3' a considerable majority of those present. Then, perhaps, later on, over by the Lagoon, there would come a couple of eager-eyed, slender young girls, sketch- book in hand, who talked to each other in undertones, with long silences of watching between, and who, after wasting an hour of their own precious sight-seeing time, would thank me so sweetly for al- lowing them to see the sketch, that all the rough edges of the morning were for- gotten. But, seriously, our people are not to be blamed too severely for failing to appreci- ate an open easel. Our art, after all, is but a quarter of a century old, and, active as are our color and t}-pe presses, with their millions of imprints sown broadcast over the land, and earnest and productive as are our collectors and painters, the country grows faster than these civilizing influences. It can be confidentlj' said that it will be very many 3 r ears before the quiet acceptation of a Venetian audience overtakes our people everywhere up and down our land, and if this much-to-be- desired day is at all hastened, it will be solely because of the marvelous results of this most marvelous Exposition. MAIN ENTRANCE TO THE ART GALLERY. COAST GUN L 33. KRUPP PAVILION, WORLD'S PAIR. BY MARTHA FOOTE CROW. THY lips' stern argument is more for peace Than war, O cannon-king ! When thou dost bend Thy seaward gaze, thou seemst upon the end Of life to brood, man's futile wraths increase, And the inanity of battles' lease. Hadst thou to hate of men been made to lend Thy fateful breath, in battle's din to blend Thy voice, thou hadst long since made war to cease. Then stand, mute prophet, at the portal where A child's soft touch can thousands keep at bay; Guard thou the future's gateway while the mirth Of gods shall shake man's quarrel into air; Balk thou world's armies in their vain array; So shalt thou bring the longed-for peace on earth ! A SWIMMING MATCH. PEOPLE WHO DID NOT GO TO THE FAIR. BY ROBERT GRANT. IT is all over, and we, the jubilant, who have neither been held up nor tele- scoped, have returned to our firesides to mull over the majesty of the Court of Honor, to persuade ourselves that we en- joyed the paroxysms of the Ferris wheel, and to conjure up the manifold mysteries of the Midway Plaisance. We have been and returned, and conscience is satisfied. We have nothing to reproach ourselves with, and we are ecstatic into the bargain. The envious eastern press would have had us believe before we started that the Fair was a failure, and we went, tamely, from a stern sense of duty, merely to make sure that, if it were a success, we had not missed it. We have returned dazzled, electrified, and almost hysterical. The magnificent proportions of the Liberal Arts building, the architectural grace and symmetry of the Agricultural building, the inspiring effect of the Administration dome, come back to us in the watches of the night. Our retinas retain the impression of the superb staff beasts on the embankments ; of swiftly gliding gondolas, manned bv quaint, fee-seeking foreigners ; of foun- tains scintillant with electricity, and of fireworks what fireworks ! We have talked with human beings who in their native wilds wear no clothing, and with human beings who feed upon blubber and sleep in bags to protect themselves from the rigors of a climate where conventional thermometers burst ; and we have de- manded, from all, postage stamps for our son and heir, who is collecting, and paid more for them than any dealer would have charged. We have soared on the pinions of a fascinated imagination, and now we are poised on the wings of exalted retro- spect. Our tongues wag gloriously. We look for Hopkins poor Hopkins in the smoking-car, the first thing in the morning, to tell him all about it, and PEOPLE WHO DID NOT GO TO THE FAIR. 159 Avhen, on the third evening, he fails to drop in as usual, we drop in on him so that he may hear everything while it is fresh in our memories. That is the way I looked at it yester- day ; but today I feel a little sober. Hop- kins has shown temper. I was going to say he has proved ungrateful ; but his words are ringing in my ears, and I am not sure that I should be justified in go- ing to that length. But was it not queer of Hopkins to turn round, in the smoking- car, this morning, and remark, with cold asperity : " I say, old man, give us a rest won't you ? I didn't go to the Fair, "but I was beginning to be sorry and wish I had, until you returned, with your infernal ecstasies and long-winded descriptions, and ever- lasting prattle about gondolas, and / Plaisances, and electrical fountains, and general stuff; and now I am thanking heaven that I remained at home. If you wish me to stay away from the Paris exhibition in 1900, keep on as you have during the past week." I was a little taken aback. I had noticed that Hopkins had looked glum the last few times we had met, and that he seemed loth to put down his newspaper when I began to talk. On the previous I had taken it for grant- ed, in the first i n- stance, that he wasread- i ng about the Valky- rie, and, in the second, that he had in mind the sneak- thief burglaries EARTH CONTROLLED. EARTH UNCONTROLLED. AIR UNCONTROLLED. CROUPS FROM ADMINISTRATION BUILDING. AIK CONTROLLED. evening he had even seemed to peer at me through the crack of the door and hesi- tate as if I were a tramp be- fore he let me in. But that have recent- ly taken place in our neighbor- hood. Now it seems that I have been dogging him, and that those were gentle hints. My first im- pulse was to be angry and to re- proach Hopkins with ingratitude by remarking that if he chose to remain in a con- dition of crass ignorance regarding the great exhibition, I should no longer trouble myself to enlighten him. Had I not lent him, for the benefit of himself and the little Hopkinses, all my maps, photo- graphs and other guides to knowl- edge ? But having counted ten be- fore speaking, as I try to do when heated, I simply said : "Why was it you didn't go to the Fair, Hopkins? I forget." Hopkins looked nettled again this time with himself and a faint blush over- spread his bronzed countenance. " Couldn't get away," he retorted. "Oh, yes. But you got away on a yacht cruise for ten days. You could have seen the Fair in that time, and taken Mrs. H. and your eldest boy." What a difference it makes whether or not a man has the consciousness of recti- tude on his side ! A few minutes before, when the charge of making myself a bore i6o PEOPLE WHO DID NOT GO TO THE FAIR. THE CARAVELS IN THE SOUTH INLET. had been cast in my teeth, I had become tongue-tied so to speak, and been driven to counting ten in order to avoid the risk of making a bad matter worse. But now I had the hardihood of a recording angel. I would make Hopkins smart for his in- gratitude to me. ' ' A man must get some fresh air in the course of the twelve months." "Didn't you go to Florida to fish in the spring ? " " Yes, and spent all the money I could afford to spend this year." ' ' But you bought a new phaeton in June and had your house painted." ' ' Because the old phaeton was worn out, and the house looked like the d ' ' " I'll wager, Hopkins, your wife would have gladly made the old phaeton do another season and have endured with equanimity the likeness between the out- side of the house and his Satanic majesty, if she could have gone to the Fair." "I tell you I hate shows," said Hop- kins malignantly, and he buried his features in the Times in order to discoun- tenance an}' further remarks of mine. He had not told me, but there was the reason in a nut-shell. Hopkins hated shows, and he had prided himself on his consistency in hating this show, and now he was miserable as a consequence. How man}- poor idiots there are over the country today who are, colloquially speaking, kicking themselves on account of their boast that they were not going to the World's Fair because of their hatred for shows. In May they said so with an air as though any one who enjoyed a show was a garden ass. In June they sneered as they said it, and instanced the discouraging gate receipts as proof of their superior wisdom. In July they sniffed as they said it, and referred to the fact that only Americans were going. In August they said it still, and argued that cholera might break out any day and that the times were hard. In September they coxighed meditatively as they said it, and spoke of the crowds, yet admitted that if they had only known in time that this particular show was worth seeing they might have made arrangements ac- cordingly. In October they swore irrit- ably as they said it, conscious that they had made fools of themselves and yet determined to stick out to the bitter end, until, perhaps, just at the last minute when they made up their minds that they would go and fovind every section in the sleeping-cars taken and all the hotel accommodations gone ; whereupon they swore still more irritably, and abused the country and our institutions and railway PEOPLE WHO DID NOT GO TO THE FAIR, 161 systems in general, and the management of the World's Fair in particular. In November they say it no longer, but say that they are going every man and woman of them to Paris in 1900. Yes. the people who did not- go to the Fair are sadder even than the autumn leaves ; and I was going to say without their redeeming attraction, until I stopped to count ten again. I could say it with all my heart of Hopkins and the other would it not be that we might conduct thither the hundreds and thousands who did not see it so that some one else might ? And since it is so simple to declare what one would do if possessed of a magician's wand, let us go a little farther and im- agine ourselves into the bargain million- aires making a first use of our prosperity to convey to Chicago a la Raymond all the people who were really so poor that they could not scrape together or borrow the means to have a peep at the Congress of Nations and a ride in a gondola from the Court of Honor to the Art Palace. Regardi n g the matter of affording to go, I am sure there is a very considerable number of mourners garden asses (to return the compliment) who sneered at shows and neglected to see the grandest exhibition of modern times from pure vanity, laziness, or lack of patriotism. But these are not all. Too many are there who really could not get away, who really could not afford to go, and who bravely stayed at home and made the best of the picture papers and the garrulity of individuals like myself who had been to Chicago. Shall we grieve for those who did not go in order that the tired sister, a public school- mistress at a pitiful salary (What abom- inable salaries we pay them ! ), or the younger brother on the threshold of life with a talent for art or mechanics might go instead ? These do not need our sym- pathy, but they have it. If by the stroke of a magician's wand we could revive and repeople the Fair for another thirty days, VIEWS FROM THE ENTRANCE TO THE HORTICULTURAL BUILDING. today all over the country who have awak- ened to the consciousness, now that it is too late, that they could have afforded the expense after all. They are sad, but do they deserve sympathy ? More, surely, than Hopkins and his tribe, but not very much, it seems to me, when we consider the host of those who were wise enough to thrust their fingers clean down to the bottom of the family stocking rather 102 PEOPLE WHO DID NOT GO TO THE FAIR. \ OUTSIDE OF THE GROUNDS. than stay at home. There is such a thing in this world as being too econom- ical, and the number of empt3' stockings and drawn down savings bank-books in every city and town of the republic are splendid evidences this autumn of the national stock of common sense and free- dom from niggardliness. To tell the truth, I have decidedl} 7 more sympathy for those who borrowed a hundred dollars in order to go, and who are now putting off the purchase of a winter suit or sack from the conscientious desire to blot out their indebtedness, than I have for the conservative folk who stayed at home and are a hundred dollars richer. The man or wom- an broad-minded enough to borrow once or twice in the course of a life- time, is to my mind a truer patriot than the hard-fisted soul who makes no distinction be- tween the desire of his daughter to visit the World's Fair and her desire to possess a bow-wow. Nor is the daughter, or the son, for the matter of that, alwaj'S the \visest judge of what is best for her. She may have been far more clamorous for her father to present her with the bow- wow than to send her to Chicago, and it is the cautious, penny-saving fathers who chose the bow-wow as the cheapest form of extravagance who are feeling cheapest today. I met, a month ago, a husband and wife who had decided to go to the Fair after all, and who seemed in rather high spirits as a con- sequence. "Andtheboy?" I inquired, having in mind their son and heir, an intelligent, wide-awake lad of fifteen. You should have seen their coun- tenances fall. They looked posi- tively grave, and paterfamilias, shaking his head, decidedly said: "Oh, no, it wouldn't be at all worth while." One effect of the Fair at Chi- cago has been to confound and refute forever that too large body of otherwise intelligent men and women who felt sure that the exhibition could not be a success because it was American and not French or English or German. They would have fought like the beasts at Ephesus to obtain ocean passages to visit Paris, London or Ber- lin, had it been at either of those cap- itals; but a World's Fair in the United States, and above all things at Chicago, A LANDING ON THK WOOPF.D ISLE. PEOPLE WHO DID NOT GO TO THE FAIR. 163 MAIN ENTRANCE TO THE HORTICULTURAL EXHIBIT. must necessarily be an absurdity. It might serve to display somewhat pic- turesquely our agricultural products and thereby titillate granger vanity; but what cultivated individual would care to travel hundreds of miles in a dusty sleeping-car in order to see bales of cotton and sheaves of corn ranged side b\ r side with spread- eagle monotony ? We shall never hear such talk again on our eastern sea-board. If the Fair has accomplished no other thing it has silenced for all time the arguments of those who maintained that it was necessary to go abroad in order to see anything really artistic or inspiring, and that as a people we lack imagination. How those pessimists who went at last must have opened their eyes at the sight of the peristyle and the splendid groups on the Agricultural building, and the Mac- monnies fountain, and the free, daring figures on the outside of the Administra- tion dome ! Plow little do the pessimists, who stayed at home until the end and did not see the grace of the landscape garden- ing, the tasteful blending of land and waterways, the poetic beauty of the whole magical White City, know of the genius, the artistic sensibilities, the aspirations and the strength of their countrymen and countrywomen ! It would be an interesting statistic to know accurately who were the patrons of the Fair, or, in other words, how the millions who visited it were apportioned among the different classes of the com- munity and sections of the country. It was visited, of course, abundantly by all classes, rich and poor, well-to-do and struggling, cultivated and ignorant ; but it seems probable that the class most largely represented in proportion to its numbers was the rank and file of the American people, meaning thereby the families to whom the expense was a mat- ter of serious consideration, and the event one of extraordinary and exceptional im- portance. These went as a matter of course, beset by no shame-faced doubts as to the national ability, and feeling that it was their duty to go, on the groxind both of patriotism and of education. Their i6 4 PEOPLE WHO DID NOT GO TO THE FAIR. empty pocketbooks and stockings lie scattered along the Midway Plaisance, and at the bottom of the waterways, and they have resumed the routine of their uneventful daily lives, knowing that they must labor closely for some time to come to atone for their glorious extravagance. But who would venture to forecast the fruits of their journeying to Chicago, and predict the consequences to follow from the impress on the national intelligence of what they saw there? The grandest effect after all, will be the impetus of fresh ideas and of inspiration given to wistful minds throughout the country. Under the influence of this reflection our sentiment even toward Hopkins, and much more toward those who sta}-ed at home from less indefensible or from jus- tifiable considerations, is turned to pro- foundest pity. We must remember that they are men and brothers, and that most of them by this time are grieving bitterly at heart that they let slip one of the grand opportunities of life to learn and to enjoy. Let us too be tactful with them in their somber mood, and not thrust too much upon them the jubilation which we feel because we have been wiser or more fortunate than the}'. We should not give even to the least deserving of them the occasion which I gave to Hopkins to flinch with the exquisite torture produced by the prattle of pride and self-congratu- lation. Within bounds the}- will be glad to look at our photographs and relics, and to hear our adventures and even our de- scriptions, it we do not dog their footsteps or invade their domestic privacy. But let us not hope to be able to set the Fair be- fore their eyes by our individual powers of language or metaphor. The attempt to do so is akin to playing a jews-harp in the bed-chamber of a sick man who does not care for music. We have had our happy fortnight and the joy of it is still fresh with us ; the least we can do is to respect by silence the feelings of those who were not able or chose not to go to the World's Fair. AN KXHJBIf OF WINDMILLS. AMATEUR PHOTOGRAPHY PHOTOGRAPHY in i Fairyland ! The most fantastic dream of the ardent amateur who has longed for the ideal and unattainable, could not be more fascinating in its com pi exit}', its variety and its pictur- esqueness than the reality. It may be said with certainty of the amateur pho- tographer who visited the World's Fair, that he was as little prepared for the surprise that was in store for him, as would have been au individual of a bygone age suddenly introduced to this wonderful nineteenth century. He had read and heard by word of mouth, potent descrip- tions of the marvelous beauties that would greet his eye, and he yearned for the time when it would be possible to stroll about in this land of enchantment and picture its marvels with the aid of the camera ; but when he came to look upon it, he was moved and affected, and felt that descriptions failed because the vision was one that, in its magnificence, was beyond the scope of words, and pre- sented a severe task for him to record pictorially with anything like justice. Thus, unfortunately for the camerist. fore- warning could not forearm him, and the first glimpse of this modern fain-land, though an elevating and inspiring one, GROUPS FROM THE TRANSPORTATION BUILDING. was never- theless, a shock, ajar to his artis- tic sensibil- ities. Within the compass of almost two square miles there was spread before him with imposing grandeur the achievement of the master minds of the age, glorifying man's handiwork and attesting his prog- ress. Here were assembled all the na- tions of the earth, their customs and their costumes. The resources of each coun- try; its trades, arts and sciences; the ma- terial and the religious character of the peoples ; all were here for him to study and to photograph. Up and down the broad avenues, and in and out of the mas- sive structures, there elbowed and surged day by day, and night after night mid glitter and glare, the most cosmopolitan throng that could possibly be gathered anywhere; the high and the low, rich and poor, civilized and savage all the coun- 1 66 AMATEUR PHOTOGRAPHY AT THE WORLD'S FAIR. tries of the earth centralized here and their peoples ming- ling with harmony and accord ! Verily, said the camerist to himself, this is a World's Fair ! But what can I do? What shall I take? It is all so splendid, impres- sive, huge, overpowering ! When the first dazzling ef- fect was over the camerist proceeded to use his camera, or rather tried to, for none ever fully attained a realizing sense of the condi- tions that surrounded him. Ask whom you may, he will tell you candidly, his photographic work was, in a degree, aim- less. The scene was all too comprehen- sive for him to grasp it in its entirety; there was no beginning or ending with anything like definition ; he was perplexed and lacked clear, guiding thought and method in his pursuit. Perhaps he had traveled over England and the Continent, and had possibly traversed even the dan- gerous and less accessible parts of the world, without feeling a tremor of fear as to his ability to photograph it all with ease, and well. He had ascended pre- cipitous mountains, descended the crat- ers of burning volcanoes, gone into the very bowels of the earth, and made flash- light pictures, without ever experienc- ing other than the merely technical dif- ficulties. But here was the whole world, within a few hours walking, actual and startling in its myriad realisms, and he CAMEL, WITH TRAPPINGS BRIDGE OF ARCH, OF PERISTYLE. went about much as does a child with some new bauble, fond, yet fearful, and doubt- ing whether it is really his to have and to enjoy. When he returned home and began development, and saw the re- sult of his work, as each pic- ture called to mind the won- derland through which he had passed, then and not till then, did he appreciate the misdirection of his efforts. To such as have been able to return and profit by such a first experience, is due the most creditable work that has been done. Two of the most fortunate amateurs are Messrs. T. A. and C. G. Hine, of the Newark Camera Club. Together they have made several hundred negatives and covered the field from first to last. There are but few better known than these gentlemen, and their reputation extends wherever a photographic lantern slide is sent ; and so careful are the}' in their work that anything exhibited under their joint signature always receives the high- est praise, and often prize, if any is to be awarded. The peculiarity and character- istic quality of their work is seen in the night scenes they made at the Fair. One entitled " Administration Building, Illu- minated," and another "The Basin, Illu- minated," are beyond doubt two of the most wonderfully clever and artistic pic- tures of all the millions that have been made there during the season. The Messrs. Hine are not the first to make night pic- tures, but the}- are per- haps the only ones to ob- tain such gems. They vividly recall the splen- dor and brilliancy of the scene to any one who has looked upon it, and to such as have not, they at least awaken the imagin- ation to an insight of the weird and dazzling power of the night illumination upon the grounds, where every building was out- lined with light, and ev- ery dome, and arch, and angle had its contour drawn in bright lines of AMATEUR PHOTOGRAPHY AT THE WORLD'S FAIR. 167 TWILIGHT, ACROSS WOODED ISLAND. living flame. The extent of this electric illumination will be understood when it is said that figures grouped about the buildings are distinctly seen in the pho- tograph. These pictures were both made from the top of the Manufactures and Liberal Arts building. Another excel- lent picture, novel in its effect, is "Twi- light, across Wooded Island," lending to the subject just a sufficiency of the dark and somber shades of falling night, tinged \vith the high-lights of the setting sun. " Looking South from the Horticultural Building," and the studies of statuary, particularly the eight groups representing the elements earth, air, fire and water controlled and uncontrolled, are very fine. "Electricity," "Aerial," "Steam," and " Marine," groups about the Transporta- tion building, are similar symbolic studies. This is all admirable work, when you recognize that it was done with a hand camera of four by five inches, or less, in size. There are two principal ways of using the dry plate. One is the instan- taneous or "snap-shot," to which the amateur was restricted, the other is by means of camera and tripod, giving a longer, or what is called "time " ex- posure. The latter is the only way to get the best effects of light and shade, and had it been allowable to take even a five by eight camera and tripod into the grounds which would not have been unreasonable much more perfect work would have been attained. Still, notwithstanding the obstacles that beset him, it is to the amateur pho- tographer that will be due the highest and most artistic treatment of the Fair. To be sure, none will have done it thor- oughly, but each will possess odd gems of undoubted merit. There are various very good reasons for this. One will be found, I think, in the fact that so many amateurs are men and women of means and leisure ; often of a professional and artistic temperament, possessing keen judgment in matters pertaining to art, who follow photography with the same enthusiasm and earnestness that the art- ist wields his brush or the sculptor his 1 68 AMATEUR PHOTOGRAPHY AT THE WORLD'S FAIR. mallet and chisel. Again, it may well be claimed that the amateur is much more familiar, by common practice, with the use of the hand camera than is the so- called professional. I shall not discuss the unfortunate regulations that hamp- ered the amateur in his attempt to photo- graph the Fair, but it may not be amiss to briefly consider what specific relation photography had to the exposition, and what benefits were likely to accrue to the art from the opportunities offered for its best and most unrestricted use. The time when it was regarded as a mere pastime has gone never to return and it is now conceded to rank as an art, whose pursuit is elevating and re- fining. It creates, develops and brings into requisition ev- ery latent instinct of the artistic sense; starts the emotions, awakens thought, quickens percep- tion. There could be no higher educa- tion, surely, in the school of life than that which fell to the boy of today, when, with camera in hand, he visited this wonderful Fair, to return laden with the fruit of his judg- ment in the selec- tion and treatment of the most marvel- ous combinations of landscape and arch- itecture, and the most unique and varied groupings of foreign and native sight- seers that were ever assembled in one place. It is almost astounding to learn that two of the largest photographic firms should establish themselves upon the grounds and rent cameras at a given price per day, to gratify the desire for picture-making ! Think of the thousands who had, perhaps, never handled a camera before; but here the}' were briefly transplanted to wonder- land, and thej r availed themselves of the opportunity to carry away a few mementoes The dry plate and the sim- INTERIOR OF PERISTYLE. plification of the process made this pos- sible. The extent to which the camera has been improved in the last few years, renders it quite feasible for a person of in- experience to take one in his hands, ready loaded, and, with slight instructions, to secure a fair percentage of good pictures. It would be a difficult task to estimate the number of new workers in the field of amateur photography due to this great Fair. Of those who thus took the first steps in art on so auspicious an occasion, is it not more than probable that very man}- will persevere ? The love of pictures is civilizing. From the very earliest days of history the ad- vancement of man is marked pictorial- ly ; from the rude drawings of the sav- age and the barbar- ian, that were used to record thought and events long be- fore the alphabet was known, and by the degrees of per- fection attained in thegraphicarts.one can trace the prog- ress and the epochal culmination of the civilization of a na- tion. There is an innate desire in all people to possess pictures or to make them, or both. It would be hard to say why, but per- haps it is that pic- tures bear the same relation outwardly to our natures' that memory does to our inner consciousness. After all, nature has made the most wonderful provision for the production of picttires. In that first and most per- fect of lenses, the eye, and that subtle sensitive medium, the brain, which not only records visible objects, but sound and even thought from its hidden and mysterious source, do we not find that the wisest and most beneficent gift of that one Power, that is life diffused in nature, has been the perfection of picture- recording apparatus ? Conceding, then, that the admiration for pictures is innate, AMATEUR PHOTOGRAPHY AT THE WORLD'S FAIR. 169 170 AMATEUR PHOTOGRAPHY AT THE WORLD'S FAIR. we must also acknowledge that the more acute, cultivated and truthful the action of these brain -photographs become, the nearer will the mind approach the ideal and the closer this approach, the clearer and keener will become the perception, the appreciation and the judgment of the beautiful. Pictures are a universal language, and appeal to all, regardless of tongue. The ideals of art mav differ with each nation, yet the eye and brain will all alike re- ceive and recognize the symmetry of form, the harmony of arrangement, and the ef- fect of light and shade, in some degree. Pictures of this World's Fair will be as thoroughly understood in Japan or India as here in the States. An illustration of all countries who will not, at one time or another, have seen it photographically, not alone through the individual display of each camerist, but through the lantern slide interchange. So closely are the clubs and societies in communication throughout the world, that they form an entire circuit, and thus thousands of pic- tures are constantly in circulation. Many sets of pictures of the White City, will journey through the States, the British Isles, across the Continent, China, India, Japan, Australia and back again to the States. Such an all-pervading influence must work incalculable benefits. Verily, it was the camerist' s paradise. Here he could never tire of wandering, daj- after day, amid a maze of pictorial WATER UNCONTROLLED AND CONTROLLED. GROUPS FROM ADMINISTRATION BUTI-DING. the extensiveness of photography and the influence it will exert may be drawn from the statement that man}- amateurs from Australia, China and other distant countries have spent days at the Fair, making pictures. Further take into ac- count that the number made by each camerist varied from one to three hun- dred, and one may realize the amount of work done and the great good that must result from so general a practice of this art. Millions could not attend the Fair during the short season of its duration yet it will be an insignificant minority in effects. Subjects of infinite variety pre- sented themselves at every turn. Vistas of unequalled charm attracted him here the Lagoon, winding along, its banks lined with great stone embankments, white and gleaming, and here and there the arched bridge, and high above, on either hand, massive fa9ade and arch and colonnade mirrored their gay decorations in the glassy pools, where ever and anon the ancient gondola and the modern launch glided to and fro. Again, thelong avenues, whose broad walks were lined with flower- beds and trees from all parts of the world, AM A TEUR PHO TOGRAPHY A T THE WORLD 'S FAIR. 171 A CORNER OP MACHINERY HALL. were thronged with moving life, while the vast buildings, continued far as the eye could see, and blend- ed in the distance in an indistinct, uncertain line with the clouds upon the horizon, hung like a fringe upon the design of the foreground. Not only the unusual and exquisite effect of these perspectives im- pressed him, however, but also the superb architect- ural designs of the build- ings, and the skilfully ex- ecuted entrances, about which the groupings of statuary, each symbolic of man's advancement, were elaborately placed. To obtain good pictures of some of these groups, was most difficult and some of the more careful and enthusiastic ama- teurs actually carried a step-ladder as well as a camera about the grounds, and when such subjects presented themselves as were out of the angle of their lens while walking, they climbed their ladders in order to get on a line with the object to be depicted. Truly, ambitious earnest- ness prompted that. Mr. Alfred P. Schoen and Mr. Frank C. Elgar, of the Society of Amateur Pho- tographers of New York, made some ex- cellent work , the former, however, carry- ing off the palm for World's Fair pic- tures. His "State Avenue" is a won- derfully clear-cut perspective ; and a mere trifle, "Interior of Peristyle," is still a very clever thing, for there is no other subject, I think, of the many I have seen, that shows the magnitude of the buildings better than this picture. "A Swimming Match," "Bridge of Arch," and many similar bits of the grounds are quite thoughtfully taken. Mr. Paul Sala and Mr. D. S. Plumb, of the Newark ( N. J.) Camera Club, have done some very artistic work. The ' l Cen- ter of Macmonnies Fountain," by the former, is a beautiful piece of work for a hand camera. Mr. D. Berger Young, of the Society of Amateur Photographers, has a large number of very fine views. There was one thing in favor of good re- THK GERMAN BUILDING. 172 AMATEUR PHOTOGRAPHY AT THE WORLD'S FAIR. suits, and that is there was plenty of light. Good white light is a prime requisite in ob- taining a photograph, and most amateurs did not avail themselves of the very sunny days, but waited until an overcast and cloudy day appeared. This was advan- tageous in more ways than one ; first, it took away the glare and lent a softer shading to the picture, giving less con- trast and greater beaut3 r of detail, for the buildings being in most instances so white the reflections were very strong ; further, the effect of clouds in the sky added much to the artistic value of either land or water views. It might be remarked here that there is one phase of photograph}' that is in a sense deplorable. It has been increasing to an unwarranted extent during the past two years and it is to be hoped for its own good that its growth will not continue. I refer to the lantern slide exchanges and interchange. This idea of making a lantern slide of every subject that is taken has beyond doubt militated against the more careful production of print pho- tographs. Its tendency has been to de- stroy that study of composition and light and shade which should ever be a niling one with the amateur who would make of photography an art, pure and simple. Many, who at one time devoted a great deal of thought and time to the pro- duction of a single good negative, that as a print should yield a perfect picture, have fallen into the careless and haphaz- ard way of taking anything and every- thing that presents itself, and after devel- opment, if it is not entirely good, content themselves with getting a good lantern slide out of some portion of it, either by reducing or enlarging a fraction of the original. This is to be deprecated. It is not art ; it is not photography. The elements of a good picture are merely ac- cidental. Had it not been for this pre- dominating thought of the majority of amateurs who visited the Fair, even bet- ter results might have been attained, and the regret would not have been so uni- versal that never again, in the time of any living today, would it be possible to look upon so grand and fertile a photo- graphic subject. THE FISHERIES. A NEW WORLD FABLE. BY HJAI.MAR HTORTH BOYESKN. THE flashing into vision of the White City by the Lake, and its sudden extinction, is one of the most startling- incidents which the American continent has witnessed. It furnishes exquisite material for the myth -making fancy. What a noble legend the Greeks would have made of it ! Men, they would have said, in the pride of achievement, rebelled against the immortal gods, as the Titans did of old, and refused to worship them. "Behold," they cried, "can we not, of our own wit and strength, rival your works nay, surpass them?" So they toiled and moiled, by day and by night, intending to build a wondrous city, which was to make Babylon, Nineveh and Athens pale into insignificance. Thither all the A NEW WORLD FABLE. nations of the earth were to bring their choicest works the highest evidences of their deftness, wit and skill. All the glorious products of loom and forge, of brain and brawn, of might and cunning, were to be heaped up in the White City by the much -resounding lake. Inflated in IN THE OSTRICH FARM. THE SHIP OF THE DESERT. spirit at the grandeur of this thought, the peoples burst into a psean of praise, saying : " Behold, we are even as gods ; great is man, wonderful are his works ! ' ' But the sounds of this song rose to heaven and smote the ears of the immor- tals, as they were seated in council on the top of Olympus. "What is this," they cried in wrath, " which the dwellers upon earth have done ? Let us send Eris, the goddess of strife, among them, to disturb their councils and bring confusion to their deeds." And Eris, borrowing the swift- winged sandals of Mercury, descend- ed from the purple skies, and, wrapped in a viewless cloud, stole into the council- room of the lily-armed Board of Lady Managers. Straightway a murmur was heard, which gathered volume and grew into a harsh commingling of many voices. All the lily-armed ones rose and talked aloud, with angr} r gesturing. Each de- posed the other from office ; some hurled forth accusations, and some brandished their silken-fringed sun-shades threaten- ingly in their neighbors' faces. Then Eris laughed aloud with joy, and, slipping out, betook herself to the council-hall of the men. No sooner had she entered and hovered unseen over the chieftains, than a roar of dissension broke forth : fists were clenched, wrathful voices wrestled in fierce concourse, and confusion reigned galore. Then Eris clapped her hands with delight, and, returning to Olympus, announced that her mission had been accom- plished. But as the moons passed, the men forgot their wrath, and masters of persuasive speech, whose words dropped from their lips sweeter than honey, soothed their passions and fired their hearts anew with noble en- deavor. And they toiled again right valiantly, by night and by day ; and behold ! the city of wonders arose and hung like a radiant vision upon the hori- zon over the much-resounding lake. Then, again, the high chant of triumph pierced the brazen skies and besieged the ears of the jealous immortals. " Let us descend from the crags of Olympus," they said, "and behold what the dwellers by the much-resounding lake have fashionec . And cloud-compelling Zeus, with all the radiant throng of gods and goddesses, descended, wrapt in a fragrant gloom, to the White City. And they came as cometh the night. Sore they marveled at that which they beheld. Hephaistos, wlien he saw the huge revolving wheel, struck at it, hot \vith ire, and with his mighty sledge strove to shatter it. But his fury was spent like that of a storm against the deeply-rooted mountain. Ares, mighty of limb, when he stared into the yawning throat of the black-mouthed A NEW WORLD FABLE. 175 cannon, hurled in disgust his sword into the lake ; and swift-sandaled Her- mes, when he heard the roar of the snorting locomotives and saw the starry light flash, with bright-hued rays, swifter than thought, along threads of steel, grasped his head between his rosy palms and trembled like an aspen leaf. Phoebus Apollo, when the music of dire fully commingled strains smote his ear from the Midway Street of the Nations, groaned aloud ; and when, haply to es- cape from the excruciating tumult, he rushed into the Hall of Beauty, he groaned still louder and fled, horror- stricken. But when the torch of day was quenched, the gods looked in vain for the soft veil of darkness to descend. Myriad stars suddenly flashed into view along the water's edge and on the lofty temples, glowing strangely with a pure white light. A great glare arose, pour- ing its radiance into the dark-blue can- opy of the sky. And the moon, like a pallid ghost, drifted along the edge of the horizon, and, seeing that her ser- vices were no longer needed, stole out of sight. Then cloud - compelling Zeus shook his ambrosian locks, and terrible was he to behold. " Ye gods and goddesses," he cried, "hear! The dwellers upon earth have rebelled against us. They have blotted out the soft and gentle night ; TOWN AND COUNTRY. IN THE GOVERNMENT BUILDING. UNIFORMS 1813. they have enkindled suns and moons and stars of their own ; they have erected temples for the worship of strange gods, and, have reversed the order of the world which we had de- creed. Therefore will I bring confusion upon them and destroy the cy- clopean works which they have builded." Then, in the twinkling of an eye, heaven and earth were drenched in , darkness ; the thunder- bolt flew abroad and, crashing, smote the tow- ers and domes of the White City; the light- ning cut deep rifts in the roof of the sky, and ^Go- , lus unloosed the storms ' which, bellowing, rode forth, filling the world with their uproar. But when Aurora rose again from the saffron couch of the famed Tithonus, the i 7 6 A NEW WORLD FABLE. AT THE SIDB OF THE GOLDEN DOORWAY White City was gone, and ruin and des- olation marked the spot where it had been. Some such myth, I fancy, we should have found in Homer, Herodotus or Lu- cretius, if a work even remotely compar- able with the World's Fair had been achieved and again destroyed, while man- kind was young. The tremendous prod- igality of the thing is, after all what is to the imagination most imposing. On? acquires, inferentially, a conception of the resources of the nation and thecit}' which can afford to squander such a dizzy array of millions on a mere fleeting show, how- ever useful and instructive. That nation or city is yet in its reckless age, when one likes to do things in a big way, and with a youthful bravado which scorns petty cal- culation as to profit and loss. There is something captivating to me in that spirit of vain-glorious municipal self-assertion which one finds in the principal local promoters of the Fair ; and I am quite ready to agree with them that, whatever credit the enterprise has reflected upon us. is due, not to the nation, btit to the city of Chicago. It was Chicago's Fair, first and last. The national interference (especially considering the meanness of the appropriation) was chiefly discredit- able. If responsibility for a failure were to be apportioned, we should not be slow in placing it solely upon Chicago. Let us be equally generous in awarding her the praise which is the meed of success. For she has placed the whole coun- try under obligation by af- fording us, practically at her own expense, a great and noble spectacle which each one of us is the richer for having seen. Such a wealth of achieve- ment artistic, mechanical and scientific has probably never before been crowded together in such a circum- scribed space. Of the build- ings so much has been writ- ten that I shrink from put- ting the language to the strain of describing them once more. But the}' are, in their simple purity and grace, too lovely to be ignored. They are so nobly impressive, so grandly and unos- tentatiously appropriate, so richly beau- tiful, that they sink deeply into the mind and remain as the final and abiding mem- ory, when all else shall have become a mere undistinguishable deposit of fea- tureless impressions. I am filled with a deep respect for the minds which, in spite of divergent temperaments and tradi- tions, could cooperate with so happy an effect. For, with the sole exception of the Fisheries building (which seems to strike a slightly discordant note), all those clas- sic fajades, roofs and porticos unite into a chord of delicious harmon}^. Each edifice has its own individuality, accentuating its own note, as it were ; but it is duly sub- ordinate to the grand ensemble. To my mind, nothing more beautiful has ever been devised, in the waj r of a building, than the Greek temple. There is a noble, tranquil dignity in its straight lines, sculptured pediments and stately columns. It is all so sane, so rational, and yet in- stinct with loftiness, austerity and grace. Only fancy what a petrified nightmare the Fair would have been, if the Gothic type had been substituted ! What bewildering jumbles of fantastic arches, roofs and spires ; what a riot of unfettered imagina- tion ; what an infinite and discordant variety of unrelated parts would have A NEW WORLD FABLE. 177 ST. GAUDENS' " COLUMBUS." i 7 8 A NEW WORLD FABLE. THE TELEPHONE EXCHANGE. sprung upon our startled vision ! For there is no such restraining unity of type in the Gothic architecture as there is in the Greek. And one sees the latter in Jackson Park in the most favorable en- vironment. There was a sunny illumination dif- fused over the whole magnificent spectacle on the morning when it first challenged my attention. I had come with a pair of critical New York spectacles on my nose, and I was not going to be bamboozled by Chicago swagger into approving of any- thing which did not commend itself to the enlightened eastern judgment. Truth to tell, I was resolved rigidly to preserve my mental equilibrium, and on my return home to talk about the Fair in a judi- ciously discriminating and slighth* patron- izing tone, as it behooved a man who, like the wily Ulysses, had "traveled far and visited the capitals of many nations." But thevery first glimpseof the White City (from the lake) disarmed me. Possibly I am rather impressionable, liable to be taken off my feet by the sight of some- thing truly beautiful. Things grandly and nobly beautiful are, as most of us are aware, extremely rare on this continent nay, on any continent. Most of us, too, when we were young, dreamed dreams and had glorious visions which in soberer years we dismissed as foolish and in- capable of realization. It is only in this way I can account for the fact that the Fair impressed me with a strange famili- arity. I felt sure I had seen it before, though I could not tell when or where. That splendid Court of Honor, with its monumental stateliness and simple gran- deur the long, majestic peristyle, with its sculptured figures, reflected in the lagoon, and the great central arch, "with its triumphal quadriga all bore to me some incomprehensible affinity to some- thing I had. seen or read or dreamed in the present or in a previous existence. The statue of the Republic welcoming the nations was, to be sure, distinctly new, and for that reason seemed a trifle out of tune ; though I soon managed to fit her into a vacant niche in my memory. The fact that all this felicity of effect is attained primarily by an appeal to the A NEW WORLD FABLE. 179 imagination does not in the least disturb me. To transform the perishable "staff" into pure Carara marble presents no difficulties to a poet, and even if it did, the magic touch of transfiguring illusion is furnished by the electric illumination at night. This, I venture to assert, is the greatest spectacle we, of this generation, have seen or shall be likely to see. It is a radiant vision of beauty, which fills the soul and which one is the better for having seen. The strange white light weaves an enchantment over the scene, giving it that ethereal remoteness which belongs to things not wholly of this earth. As I glide in and out of the quiet lagoons in the electric launch, the first sense of surprise passes away, and a deep and ex- quisite contentment possesses me. It is a mood which in my happy, foolish years was familiar enough, but which maturity seemed to have banished. It came upon me as a sweet, calm expansion of spirit, a gentle exhilaration, a complete and joyous surrender to the moment, and a delighted acceptance of all that it afforded. I drifted deli- ciously in a world of glorious sights. All those noble Greek fa9ades shone and glistened in the imperishable substance, fit alone to embody such lovely designs ; the Republic, pure gold from crown to sandals, loomed up in austere majesty, colossal and imposing ; the Wooded Island lay upon the water, light as eiderdown, wrapped in a mysterious enchantment which made me feel as if I were hovering on the borders of fairyland. Noth- ing could now stagger my credulity ; and if the Diana of St. Gaudens, on the top SLEEP FTHE FLOWERS. of the Agricultural building, had sent an arrow whizzing over my head, or the quad- riga of the peristyle had galloped off into space, it would scarcely have excited my won- der. It seemed therefore but a fitting finale to the pantomimic miracle-play, when, silently and without prelude, the Macmonnies fountain flung into the air its gorgeous columns of liquid fire. Now great spirals, consisting of innumerable tiny sprays, glowing in intensest orange, green and crimson, came whirling upwards ; now sil- very torrents shot toward the sky, uniting above in brilliant arches ; and for half an hour, with constantly changing design, the great masses of water kept up their dazzling phantasmagoria.. I wonder whether it is ungracious to say that the majority of the buildings, erected by foreign governments, seem, from the classical point of view, a trifle barbaric. The German building, for instance, is a fine specimen of early German renaissance, and in all respects eminently appropriate and satisfactory ; but, for all that, it stirred in me the reflection that the renaissance was not an improvement upon the Greek, but a debasement of it. The Swedish building is terribly fantastic and exhibits a vain chase after originality. Norway is modest as to size, and conscious, apparently, of her smallness, makes a modest display. Her building i8o A NEW WORLD FABLE. is, at least, national, and presents a re- vival of certain archaic features (as, for instance, the dragon -heads on the gables), which have of late suffered a resurrection. The English building is commonplace and uninteresting, as are also those of Canada and New South Wales ; and the only foreign structures which can lay claim to beauty are those of France and India. The latter presents, to my mind, an exquisite combination of richness of decorative detail with purity of design. Brazil is large and pretentious ; and, in fact, all the South American buildings show a complete absence of individuality. As for the State buildings, they exhibit many varieties of beauty and ugliness, and, with a few exceptions, are not artist- ically successful. The best of them all is, to my mind, the Colonial Massachu- setts mansion, so simple, gray and sober, \ WET DAY IX THE PLAISAXCE. with an air of old-fashioned gentility, and so charged with Puritanical reminiscence. It calls up the august .shades of Win- throps, Standishes and Endicotts, and gives one an agreeable sense of the age and dignity of American history. The exhibit within is also appropriate and impressive : portraits and relics of the great men the state has contributed to the politics and literature of the nation. I felt a thrill of something like veneration at the sight of the cradle which had rocked three (or was it six?) generations of Adamses. If ever a museum of Amer- ican antiquities is founded in Boston. New York or Philadelphia, I hope it will acquire this precious relic. The Pennsylvania building, too, is in excellent taste, and presents an historic physiognomy. Inaudible echoes of the American Revolution seem to tremble in the air about it, and the venerable Liberty bell makes us realize how far wrong Dr. Johnson was when he declared patriotism to be the last resort of a scoundrel. Here is a state with a distinct individuality, which has something in her past of which she is justh r proud. New York's part in the Revolution was, indeed, less conspic- uous, but yet well worth commemorating. Hamilton, Gouverneur Morris and John Jay were New Yorkers. But in the New York building, what do we find ? Abso- lutel} 7 nothing. A big, glaring, feature- less hall, with a great deal of gilding, and Governor Flower's bust on the outside. There is no building in the whole collec- tion at the Fair (unless it be that of Ver- mont) which is so drearity devoid of in- terest. Roswell P. Flower is he the best type we have to show of New York intel- lect or statesmanship ? The other states have not found it necessary to give their temporary executives such a conspicuous publicity, and the inference is inevitable that we must be particularly proud of ours. Of the other states which make an am- bitious exhibit, illustrative of theirclimate and resources, one of the most notable is that of Washington. Its stuffed animals were capital, and the miniature farm was extremely instructive. It taught me a number of things in regard to agricultural machinery and methods, and impressed me most vividly with the enormous re- sources of the boundless west. This A NEW WORLD FABLE. 181 182 A NEW WORLD FABLE. ocular dem- onstration most of the other western states failed to make, ex- cept in the most rudi- mentary way, by the sizes of their ears of corn, pumpkins and cabbages. Wash- ington henceforth will mean something definite to me, and the name will call up a vivid mental image, while North and South Dakota are merely vague geographical terms, devoid of any salient feature. California, to be sure, rejoices in a most picturesque distinction of phys- iognomy and character. Thanks to her novelists and the Spanish strain in her blood, .she casts a spell over the imagina- tion, and with her golden profusion of fruit breathes a subtle tropical fragrance. She cuts a most fascinating figure at the Fair, and made me vow in my secret soul to retire thither from all the jarring noises of life and bury myself deep in some idyl- lic, tropical paradise, where neither the woman nor the serpent could follow me. Unhappily, I had to postpone the date longer than, at present, seems agreeable ; but I shall henceforth cherish the dream and be the richer for it. I do not know why that distinction of physiognomy which delighted me in Cali- fornia seemed totalty lacking in the Florida building and exhibit, interesting though the\- were. It may have been because Florida has no literary associations to compare with those of the Pacific state ; and it ma}^ be, too, because of the ob- trusively commercial aspect of her dis- play. The interior of the building was simply a bazaar for the sale and adver- tising of Florida products, from corals and fruits to alligators and chameleons. The monastic, Spanish type of the California building naturally suggests the convent I v a Rabida, which in point of ap- ^^^^^^^^^^^^HBJ propriateness over- tops everything else at the Fair: The Columbus relics, the primitive charts, the paintings illus- trating the principal scenes in the life of the great navigator, furnish just that lit- tle, vivifying touch to the fane}' which enables it to realize his mental equipment and physical en- vironment like a contemporary. Though I do not know a single nrystic incident connected with La Rabida, it looked to me as if every inch of its adobe walls were cobwebbed and ivied with murky legends. Being so far immersed in the past, I count a stride of a couple of thousand 3*ears no great feat. The uncouth artificial mountain, purporting to contain relics of the cliff-dwellers, mildly piqued my curi- osity, and I was promptly swallowed up in a deep cave of brown-painted canvas and sheet-iron. In the semi-dusk within I ran against an anachronistic and unhis- torical billy-goat, or it ma}- have been a genuine, cliff-dwelling billy-goat, who had survived like the reputed toad in the A NEW WORLD FABLE. 183 heart of the stone. At any rate, no other domestic animal could have rejoiced the souls and smoothed the rough paths of those antediluvian gentlemen, and I shall want to see even a goat climb one of those hypothetical ladders, connecting their caves with the bottom lands, before I be- lieve such a feat possible. But what a tre- mendous vista this exhibit (which bore every evidence of being authentic) opened into the past of this American continent ! What a terrible, annihilating sense of in- significance overwhelms one at the reali- zation of this endless procession of races which has preceded us and shall succeed us ! On the other hand, what an imperial destiny it promises to mankind ! What a dizzy outlook into a future of infinite per- fectibility, physically, mentally, spiritu- ally ! This is the stuff that hope is made of sanguine, confident hope and trust in the evolution of humanity to ever higher conditions, and the realization of an ever nobler happiness, from century to century. It is only purblind bats, groping in the oppressive dusk of their own individual pigmy souls, who refuse to see this. As far advanced as we are beyond the cliff- dwellers, as far will ten nay, perhaps five centuries advance our descendants beyond us. That was what the cliff- dweller taught me; or, rather, they dem- onstrated it to me afresh, with the co- gency of irrefutable logic. The inspection of their primitive utensils and clothing gave me a glimpse, too, of what pathet- ically bare and hunted lives they must have led, pursued and pursuing, blindly following the law of self-preservation which drove them up the sheer cliffs and ito the very heart of the mountains. In the immediate vicinity of these pre- historic folk lies, appropriately enough, the Anthropological building, which is architecturally unpretentious, but so crowded with valuable and instructive exhibits that .scarcely a year would suffice to exhaust its interest. Those ancient Peruvian cemeteries, whose hideous mum- mies, swathed and unswathed, sat in ghastly groups, making blood-curdling faces at each other, were unpleasantly suggestive. There was one blackish- brown squatter, in particular, who pur- sued me for a week in my dreams. His face was screwed up into an expression of heart-rending mirth, with a fascination of horror in it which would have made it a find -to E. T. A. Hoffmann or Edgar Al- lan Poe. However, he, too, had his in- structive side, no doubt ; or he would not have been there. The indefatigable, I might almost say the alarming, activities of man in hundreds and thousands of THE BRIDAL PROCESSION CAIRO STREET. 1 84 A NEW WORLD FABLE. directions are here exhibited with a pains- taking accuracy and minuteness which fill one with admiration. And what is more, the educational value of the exhibit was greatly heightened by the descriptive labels, the absence of which, in other departments, threw one entirely on the mercy of the official catalogue. And I confess, after two days of conscientious delving in that somewhat puzzling volume, I resolved to be frivolous and enjoy 1113- - self, culling only such information as could be had without too much exertion. I thus learned, incidentally, the awful consequences of tight lacing, physio- logically demonstrated by charts ; and though I never expect personally to profit by this knowledge, it is a great satis- faction to me to possess it. So, also, the routine of life and the correctionary dis- cipline at the Elmira reformatory will probably never be of any personal impor- tance to me ; but, for all that, it is a de- lightful thing to have been made aware what I have escaped by not going there. The same observation applies to the Philadelphia peni- tentiary (made famous in Dickens's "American Notes"), which, in point of vividness and compre- hensibility, surpassed all FIRE CONTROLLED AND UNCONTROLLED ADMINISTRATION BUILDING. similar models I have seen. I think, after having studied it for an hour, I could successfully pilot any hero of mine through a term of five or ten years, if he should have the misfortune to go to jail. A romantic novelist (whose heroes are notoriously liable to such accidents) ought really to be provided with such a model : and if I had been a romanticist, I should have ordered a facsimile of the present one. Of Machinery Hall I have nothing to say, except that one had to be a specialist in some branch of mechanics to enjoy it. To me it was bewildering, nerve-shatter- ing. I have no sympathy with the man who declared that the Corliss engine (at the Philadelphia exposition) was to him more poetic than all the poets, from Homer to Tennyson. There is, indeed, a demoniac energy in machinery, and a vast suggestiveness, too, when one considers the transformation of society and of in- dividual lives which it has brought about. The steam en- ine is the most revolu- tionary agen- cy the world has ever seen, compared to which Robes- pierre and the terrorists were feeble bun- glers. But it makes too much racket, emits too many odors, and is too ruthlessly for- midable for me to appreci- ate its poetry. I fled, with a sense of relief, to the Electri- cal building, where the noise was less ear-splitting, and saw a variety of the most astonishing things done by this great and n^-sterious agency. Here is another wonder-working force, which is obviously destined pro- foundly to affect and metamorphose hu- man existence. For the spiritual and in- tellectual results of mechanical inventions A NEW WORLD FABLE. 185 & 1 >s^^M^'j&X&&^ESn*ft^F*&^+ . THE WOMAN'S BUILDING are tremendous and incalculable. Rail- roads and telegraphs consolidate empires, harmonize antagonistic tendencies in the population, and accomplish what the wisest statesmanship would despair of achieving. One need be neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet to feel the enor- mous possibilities for the amelioration of the human lot, and the consequent im- provement in human relations, which are inherent in this elusive messenger from the unknown. In the Manufactures and Liberal Arts building I could profitably have spent a month, if not a year; but, owing to the re- puted shortness of human life, I contented myself with four or five visits. Unhappily, the mind soon becomes callous and refuses to receive fresh impressions. It is sus- ceptible only of a dull, faded or blurred image, like that of a negative exposed too long to the light. Though I remember, in a jumbled way, hundreds of exhibits, there were only three things that roused me from that dazed indifference which marked the limit of my capacity for im- pressions. First, the exhibit of petrified woods from the Yellowstone had that lit- tle tang of the fanciful which appealed to my imagination. The beauty of the pol- ished surfaces was so extraordinary with splendidly fantastic lines and gor- geous splashes of color that it roused me from my apathy like a bugle note ; and the thin flakes, held up against the light, showed landscapes and cloud -pic- tures of extraordinary boldness, worthy of a Calame or Dore. The second marvel upon which I feasted my eyes was the exhibit of Bohemian glass ; but my space prevents me from taking note of all its lavish brilliancy of 1 86 A NEW WORLD FABLE. form and color. The Tyrolese wood-carv- ing also displayed a great deal of truly artistic excellence ; and the Schwarzwal- der clocks were sufficiently curious and charming and characteristically Ger- man to make me linger with pleasure among them. I agree with Mark Twain, however, that if I ever have an enemy, whose life I might wish to shorten, I shall make him a present of a cuckoo- clock. Of the Fine Arts building, in which I made my most profitable and delightful studies, I shall say nothing ; for, as Rud- yard Kipling has remarked, that is an- other story, and it would require a sep- arate article, if not a separate volume to do it justice. The Woman's exhibit I also cheerfully leave to specialists in that department, pleading complete and abject incompetence. The Midway Plaisance, I admit, tempts me sorely ; but here, too, I shall have to exercise self-restraint. It was, in my opinion, by no means the least valuable part of the Fair. How it must have stored the minds of thousands upon thousands of rural visitors with impres- sions which will and must vastly expand their mental horizon ! And what inex- haustible themes of conversation it will suppl} T in thousands of farms and village grocery stores, for years to come ! The rural American will be modified by the Fair in manifold wa}'S, and I think, to his advantage. He will be a broader and bet- ter informed man, with a wider outlook on life. He will be less provincial, less narrowly parochial and Philistine. I only hope he will not, in his admiration of the buildings at Jackson Park, cover the land with Greek temples which, in their monu- mental grandeur, are ill adapted for do- mestic purposes. The whole beautiful pageant will, as a mere memory, exercise an elevating in- fluence which will endure be\ - ond the pres- ent generation. That it should so soon be reduced to a mere memory may, how- ever, cause one a sentimental heartache. But it is, after all, better to have it vanish suddenly, in a blaze of glory, than fall into gradual disrepair and dilapidation. There is no more melancholy spectacle than a festal hall, the morning after the banquet, when the guests have departed and the lights are extinguished. A GLIMPSB AT THK NORWKGIAX KXHIKIT M A NIT I' ACTURKS BUILDING. A NATION OF DISCOVERERS. BY H. C. CHATFIKI-D-TAVI.OR. DURING the summer months three Norsemen had braved the fogs of Arctic outlandish ships have floated upon seas, and had brought back to their the waters of Lake Michigan. The tin- northern home the knowledge of a land gainly prows and lofty poops, the clumsy across the ocean, where vines and pine yards and box-like sterns of these weird trees grew, craft were there to remind us of the daring voyage of the great Genoese navigator in whose honor the magic White City was reared. But another strange ship was moored near by, a seeming pro- test against the presence of the Spanish caravels, a protest against the name and date of the World's Columbian Expo- sition. The rakish Viking craft, with its dragon-prow and graceful sheer, was there to tell us that nearly five centuries be- fore the golden age of Spanish discovery a crew of hardy IN THE JAVA VILLAGE . i88 A NA riON OF DISCO VERERS. IN THE KRUPP PAVILION. If this be true, and there seems to be no good reason to doubt it, why have we been celebrating the four hundredth an- niversary of the discovery of America by Columbus, and not the nine hundredth anniversary of the discovery of Vinland by Lief Ericson ; why have a Spanish princess and a Spanish duke been the guests of the nation, THE JAPANESE THEATER. and not some fair- haired Norwegian if such there be in whose veins flows the blood of Lief Ericson ? The answer is that Ericson, whether myth or reality, brought back no knowl- edge of benefit to his country or man- kind. His voj-age was as abortive of real value to the world as the winter cruise of a Gloucester smack. This was not the fault of Ericson but rather of the age in which he lived. "While Lief's hardy crew were bat- tling with the winds and fogs of an unknown coast, Europe was writhing in darkest miser}-. Ignorance, bigotry, and tyranny the mediaeval triumvirate of oppression, ruled supreme. Lief's kinsmen were marching through England, "lighting their war beacons as they went" in blazing homestead and town. In Germany, youthful Otto in. was strug- gling with the discordant remnants of Charlemagne's empire, while in France, the Normans were gathering power for a future descent upon Saxon land, and the house of Capet was strug- gling to create a throne. Italy was still suffering the ruinous effects of barbarian inroads, and in Spain Alman- A NA 77 ON OF DISCO VERERS. 189 sor, the last conqueror of the Omeyyades, was gathering the dust of fifty victories over the Christians to scatter upon his Moslem grave. The clash of arms re- sounded through Europe ; the light of learning flickered faintly in the halls of Byzantium and Cordova, leaving the rest of the world in darkness. It was an age of ig- norance. Had Lief Ericson scattered his knowledge of a western land far and wide, the world would have cared nothing for his dis- covery. He was ig- norant of its value ; he was not commis- sioned or author- ized by any nation. His voyage was without conse- quence. It was not a real discovery.! followed in their wake, spreading Chris- tianity over a double continent. Before the actual discovery of America was possible, Europe must grope for cent- uries in mediaeval darkness and then burst into the light of the sixteenth century a PANELS ON EITHER SIDE OF THE GOLDEN DOORWAY. Had Columbus sailed in 1000, instead of in 1492, his effort would have been as bar- ren of result as that of Ericson. No Spain would have sent her soldiers forth to con- quer; no chanting Dominicans would have light made lurid by the blood of persecution, but splendid in its re- sults ; a li ght whose first rays were to guide the Genoese navigator to a new world, and whose fading luster was to see the conquering banner of Saxon progress planted on its shores. Great men and great deeds, during the centuries fol- lowing Ericson, were to hew a path for Columbus and the Spaniards. Peter the Hermit, firing the zeal of some and the cupidity of others, inspired a movement which united the men of Europe in a common cause. Rough barons and their vassals were brought together in friendly rivalry ; then, marching through the Eastern empire to the plains of Palestine, they came in contact with Greek civilization and Saracen luxury. The crusades opened new markets to trade. The galleys of Venice and Genoa, sailing to Pales- tine with supplies and re- turning with oriental pro- ducts, created the wealth , of the Italian cities; while in the north the monarchs, freeing themselves from A GROUP 01 the encroachments of bar- ons too remote or too impoverished to de- fend their privileges welded the scattered elements of feudalism into nations. The great towns of Italy and German}-, uniting in defensive leagues, threw off the bondage of robber lords, and created the commer- cial spirit, which has found its greatest triumph in the exposition of 1893. Averroes, Abelard, and, greatest of all, Roger Bacon, arose in the cause of phil- osophy and science, while the .scholars of the East, driven from Constantinople by the Turks, created the new learning made glorious by Boccaccio and Dante. Chris- tian missionaries, penetrating the depths of Asia, brought back a knowledge of Cathay and an eastern ocean, which Marco Polo, writing in his prison, corroborated and magnified by accounts of the kingdoms and marvels of the East. Thus, Asia, like Europe, was known to be bounded by an ocean, and when Constantinople fell and Turkish pirates drove the fleets of Genoa and Venice from the east- ern markets, it was nat- JAVANESB. ural, that navigators should search for a way to reach the riches of the Indies. Prince Henry the Navigator, watching on his sacred promontory of Algarve, saw his Portuguese mariners returning from Porto Santo and Madeira ; saw Gilianez come back after doubling Cape Bojador ; and children were then living who were destined to know the achievements of Columbus, Gama and Magellan. The times were ripe for discovery. All that was needed was one great genius to con- ceive the idea of finding Asia by sailing to the west, and one great nation prepared to furnish men and means, prepared to seize the benefits of disco verv. That IN THE DANISH EXHIBIT I.IBERAT. ARTS BUILDING. A NATION OF DISCOVERERS. 191 192 A NA TION OF DISCO VERERS. genius was Columbus ; that nation was Spain. Columbus needs no praise his trials and victories are fully known ; his eulo- gy is the World's Columbian Exposi- tion. But the part played by Spain, and her peculiar fitness for discovery and conquest, are not so thoroughly understood. The popular mind accepts too readily the charge of cruelty and bigotry brought by England against her rival, and forgets that while Tor- quemada was lighting the fires of the Inquisition, Henry viu. was divorcing and beheading his wives, and Thomas Cromwell was crushing the Commons and creating a new despotism. It for- gets that while the austere Phillip re- joiced in an auto-da-fe, his fiendish English wife was burning such men as Latimer and Cranmer. It was an age of bigotry. The good fortune which blessed England with a crafty queen, who saw that toleration was ' ' good pol- itics, ' ' while Spain was cursed with a royal monk, should not diminish the fame of the glorious Spaniards who "gave a world to a world." Spain was preeminently qualified for the task of discovery. That she should THE PUCK BUILDING. have produced the brave explorers of the sixteenth century was the natural se- quence of her history. She guarded the portals of the ancient world, and ne plus ultra, the device of her arms, was typical of the knowledge of the age. It was a A CORNER IN THE MINING BUILDING A NATION OF DISCOVERERS. 193 pretty sentiment which prompted her to change that device to plus ultra, in ac- knowledgement of the newly dis- covered world. Seven cen- turies of unrelenting war against the infidel produced a type of hardened Spaniard, courageous and crafty, dogged and fanatical. From the time when Pelagius, first king of the Asturias, drove the Moors from their mountain fastnesses and offered the first check to the advance of the Crescent ; to the hour when Boabdil, last ruler of Granada, gazed back upon the red towers of the Alhambra, and sighed for the kingdom he had lost, the sword of the Spaniard had scarcely been sheathed. Inured to hardship, with wits sharpened by expe- rience, and heart fired with fanatical zeal for the Cross, the Spaniard of 1492 was peculiarly prepared for the danger of dis- covery. Impoverished by continuous war, cupidity sometimes replaced his re- ligious fervor, but whatever motive in- spired his efforts, he was seldom wanting in courage or expedient. The seven centuries of Moorish war- fare left a sturdy nation united under the rule of two sovereigns whose contrasting characters were peculiarly well designed to place Spain in the front rank of na- tions. Queen Isabella's unflinching zeal for her subject's welfare, brought honest}' out of corruption, order out of chaos, and gave Castile the blessing of a wise and stable government. Her keen insight en- abled her to select the right men to serve her purposes. By choosing young Gon- calo de Cordova from among a score of older veterans, she gave her husband a military genius, unflinching in courage, unfailing in expedient, whose victories were destined to revolutionize the art of war and make Spain the foremost power in Europe. Ferdinand's consummate di- plomacy, supplementing the conquests of the great captain, triumphed in an age of craft, and gave to Aragon the half of Italy, while magnanimous Isabella, view- ing the proposals of Columbus in their true light, won through his genius a new world for Castile. Gre?t as was the ability of Columbus, great as was the pat- riotism of Isabella, the Spanish soldier was the genius of the dis- covery and conquest of America. The fall of the Moorish capital brought a temporar} 7 respite for the arms of Spain, and the rest- less spirits of the Grenadine wars, seeking new fields for their daring, carried the trium- phant banner of Castile through the two Americas. One cannot think of the Span- iards and Portuguese of that age without becoming lost in admiration of deeds that have never been excelled. Within half a century a galaxy of heroes went forth from the Spanish peninsula. The Pin- zons, able lieuten- ants of the great Genoese; Balboa, the discoverer of the Pacific, the projec- tor of the conquest of Peru, who drag- ged his ships piece by piece across the Darien isthmus only to meet discourage- ment and an ignominious death ; Magel- lan, the intrepid martyr, by the side of whose achievement the first voyage of Columbus sinks into insignificance ; the Pizarros, cruel but successful conquerors, who fought their own feuds while subdu- ing an empire ; Hernando Cortez, crafty, fearless soldier, whose exploits stand un- paralleled in histor}' ; Cabeca de Vaca, the Spanish Fremont; De Soto, veteran of Peru, explorer of the Mississippi, and 1 194 A NA TION OF DISCO VERERS. others of equal daring, too numerous to mention. In remembering the deeds of that won- derful race of men, one must not forget their misdeeds. Even Cortes and Pizarro were unnecessarily cruel, and coarse, domineering Bishop Fon- seca, the ene- my of Col- umbus, con- trolled the department of Indian af- fairs, from whence he sent forth such govern- ors as Ovan- do, to crush the Indians in the mines, and Davila y Padilla to op- press, mur- der and pil- lage gener- ally. It was an age of conquest, and where is the con- quest free from cruelty ? The best defense of the "bigoted and cruel Spaniard" of that day is to consider his English con- temporaries, and to remember that side by side with Ovando and Davila was the sublime Las Casas, Garrison of his age, the grandest Christian since the days of Christ. In recalling the deeds of Spain I am not forgetting the debt Americans owe to GREAT SCOTT ! MARIA England. Spain was the Saxon, England the Norman of our history. It was only when the two nations grappled in the struggle for suprem acy, that England thought of deal- ing her rival a death blow by attacking the rich American possessions. Spain had work- ed out her des- tiny. To Eng- land was award- " CAN YOU TELL ME WHERE THE ed the task of finishing the work that Spain had begun so splendidly. Spain has been honored during the World's Columbian Exposition, as the country which supplied Columbus with men and ships, but Americans should re- member that she is the grand-parent England is the parent of our nation. The exposition has made Columbus a popular hero, but without the Spaniards of the sixteenth centur> 7 his voyage might, for a time at least, have been as abortive of result as the cruise of Lief Ericson and his Norsemen. Enough has been said of Columbus, not enough of Cortez and Balboa, Magellan and Las Casas ; not enough of Spain. A LUNCH PARTY. LAST IMPRESSIONS. BY ARTHUR SHERBURNE HARDY. A CITY, with its palaces, streets and gardens, its government, police and fire departments, its industries, amuse- ments and vast things ; a "white city," spacious, beautiful, costly, without pov- erty and without crime, with all the com- plex machinery which goes with dense population, but without its grime ; a city born in a day, for a day resplendent with life and beauty, and tomorrow, alas ! des- tined to disappear, to become a memory, like that vanished city of Is, the chimes of whose bells the fishermen of Brittany hear at night in the hollows of the waves. The time, surely, is the nineteenth cen- tury ; and the place the western metropo- lis of a crude new world. The whir of the loom, the glare of the arc light, the rush of escaping steam, are on every hand ; to all of these ear and eye are open, yet the mind refuses consent it is a dream, an El Dorado, a page torn from the Arabian Nights. Enough has been written of its glories and treasures ; all has been said and re- said many times ; yet for all of us the reality surpasses the pictures of pencil and pen. The beauty, the vastness, ah, but the detail of it ! Think of all these roofs cover of the toil, the ingenuity of hand and brain ! The mind deals with all these things instinctively by great num- bers ; weary of the effort to count them, to name them, it can only resort to words it does not comprehend like the early algebraist who wrote "heap" for un- known quantities. To enumerate, to spec- 1RKIJ OUT 196 LAST IMPRESSIONS. ify, carries no meaning : as well count the stars ! Not only are we tired of sta- tistics and comparisons, of the acres under these immense roofs, the measures of their lines, but these lines are so true, the proportions so vast, that statistics and measures are confusing. All this vastness, this complexity, this endless detail are best realized by a glance, by the bird's-eye view realized so well that we shun them. As in the presence of some Gothic cathedral we move away from under its great portal, from the shad- ows of its buttresses and towers, to where the mass of tracery and carv- ing is lost in the statelier proportions of the whole, so the de- sire is for the distant, the general point of view. We are all interested in some one or more special features of the great ex- hibit, and are drawn thereby into a closer study. How hard it is to hold to one's thread in this new Cretan maze ! Its infinite variety fascinates us and soon tempts us aside ; the purpose falt- ers, the feet wander, we begin to lose our way. The spell of the labyrinth is Upon US, and at last a SAMOAN BEAUTY. eye and brain revolt again. Through sheer weariness of effort to grasp so much we yield once more to the desire for the repose, the simple grandeur and restful- ness of a distant point of view. Were ever composition, arrangement, variety, unity those principles invoked by the artist in the creation of his canvas, and by the architect in the erection of his building were ever these principles ap- plied on so gigantic a scale ? To under- stand the success, think how colossal would have been blunder and failure ! The spirit of criticism is silent the mo- ment we glide out under the Venetian arches, upon the wide expanse of the great lagoon, simply because the soul is exalted. We hear its cry : Enjo}-, enjoy! Criticise afterwards if 3-011 can. Build-' ings more perfect, domes more imposing, statues more beautiful possibly cer- tainly, if you will. But if history tells of any one conception more stupendous, of greater variety and unity, whose strength was more uplifting and beauty more entrancing than this we do not be- lieve it ! And all our exultation is incar- nate in that seated figure, erect in her chair, which crowns the fountain. How conscious she is of the magnificence about her ! How proud, how exultant ! We cannot pass her by, she arrests us, be- cause she is the expression of our own thought and feeling, and we will not have her die. Let the scene she sees perish, if it must, but not this soul of it, whose radiant beauty is the utterance of our own pride, and whose face is set to the future with so invincible a faith in her destiny. Her name is liberty ; but how many other things she stands for things which make lib- erty worth having, life worth living, and the future a land of promise. And as she moves forward to the sweep of the oar, what a background the past makes behind her darker and darker, like water deeps, as the o thought explores its van- .' ished centuries. Can any one see this star without remembering the night on whose bosom it shines? LAST IMPRESSIONS. 197 Fairs there have been from time im- memorial. But a World's Fair belongs to this century, before which there were only fairs at Delphi, Nemea and Cor- inth ; at Tyre and Tarshish; at Rome and Aix and Troyes; at Ypres, Bruges and St. Denis ; and, last of all, at Nijnii-Nov- gorod, the surviving type of a mediaeval trade. What points of view far back in the centuries these names offer ! when commerce, science and learning crept timorously along the coast lines, or trav- ersed continents painfully a- foot. In those days only fiction had conquered space and time. Trade and knowledge, and love, too, were tethered by short ropes. To girdle the earth in forty minutes, to journey on a magic carpet what wild, unsubstantial dreams ! But eight days ago I was in London, this morning I transacted busi- ness over a thousand miles of wire, and this moment my friend in Bombay is reading the message of greeting I sent three hours since. Ah, how many hours of impatient wait- ing ; how many days of sus- pense; what months of weary travel have been annihilated since the footsore pilgrims gathered at the first fair ! Not only commerce, which can bargain today with Cairo in London; not only science, IN which f.ashes a discovery or a warning over continents, but the heart which loves and suffers and rejoices, is SAMOAN DANCE. NOT ANXIOUS FOR THK JOB. grateful to rail and wireand screw. And what a gain to com- radeship, what new channels to the sym- pathy which makes the whole world one ! When theeye turns from the Fair to the people, there is a momentary sense of disappointment and loss ; for amid such marvels the eye in- stinctively searches for the beautiful and the picturesque, and this people is essentially commonplace. Those were brave days for the artist when the states of Greece assembled at Delphi and the Fatimite caliphs established fairs on Mount Calvary; when the merchants of Italy, Spain and France gathered at Brie and Champagne; when the Flor- entine with his silks, the Cat- alonian with his leather, the burgher of Ghent with his cloth, and traders from the far east met in the open markets of the then known world. The picturesque has been steadily on the wane ; one A must go to the Volga now to find such variety of costume, color and type, such quaint effects as the artist loves, or seek them out by long pilgrimages in their separate homes. The Midway Plais- ance ? But this is only an accessory, with its resurrec- tions of a buried past, its remnants of barbarism col- lected from remote corners to satisfy a world's curiosity it is not the Fair. A distinguished French artist la- mented to me this absence of the strik- ing, the piquant; and another visitor, \ LAST IMPRESSIONS. SAMOAN WAKRIOR. a rich merchant from Calcutta, found the Columbian guard a poor substitute for the imperial escort which galloped in gay attire in 1867 along the Cours de la Reine. But on second thought we remember that these figures of the past, picturesque in themselves, are chiefly so by contrast. The Roman noble on his seat in the circus maximus, the Turkish Pasha in the ba- zaar, the mediaeval knight mean the glad- iator in the arena, the Circassian slave in the market, and the serf toiling in the field whose fruits are not his own. Uni- formity of aspect is the sign of un- iformity of con- dition. Differ- ence in dress is difference in de- gree. The pa- geantry of the past means the war of race and condition, and all this monot- ony is the outward symbol of a larger freedom, a richer ownership, a higher level of comfort and happiness, a juster partition of the world. W T ise men may de- bate the question whether the individual man is capable today, either by reason of the change in himself or his condition, of a greater happiness than in the days when slaves were sold in Sturbridge fair. Let them wrangle ! One glance at this orderly commonplace crowd is proof that an im- measurably greater number than ever before attain the maximum 1 i f e can offer. How uneven the distribu- tion used to be ! How un- even it is now ! But who of us would go back twenty, ten, five centuries, a single century, to take his birth chances over again ? The closer one observes this commonplace crowd the more hitherto uncommon characteristics of great \ throngs one discovers. It is orderly and well behaved, tractable yet independent; a trifle sceptical, but appreci- FROM DAHOMEY ative, with a kindly courtesy and camar- aderie in which so- cial distinctions are gently but firmly set aside. An English visitor whose con- ceptions of the New World were largely derived from the < head-lines of a press - which prides itself upon its educational function, told me that he was at a loss to know where all the wicked people referred to in those head-lines were concealed. Some of them doubtless were scattered through the throng, and society was there too; but whatonesawwastheaverage man. Never before has that abstraction been so in evidence, and we were all surprised and gladdened to find the average so high, content to form a part of it, less disposed to put our faith in the saving power of minorities and more than ever disposed to wonder what manner of man it was who wrote that incomprehensible line "and nought but man is vile." As to my Calcutta merchant who laments the absence of the pomp of war, I agree with him sotto voce ! I confess to the lust of the eye, and many ancestors have made me heir to the love of glor}\ Doubtless, in time, when frontiers have been abolished, the iove of fatherland will lose itself in a larger love for the con- federation of the world. Meanwhile, a martial strain, a fluttering flag, the tramp of feet in unison, warms that drop of black blood inherited from men who stood shoulder to shoulder at some Thermop- ylae of the remote past, when there was something to be defended or secured. Yet think, again, what this absence of militar}- pomp means : the reign of law instead of war ; what it promises of peace, of sinew for industry instead of for murder! For there was a LAST IMPRESSIONS. 199 time when hostilities were suspended only on holy days, and the fairs of Christendom were ap- pointed on these festivals that thus everyone might pass in safety to and fro with his goods. With his ' ' goods. ' ' The word suggests a bit of ety- mology : Fair, foire, for- um, that is, market-place. For the fairs in that background of time which lies be- hind our goddess of the fountain were de- voted to trade. Barter and gain were their very soul, profit and loss their alpha and omega. How many of those who gath- ered at their booths were bettered for their visit ? If the question be a profitless one, note at least the reversal of the con- ditions. What was there the incidental A JAVANESE HOME. A MORNING BATH. is here the essential gain. The lamp of Use burns side by side with the lamp of Beaut}- : but we have come to see, not to buy. The world of art and industry has been brought to our door ; but the Liberal Arts building is an evolution from the primitive booth so radically different that its prototj-pe is forgotten. In it we are no more in a " shop " than we are in the Fine Arts building. All this is a record of progress, a museum, a school of in- struction, a world's Exchange of ideas, not a bazaar. Finer threads than those of profit and loss run through this fabric of beauty which has been unrolled like a scroll before our eyes. All the lower aims of personal aggrandizement and self-in- terest are lost to view in the vast sugges- tion of the progress of the race and the amelioration of the lot of mankind. We are here to observe, compare, wonder, and we go away with wider hori- zons, larger conceptions, and lives made sweeter and richer for this vision of things that work to- gether for a common good. The sage was right who declared that there is no royal road to learning ; but mere learning is not all, and this great object lesson of what men have felt and thought and wrought is worth years of poring over manuscripts and solitary study in the closet and school. We have not all attended the great con- gresses. Their number is terrifying ! the Press, Temperance, Music, Literature, Education, Engineering, Art, Political Science, Labor, Religion, Agriculture, Medicine, Woman's Progress, and the rest. It is not easy to forecast their speci fie results ; but we know the bringing together of men is more than the bringing together of things. In these contacts are formed the circuits which constitute the cur- rents of progress. We are sure of the good harvest to come from these forces of the seeds of thought sown in this summer of the world's history. This is the age of cooperation. The guilds of mediaeval trade have their analogues in every de- partment of mental and social activity. The days of a Peter the Hermit are gone by. Organization is more powerful than personality, and leadership has passed from the hands of the few into the hearts of the many. Men generally build better or worse than they know. I, for one, wish to testify to my admiration for the conception of the Fair, my amazement at its realization. The dominant feel- ing as I go is one of gratitude. Hon- or to whom honor is due. Our west- ern city has given us the fr agile beauty of a perfect flower, but has also wrought into it the strength and vigor of its virgin soil. A CINGALF .SE. 2OO SILENCE AND LOVE. FROM SAMOA. It is a dream ; but, ah ! the reality of it ! The past has been plundered to give us the Court of Honor, but the informing spirit is the spirit of today. We see the past there, but we feel the future. Many a day we shall float again on the waters of its lagoon. Many a night we shall see its myriad lights and hear the splashing of its fountains. And all this might have been only the gardens of Calypso, a Watteau picture, and our god- dess a Circe weaving a spell. It is not so it is not so ! Her spell is the spell of a serious purpose, of a mighty promise, and her thought is set on vast designs. JAVANESE: DANCE. SILENCE AND LOVE. BY VIRGINIA WOODWARD CLOUD. THEY two, untried, together met, When the world w r as young. There was not wan wild weather yet, Nor word of tongue ; Naught to remember or forget, And Dawn's first censor swung. But Love, in language without name, Spake: "That I reach Far lands and near of frost and flame, I pray you teach One thing to me, who straightway came From Pain and Joy, their speech ! " Then Silence, looking far away Across that land Dimmed by the dew of its first day, An untrod strand, Upon her lips a finger lay, And, smiling, took Love's hand. THE FINANCES OF THE EXPOSITION. BY LYMAN J. GAGE. IF readers of The Cosmopolitan have been interested in its graphic illustrations and verbal descriptions of the glories of the World's Columbian Exposition, they ma}- be curious to know something of the financial power which produced the White City with the multiplied marvels there displayed. It is true that, to many, suggestions of finance, as related to things in their creation or protection, are infinitely tire- some. Budgets of estimated revenue and probable expenditure have, indeed, little charm; but in the story of the exposition the chapter of its financial histor}^ has in it some elements of the dramatic, not less interesting than the record of created forms, whose ultimate foundation was the treasury of the exposition. It was in the fall months of 1889 that the movement for an international exhi- bition in commemoration of the discovery of America took some tangible form. A bill was introduced into the House of Representatives at Washington, providing for such an event to be held in the city of in the 3'ear 1892. The bill contained a clause provid- ing that said city of .... (thereaft- er to be named) should provide a suitable site, and the sum of five million dollars for the work of pre- paring build- ings, etc. Four aspirants im- mediately ap- peared, each determined to win the dis- tinction of having the blank filled with its name. Washington, St. Louis, New York and Chicagowere the four contestants. After a hotly contested debate and canvass in the House, the honor finally rested with Chica- go, and the bill, with the blank thus filled, was referred to a special committee for its fuller consideration and report. Pending the action of congress the promoting committee in Chicago had been diligently engaged in obtaining subscriptions to the capital stock of the " World's Columbian Exposition," which it was proposed to incorporate under the laws of Illinois for the purpose of carrying forward the duties to be imposed by the act of congress. By the loth of March, 1890, the subscription of five million dollars was fully secured. The work of obtaining the great pledge was enormous. The names of nearly 30,000 per- sons, firms and corporations were upon the books as subscribers to the stock. The subscriptions varied from one share of $10, to 15,000 shares or $150,000, the last being the largest single subscription. When the House committee met to consider the subject matter of the bill, their attention was called to statements defaming Chicago and its "pledge of five million dollars." It was charged in the press that the "pledge" was nothing but "wind;" that the alleged subscriptions to the capital stock of the Illinois corporation were bogus and unreal. Members of the committee were 2O2 THE FINANCES OF THE EXPOSITION. warned that it was a pure waste of time to treat the Chicago pledge as anything more serious than a joke. It was also impressed upon the minds of members that five millions were quite inadequate for the purpose ; that the bill ought to be so amended as to make the location con- ditioned upon ten millions being provided instead of five. They were assured that New York could and easily would provide ten millions, while it would be impossible for Chicago to do more than it had done, even if its pledges for the five millions could be seriously considered as of any value. Confused and embarrassed by these voices, the House committee called upon Chicago to produce evidence of its having secured the five millions contem- plated in the act, and when this evidence, ample and convincing, was furnished, we were told that the committee were deter- mined to report back the bill with the conditional amount raised to ten millions. Chicago was thus obliged either to sur- render the prize it had considered so fairly won, or assume an obligation of twice the magnitude of that ' ' nom- inated in the bond. ' ' It did not long hesitate. A committee of its citizens, then in Washington, replied : "We will meet the new conditions. Amend your act." The bill, so amended, was adopted by both houses of congress and became a law April 25, 1890. Had it then been known that before the close of that year, all Europe would be in the throes of a financial crisis, the influ- ence of which was to be severely felt upon our own shore, even western pluck and courage would have quailed before such an undertaking. But, happily, the future is hidden from our view. The financial leaders saw but one practical way to meet the new requirement. In securing voluntary contributions of five millions of dollars to an enterprise which could never be expected to return more than a small part to the contributors, the field of individual action had been practically ex- hausted. But the municipality, the city of Chicago, had as yet done nothing. It was solicited to advance five millions in the form of bonds to the corporation, upon an agreement of the latter to repay to it the same percentage it might ultimately pay to its immediate stockholders. The proposition was acceptable enough, but two important constitutional prohibitions rendered an acceptance of the proposal impossible. The first prohibition re- strained the rity from advancing its money or credit to any private enterprise, and in every legal sense the exposition company was such an enterprise. The second prohibi- tion limited the amount of debt which the city could incur, and it had already reached the limit. The constitution of the state provides the method b}' which it may be amended. Brieflv stated, THE FINANCES OF THE EXPOSITION. it requires the proposed . amendment to pass both houses of the general assembly and afterwards to be submitted to the peo- ple at the next general election, when, if approved by a two-thirds vote, it becomes operative. The general assembly of Illinois meets but once in two years. Unfortunately, its regular session had but recently ad- journed. It was determined if possible, to get an extra session convened, and secure the necessary amendments to the LO LIKES SODA WATER. original law. Happily, the governor of the State was in symprthy with the exposi- tion idea. The general assembly was convened by him in the month of Aug- ust ; the desired legislation was prompt- ly had, and in the November following, the amendments were adopted by the people of the State in a nearly unanimous vote. Appropriate action by the Chicago common council soon followed, and notwith- standing the unfavorable cdn- dition of the money market, the desired five millions was cov- ered into the exposition treas- ury in the earl 3- months of 1891. The long months of waiting on the experiment, which re- sulted so favorably, were not months of idleness. While it could not be safely assumed that the hoped for end would be certainly reached through the devious paths of legislative action, it was, on the other hand, clearly to be seen that any delay in the work of con- struction would be fatal to the enterprise. The infant corpor- ation was perfected, and a board of forty-five di- rectors with ap- propriate offic- ers chosen. A call was at once made upon the subscribers for cash payments on their shares. A staff of archi- tects was select- ed, plans adopt- ed, contracts let, and the work in all its departments vigorously begun. But by this time new and larger light had come. The "scope and plan" of the exposi- tion had now been substantially deter- mined by the United States commission, to which body, under the act of congress this duty was specifically delegated. New and more reliable estimates of cost were possible, and it was soon perceived that if the magnitude and nobility of the scheme were to be maintained, the ten millions would be entirely inadequate to carry it out. Seventeen millions would be required. The directory were in a quandary. While they recognized the fact that they were, technically speaking, GOING HOMR. 204 THE FINANCES OF THE EXPOSITION. il merely the agents of the shareholders in carrying out a contract (the act of congress) requiring on their part the expenditure of ten millions only, they rec- ognized also, that in a broad sense, they were trustees for the honor of our country, in whose name ev- ery nation had been invited to participate in the great festi- val. To expect seven millions more from Chicago, however, was to expect the absurd and impossible. It was finally determined, that when every condition of a financial kind imposed by the act of congress had been fully met, the Govern- ment should be appealed to ; the facts fully laid before it, and a contribution from the public treasury asked, to the ex- tent of five millions upon terms and con- ditions of repayment, similiar to those which obtained in the contribution from the city of Chicago. It was not believed FROM MISSOURI. ESKIMO SNAPPING NICKELS FROM THE GROUND. that the sixty-five millions of people com- posing our republic would be satisfied with anything less than the noblest. It was believed that they would heartily co- operate in the enormous extra cost of producing it. This is not the place to recite in detail the history of that effort before congress. It resulted in a pure gift (not asked for) of two and a half millions to be paid in a special silver coin to be minted for that purpose. With this amount secured to the Illinois corporation there still remained four and a half mill- ions to be provided. From where were they to come. Millions are easy to name ; they are hard to get. Once more girding its loins for a new* effort, the directory authorized the issue of five millions in its debenture bonds, which were also constituted an equitable lien upon all its property, and for their payment its future income from all sources was pledged. By their terms the bonds were made payable on or before January i, 1894, were made to draw interest at six per centum, and contained a condition binding the diiectory to create no debt in addition to the bonds. Again the civic pride of Chicago was appealed to ; nor was the appeal in vain. Nearly the whole amount to be exact, $4,550,000 was in due time taken by in- dividuals, financial institutions and rail- road corporations, the managers of the latter stretching their authority- some- what, perhaps, to meet a patriotic duty. Seventeen millions were thus put at the sei vice of the directory; but again the enterprise outgrew the fund provided. The de- mand for larger space and special buildings for educa- tion, for art, and other objects of spec- ial interest never ceased. In addition, the winter months of 1 892 and 1893 were of almost unprece- dented severit}-, work was slowly ex- ecuted and accom- THE FINANCES OF THE EXPOSITION. 205 plished at double cost. In spite of all efforts to econ- omize, the expenditure steadily grew, until the seventeen millions esti- mate were submerged in twenty millions of actual expenditure. The sum of $20,000,000 may, then, be received as the fair approximate cost of producing the exposi- tion, complete in all its parts. It may here be added that the contribu- tion from the Government was not fully realized. By a subsequent act, which in any of the ordinary relations of life would be charac terized as an act of bad faith, $570,880 was withheld and never paid. It may help the reader if we summarize the matter in a condensed form. The cost of producing the exposition, THE COLUMBIAN GUARD. as before stated, was $20,000,000. The sources from which the funds for its crea- tion were drawn may be stated thus : From subscriptions to capital stock... $ 5,600,000 " municipality of Chicago 5,000,000 " donated by congress 1,929.120 premiums on coins sold as sou- venirs 500 ooo " debenture bonds 4,550,000 " interest and miscell'n's sources, 450,000 Floating liabilities May I, 1893 1,970 880 At this writing a little more than five months of the exposition period has passed. The net revenues have enabled the manage- ment to discharge the large floating debt and pay off the last dollar, princi- pal and interest, of its ob- ligations represented by its debenture bonds. Such further revenue as may yet be realized will form a fund to pay the cost of closing its affairs. The unexpended remainder will belong to its stock- holders and to the city of Chicago. One fact in the financial history of the enterprise is especially worthy of mention. The subscriptions to the capital stock ag- gregated $6,073,850. The subscribers were not persons carefully chosen because of their moral worth or financial respon- sibility. Whosoever would might come, and subscribe without limit. More than 30,000 persons did subscribe. In such a list, it well might be anticipated that the test of payment would reveal an enormous delinquency. What is the fact? This, viz. : $5,600,727.60 has actually been col- lected, showing, if nothing more is paid, the loss on the entire list to be 7.8 per cent. Many prosperous and able mer- chants and manufacturers would pay an equal percentage for a guarantee of their carefully selected credits, outstanding at any one period of time. The foregoing statements relate ex- clusively to the fin- ances of the Illinois corporation in its work of preparation. They do not include expenditures made by the United States Government for its own building, nor for the expenses of its particular agents, the World's Columbian commission and the Board of Lady Man- agers; nor does it in- clude the cost of spe- rial buildings by 206 UPON THE BRIDGE. other nations and the individual states of our Union. It may be instructive to consolidate the whole and get an approx- imate total cost of all that the eye now sees within the confines of the White City, exclusive of the goods and wares on exhibition : Expended by the Illinois corporation. .$20,000,000 " " U. S. Government. . . . 2,250,000 " " foreign governments 6,000,000 " " several states 7,000,000 $55,250,000 To this grand total of thirty-five millions may be added the expenses of private ex- hibitors and of those on Midway Plaisance and other points, who have catered to the tastes of visitors. The limit of space allowed to this article is nearly exhausted, and no more worthy use can be made of what remains than to recognize the zeal, courage and patience which have marked the people of Chicago from the conception of the great enter- prise. Their loyal faith in the directory inspired the latter with confidence and vigor. This unity in a single purpose, this common devotion to a great idea, is in itself sublime. The moral value to Chicago of this achievement of its people outweighs any material gain. Or, if we find financial sacrifice and loss to be the outcome, the wise man who sees far will find in the moral and social uplift thus obtained more than an abundant rec- UPON THE BRIDGE. BY JULIE M. LIPPMANN. BETWEEN two vasts of river and of sky, Right perilously poised in tipper air, We, a most motley throng, made bold to fare Upon a bridgeway, arching free and high From shore to shore. Strangers, we stood so nigh One to the next, within our bounder spare, Our garments touched. Nathless our souls had share In no such comradeship. . . . The world knows why. A common girl stood next me. It appears She must have hugged, unseen, some sharp-toothed woe, That bit her breast and fierce clutched at her heart, For she, a-sudden, wept just common tears. But, as they fell, I bent my forehead low To bear the baptism they did impart. TRAVELLING WITH A REFORMER. BY MARK TWAIN. LAST spring I went out to Chicago to see the Fair, and although I did not see it my trip was not wholly lost there were compensations. In New York I was introduced to a major in the regular army who said he was going to the Fair, and we agreed to go together. I had to go to Boston first, but that did not interfere; he said he would go along, and put in the time. He was a handsome man and built like a gladiator. But his ways were gen- tle and his speech was soft and persua- sive. He was companionable but exceed- ingly icposeful. Yes, and wholly desti- tute of the sense of humor. He was full of interest in everything that went on around him, but his serenity was inde- structible; nothing disturbed him, no- thing excited him. But before the day was done I found that deep down in him somewhere he had a passion, quiet as he was a passion for reforming petty public abuses. He stood for citizenship it was his hcfbby. His idea was that every citizen of the republic ought to consider himself an unofficial policeman and keep unsalaried watch and ward over the laws and their execution. He thought that the only effective way of preserving and protecting public rights was for each citizen to do his share in preventing or punishing such infringe- ments of them as came under his personal notice. It was a good scheme, but I thought it would keep a body in trouble all the time; it seemed to me that one would be always trying to get oflfencLng little officials dis- charged, and perhaps getting laughed at for all reward. But he said no, I had the wrong idea; that there was no occasion to get anybody discharged: that in fact 208 TRAVELLING WITH A REFORMER. you mustn't get anybody discharged; that that would itself be failure; no, one must reform the man reform him and make him useful where he was. " Must one report the offender and then beg his superior not to discharge him, but reprimand him and keep him ? " 11 No, that is not the idea ; you don't report him at all, for then you risk his bread and butter. You can act as if you are going to report him when nothing else will answer. But that's an extreme case. That is a sort of force, and force is bad. Diplomacy is the effective thing. Now if a man has tact if a man will ex- ercise diplomacy " For two minutes we had been standing at a telegraph wicket, and during all this time the major had been trying to get the attention of one of the young operators, but they were all busy skylarking. The major spoke, now, and asked one of them to take his telegram. He got for reply : " I reckon you can wait a minute, can't "HE ALWAYS HAS A S1STEH OR A MOTHER. OR WIFE TO SUPPORT." you?" and the skylarking went on. The major said yes, he was not in a hurry. Then he wrote another telegram : " President Western Union Tel. Co. : " Come and dine with me this evening. I can tell you how business is conducted in one of your branches." Presently the young fellow who had spoken so pertly a little before reached out and took the telegram, and when he read it he lost color and began to apolo- gize and explain. He said he would lose his place if this deadly telegram was sent, and he might never get another. If he could be let off this time he would give no cause of complaint again. The compro- mise was accepted. As we walked away, the major said : " Now, you see, that was diplomacy and you see how it worked. It wouldn't do an} 7 good to bluster, the way people are always doing that boy can always give you as good as you send, and you'll come out defeated and ashamed of your- self pretty nearly always. But you see he stands no chance against diplomacy. Gentle words and diplomacy those are the tools to work with." " Yes, I see; but everybody wouldn't have had your op- portunity. It isn't every- body that is on those familiar terms with the president of the Western Union." "Oh, you misunderstand. I don't know the president I only use him diplomatic- ally. It is for his good and for the public good. There's no harm in it." I said, with hesitation and diffidence : " But is it ever right or noble to tell a lie?" He took no note of the delicate self- righteousness of the question, but an- swered with undisturbed gravity and sim- plicity : " Yes, sometimes. Lies told to injure a person, and lies told to profit yourself are not justifiable, but lies told to help an- other person, and lies told in the public interest oh, well, that is quite another matter. Anybody knows that. But never mind about the methods : you see the re- sult. That yoiith is going to be useful TRAVELLING WITH A REFORMER now, and we' l-behaved. He had a good face. He was worth saving. Why, he was worth saving on his mother's account if not his own. Of course, he has a mother sisters, too. Damn these peo- ple who are always forgetting that ! Do you know, I've never fought a duel in my life never once and yet have been chal- lenged, like other people. I could always see the other man's unoffending women folks or his little children standing be- tween him and me. They hadn't done anything I couldn't break their hearts, you know." He corrected a good mary little abuses in the course of the day, and always with- out friction ; always with a fine and dainty " diplomacy " which left no sting behind ; and he got such happiness and such con- tentment out of these performances that I was obliged to envy him his trade and perhaps would have adopted it if I could have managed the necessary deflections from fact as confidently with my mouth as I believe I could with a pen, behind the shelter of print, after a little practice. Away late, that night, we were coming up town in a horse-car, when three bois- terous roughs got aboard and began to fling hilarious obscenities and profanities right and left among the timid passen- gers, some of whom were women and children. Nobody resisted or retorted ; the conductor tried soothing words and moral suasion, but the roughs only called him names and laughed at him. Very soon I saw that the major realized that this was a matter which was in his line ; evidently he was turning over his stock of diplomacy in his mind and getting ready. I felt that the first diplomatic re- mark he made in this place would bring down a land-slide of ridicule upon him and may be something worse ; but before I could whisper to him and check him, he had begun, and it was too late. He said in a level and dispassionate tone : Conductor, you must put these swine out. I will help you." I was not looking for that. In a flash the three roughs plunged at him. But none of them arrived. He delivered three such blows as one could not expect to en- counter outside the prize ring, and neither of the men had life enough left in him to get up from where he fell. The major dragged them out and threw them off " HE DELIVERED THREE SUCH BLOWS AS ONE COULD NOT EXPECT TO ENCOUNTER OUTSIDE THE PRIZK RING." the car, and we got under way again. I was astonished ; astonished to see a lamb act so; astonished at the strength displayed and the clean and comprehen- sive result; astonished at the brisk and business-like style of the whole thing. The situation had a humorous side to it, con- sidering how much I had been hearing about mild persuasion and gentle diplo- macy all day from this pile-driver, and I would have liked to call his attention to that feature and do some sarcasms about it ; but when I looked at him I saw that it would be of no use his placid and con- tented face had no ray of humor in it ; he would not have understood. When we left the car, I said : " That was a good stroke of diplomacy three good strokes of diplomacy, in fact." "That? That wasn't diplomacy. You are quite in the wrong. Diplomacy is a wholly different thing. One cannot apply it to that sort, they would not understand it. No, that was not diplomacy, it was force. ' ' "Now that you mention it, I yes, I think perhaps you are right.'' " Right ? Of course I am right. It was just force." " I think, myself, it had the outside aspect of it. Do you often have to reform people in that way ? " ' Far from it. It hardly ever happens. Not oftener than once in half a year, at the outside. ' ' " Those men will get well ? " TRA VELLING WITH A REFORMER. "Get well? Why certainly they will. They are not in any danger. I know how to hit and where to hit. You noticed that I did not hit them under the jaw. That would have killed them." I believed that. I remarked rather wittily, as I thought that he had been a lamb all da)' but now had all of a sudden developed into a ram battering ram ; but with dulcet frankness and simplicity he said no, a battering ram was quite a different thing and not in use now. This was maddening, and I came near burst- ing out and saying he had no more ap- preciation of wit than a jackass in fact, I had it right on my tongue, but did not say it, knowing there was no hurry and I could say it just as well some other time over the telephone. We started to Boston the next after- noon. The smoking compartment in the parlor car was full and we went into the regular smoker. Across the aisle in the front seat sat a meek farmer-looking old man with a sickly pallor in his face, and he was holding the door open with his foot to get the air. Presently a big brake- man came rushing through, and when he got to the door he stopped, gave the farmer an ugly scowl, then wrenched the door to with such energy as to almost snatch the old man's boot off. Then on he plunged, about his business. Several passengers laughed, and the old gentle- man looked pathetically shamed and grieved. After a little the conductor passed along and the major stopped him and asked him a question in his habitually courteous way : " Conductor, where does one report the misconduct of a brakeman ? Does one re- port to you ? ' ' 1 ' You can report him at New Haven if you want to. What has he been doing ? " The major told the story. The con- ductor seemed amused. He said, with just a touch of sarcasm in his bland tones : " As I understand you, the brakeman didn't say anything." " No, he didn't say anything." " But he scowled, you say." "Yes." 1 ' And snatched the door loose in a rough way." " Yes." " That's the whole business, is it ? " " Yes, that is the whole of it." The conductor smiled pleasantly, and said : "Well, if you want to report him, all right, but I don't quite make out what it's going to amount to. You'll say as I understand you that the brakeman in- sulted this old gentleman. They'll ask you what he said. You'll say he didn't say anything at all. I reckon they'll say, how are you going to make out an insult when you acknowledge j-ourself that lie didn't say a word." There was a murmur of applause at the conductors compact reasoning, and it gave him pleasure you could see it in his face. But the major was not disturbed. He said : 1 ' There now you have touched upon a crying defect in the complaint-S3 - stem. The railway officials as the public think and as }*ou also seem to think are not aware that there are any kind of insults except spoken ones. So nobody goes to " THE OLD GENTLEMAN LOOKED PATHETICALLY SHAMED AND GRIEVED." TRAVELLING WITH A REFORMER. 211 headquarters and re- ports insults of man- ner, insults of gest- ure, look, and so forth; and yet these are sometimes harder to bear than any words. They are bit- ter hard to bear be- cause there is noth- ing tangible to take hold of; and the in- sultercan alwayssay, if called before the railway officials, that he never dreamed of intending any of- fense. It seems to me that the officials ought to specially and urgently request the public to report unworded affronts and incivilities." The conductor laughed, and said : " Well, that would be trimming it pretty fine, sure! " " But not too fine, I think. I will re- port this matter at New Haven, and I have an idea that I'll be thanked for it." The conductor's face lost something of its complacency ; in fact it settled to a quite sober cast as the owner of it moved away. I said : 1 ' Your are not really going to bother with that trifle are you ? " " It isn't a trifle. Such things ought always to be reported. It is a public duty, and no citizen has a right to shirk it. But I shan't have to report this case." "Why?" "It won't be necessary. Diplomacy will do the business. You'll see." Presently the conductor came on his rounds again, and when he reached the major he leaned over and said: " That's all right. You needn't report him. He's responsible to me. and if he does it again I'll give him a talking to." The major's response was cordial: " Now that is what I like! You mustn't think that I was moved by any vengeful spirit, for that wasn't the case. It was duty just a sense of duty, that was all. My brother-in-law is one of the directors of the road, and when he learns that you are going to reason with your brakeman the very next time he brutally insults an unoffending old man it will please him, you may be sure of that." The conductor did not look as joyous as one might have thought he would, but on the contrary looked sickly and uncom- fortable. He stood around a little, then said: "/^think something ought to be done to him now. I'll discharge him." "Discharge him? What good would that do ? Don't you think it would be better wisdom to teach him better ways and keep him ? " "Well, there's something in that. What would you suggest ? ' ' " He insulted the old gentleman in presence of all these people, how would it do to have him come and apologize in their presence ? ' ' "I'll have him here right off. And I want to say this: If people would do as 3'ou've done, and report such things to me instead of keeping mum and going off and blackguarding the road, you'd see a different state of things pretty soon. I'm much obliged to you." The brakeman came and apologized. After he was gone the major said: " Now, you see how simple and easy that was. The ordinary citizen would TRA YELLING WITH A REFORMER. have accomplished nothing the brother- in-law of a director can accomplish any- thing he wants to." ' ' But are you really the brother-in-law of a director ? ' ' " Always. Always when the public in- terests require it. I have a brother-in- law on all the boards everywhere. It saves me a world of trouble." " It is a good wide relationship." "Yes, I have over three hundred of them." " Is the relationship never doubted by a conductor ? ' ' " I have never met with a case. It is the honest truth I never have. ' ' " Why didn't you let him go ahead and discharge the brakeman, in spite of your favorite policy ? You know he deserved it." The major answered with something which really had a sort of distant resem- blance to impatience : " If you would stop and think a mo- ment you wouldn't ask such a question as that. Is a brakeman a dog, that no- thing but dog's methods will do for him? He is a man, and has a man's fight for life. And he always has a sister, or a mother, or wife and children to support. Always there are no exceptions. When you take his living away from him you take theirs away too and what have they done to you ? Nothing. And where is the profit in discharging an uncourteous brakeman and hiring another just like him? It's unwisdom. Don't you see that the rational thing to do is to reform the brakeman and keep him ? Of course it is." Then he quoted with admiration the conduct of a certain division superintend- ent of the Consolidated road, in a case where a switchman of two years' experi- ence was negligent once and threw a train off the track and killed several people. Citizens came in a passion to urge the man's dismissal, but the superintendent said : " No, you are wrong. He has learned his lesson, he will throw no more trains off the track. He is twice as valuable as he was before. I shall keep him." We had only one more adventure on the trip. Between Hartford and Spring- field the train-boy came shouting in with an armful of literature and dropped a sample into a slumbering gentleman's lap, and the man woke up with a start. He was very angry, and he and a couple of friends discussed the outrage with much heat. They sent for the parlor-car conductor and described the matter, and were determined to have the boy expelled from his situation. The three complain- ants were wealthy Holyoke merchants, and it was evident that the conductor stood in some awe of them. He tried to pacify them, and explained that the boy was not under his authority, but under that of one of the news companies, but he accomplished nothing. Then the major volunteered some testi- mony for the defense. He said : I saw it all. You gentlemen have not meant^to exaggerate the circum- stances, but still that is what 3-011 have done. The boy has done nothing more than all train-boys do. If you want to get his ways softened down and his man- ners reformed, I am with you and ready to help, but it isn't fair to get him dis- charged without giving him a chance." But they were angry and would hear of no compromise. They were well ac- quainted with the president of the Bos- ton & Albany, they said, and would put everything aside next day and go up to Boston and fix that boy. The major said he would be on hand too, and would do what he could to save the boy. One of the gentlemen looked him over, and said : " Apparently, it is going to be a matter of who can wield the most influence with the president. Do you know Mr. Bliss personally ? " The major said, with composure : "Yes ; he is \\\j uncle." The effect was satisfactory. There was an awkward silence for a minute or more, then the hedging and the half-confessions of over-haste and exaggerated resentment began, and soon everything was smooth and friendly and sociable, and it was re- solved to drop the matter and leave the boy's bread and butter unmolested. It turned out as I had expected : the president of the road was not the major's uncle at all except by adoption, and for this day and train only. We got into no episodes on the return journey. Probably it was because we took a night train and slept all the way. TRA YELLING WITH A REFORMER. 213 We left New York Saturday night by the Pennsylvania road. After breakfast, the next morn- ing, we went into the parlor-car, but found it a dull place and dreary. There were but few peo* pie in it and nothing going on. Then we went into the little smoking compartment of the same car and found three gen- tlemen in there. Two of them were grumbling over one of the rules of the road a rule which forbade card-playing on the trains on Sunday. They had started an innocent gameof high- low-jack and been stopped. The major was interested. He said to the third gentleman : ' ' Did you object to the game ? ' ' " Not at all. I am a Yale pro- fessor and a religious man, but my pre- judices are not extensive. " Then the major said to the others : 1 ' You are at perfect liberty to resume your game, gentlemen ; no one here ob- jects." One of them declined the risk, but the other one said he would like to begin again if the major would join him. So they spread an overcoat over their knees and the game proceeded. Pretty soon the parlor-conductor arrived, and said brusquely: "There, there, gentlemen, that won't do. Put up the cards it's not allowed." The major was shuffling. He contin- ued to shuffle, and said : " By whose order is it forbidden ? " "It's my order. I forbid it." The dealing began. The major asked: 1 ' Did you invent the idea ? ' ' "What idea?" ' ' The idea of forbidding card playing on Sunday." " No of course not." "Who did?" " The company." " Then it isn't your order, after all, but the company's. Is that it ? " " Yes. But you don't stop playing ; 1 have to require you to stop playing im- mediately." " Nothing is gained by hurry, and often much is lost. Who authorized the com- pany to issue such an order ? ' ' " My dear sir, that is a matter of no THE MAJOR S BROTHERS-IN-LAW. consequence to me, and " " But you forget that you are not the only person concerned. It may be a mat- ter of consequence to me. It is indeed a matter of very great importance to me. I cannot violate a legal requirement of my country without dishonoring myself ; I cannot* allow any man or corporation to hamper my liberties with illegal rules a thing which railway companies are always trying to do without dishonoring my citizenship. So I come back to that question : By whose authority has the company issued this order ? " " I don't knoiv. That's their affair." 1 ' Mine, too. I doubt if the company has any right to issue such a rule. This road runs through several States. Do you know what State we are in now, and what its laws are in matters of this kind ? " " It's laws do not concern me, but the company's orders do. It is my duty to stop this game, gentlemen, and it must be stopped." " Possibly ; but still there is no hurry. In hotels they post certain rules in the 214 TRA VELLING WITH A REFORMER. rooms, but they always quote passages from the State law as authority for these requirements. I see nothing posted here of this sort. Please produce your author- ity and let us arrive at a decision, for you see, yourself, that you are marring the game. ' ' " I have nothing of the kind, but I have my orders, and that is sufficient. They must be obej-ed." "Let us not jump to conclusions. It will be better all around to examine into the matter without heat or haste and see just where we stand, before either of us makes a mistake for the curtailing of the liberties of a citizen of the United States is a much more serious matter than you and the railroads seem to think, and it cannot be done in my person until the cur- tailer proves his right to do so. Now " "My dear sir, will you put down those cards ! ' ' ' ' All in good time, perhaps. It depends. You say this order must be obeyed. Must. It is a strong word. You see, your- self, how strong it is. A wise company would not arm }^ou with so drastic an order as this, of course, without appointing a penalty for its in- fringement. Otherwise it runs -the risk of being a dead letter and a thing to laugh at. What is the appointed penalty for an infringement of this law?" 1 ' Penalty ? I never heard of any. ' ' " Unquestionably }'ou must be mis- taken. Your company orders you to come here and rudely break up an innocent amusement, and furnishes you no way to enforce the order? Don't you see that that is nonsense ? What do you do when people refuse to obey this order ? Do }-ou take the cards away from them ? ' ' "No." " Do you put the offender off at the next station ? ' ' " Well, no of course we couldn't if he had a ticket." " Do you have him up before a court ? " The conductor was silent and apparent- ly troubled. The major started a new deal, and said : "You see th^at you are helpless, and that the company has placed you in a foolish position. You are furnished with an arrogant order, and you deliver it in a blustering way, and when you come to look into the matter you find you haven't any way of enforcing obedience." The conductor said, with chill dignity : IT is THE COMPANY'S RULE THAT PASSENGERS MUST LEAVE THEIR CITIZENSHIP IE GATE MAN- " Gentlemen, you have heard the order, and my duty is ended. As to obeying it or not, you will do as you think fit " and he turned to leave. 1 ' But wait. The matter is not yet fin- ished. I think you are mistaken about } our duty being ended ; but if it really is, I myself have a duty to perform, yet." " How do you mean? " "Are you going to report my disobe- dience at headquarters in Pittsburg?" " No. What good would that do ? " ( ' You must report me, or I will report you." ' ' Report me for what ? ' ' " For disobeying the company's orders in not stopping this game. As a citizen it TRAVELLING WITH A REFORMER. 2I 5 is my duty to help the railway companies keep their servants to their work." 1 Are you in earnest ? ' ' " Yes, I am in earnest. I have nothing against you as a man, but I have this against you as an officer that you have not carried out that order, and if you do not report me I must report you. And I will." The conductor looked puzzled and was thoughtful a moment, then he burst out with 1 ' I seem to be getting myself into a scrape ! It's all a muddle ; I can't make head or tail of it ; it's never happened be- fore ; they always knocked under and never said a word, and so / never saw how ridiculous that stupid order with no penalty is. / don't want to report anybody, and I don't want to be reported why, it might do me no end of harm ! Now do go on with the game play the whole day if you want to and don't let's have any more trouble about it!" " No, I only sat down here to establish this gen- tleman's rights he can have his place, now. But before you go, won't you tell me what you think the company made this rule for ? Can you im- agine an excuse for it ? I mean a rational one an excuse that is not on its face sill}', and the inven- tion of an idiot ? ' ' " Why, surely I can. The reason it was made is plain enough. It is to save the feelings of the other passengers the religious onesainongthein, I mean. They would not like it, to have the Sabbath dese- crated by card-playing on the train." "I just thought as much. They are willing to desecrate it themselves by travelling on Sunday, but they are not willing that other people " By gracious, you've hit it ! I never thought of that before. The fact is, it is a silly rule when you come to look into it." At this point the train-conductor ar- rived and was going to shut down the game in a very high-handed fashion, but the parlor - conductor stopped him and took him aside to explain. Nothing more was heard of the matter. I was ill in bed eleven days in Chicago and got no glimpse of the Fair, for I was obliged to return east as soon as I was able to travel. The major secured and paid for a stateroom in a sleeper the day before we left, so that I could have plenty of room and be comfortable ; but when we arrived at the station a mistake had been made and our car had not been put on. The conductor had reserved a section for us it was the best he could do, he said. But the major said we were not in a hurry, and would wait for the car to be put on. The conductor responded with pleasant irony : " It may be that you are not in a hurry, just as you say, but we are. Come, get aboard, gentlemen, get aboard don't keep us waiting." But the major would not get aboard himself nor allow me to do it. He wanted his car, and said he must have it. This made the hurried and perspiring conduc- tor impatient, and he said : ' ' Its the best we can do we can't do impos- sibilities. You will take the section or go with- out. A mistake has been made and can't be rectified atthislatehour. It's athing that happens now and then, and there is nothing for it but to put up with it and make the best of it. Other people do." " Ah, that is just it, you see. If they had stuck to their rights and en- forced them you wouldn't be try- ing to trample mine under foot THE CONDUCTOR LOOKED PUZZLED AND WAS THOUGHTFUL A MOMENT." 2l6 TRA YELLING WITH A REFORMER. " YOU MUST TAKE THAT GENTLEMAN'S CHICKEN AWAY FROM HIM OR BRING ME ONE." in this bland way now. I haven't any dis- position to give you unnecessary trouble, but it is m} r duty to protect the next man from this kind of imposition. So I must have my car. Otherwise I will wait in Chicago and sue the company for violating its contract." " Sue the company ? for a thing like that ! " " Certainly." " Do 3 r ou really mean that? " " Indeed, I do." The conductor looked the major over wonderingly, and then said : " It beats me it's bran new I've never struck the mate to it before. But I swear I think you'd do it. Look here, I'll send for the station-master." When the station-master came he was a good deal annoyed at the major; not at the person who had made the mistake. He was rather brusque and took the same position which the conductor had taken in the beginning ; but he failed to move the soft-spoken artilleryman, who still in- sisted that he must have his car. How- ever, it was plain that there was only one strong side in this case, and that that side was the major's. The station-master banished his annoyed manner and be- came pleasant and even half-apologetic. This made a good opening for a compro- mise, and the major made a concession. He said he would give up the engaged stateroom, but he must have a stateroom. After a deal of ransacking, one was found whose owner was persuadable ; he ex- changed it for our section and we got away at last. The conductor called on us in the evening and was kind and courteous and oblig- ing, and we had a long talk and got to be good friends. He said he wished the public would make trouble oftener it would have a good effect. He said that the railroads could not be expected to do their whole duty by the traveller unless the traveller would take some interest in the matter himself. I hoped that we were done reforming for the trip, now, but it was not so. In the hotel-car, in the morning, the major called for broiled chicken. The waiter said : "It's not in the bill of fare, sir; we do not serve anything but what is in the bill." "That gentleman yonder is eating a broiled chicken." "Yes, but that is different. He is one of the superintendents of the road." "Then, all the more must I have broiled chicken. I do not like these dis- criminations. Please hurry bring me a broiled chicken." The waiter brought the steward, who explained in a low and polite voice that the thing was impossible it was against the rule, and the rule was rigid. " Very well, then, } T OU must either ap- ply it impartially or break it impartially. You must take that gentleman's chicken away from him or bring me one." The steward was puzzled, and did not quite know what to do. He began an in- coherent argument, but the conductor came along just then, and asked what the difficulty was. The steward explained that here was a gentleman who was in- sisting on having a chicken when it was dead against the rule and not in the bill. The conductor said : " Stick by your rules you haven't any option. Wait a moment is this the gen- tleman ?" Then he laughed and said: BY RIGHT OF BIRTH. 217 " Never mind your rules it's my advice, and sound ; give him anything he wants don't get him started on his rights. Give him whatever he asks for ; and if you haven't got it, stop the train and get it." The major ate the chicken, but said he did it from a sense ol duty and to estab- lish a principle, for he did not like chicken. I missed the Fair, it is true, but I picked up some diplomatic tricks which I and the reader may find handy and use- ful as we go along. BY RIGHT OF BIRTH. BY MAUDK ANDREWS. SHADOWS there are, aye, shadows manifold; Shadows of life, of death to 'grieve the heart, Grim shapes of want and care, of love grown cold, Of treachery that played a cruel part, All these are known unto each human heart; They all return at times to sit beside The hearthstone, and with mocking smiles deride Life's faith and hope, but they will quick depart, Not one can claim the right to hold a place As household guest, save that dread shape that came One night and looked you boldly in the face, And said, "I am thy self-committed shame!" LETTERS OF AN ALTRURIAN TRAVELLER. II. Chicago, .Sept. 28, 1893. My dear Cyril : When I last wrote you, I thought to have settled quietly down in New York for the rest of my stay in America, and given my time wholly to the study of its life, which seemed to me typical of the life of the whole country. I do not know, even now, that I should wish altogether to revise this impression ; it still appears to me just, if not so distinct and so decisive, as it appeared before I saw Chicago, or rather the World's Fair City at Chicago, which is what I want to write you of. Chi- cago, one might say, was after all only a Newer York, an ultimated Manhattan, the realized ideal of that largeness, loudness and fastness, which New York has persuaded the Americans is metropolitan. But after seeing the World's Fair City here, I feel as if I had caught a glimpse of the glorious capitals which will whiten the hills and shores of the east and the borderless plains of the west, when the New York and the Newer York of today shall seem to all the future Americans as impossible as they would seem to any Altrurian now. To one of our philosophy it will not be wonderful that this Altrurian miracle should have been wrought here in the very heart, and from the very heart, of egoism seven times heated in the fiery competition hitherto the sole joy of this strange people. We know LETTERS OF AN ALTRURIAN TRAVELLER. 219 that like produces like only up to a certain point, and that then unlike comes of like since all things are of one essence ; that from life comes death at last, and from death comes life again in the final issue. Yet it would be useless trying to persuade most Americans that the World's Fair City was not the effect, the fine flower, of the competition which underlies their econ- omy, but was the first fruits of the princi- ple of emulation which animates our happy commonwealth, and gives men, as no where else on earth, a foretaste of heaven. If I were writing to an Amer- ican I should have to supply him with proofs and argue facts at every moment, which will be self-evident to you in their mere statement. I confess that I was very loth to leave New York, which I fancied I was begin- ning to see whole, after my first fragmen- tary glimpses of it. But I perceive now that without a sight of the White City (as the Americans with their instant poetry called the official group of edifices at the great Fair) and the knowledge of its his- tory, which I could have realized nowhere but in its presence, New York would have wanted the relief, the projection, in W 7 hich I shall hereafter be able to study it. For the worst effect of sojourn in an egoistic civilization ( I always use this word for lack of a closer descriptive) is that Altru- rian motives and efforts become incredi- ble, and almost inconceivable. But the Fair City is a bit of Altruria : it is as if the capital of one of our Regions had set sail and landed somehow on the shores of the vast inland sea, where the Fair City lifts its domes and columns. Its story, which I need not rehearse to you at any length, records the first great triumph of Altrurian principles among this people in a work of peace ; in their mighty civil war they were Altrurian enough ; and more than once the}- have proved themselves capable of a magnifi- cent self-sacrifice in bloodshed, but here for the first time in their pitiless economic struggle, their habitual warfare in which they neither give nor ask quarter, and take no prisoners, the interests submitted to the arts, and lent themselves as frankly to the work as if there had never been a question of money in the world. From the beginning it was believed that there could be no profit in the Fair ; money loss was expected and accepted as a nec- essary part of the greater gain ; and when the question passed from how much to how, in the discussion of the ways and means of creating that beauty which is the supreme use, the capitalists put themselves into the hands of the artists. They did not do it at once, and they did not all do it willingly. It is a curious trait of the American who has made money that he thinks he can make any- thing ; and the Chicago millionaires who found themselves authorized by the na- tion to spend their money in the creation of the greatest marvel of the competitive world, thought themselves fully compe- tent to work the miracle, or to choose the men who would work it according to their ideals. But their clarification, if it was not as swift as the passage of light was thorough, and I do not suppose there is now any group of rich men in Europe or America who have so luminous a sense of the true relations of the arts and the interests as the} 7 . The notion of a com- petition among the artists, which is the practical American's notion of the way to get the best art, was at length rejected by these most practical Americans, and one mind large enough to conceive the true means and strong enough to give its conception effect was empowered to in- vite the free cooperation of the arts through 220 LETTERS OF AN ALTRURIAN TRAVELLER. the foremost artists of the country. As yet the governmental function is so weak here that the national part in the work was chiefly obstructive, and finally null; and when it came to this there remained an opportunity for the arts, unlimited as to means and unhamp- ered by conditions. For the different buildings to be erected, different architects were chosen ; and for the first time since the great ages, since the beauty of antiquity and the elegance of the renaissance, the arts were reunited. The greatest landscape gardeners, archi- tects, sculptors and painters, gathered at Chicago for a joyous interchange of ideas and criticisms ; and the miracle of beauty which they have wrought grew openly in their breath and under their hands. Each did his work and had his way with it, but in this congress of gifted minds, of sensitive spirits, each profited by the censure of all, and there were certain features of the work as for instance, the exquisite peristyle dividing the city from the lake which were the result of successive impulses and sug- gestions from so many different artists that it would be hard to divide the honor among them with exactness. No one, however, seems to have been envious of another's share, and each one gave his talent as freely as the millionaires gave their money. These great artists will- ingly accepted a fifth, a tenth, of the gain which they could have commanded in a private enterprise, and lavished their time upon the opportunity afforded them, for the pleasure of it, the pride of it, the pure good of it. Of 'the effect, of the visible, tangible result, what better can I say, than that in its presence I felt myself again in Altru- ria? The tears came, and the pillared porches swam against my vision; through the hard nasal American tones, the liquid notes of our own speech stole to my inner ear; I saw under the care- worn masks of the competitive crowds, the peace, the rest of the dear Altrurian face; the gay tints of our own simple costumes eclipsed the dHFerent versions of the Paris fashions about me. I was at home once more, and 1113' heart over- flowed with patriotic rapture in this strange land, so remote from ours in everything, that at times Altruria really seems to me the dream which the Amer- icans think it. I first saw the Fair City by night, from one of the electric launches which ply upon the lagoon; and tinder the dimmed heaven, in the splendor of the hundred moony arc-lamps of the esplanades, and the myriad incandescent bubbles that beaded the white quays, and defined the structural lines of dome and porch and pediment, I found myself in the midst of the Court of Honor, which you v/ili recognize on the general plan and the photographs I enclose. We fronted the beautiful Agricultural building, which I think fiLly the finest in the city, though many prefer the perfect Greek of the Art building ; and on our right was the Ad- ministration building with its coroneted dome, and the magnificent sculptured fountain before it, turned silver in the ra- diance of the clustered electric jets at either side. On our right was the glorious peristyle, serene, pure, silent, lifting a population of statues against the night, and dividing the lagoon from the lake, whose soft moan came appealingly through the pillared spaces, and added a divine heartache to my ecstac}'. Here a group of statuary showed itself promi- nently on quay or cornice; -we caught the flamy curve of a bridge's arch ; a pale column lifted its jutting prores into the light ; but nothing insisted ; all was harmonized to one effect of beauty, as if in symbol of the concentered impulses which had created it. For the moment I could not believe that so foul a thing as money could have been even the means of its creation. I call the effect creation because it is divinely beautiful, but no doubt suggestion would be a better word, since they have here merety sketched in stucco what we have executed in marble in each of our Regionic capitals. In grandeur of design and freedom of expression, it is perhaps even nobler than the public edifices of some of these, as I had to acknowledge at another moment, when we rounded the shores of the Wooded Island which forms the heart of the lagoon, and the launch slowed while we got the effect of its black foliage against the vast lateral expanse of the Liberal Arts building. Then, indeed, I was reminded of our national capitol, when it shows its mighty mass above LETTERS OF AN ALTRURIAN TRAVELLER. 221 the bosks around it, on some anniversary night of our Evolution. But the illusion of Altruria was very vivid at many moments in the Fair City, where I have spent the happiest days of my stay in America, perhaps because the place is so little American in the accepted sense. It is like our own cities in being a design, the effect of a principle, and not the straggling and shapeless accretion of accident. You will see, from the charts and views I send you, something of the design in detail, but you can form only a dim conception of the skill with which the natural advantages of the site have been turned to account, and even its dis- advantages have been transmuted to the beauty which is the highest and last result of all. There was not only the great lake here, which contributes so greatly to this beauty, but there were marshes to be drained and dredged be- fore its pure waters could be invited in. The trees which at different points offer the contrast of their foliage to the white of the edifices, remain from wilding growths which overspread the swamps and sand dunes, and which had to be destroyed in great part before these lovely groves could be evoked from them. The earth itself, which now of all the earth seems the spot best adapted to the site of such a city, had literally to be formed anew for the use it has been put to. There is now no shadow, no hint of the gigantic difficulties of the undertaking, which was carried on in the true Altrurian spirit, so far as the capitalists and artists were concerned, and with a joy like ours in seeing nature yield herself to the enlightened will of man. If I told you how time itself was overcome in this work by the swiftness of modern methods, it would be nothing new to you, for we are used to seeing the powerful machinery of our engineers change the face of the land- scape, without stay for the slow processes of other days, when the ax and the saw wrought for years in the destruction of the forests that now vanish in a night. But to the Americans these things are still novel, and they boast of the speed with which the trees were dragged from the soil where they were rooted, and the morasses were effaced, and the wastes of sand made to smile with the verdure that now forms the most enchanting feature of their normal city. They dwell upon this, and they do not seem to feel as I do the exquisite simpli- city with which its life is operated, the perfection with which it is policed, and the thoroughness with which it has been dedicated to health as well as beauty. In A BIT OK THIi GKRMAN BUII,DI.N(i LETTERS OF AN ALTRURIAN TRAVELLER. fact, I fancy that veiy few out of the mill- ions who visit this gala town realize that it has its own system of drainage, lighting and transportation, and its own govern- ment, which looks as scrupulously to the general comfort and cleanliness, as if these were the private concern of each member of the government. This is, as it rs with us, military in form, and the same precision and discipline which give us the ease and freedom of our civic life, proceed here from the same spirit and the same means. The Columbian Guards, as they are called, who are here at every turn, to keep order and to care for the pleas- ure as well as the welfare of the people, have been trained by officers of the United States army, who still command them, and they are amenable to the rules govern- ing the only body in America whose ideal is not interest but duty. Every night, the whole place is cleansed of the rubbish which the visitors leave behind them, as thoroughly as if it were a camp. It is merely the litter of lunch-boxes and waste paper which has to be looked after, for there is little of the filth resulting in all other American cities from the use of the horse, which is still employed in them so many centuries after it has been ban- ished from ours. The United States mail- carts and the watering-carts are indeed anomalously drawn through the Fair City thoroughfares by horses, but wheeled chairs pushed about by a corps of high school boys and college undergraduates form the means of transportation by land for those who do not choose to walk. On the water, the electric launches are quite of our own pattern, and steam is allowed only on the boats which carr}' people out into the lake for a view of the peristyle. But you can get this by walking, and as in Venice, which is represented here by a fleet of gondolas, there are bridges that enable you to reach every desirable point on the lagoon. When I have spoken of all this to my American friends they have not perceived the moral value of it, and when I have insisted upon the practical perfection of the scheme apparent in the whole, they have admitted it, but answered me that it would never do for a business city, where there was something going on besides the pleasure of the eyes and the edification of the mind. When I tell them that this is all that our Altrurian cities are for, they do not understand me ; they ask where the money is made that the people live on in such play-cities ; and we are alike driven to despair when I try to explain that we have no money, and should think it futile and impious to have any. I do not believe they quite appreciate the intelligence with which the Fair City proper has been separated, with a view to its value as an object lesson, from all the state and national buildings in the ground. Some of the national buildings, notably those of Germany and Sweden, are very picturesque, but the rest decline through various grades of inferiority, down to the level of the State buildings. Of these, only the California and the New York buildings have a beauty comparable to that of the Fair City : the California house, as a reminiscence of the Spanish ec- clesiastical architecture in which her early history is recorded, and the New York house, as a sumptuous expression of the art which ministers to the luxury of the richest and greatest State of the Union. By still another remove the competitive life of the present epoch is relegated to the long avenue remotest from the White City, which you will find marked as the Mid- way Plaisance. Even this, where a hun- dred shows rival one another in a furious advertisement for the favor of the passer, there is so much of a high interest that I am somewhat loth to instance it as actu- ated by an inferior principle ; and I do so only for the sake of the contrast. In the Fair Cit}-, everything is free; in the Plais- ance even-thing must be paid for. You strike at once here the hard level of the outside western world ; and the Orient, which has mainly peopled the Plaisance, with its theaters and restaurants and shops, takes the tint of the ordinary Amer- ican enterprise, and puts on somewhat the manners of the ordinary American hustler. It is not really so bad as that, but it is worse than American in some of the appeals it makes to the American pub- lic, which is decent if it is dull, and re- spectable if it is rapacious. The lascivious dances of the East are here, in the Persian and Turkish and Egyptian theaters, as well as the exquisite archaic drama of the Javanese and the Chinese in their village and temple. One could spend man}- days in the Plaisance, always entertainingly, LETTERS OF AN ALTRURIAN TRAVELLER. 223 whether profitably or unprofitably ; but whether one visited the Samoan or Daho- meyan in his hut, the Bedouin and the Lap in their camps, the delicate Javanese in his bamboo cottage, or the American Indian in his tepee, one must be aware that the citizens of the Plaisance are not there for their health, as the Americans quaintly say, but for the money there is in it. Some of the reproductions of his- torical and foreign scenes are excellent, like the irregular square of Old Vienna, with its quaintly built and quaintly dec- orated shops; the German village, with its admirably realized castle / \ and chalet ; and the Cair- i " ene street, with its mot- ley oriental life; but these are all there for the profit to be had from the pleas- ure of their visitors, who seem to pay as freely as they talk through their noses. The great Ferris wheel itself, with its circle revolving by night and by day in an orbit incom- parably vast, is in the last analysis a money- making contrivance. I have tried to make my American friends see the difference, as I do, between the motive that created the Fair City, and the motive that created the Plais- ance, but both seem to them alike the outcome of the princi- ple which they still be- 1 i eve an i- mates their whole life. They think both an effect of the com- petitive con- ditions in which they glory, not knowing that their conditions are now purely monopolis- tic, and not perceiving that the White City is the work of an armistice between the commercial interests ruling them. I ex- pressed this belief to one of them, the banker, whom I met last summer in the country, and whom I ran upon one night during the first week of my visit here ; and he said there could certainly be that view of it. But, like the rest, lie asked where the money would have come from without the warfare of com- petitive conditions, and he said he could not make out how we got the money for our public works in Al- truria, or, in fact, how we paid the piper. When I answered that as each one of us was se- cured by all against want, every one could freely give his labor, without money and without price, and the piper could play for the pure pleasure of play- ing, he looked stupefied and said incred- ulously, " Oh, come, now ! " " Why, how strange you Americans are," I could not help breaking out upon him, " with your talk about competition ! There is no competition among you a mo- ment longer than you can help, a moment after one proves himself stronger than another. Then you have monopoly, which even upon the limited scale it exists here is the only vital and fruitful principle, as you all see. And yet you are afraid to have it upon the largest possible scale, 224 LETTERS OF AN ALTRUR1AN TRAVELLER. the national scale, the scale commensur- ate with the whole body politic, which implicates care for every citizen as the liege of the collectivity. When you have monopoly of such proportions money wil 1 cease to have any office among } 7 ou, and such a beautiful creation as this will have effect from a consensus of the common wills and wishes." He listened patiently, and he answered amiably, " Yes, that is what you Altru- rians believe, I suppose, and certainly what you preach ; and if you look at it in that light, why there certainly is no competition left, except between the mon- opolies. But you must allow, my dear Homos," he went on, " that at least one of the twin fetishes of our barbarous worship has had something to do with the creation of all this beauty. I'll own that you have rather knocked the notion of competition on the head ; the money that made this thing possible never came from competition at all ; it came from some sort or shape of monopoty, as all money always does ; but what do you say about individuality ? You can't say that individuality has had nothing to do with it. In fact, you can't deny that it has had everything to do with it, from the individuality of the several capitalists, up or down, to the individuality of the several artists. And will you pretend in the face of all this wonderful work that individuality is a bad thing ? " " Have I misrepresented myself and country so fatally," I returned, "as to have led you to suppose that the Altruri- ans thought individuality a bad thing ? It seems to us the most precious gift of the Deity, the dearest and holiest posses- sion of his creatures. What I lament in America at every moment, what I la- ment even here, in the presence of a work so largely Altrurian in conception and execution as this, is the wholesale efface- ment, the heartbreaking obliteration of in- dividuality. I know very well that you can give me the name of the munificent millionaires large-thoughted and noble- willed men whose largesse made this splendor possible, and the name of every artist they freed to such a glorious oppor- tunity. Their individuality is lastingly safe in your memories ; but what of the artisans of every kind and degree, whose patience and skill realized their ideals? Where will you find their names ? " My companions listened respectfully, but not very seriousl} 7 , and in his reply he took refuge in that humor peculiar to the Americans : a sort of ether where they may draw breath for a moment free from the stifling despair which must fill every true man among them when he thinks how far short of their ideal their reality has fallen. LETTERS OF AN ALTRURIAN TRAVELLER. 225 For they were once a people with the noblest ideal ; we were not mistaken about that ; they did, indeed, intend the greatest good to the greatest number, and not merely the largest purse to the longest head. They are a proud people, and it is hard for them to confess that they have wandered from the right way, and fallen into a limitless bog, where they can only bemire themselves more and more till its miasms choke them or its foul waters close over them. " M/y dear fellow," the banker laughed, "you are very easily answered. You will find their names on the pay-rolls, where, I've no doubt, they preferred to have them. Why, there was an army of them ; and we don't erect monuments to private soldiers, except in the lump. How would you have managed it in Altruria? " "In Altruria," I replied, "every man who drove a nail, or stretched a line, or laid a trowel upon such a work, would have had his name somehow inscribed upon it, where he could find it, and point it out to those dear to him and proud of him. In- dividuality ! I find no record of it here, unless it is the individuality of the few. That of the many makes no sign from the oblivion in which it is lost, either in these public works of artistic coopera- tion, or the exhibits of your monopolistic competition. I have wandered through these vast edifices and looked for the names of the men who wrought the mar- vels of ingenuity that fill them. But I have not often found the name even of a man who owns them. I have found the styles of the firms, the companies, the trvists which turn themoutas impersonally as if no heart had ever ached or glowed in imagining and embodying them. This whole mighty industrial display is in so far dehumanized ; and yet you talk of individuality as one of your animating principles!" "You are hopelessly unbusinesslike, my dear Homos," said the banker, "but I like 3'our impracticability. There is something charming in it ; there is, really ; and I enjoy it particularly at this moment because it has enabled me to get back my superiority to Chicago. I am a Bostonian, you know, and I came out here with all the misgivings which a Bos- tonian begins to secrete as soon as he gets west of the Back Bay Fens. It is a sur- vival of Puritanism in us. In the old times, you know, every Bostonian, no matter how he prayed and professed, felt it in his bones that he was one of the elect, and we each feel so still ; only, then God elected us, and now we elect oui- selves. Fancy such a man confronted with such an achievement as this, and unfriended yet by an Altrurian traveller ! 15 226 LETTERS OF AN ALTRURIAN TRAVELLER. Why, JL have gone about the last three days inwardly bowed down before Chicago in the most humiliating fashion. I've said to myself that our eastern fellows did half the thing, perhaps the best half; but then I had to own it was Chicago that im- agined letting them do it, that imagined the thing as a whole, and I had to give Chicago the glory. When I looked at it I kad to forgive Chicago Chicago, but now that you've set me right about the matter, and I see that the whole thing is dehumanized, I shall feel quite easy, and I shall not give Chicago any more credit than is due." I saw that he was joking, but I did not see how far, and I thought it best not to take him in joke at all. "Ah, I don't think you can give her too much credit, even if you take her at the worst. It seems to me, from what I have seen of your country and, of course, I speak from a foreigner's knowledge only that no other American city could have brought this to pass." ' ' You must come and stay with us a while in Boston," said the banker ; and he smiled. " One other city could have done it. Boston has the public spirit and Boston has the money, but perhaps Bos- ton has not the ambition. Perhaps we give ourselves in Boston too much to a sense of the accomplished fact. If that is a fault, it is the only fault conceivable of us. Here in Chicago they have the public spirit, and they have the money, and they are still anxious to do ; they are not content as we are, simply to be. Of course, they have not so much reason! I don't know," he added thoughtfully, "but it comes in the end to what you were say- ing, and no other American city but Chi- cago could have brought this to pass. Leaving everything else but of the ques- tion, I doubt if any other community could have fancied the thing in its vast- ness ; and the vastness seems an essential condition of the beauty. You couldn't possibly say it was pretty, for instance ; if you admitted it was fine you would have to say it was beautiful. To be sure, if it were possible to have too much of a good thing, there are certain states of one's legs, here, when one could say there was too much of it ; but that is not possible. But come, now ; be honest for once, my dear fellow, and confess that you really prefer the Midway Plaisance to the Fair City ! " I looked at him with silent reproach, and he broke out laughing, and took me by the arm. "At any rate," he said, "let us go down there, and get something to eat. ' The glory that was Greece, And the grandeur that was Rome,' here, take it out of you so that I find my- self wanting lunch about every three hours. It's nearly as long as that now, since i dined, and I feel an irresistible yearning for Old Vienna, where that pinchbeck halberdier of a watchman is just now crying the hour of nine." "Oh, is it so late as that?" I began, for I like to keep our Altrurian hours even here, when I can, and I was going to say that I could not go with him when he continued : "They won't turn us out, if that's what you mean. Theoretically, they do turn people out toward the small hours, but practically, one can stay here all night, I believe. That's a charming thing about the Fair, and I suppose it's rather Chi- cagoan; if we'd had the Fair in Boston, every soul would have had to leave before midnight. We couldn't have helped turning them out, from the mere oldmaid- ishness of our Puritanic tradition, and not because we really minded their staying. In New York they would have put them out from Keltic imperiousness, and locked them up in the station-house when they got them out, especially if they were sober and inoffensive." I could not follow him in this very well, or in the playful allusiveness of his talk generally, though I have reported it, to give some notion of his manner; and so I said, by way of bringing him within easy range of my intelligence again, " I have seen no one here who showed signs of drink." " No," he returned. " What a serious, and peaceable, and gentle crowd it is ! I haven't witnessed a rudeness, or even an unkindness, since I've been here, and no- body looks as if anything stronger than apollinaris had passed his lips for a fort- night. They seem, the vast majority of them, to pass their time in the Fair City, and I wish I could flatter myself that they preferred it, as you wish me to think you do, to the Plaisance. Perhaps LETTERS OF AN ALTRURIAN TRAVELLER. 227 they are really more interested in the mechanical arts, and even the fine arts, than they are in the muscle dances, but I'm afraid it's partly because there isn't an additional charge for admission to those improving exhibits in- the official buildings. Though I dare say that most of the hardhanded folks here, are really concerned in transportation and agricul- tural implements to a degree that it is difficult for their more cultivated fellow- countrymen to conceive of. Then, the merely instructive and historical features must have an incredible lot to say to them. We people who have had advan- tages, as we call them, can't begin to understand the state that most of us come here in, the state of enlightened ignor- ance, as one may call it, when we know how little we know, and are anxious to know more. But I congratulate you, Homos, on the opportunity you have to learn America personally, here; you won't easily have such another chance. I'm glad for your sake, too, that it (the crowd) is mainly a western and south- western crowd, a Mississippi Valley crowd. You can tell it by their accent. It's a mistake to suppose that New England has a monopoly of the habit of speaking through the nose. We may have invented it, but we have imparted it apparently to the whole west, as the Scotch -Irish of Pennsylvania have lent the twist of their " r, " and the com- bined result is something frightful. But it's the only frightful thing about the westerners, as I find them here. Their fashions are not the latest, but they are not only well behaved, they are on the average pretty well dressed, as the cloth- ing store and the paper pattern dress our people. And they look pathetically good ! When I think how hard-worked they all are, and what lonely lives most of them live on their solitary farms, I wonder they don't descend upon me with the whoop ^of savages. You're very fond of equality, my dear Homos ! How do you like the equality of the American'effect here? It's a vast level, as unbroken as the plains that seemed to widen as I came over them in the cars to Chicago, and that go widening on, I suppose, to the sunset itself. I won't speaK of the people, but I will say the plains were dreary." " Yes," I assented, for those plains had made me melancholy, too. They looked so habitable, and they were so solitary, though I could see that they were broken by the lines of cultivated fields, which were being plowed for wheat, or were left standing with their interminable ranks of maize. From time to time one caught sight of a forlorn farmstead, with a wind- mill beside it, making helpless play with its vanes as if it were vainly struggling to take flight from the monotonous land- scape. There was n'othing of the cheer- fulness of our Altrurian farm villages ; and I could understand how a dull uni- formity of the human type might resxilt from such an environment, as the banker intimated. I have made some attempts, here, to get upon speaking terms with these aver- age people, but I have not found them 228 LETTERS OF AN ALTRURIAN TRAVELLER. conversible. Very likely they distrusted my advances, from the warnings given them to beware of imposters and thieves at the Fair ; it is one of the necessities of daily life in a competitive civilization, that you must be on your guard against strangers lest they cheat or rob you. It is hard for me to understand this, coming from a land where there is no theft and can be none, because there is no private property, and I have often bruised my- self* to no purpose in attempting the ac- quaintance of my fellow-visitors of the Fair. They never make any attempt at mine ; no one has asked me a favor, here, or even a question ; but each remains bent, in an intense preoccupation, upon seeing the most he can in the shortest time for the least money. Of course, there are many of the more cultivated vis- itors, who are more responsive, and who show themselves at least interested in me as a fellow-stranger ; but these, though they are positively many, are, after all, relatively few. The vast bulk, the massed members of that immense equality which fatigued my friend, the banker, by its mere aspect, were shy of me, and I do not feel that I came to know any of them per- sonally. They strolled singly, or in pairs, or by family groups, up and down the streets of the Fair City, or the noisy thoroughfare of the Plaisance, or through the different buildings, quiescent, patient, inoffensive, but reserved and inapproach- able, as far as I was concerned. If they wished to know anything they asked the guards, who never failed in their duty of answering them fully and pleasant!}'. The people from the different states vis- ited their several State buildings, and seemed to be at home, there, with that instinctive sense of ownership which every one feels in a public edifice, and which is never tainted with the greedy wish to keep others out. They sat in long rows on the benches that lined the avenues, munch- ing the victuals they had mostly brought with them in the lunch-boxes which strewed the place at nightfall, and were gathered up by thousands in the policing of the grounds. If they were very luxu- rious, they went to the tables of those eating-houses where, if they ordered a cup of tea or coffee, they could spread out the repast from their boxes and enjoy it more at their ease. But in none of these places did I see any hilarity in them, and whether they thought it unseemly or not to show any gayety , they showed none. They were peacefully content within the limits of their equality, and where it ended, as from time to time it must, they betrayed no discontent. That is. what always as- tonishes me in America. The man of the harder lot accepts it unmurmuringly and with no apparent sense of injustice in the easier lot of another. He suffers himself, without a word, to be worse housed, worse clad, worse fed, than his merely luckier brother, who could give him no reason for his better fortune that an Altrurian would hold valid. Here, at the Fair, for example, on the days when the German village is open to the crowd without charge, the crowd streams through with- out an envious glance at the people dining richly and expensively at the restaurants, with no greater right than the others have to feed poorly and cheaply from their paper boxes. In the Plaisance, weary old farmwives and delicate women of the arti- san class make way uncomplainingly for the ladies and gentlemen who can afford to hire wheeled chairs. As meekly and quietly they loiter by the shores of the lagoon and watch those who can pay to float upon their waters in the gondolas and electric launches. Everywhere the economic inequality is as passively ac- cepted as if it were a LETTERS OF AN ALTRURIAN TRAVELLER. 229 title in of Eu- if one of nomically were told inferior that he natural inequality, like difference in height or strength, or as if it were something of immemorial privi- lege, like birth and the feudal countries rope. Yet, these eco- Americans was not the dMWK peer of any and ev- ery other Ameri- can, he would re- sent it as the grossest insult, such is the power of the invet- erate political illusion in which the nation has been bred. The banker and I sat long over our sup- per, in the graveled court of Old Vienna, talking of these things, and enjoying a bot- tle of delicate Rhenish wine under the mild September moon, not quite put out of countenance by the electric lamps. The gay parties about us broke up one after another, till we were left almost alone, and the watchman in his mediaeval dress, with a halberd in one hand, and a lantern in the other, came round to call the hour for the last time. Then my friend beckoned to the waiter for the account, and while the man stood figuring it up, the banker said to me : " Well, you must come to Boston a hundred years hence, to the next Colum- bian Fair, and we will show you every body trundled about and fed at the pub- lic expense. I suppose that's what you would like to see ? " " It is what we always see in Altruria," I answered. "I haven't the least doubt it will be so with you in much less than a hundred years." The banker was looking at the account the waiter handed him. He broke into an absent laugh, and then said to me, " I beg your pardon ! You were saying ?" " Oh, nothing," I answered, and then, as he took out his pocket-book to pay, he laid the bill on the table, and I could not help seeing what our little supper had cost him. It was twelve dollars ; and I was breathless ; it seemed to me that two would have been richly enough. " They give you a good meal here, don't you think ?" he said. "But the worst of having dined or supped well is reflecting that if you hadn't you could have given ten or twelve fellows, who will have to go to bed supperless, a hand- some surfeit ; that you could have bought twenty-five hungry men a full meal each; that you could have supplied forty-eight with plenty ; that you could have relieved the famine of a hundred and twenty-four. But what is the use ? If you think of these things you have no peace of your life!" I could not help answering, " We don't have to think of them in Altruria." " Ah, I dare say," answered the ba"hk- er, as he tossed the waiter a dollar, and we rose and strolled out ifito the Plais- 'If all men were un- selfish, I should agree with you that Altru- rianism was best. ' ' ~aas& "You can't have unself- ishness till you have Al- trurianism," I re- turned. " You can't put the cart before the horse." " Oh, yes, we can," he returned in his tone of banter. "We always put the cart before the horse in America, so that the horse can see where the cart is going." We strolled up and down the Plaisance, where the crowd had thinned to a few stragglers like ourselves. Most of the show villages were silenced for the night. The sob of the Javanese wa- ter-wheel was hushed ; even the hubbub of the Chinese theater had ceased. The Sa- moans slept in their stucco huts; the Bedouins were 230 LETTERS OF AN ALTRURIAN TRAVELLER. folded to slumber in their black tents. The great Ferris wheel hung motionless with its lamps like a planetary circle of fire in the sky. It was a moment that invited to musing, that made a tacit com- panionship precious. By an impulse to which my own feeling instantly responded, my friend passed his arm through mine. "Don't let us go home at all ! Let us go over and sleep in the peristyle. I have never slept in a peristyle, and I have a fancy for trying it. Now, don't tell me j^ou always sleep in peristyles in Altruria ! ' ' I answered that we did not habitually, at least, and he professed that this was some comfort to him ; and then he went on to talk more seriously about the Fair, and the effect that it must have upon Am- erican civilization. He said that he hoped for an aesthetic effect from it, rather than any fresh impulse in material enterprise, which he thought the country did not need. It had inventions enough, mill- ionaires enough, prosperity enough; the great mass of the people lived as well and travelled as swiftly as they could desire. Now what they needed was some standard of taste, and this was what the Fair City would give them. He thought that it would at once have a great influence upon architecture, and sober and refine the art- ists who were to house the people; and that one might expect to see everywhere a return to the simplicity and beauty of the classic forms, after so much mere wandering and maundering in design, without authority or authenticity. I heartily agreed with him in condemn- ing the most that had yet been done in architecture in America, but I tried to make him observe that the simplicity of Greek architecture came out of the sim- plicity of Greek life, and the preference given in the Greek state to the intellectual over the industrial, to art over business. I pointed out that until there was some en- lightened municipal or national control of the matter, no excellence of example could avail, butthattheclassicismofthe Fair City would become, among a wilful and undis- ciplined people, a fad with the rich and a folly with the poor, and not a real taste with either class. I explained how with us the state absolutely forbade any man to aggrieve or insult the rest by the exhibi- tion of hisignorance in the exterior of his dwelling, and how finally architecture had become a government function, and fit dwellings were provided for all by artists who approved themselves to the public criticism. I ventured so far as to say that the whole competitive world, with the exception of a few artists, had indeed lost the sense of beauty, and I even added that the Americans as a people seemed never to have had it at all. He was not offended, as I had feared he might be, but asked me with perfect good nature what I meant. "Why, I mean that the Americans came into the world too late to have inherited that influence from the antique world which was lost even in Europe, when in mediaeval times the picturesque barbarously substituted itself for the beautiful, and a feeling for the quaint grew up in place of love for the perfect. ' ' " I don't understand, quite," he said, but I'm interested. Go on ! " "Why," I went on, "I have heard people rave over the beauty of the Fair City, and then go and rave over the beauty of the German village, or of Old Vienna, in the Plaisance. They were cultivated people, too ; but they did not seem to know that the reproduction of a feudal castle or of a street in the taste of the middle ages, could not be beautiful, and could at the best be only picturesque. Old Vienna is no more beautiful than the Javanese village, and the German village outrivals the Samoan village only in its greater adaptability to the purposes of the painter. There is in your modern com- petitive world very little beauty anywhere, but there is an abundance of picturesque- ness, of forms that may be reflected upon canvas, and impart the charm of their wild irregularity to all who look at the picture, though many who enjoy it there would fail of it in a study of the original. I will go so far as to say that there are points in New York, intrinsically so hideous that it makes me shudder to recall them " " Don' 7 recall them ! " he pledded. "Which would be much more capable of pictorial treatment than the Fair City, here," I continued. We had in fact got back to the Court of Honor, in the course of our talk, which I have only .sketched here in the meagerest abstract. The incandescent lamps had been LETTERS OF AN ALTRURIAN TRAVELLER. 231 A CORNER OF THE AGRICULTURAL BUILDING. quenched, and the arc-lights below and the moon above flooded the place with one silver, and the absence of the crowds that had earlier thronged it, left it to a solitude indescribably solemn and sweet. In that light, it was like a ghost of the antique world witnessing a loveliness lost to modern times everywhere but in our own happy country. I felt that silence would have been a fit- ter tribute to it than any words of mine, but my companion prompted me with an eager, "Well ! " and I went on. "This beauty that W3 see here is not at all picturesque. If a painter were to attempt to treat it picturesquely, he must abandon it in despair, because the charm of the picturesque is in irregularity, and the charm of the beautiful is in sym- metry, in just proportion, in equality. You Americans do not see that the work of man, who is the crown of animate life, can only be beautiful as it approaches the regularity expressive of beauty in that life. Any breathing thing that wants perfect balance of form or feature is in so far ulgy ; it is offensive and ridiculous, just as a per- fectly balanced tree or hill would be. Nature is picturesque, but what man creates should be beautiful, or else it is inferior. Since the Greeks, no people have divined this but the Altrurians, until now; and I do not believe that you would have begun to guess at it as you certainly have here, but for the spread of our ideas among you, and I do not believe this exam- ple will have any lasting effect with you unless you become Altrurianized. The highest quality of beauty is a spiritual quality." " I don't know precisely how far I have followed you," said my companion, who seemed struck by a novelty in truisms which are so trite with us, "but I certainly feel that there is something in what you say. You are probably right in your notion that the highest quality of beaut}' is a spiritual quality, and I should like very much to know what you think that spiritual quality is here." "The quality of self-sacrif .e in the capitalists who gave their money, and in the artists who gave their talent without hope of material return, but only for the pleasure of authorizing and creating beauty that shall last forever in the mem- ory of those it has delighted." The banker smiled compassionately. " Ah, my dear fellow, you must realize that this was only a spurt. It could be 232 ONE FATHERLAND. done once, but it couldn't be kept up." "Why not?" I asked. " Because people have got to live, even capitalists and artists have got to live, and they couldn't live by giving away wealth and giving away work, in our conditions." " But you will change the conditions !" "I doubt it," said the banker with another laugh. One of the Columbian guards passed near us, and faltered a lit- tle in his walk. " Do you want us to go out?" asked my friend. "No," the young fellow hesitated. "Oh no ! " and he continued his round. " He hadn't the heart to turn us out," said the banker, " he would hate so to be turned out himself. I wonder what will become of all the poor fellows who are concerned in the government of the Fair City when they have to return to earth ! It will be rough on them." He lifted his head, and cast one long look upon the miracle about us. " Good heavens !" he broke out, "And when they shut up shop, here, will all this beauty have to be de- stroyed, this fabric of a vision demol- ished ? It would be infamous, it would be sacrilegious ! I have heard some talk of their burning it, as the easiest way, the only way of getting rid of it. But it musn't be, it can't be." "No, it can't be," I responded fer- vently. "It may be rapt from sight in the flames like the prophet in his char- iot of fire ; but it will remain still in the hearts of your great people. An immor- tal principle, higher than use, higher even than beauty, is expressed in it, and the time will come when they will look back upon it, and recognize in it the first embodiment of the Altrurian idea among them, and will cherish it forever in their history, as the earliest achievement of a real civic life." I believe this, my dear Cyril, and I leave it with you as my final word con- cerning the great Columbian Fair. Yours in all brotherly affection, A. HOMOS. ONE FATHERLAND. FOR THE WORLD'S RELIGIOUS PARLIAMENT. BY CHARLOTTE FISKE BATES. FLAGS of all nations waving to and fro, Leave God's blue cloud-flag floating far above: From One, we all have come; to One we go, Whose "banner over all of us, is Love." IN THE YEAR OF THE FAIR. BY WALTEK BESANT. II. WHEN a man has received kind- nesses unexpected and recogni- tion unlocked for from strangers and people in a foreign country on whom he had no kind of claim, it seems a mean and pitiful thing in that man to sit down in cold blood and pick out the faults and im- perfections, if he can descry any, in that country. The "cad with a kodak" where did I find that happy collocation ? is to be found everywhere ; that is quite certain ; every traveller, as is well known, feels himself justified after six weeks of a country to sit in judgment upon that country and its institutions, its man- ners, its customs and its society; he constitutes himself an authority upon that country for the rest of his life. Do we not know the man who " has been there ? " Lord Palmerston knew him. "Beware," he used to say "of the man who has been there ! ' ' As Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs he was privileged to make quite a circle of acquaintance with the men who ' ' had been there; ' ' and he estimated their experience at its true value. The man who has been there very seldom speaks its language with so much ease as to understand all classes ; he has therefore no real chance of seeing and un- derstanding things otherwise than as they seem. When an Englishman travels in America, however, he can speak the language. Therefore, he thinks that he really does understand the things he sees. Does he? Let us consider. To understand the true meaning of things in any strange, land is not to see certain things by them- selves, but to be able to see them in their relation to other things. Thus, the question of price must be taken with the question of wage ; that of supply with that of demand ; that of things done with the national opinion on such things ; that of the continued existence of certain recognized evils with the con- ditions and exigencies of the time; and so on. Before an ob- server can understand the relative value of this or that he must make a long and sometimes a profound study into the history of the country, the growth of the people, and the present condition of the country. It is obvious that it is given to very few visitors to conduct such an investigation. Most of them have no time ; very, very few have the intellectual grasp neces- sary for an undertaking of this magnitude. It is obvious, there- fore, that the criticism of a two months' traveller must be worth- less generally, and impertinent almost always. The kodak, you see, in the hands of the cad, produces mischievous and mislead- ing pictures. 234 AMERICAN NOTES. Let us take one or two familiar in- stances of the dangers of hasty objection. Nothing worries the average American visitor to Great Britain more than the House of Lords, and, generally, the na- tional distinctions. He sees very plainly that the House of Lords no longer rep- resents an aristocracy of ancient descent, because by far the greater number of peers belong to modern creations and new families, chiefly of the trading class ; that it no longer represents the men of whom the country has most reason to be proud, because out of the whole domain of science, letters and art there have been but two creations in the whole history of the peerage. He sees, also, that an En- glishman has, apparently, only to make enough money in order to command a peerage for himself, and the elevation to a separate caste of himself and his chil- dren forever. Again, as regards the lower distinctions, he perceives that they are given for this reason and for that reason ; but that he knows nothing at all of the services rendered to the State by the dozens of knights made every year, but, which he can see very well, that the men of real distinction, whom he does know, never get any distinctions at all. These difficulties perplex and irritate him. Prob- ably he goes home with a hasty general- ization. But the answer to these objections is not difficult. Without posing as a cham- pion of the House of Lords, one may point out that it is a very ancient and deep-rooted institution ; that to pull it up would cost an immense deal of trouble ; that it gives us a sec- ond or upper house, quite free from the ac- knowledged dangers of popular election ; that the lords have long ceased to op- pose themselves to changes once clearly and unmistakably de- manded by the nation ; that the hereditary powers actually exer- cised by the very small number of peers who sit in the House do give us an average ex- THR MAN WHO HAS , ., ... ,., BEEN THERE. hibition of brain power quite equal to that found in the House of Commons, in which are the six hun- dred chosen delegates of the people ; that, as regards the elevation of rich men, a poor man cannot well accept a peerage, because custom does not permit a peer to work for his livelihood ; that it is necessary to create new peers continu- ally, in order to keep as close a connec- tion as possible between the Lords and the Commons : e. g., if a peer has a hun- dred brothers, sisters, sons, daughters, cousins, they are all commoners and he is the one peer, so that for six hundred peers there may be a hundred thousand people closely allied to the House of Lords. Again, as to the habitual contempt with which the advisers of the crown pass over the men who by their science, art and literature bring honor upon their genera- tion, the answer is, that when the news- paper press thinks fit to take up the sub- ject and becomes as jealous over the national distinctions as they are now over the national finances, the thing will get itself righted. And not till then. I in- stance this point and these objections as illustrating what is often said, and thought, by American visitors who record their first impressions. The same kind of danger, of course, awaits the English traveller in America. If he is an unwise traveller, he will note, for admiring or indignant quotation, many a thing which the wise traveller notes only with a query and the intention of finding out, if he can, what it means or why it is permitted. The first questions, in fact, for the student of manners and laws are why a thing is permitted, encour- aged, or practiced ; how the thing in con- sideration affects the people who practice it, and how they regard it. Thus, to go back to ancient history, English people, forty years ago, could not understand how slavery was allowed to continue in the States. We ourselves had virtuously given freedom to all our slaves ; why should not the Americans? We had not grown up under the institution, you see ; we had little personal knowledge of the negro ; we believed that, in spite of the discour- aging examples in Ha\'ti and that of our own Jamaica, there was a splendid future for the black, if only he could be free and educated. Again, none of our people realized, until the Civil war actually broke AMERICAN NOTES. 235 out, the enormous magnitude of the interests involved ; we had read Uncle Tom's Cabin, and our hearts glowed with virtuous indig- nation ; we could not understand the enormous difficulties of the question. Finally, we succeeded in enraging the South against us before the war began, because of our continual outcry against slav- the States, is generally the only drink ; it is not common, out of the great cities, to see claret on the table. There are differences in the conduct of the trains and in the form of the railway carriages ; differences in the despatch and se- curing of luggage ; difference in the railway whistle ; difference in the management of the station ; in enraging the North WHAT ! CAVIL AT until one knows the way about. THE HOUSE OF , ... . . LORDS? travelling m America is a con- tinual trial to the temper. Until, for instance, an understanding of the manners and customs in this respect has been attained, the conveyance of the luggage to the hotel is a ruinous ex- pense. And unless one understands the rough usage of luggage on American lines, there will be further trials of tem- per over the breakage of things. In France and Italy such small differences do not exasperate, because they are known to exist ; one expects them ; they are be- nighted foreigners who know no better. But in America, where they speak our own language, one seems to have a right, somehow, to expect that all the usages will be exactly the same and they are not ; and so the cad with the kodak gets his chance. I can quite understand, even at this day, the making of a book which should hold up to ridicule the whole of a nation on account of these differences. "The Americans a great nation? Why, sir, I could not get the whole time that I was there such a simple thing as English mustard. The Americans a great nation ? Well, sir, all I can say is that their break- fast in the Wagner car is a greasy pre- tense. The Americans a great nation ? They may be, sir ; but all I can say is that there isn't such a thing that I could discover as an honest bar-parlor, where a man can have his pipe and his grog in con;fort." And so on the kind of thing may be multiplied indefinitely. What Mrs. Trollope did sixty years ago might be done again. But, if I had the time, I w r ould write the companion volume that of the Amer- ican in England in which it should be proved, after the same fashion, that this poor old country is in the last stage of de- cay, because we have compartment car- riages on the railway ; no checks for the ery ; and after the war began, by reason of our totally unexpected South- ern sympathies. It is a curious history of wrongheadedness and ignorance. This was a big thing. The things which the English traveller in the States now notices are little things ; as life is made up of little things, he is noting differences all day long, because everything that he sees is different. Speech is different : the manner of enunciating the words is dif- ferent ; it is clearer, slower, more gram- matical ; among the better sort it is more careful ; it is even academical. We En- glish speak thickly, far back in the throat, the voice choked by beard and moustache, and we speak much more carelessly. Then the way of living at the hotels is different ; the rooms are much very much better furnished than would be found in towns of corresponding size in England : e. g., at Providence, Rhode Island, which is not a large city, there is a hotel which is most beautifully furnished ; and at Buffalo, which is a city half the size of Birmingham, the hotel is perhaps bet- ter furnished than any hotel in London. An immense menu is placed before the visitor for breakfast and dinner. There is an embarrassment of choice. Perhaps it is insular prejudice which makes one prefer the simple menu, the limited choice and the plain food of the English hotels. At least, rightly or wrongly, the English hotels appear to the English traveller the more comfortable. I return to the differ- ences. In the preparation and the serving of food there are differences the midday meal, far more in America than in Eng- land, is the national dinner. In most American hotels that received us we found the evening meal called supper and a very inferior spread it was, compared to the one o'clock service. In the drinks there is a difference the iced water which forms so welcome a part of every meal in 236 AMERICAN NOTES. luggage ; no electric trolleys in the street ; at the hotels no elaborate menu, but only a simple dinner of fish and roast-beef; no iced water ; an established church (the clergy all bursting with fatness) ; a House of Lords (all profligates), and a Queen who chops off heads when so disposed. It would alsc be noted, as proving the contemptible decay of the country, that a large proportion of the lower classes omit the aspirate ; that rough holiday-makers laugh and sing and play the accordion as they take their trips abroad ; that the factor}^ girls wear hideous hats and feath- ers ; that all classes drink beer, and that men are often seen rolling drunk in the streets. Nor would the American travel- ler in Great Britain fail to observe, with the scorn of a moralist, the political cor- ruption of the time ; he would hold up to the contempt of the world the statesman who with the utmost vehemence condemns a movement one day which, on the follow- ing day, in order to gain votes and re- cover power, he adopts and with equal vehemence advocates ; he would ask what can be the moral standards of a country where a great party turns right round, at the bidding of their leader, and follows him like a flock of sheep, applauding, voting, advocating as he bids them : to- day, this tomorrow, its opposite. These things and more will be found in that book of the American in England when it appears. You see how small and worthless and prejudiced would be such a volume. Well, it is precisely such a vol- ume that the ordinary traveller is capable of writing. All the things that I have mentioned are accidentals ; they are differ- ences which mean nothing ; they are not essentials ; what I wish to show is that he who would think rightly of a country must disregard the accidentals and get at the essentials. What follows is my own attempt which I am well aware must be of the smallest account to feel my vvay to two or three essentials. First and foremost, one essential is that the country is full of youth. I have dis- covered this for myself, and I have learned what the fact means and how it affects the country. I had heard this said over and over again. It used to irritate me to hear a monotonous repetition of the words, ' ' Sir, we are a young country. ' ' Young ? At least, it is three hundred years old ; nor was it till I had passed through New Eng- land, and seen Buffalo and Chicago those cities which stand between the east and the west and was able to think and com- pare, that I began to understand the reality and the meaning of those words, which have now become so real and meansomuch. It is not that the cities are new and the buildings put up yesterday ; it is in the at- mosphere of buoyancy, elation, self-reli- ance and energy, which one drinks in everywhere, that this sense of youth is ap- prehended. It is youth full of confidence. Is there such a thing anywhere in America as poverty or the fear of poverty ? I do not think so. Men may be hard up or even stone broke ; there are slums ; there are hard-worked women ; but there is no gen- eral fear of poverty. In the old countries the fear of poverty lies on all hearts like lead. To be sure, such a fear is a survival in England. In the last century the strokes of fate were sudden and heavy, and a merchant sitting today in a place of great honor and repute, an authority on change, would find himself on the morrow in the Marshalsea or the Fleet, a prisoner for life ; once down a man could not re- cover ; he spent the rest of his life in cap- tivity ; he and his descendants, to the third and fourth generations for it was as unlucky to be the son of a bankrupt as the son of a convict grovelled in the gutter. There is no longer a Marshalsea, or a Fleet prison ; but the dread of failure survives. In the States that dread seems practically absent. Again, youth is extravagant ; spends with both hands ; cannot hear of econ- omy ; burns the candle at both ends ; eats the corn while it is green ; trades upon the future ; gives bills at long dates with- out hesitation ; and while the golden flood rolls past takes what it wants and sends out its sons to help themselves. Why should youth make provisions for the sons of youth ? The world is young ; the riches of the world are beyond counting ; they belong to the young ; let us work ; let us spend ; let us enjoy, for youth is the time for work and for enjoyment. In youth, again, one is careless about little things ; they will right themselves : persons of the baser sort pervert the free- dom of the country to their own uses : they make corners and rings and steal the money of the municipality : never AMERICAN NOTES. 237 mind ; some day, when we have time, we will straighten things out. In youth, also, one is tempted to gallant apparel, bravery of show, a defiant bearing, gold and lace and color. In cities this tendency of youth is shown by great buildings and" big insti- tutions. In youth there is a natural exag- geration in talk : hence the spread eagle of which we hear so much. Then every- thing which belongs to youth must be better beyond comparison better than everything that belongs to age. In the last century, if you like, youth followed and imitated age ; it is the note of this, our country, that youth is always advanc- ing and stepping ahead of age. Even in the daily press the youth of the country shows itself. Let age sit down and med- itate ; let such a paper as the London Times that old, old paper give every day three labored and thoughtful essays written by scholars and philosophers on the topics of the day. It is not for youth to ponder over the meaning and the ten- dencies of things ; it is for youth to act, to make history, to push things along ; therefore let the papers record everything that passes ; perhaps when the country is old, when the time comes for meditation, the London Times may be imitated, and even a weekly collection of essays, such as the Saturday Review or the Spectator, may be successfully started in the United States. Again, youth is apt to be jealous over its own pretensions. Perhaps this quality also might be illustrated ; but, for obvious reasons, we will not press this point. Lastly, 3'outh knows nothing of the time which came immediately before itself. It is not till comparatively late in life that a man con- nects his own genera- tionhis own history with that which preceded him. When does the history of the United States be- gin not for the man of letters or the pro- fessor of history but for the average man ? It begins when the Union begins : not be- fore. There is a very beautiful and very noble history before the Union. But it is shared with Great Britain. There is a period of gallant and victorious war but beside the colonials marched King George's red-coats. There was a brave struggle for supremacy, and the French were victoriously driven out but it was by English fleets and with the help of English soldiers. Therefore, the average American mind refuses to dwell on this period. His country must spring at once, full armed into the world. His country must be all his own. He wants no history, if you please, in which any other country has also a share. In a word, America seems to present all the possible characteristics of youth. It is buoyant, confident, extravagant, ardent, elated and proud. It lives in the present. The young men of twenty-one cannot believe in coming age ; people do get to fifty, he believes ; but, for himself, age is so far off that he need not consider it. I observed the youthfulness of America even in New England, but the country as one got farther west seemed to become more youthful. At Chicago, I suppose, no one owns to more than five-and-twenty, youth -is infectious. I felt myself while in the city much under that age. Let us pass t~. another point also an essential the flaunting of the flag. I had the honor of assisting at the " Sollemnia Academica," the commencement of Har- vard on the 28th of June last. I believe that Harvard is the richest, as it is also the oldest of American universities ; it is also the largest in point of numbers. The function was celebrated in the college theater ; it was attended by the governor of the State with the lieutenant-governor and his aides-de-camp ; there was a notable gathering on the stage or platform, con- sisting of the president, professors and governors of the university, together with those men of distinction whom the uni- versity proposed to honor with a degree. The floor, or pit, of the house was filled with the commencing bachelors ; the gal- lery was crowded with spectators, chiefly ladies. After the ceremony we were in- vited to assist at the dinner given by the students to the president and a company among whom it was a distinction for a stranger to sit. The ceremony of confer- ring degrees was interesting to an English- man and a member of the older Cam- 238 AMERICAN NOTES. bridge, because it contained certain points of detail which had certainly been brought over by Harvard himself, the founder, from the old to the new Cambridge. The dinner, or luncheon, was interesting for the speeches, for which it was the occas- ion and the excuse. The president, for his part, reported the addition of $750,000 to the wealth of the college and called at- tention to the very remarkable feature of modern American liberality in the lavish gifts and endowments going on all over the States to colleges and places of learn- ing. He said that it was unprecedented in history. With submissions to the learned president, not quite without precedent. The fourteenth and fifteenth centuries witnessed a similiar spirit in the foun- dation and endowment of colleges and schools in England and Scotland. About half the colleges of Oxford and Cambridge, and three out of the four Scottish univer- sities belong to the period. Still, it is very remarkable, to find this new large- ness of mind. Since one has received great fortune, let this wealth be passed on, not to make a son into an idle man, but to endow, with the best gifts of learning and science, generation after generation of men born for work. We who are our- selves so richly endowed and have been so richly endowed for four hundred years, have no need to envy Harvard all her wealth. We may applaud the spirit which seeks not to enrich a family but to ad- vance the nation ; all the more because we have many instances of a similiar spirit in our own country. It is not the further endowment of Oxford and Cambridge that is continued by one rich man, but the foundation of new colleges, art galleries and schools of art. Angerstein, Vernon, Alexander, Tate, are some of our benefactors in art. The endowments of Owens college, the Mason college, the Firth college, University college, London, are gifts of private persons. Since we do not produce rich men so freely as Anier- ica, our endow- AN AMERICAN INSTITUTION, uients are neither so many nor so great ; but the spirit of endowment is with us as well. Presently, one observed, at this dinner, a note of difference which afterwards gave food for reflection. It was this : All the speakers, one after the other, without ex- ception, referred to the free institutions of the nation, to the duty of citizens, and especially to the responsibilities of those who were destined by the training and education of this venerable college to become the leaders of the country. Noth- ing whatever was said, by any of the speakers, on the achievements in schol- arship, literature, or science made by former scholars of the college ; nothing was said of the promise in learning or science of the 3 T oung men now beginning the world. Now a year or so ago, the Master and Fellows of a certain college, of the older Cambridge, bade to a feast as many of the old members of that college as would fill the hall. It was, of course, a very much smaller hall than that of Harvard, but it was still a venerable college, the mother, so to speak, of Emmanuel, and therefore the grand- mother of Harvard. The Master, in his speech, after dinner, spoke about nothing but the glories of the college in its long list of worthies and the very remarkable number of men, either living or recently passed away, whose work in the world had brought distinction to themselves and honor to the college. In short, the college only existed in his mind, and in the minds of those present, for the ad- vancement of learning, nor was there any other consideration possible for him in connection with the college. Is there, then, another view of Harvard college? There must be. The speakers suggested this new and American view. The college, if my supposed discovery is true, is re- garded as a place which is to furnish the State, not with scholars, for whom there will always be a very limited demand, but with a large and perennial supply of men of liberal education and sound principles, whose chief duty shall be the mainten- ance of the freedom to which the}- are born, and a steady opposition to the cor- ruption into which all free institutions readily fall without unceasing watchful- ness. This thing I advance with some hesitation. But it explains the inflated patriotism of the carefully prepared speech AMERICAN NOTES. of the governor and the political (not par- tisan) spirit of all the other speakers. Oxford and Cambridge have long fur- nished the country with a learned clergy, a learned bar, and (but this, is past) a learned House of Commons. The tradi- tion of learning lingers still ; nay they are centers of learning beyond compari- son with any other universities in the world. Harvard also, I suppose, provides a learned clergy ; but its principal func- tion, as its rulers seem to think, is to send out into the world every year a great body of young men fully equipped to be leaders in the country ; this is its chief glory ; to do this effectively, I take it, is the chief desire of the president and the society. It cannot be denied that this is a very important duty ; much more important, for a special reason, in the States than it is in Great Britain. I used to marvel, before making these observations, at the con- stant flying of the stars and stripes everywhere; at the continual reminding as to freedom. "Are there," one asks, "no other countries in the world which are free? In what single point is the freedom of the American greater than the freedom of the Briton, the Canadian, or the Australian?" In none, certainly. Yet we are not forever v aving the Union Jack everywhere and culling each other brothers in our glorious liberty. Well: but let us think. In so vast a population, spread over so many states, each State being a different country, there will al- ways be ignorant men, men ready to give up everything for a selfish advantage : there must always be a danger unless it be continually met and beaten down, that the United may become the dis-United States. Why, Euro- pean statesmen used to look forward confi- dently to the disrup- tion of the States from the Dec- laration of Independence, down to the Civil war. It was a com- monplace that the country must inevitably fall to pieces. The very possibil- ity of a disruption is now not even thought of: the thing is never mentioned. Why is this? Surely, be- cause the idea of federation is not only taught and ground in at the element- ary schools, but because the flag ot federation is al- ways displayed as the chief glory of the nation at every place where two or three Americans are gath- ered together. The sym- bol you see is unmistak- able: it means Union, once for all ; the word, the idea, the symbol, it must be al- ways kept before the eyes of the people ; it is in the wisdom of the rulers that the stars and stripes are for- ever flaunted befofe the eyes of the people. And it is not only the ignorant and the selfish among Americans them- selves ; it is the vast num- ber of immigrants, increas- ing by half a million every year, who have to be taught what citizenship means. The outward symbol is the readiest teacher ; let them never forget that they live under the stars and stripes ; let them learn German, Norwegian, Italian, Irish \ 240 AMERICAN NOTES. what it means to belong to the Great Republic. Is this all that a two months' visitor can bring awa} T from America? It is the most important part of my plunder. What else has been gathered up is hardly worth talking about, in comparison with these two discoveries which are, after all, perhaps only useful to myself : the dis- covery of the real youthfulness of the country and the discovery of the real meaning and the necessity of the spread- eagle speeches and the flaunting of the flag in season and out of season. It may seem a small thing to learn, but the lesson has wholly changed my point of view. The fact is perhaps hardly worth recording ; it matters little what a single Englishman thinks ; but if he can in- duce others to think with him, or to mod- ify their views in the same direction, it may matter a great deal. And, of course, an Englishman must think of his own future that of his own country. Before many j-ears the United Kingdom must inevitably undergo great changes: the vastness of the Empire will vanish ; Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa will fall away and will become independent republics ; what these little islands will become then, I know not. What will become of the English-speaking races, thus firmly planted over the whole globe, is a more important question. If a man had the voice of the silver-mouthed Father, if a man had the inspiration of a prophet, it would be a small thing for that man to consecrate and expend all his life, all his strength, all his soul, in the creation of a great federation of English-speaking peoples. There should be no war of tar- iffs between them ; there should be no possibility of dispute between them ; there should be as many nations separate and distinct as might please to call them- selves nations ; it should make no differ- ence whether Canada was the separate dominion of Canada, or a part of the United States ; it should make no differ- ence whether Great Britain and Ireland were a monarchy or a republic. The one thing of importance would be an inde- structible alliance for offense and defense among the people who have inherited the best part of the whole world. This alli- ance can best be forwarded by a promo- tion of friendship between private per- sons ; by a constant advocacy in the press of all the countries concerned ; and by the feeling, to be cultivated everywhere, that such a confederation would present to the world the greatest, the strongest, wealthiest, most highly cultivated con- federacy of nations that ever existed. It would be permanent, because there would be no war of aggression of tariffs, or of personal quarrel ; no territorial am- bitions ; no conflict of kings. Naturally, I was not called upon to speak at the Harvard dinner. Had I spoken, I should like to have said : " Men of Harvard, grandsons of that be- nignant mother still young who sits crowned with laurels, ever fresh, on the sedgy bank of Granta, think of the coun- try from which your fathers have sprung. Go out into the world your world of youthful endeavor and success ; do 3- our best to bring the- hearts of the people whom 3 r ou will have to lead back to their kin across the seas to east and west over the Atlantic and over the Pacific. Do 3 r our best to bring about the inde- structible fraternit3 r of the whole Eng- lish-speaking races. Do this in the sacred name of that freedom of which 3~ou have this day heard so much, and of that Christianit3 r to which b3 r the ver3 T stamp and seal of 3'our college you are the avowed and sworn servants. Rah ! ' ' APR S. BY GUY DE MAUPASSANT. u /~"*OME, dears," said the countess, v_^ " it is time to go to bed." The two children, a girl of eleven and a boy of seven, rose and went to kiss their grandmother. Then they turned to say good-night to the cure, who had dined at the chateau, as was his wont every Thursday. Taking them both upon his knees, the Abbe Mauduit encircled their necks with his long arms, clad in black, and drawing their heads gently together, pressed a long and tender kiss upon their foreheads, as a father might have done. Then he let them go, and the two little beings ran off, the boy in advance, the girl following. "You are fond of children, father, 1 ' said the countess. 1 ' Very, madame. ; ' The old lady raised her clear eyes and fixed them upon the priest. " And .... has your I SAW HIM KNOCKED DOWN BY THE HOOFS OF THB LEADERS. 242 APR&S. solitude never weighed upon you ? ' ' "Yes, at times." He hesitated and was silent for a mo- ment ; then he added : ' But I was not made for every-day life." ' ' What do you know about it ? " " Oh, I know very well what it is. But, you see, I was born a priest, and I have followed my vocation." The countess was still observing him. " Come, father, tell me about it. Tell me why you decided to renounce all which makes us love life, all which consoles and sustains us. We have known each other twenty years, have we not ? Certainly I can ask you such a question. What im- pelled you, what led you to abandon the great highway of marriage and family which we follow so naturally ? You are not an enthusiast, a fanatic, a pessimist, nor a misanthrope. Was it an event, or some sorrow, which decided you upon taking these eternal vows ? " The Abb Mauduit drew his chair to the hearth, stretching to the fire his feet, on which he wore the coarse shoes of a country priest. He still seemed reluctant to reply. He was a large, old man, with white hair, who had served the commune Saint- Antoine-du-Rocher for twenty years. The peasants used to say of him : " There's a fine fellow for you ! " He was indeed such benevolent, kind- ly, sweet-tempered, and, above all, gen- erous. Like Saint Martin, he would have divided his cloak with a beggar. He was easily moved to laughter, and as easily to tears, as a woman is ; which injured him somewhat in the estimation of the rough country folk. The old Countess de Saville, who, after the death of her son and daughter-in-law, had retired to the Chateau du Rocher in order to educate her two grandchildren, was very fond of the cure ; she used to say of him : " He has a heart of gold." Every Thursday he came to spend the' evening with her, and they were united by that sincere and frank friendship which belongs to old age. Only a word was needed for them to understand each other on almost any subject, for they both pos- sessed the plain, straightforward good- ness of honest hearts. The countess insisted. " Come, father, confess in your turn." ' ' I was not made to live the life others live," he repeated; "fortunately I dis- covered it in time, and I have often felt that in this respect I was not mistaken. " My parents, well-to-do mercers of Verdiers, were very ambitious for me. When quite young, I was sent to a board- ing-school. What a child can suffer, simply from separation and loneliness, no one knows half the time. This monoto- nous life, so void of affection, is good for some, for others it is detestable. The heart of a child is often far more sensitive than one thinks, and in shutting them off too early from those they love, one may develop an excessive sensibility, which becomes morbid and dangerous. " I was not fond of games, I had few comrades ; and knew many a homesick hour. At night, on my bed, I used to weep, racking my brain for memories of home, insignificant memories of trifling things and events. I dwelt constantly on all I had left there. Little by little, I be- came morbidly sensitive, so that the most ordinary things were to me frightful trials. "Then, too, I was taciturn, shut up in myself, uncommunicative and without confidants. This working of an intro- spective nature went on silently and surely. The nerves of children are easily excited ; one ought to see that they live in profound peace, until their characters are almost completely formed. But who thinks of that ? Who remembers that for some boys a slight punishment may cause as much sorrow as the death of a friend does in later life ? Who realizes that some young souls experience terrible emotions for a mere nothing, and become in a short time affected beyond cure? "This was the case with me; the tendency to grieve developed in me to such an extent that my whole existence became a martyrdom. I did not speak of it I said nothing ; but gradually I be- came so sensitive that my heart was like an open wound. Everything which touched it caused a shudder of pain, a ter- rible quivering, and therefore wrought real injury. 1 ' Happy are those whom nature has protected with indifference and armed with stoicism ! " I reached my eighteenth 3 r ear. Out of this capacity to suffer sprang an exces- sive timidity. Feeling that I was de- APRES. fenseless before the attacks of chance and destiny, I shrank from every contact, from every approach. I was always on the alert, as if constantly threatened by some unknown but ever-expected misfortune. I did not dare to speak or act in the pres- ence of others. I had the distinct feeling that life was a battle, a frightful struggle, in which terrible blows were given and mortal wounds were received. Instead of cherishing, as others do, a hope for to- morrow's happiness, I felt only a confused fear, the desire to hide myself, to avoid that combat in which I was sure to be de- feated and slain. " My studies being finished, I was given six months of vacation in which to choose a profession. A very trifling circumstance revealed myself to me, showed me the morbid condition of my mind, made me understand my danger, and decided me to fly from it. * ' Verdiers is a small town, surrounded by wooded plains. The main street, on which my parents lived, traversed the town from one end to the other, terminating at both extremities in the open country. At this time I spent my days out of doors, far from the home which I had so missed and desired. My heart was full of dreams, and I used to wander in the fields alone, to give them freedom and flight. "My father and mother, immersed in their business and preoccupied with my future, talked of nothing but their sales, and of plans for my future. Matter-of- fact people, as they were, with a practical turn of mind, they loved roe with the head rather than with the heart. I lived alone.^shut into my own thoughts, a prey to my own restlessness. " One evening, after a long walk, as I was hurrj-ing homeward in order not to be late, I saw a dog running towards me. He was a kind of spaniel, thin, of a red- dish color, with long, curly ears. " When about ten paces off, he stopped, and I did the same. Then he began to wag his tail and to draw nearer, with short steps and timid movements of the body, crouching on his paws and moving his head gently from side to side, as if imploring my pity. When I called him, he crept toward me in so humble, so piti- ful, so supplicating a manner, that I felt the tears spring to my eyes. When I ad- vanced, he ran away. But he came back again, and I knelt on one knee, calling him in gentle tones in order to give him confidence. At last he came within reach of my hand, and with infinite precautions I softly stroked him. " Finally he took courage, rose little by little from his crouching posture, placed his paws upon my shoulders, and began to lick my face. ' ' Afterwards he followed me home. " This was really the first living thing which I loved passionately, for the reason that my affection was returned. My fond- ness for this little animal was certainly exaggerated and ridiculous. In some con- fused way, I felt that we were brothers, lost in the world, each as solitary and de- fenseless as the other. Thereafter he never left me, sleeping at the foot of my bed, eating from the table, in spite of the objections of my parents, and following me in my lonely walks. " I often stopped beside some ditch, to sit down upon the grass ; and instantly Sam would run to me, lying down by my side or on my knees, and lifting my hand with his nose to solicit a caress. " One day, near the end of June, as we were walking along the road to Saint Pierre de Chavrol, I savt the diligence from Raverau approaching It was com- ing at a gallop, with its f^ur horses, its yellow body, and black leather top cover- ing the outside seats like a cap. The driver was cracking his whip- and the dust rose from the wheels of tbe heavy vehicle, floating away beyond like a cloud. " Suddenly, just as it reached me, Sam, frightened perhaps by the noise, and wish- ing to join me, ran directly in front of it. I saw him knocked down by the hoofs of the leaders, roll over, turn, rise and fall 'again under all those feet, then the coach gave two quick jolts, and in the dust be- hind it I saw something quivering on the road.