The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1876-09-29
Exhibition Echoes.
Scenes at the Great Show.-What TO See
md what 10 Avoid Seeing Some Re.
marks on Hotels

On alghting at the Pennsy lvania railroad
STANDARDIZATION the visito,-if he be 60 fortu-
nate as to have secured his lodgings in advance
--hastens at once to the exhibition grounds to
feast his eyes on the world of wonders spread
out in the enclosure before him. In all proba-
bility he will first enter the main hail. with the
idea that he can edo" it that day. My advice
to him is that of Punch to people about to mar
~: Don't" Unless one has time to thor
oughly examine the exhibition, and that is the
work of weeks, he will do we'll to content him
self with viewing it as spectacle merely, to
seize upon its salient points, to seek out only
the strangest or most worthy features. Let
him, for time at least, discard all ideas of ex-
amining the main building in detail, and pass
the hours of his first day in general survey of
the grounds. The bizarre structures ON every
hand, the great splashes of color afforded by
the pavilions of many Hatonalities, the Turkish
cafes, Moorish bazaars, Japanese huts and
Syrian trade stands appeal strongly to the eye
and the Imagination. A ride over the little
railway or stroll through the grounds gives
more pleasure and mora profit both than can
be derived from systematic exploration of the
main building which must be brought to an
abrupt close because of limited time. The visi-
tor will do well to saunter about the small
buildings, looking into some of the State houses,
Ohio and Kansas certainly, others if he has
leisure, to drop into the Turkish cafe and there
drink cup of the muddy Turkish coffee sweet
as any syrup and quite as thick as the Penn
sylvania water, to inspect the Olive wood from
Jerusalem exposed for sale in the Holy Land
bazaars, to look over the goods in the Moorish
pavilion, and to walk through the structures
which serve for the headquarters Of the Span
1sh and other government exhibits If, after
this inspection he desires to make a thorough
exploration of any of the great exhibits let
him 60 through the United States Government
building where he will be astonished at the thor
oughness and excellence of the dis play. The
variety of costume, the confusion of tongues,
the multitude OF wares which he will encoun-
ter on the trip will amply repay him for the
fatigue. If he feel tired on the journey he can
take few minutes rest in the Turkish cafe
and there puff at narghieh or chibouk while
curious and thrifty Yankee crowd watches
with keen interest the blue clouds curling 10
from tobacco poorer than any which Connecti-
cut soil ever grew. While he is thus furnishing
amusement for the grinning crowd, his COM
panion, if he be so fortunate as to have one of
his womaukind with him, may regale herself
with toothsome Turkish sweetmeats. By the
time cup and pipe are finished the visitor will
be longing for lunch.
There are many good restaurants on the
grounds and some bad ones. tried several.
and advise the visitor to confne himself to the
Vienna Bakery, the Dairy and the Lafayette
Restaurant. At the Trois FIeres they serve
at an excrbitant price cup of coffee whose
only merit is it's strength and roll which has
the same recommendation, for sledge ham,
mer will not break its crust. Seventy. five dol
lars will pay for fair though not luxurious
meal at this place. At the Vienna Bakery one
finds q delicious cup of coffee breath
ing the rich aroma of the fragrant
Arabian berry, the dark color of the de-
coction softened by milk crowned with the
foam of beaten eggs, and the sweet Vienna
bread of which SO much account is made by
every visitor. At the Dairy the walters serve
milk worthy to flow from the exhaustess
pitcher which Baucis and Philemon held to the
lips Of the king of gods and men, and cream
and cakes which would grace the banquet
tables of Vitellius. At the Lafayette Restau-
rant excellent viands are served, the bill of fare
being much like that offered at a frst-class
American restaurant with some added foreign
dishes.
The visitor to the Exhibition will be wise to
secure lodgings in advance. Otherwise he may
wander over Philadelphia for hours and, failing
to find other place to cover his head, may
stumble into the Atlas Hotel 1 did, and
passed there night of misery in company with
the tuneful mosquito and encroaching bed-bug,
breathing an air that was the very breath of
typhoid fever. found other hotels in Phila-
delphia which were only good in comparison
with the Atlas. But that hostelry conf
deRtly believe to be the worst of its kind in the
world. A German inn three hundred years
ago would be paradise beside it, (This is not
puffy.
To reach the Exhibition from Portland
know of no pleasanter route and of none so
inexpensive as that by the Portland & Worces-
ter line to New London, thence by the Soand
boats to New York, thence to the very gates Of
the great show by the Pennsylvania railroad.
The mo rning ride up the New York harbor
gives pleasing variety to the trip. If one
prefers an all rail route he will take the New
York and New England line at Worcester and
accomplish his journey in sixteen hours.