Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1885-01-05
PEEPS AT THE EXHIBITS.
PHILADELPHIA EXCELLED IN
EVERY DEPARTMENT.

state Exhibits-3OO Varieties of Grass
from Texas-2, 900 Varieties of Wood
from Florida Worked Into Single
Table.
NEW ORLEANS, Jan. 2.-The great ex-
position is rapidly getting into shape. 1t
is to be regretted that there has been so
much rain. 1t has rained nearly every
day since the opening day.
In one feature this exposition will
eclipse all of its predecessors, and that is
in it's Department of Agriculture, which
includes live stock, agricultural products,
implements and machinery, dairy pro-
ducts and horticultural exhibits. The
management has wisely made this the
great feature of the fair.
NO AMERICAN CAN SEE THIS WONDER
| Full COLLECTION,
exhibiting the resources of the country,
without a feeling of patriotic and
well founded pride. Census statistics,
valuable as they are, convey no such
impression of the greatness of the
! country as is illustrated in this exhibit.
Such an ample display has never before
! been grouped together in a single eXhi-
bitiOn. The government exhibit is yet
incomplete, as are the exhibits of a num-
Der Of the States, and yet there IS now an
almost bewildering display of American
| products in invention, Industrial art,
| agriculture, mineralOgy, in fact, in all
the varied phases of the cOuntry's re-
sources. Something of the kind was at
| tempted in Philadelphia, but no such
| systematic effort was made as has been
! put forth to show at the New Orleans
! Exposition the uses of the different de-
| partments OF the general government and
| the productions of the nation. The gov
| ernment exhibit at the Centennial was
small and unsatisfactory in comparison
with the magnificent display it is now
making here. Only few of the Western
States made collective exhibits there.
| while none 1.-the States will be missing
| here when all~the exhibits are in order,
and Utah alone, of all Territories, is un-
| represented.
| TEXAS, FOR INSTANCE, SHOWS 300
VARIETIES OF GRASSES,
and such things as 40 pound cabbages
| and 6S pound watermelons; Wisconsin
astonishes New Englanders by exhibiting
| 20 varieties of beans, and such small
| things as y pound beets; California
! shows $50 varieties of European wheat
| spelts, barley, oats and rye successfully
| cultivated in that State, with such trifles
as 222 pound pumpkin and section of
| a tree II feet in diameter, and SO samples
| of almonds; Michigan shows 900 varieties
| of potatoes; North Carolina displays
many kinds of tobacco, and Florida 1000
varieties of wood worked into single
table. These merely illustrate what the
| States show.
The display of horses is especially fine.
! Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio are
| the principal contributors to this display.
| The horses that attract most attention
are the mammoth PercherOns, princi-
! pally from Illinois, of which there are
| about 200. The running horses and trot-
! ters are comparatively neglected. Fine
! cattle are also a feature of the stock
| exhibit, which proves a great attraction
| to the visitors. There are stalls for 1000
! horses and 800 head of cattle-siX dis
tinct buildings tor horses and two for
cattle. There is a regulation half mile
! track adjoining the live stock structures.
Over $125,000 has been appropriated by
the management for premiums, ETC., to
encourage the live stock display.
ONE OF THE INTERESTING EXHIBITS
in the Arizona collection is that of tons
of specimens of the fOSsilized forests
which covers 1000 acres of Apache
county. 1t differs from the petrifed
woods of Colorado and California in that
it admits of high polish, and shows the
cOlOrs of the jasper, amethyst, chalce-
dony, onyx, ebony, ruby, ETC., often
blended together in single piece. Silici-
| fled trees lie In profuSlOn in this forest,
some measuring 10 feet in diameter and
| 80 feet in length. Scientific experts trace
the cedar, palm, cottonwood, oak, and
! other woods in these petrified specimens.
| Besides the 1000 acres of this Detrified for
est which is exposed in Arizona, the Com
missioner from that Territory says that
there is every indication that there is
much more covered with sandstone as
large trunks are found protruding from
! 20 to 30 feet under the surface. One of
the remarkable curiOsities OF this forest is
a natural bridge made of a silicified tree
| spanning a box canon As feet deep and GA
feet wide. The tree averages four feet in
| diameter and is exposed over 100 feet after
! it crosses the canon. The theory is that
when the tree fell there was no canon, but
the action of the water has cut out the
sandstOne.and left the tree as a natural
fOOt-bridge.
THE EXHIBIT OF SILK CULTURE
has received large additions, and promises
| to be quite a revelation of the progress of
this industry. The United States is now
the third silk manufacturing country in
| the world, its annual production being
| $50, 100000 The crop raised in the United
! States in 1888 is estimated at $4,000
| pounds of cOcOOns. This is the work of
women, who are working steadily in spite
| of the protests of manufacturers and i'm
| porters who tell them it is useless-silk
| cannot be raised in the United States.
The women of the South are working
| grandly in this industry through the
| Southern Silk Association, with head
quarters at New Orleans. This work is
not new to Southern women, as they car
| ried it on during the civil war, raising
and preparing silk for the use of their
| households.
The Woman's Department is thorough
ly organized, and the best results have
been secured by the hearty cooperation
| of women of all sections.
From the women of Illinois there is
fine display of oil paintings, crayons,
hand-painted china, original drawings,
plaques and handmade lace; samples Of
shorthand, musical compositions, inven-
tiOns OF women, representing furniture,
lawn arbOrs, portable cottages, washing
machines, fish boner and scaler, with a
very fine display of furniture, both rustic
and artistic; also large contributions to
the literary department. Work from the
women of Nevada is poorly represented.
The women of Idaho are well represented,
while the women of Colorado have
magnificent array Of pantry stores, dairy
products, vegetables, fruit and grain, also
samples of ores from mines owned by
| women. A list of women engaged in pro-
fessional work is shown by cards, with
| names, addresses and occupations. Elabo-
rate Fayal work is shown, and dainty
baskets woven of Cuban palm come from
| Massachusetts.
SINCE THE CENTENNIAL EXPOSITION
OF 1876
there has been wonderful advancement
in the department of electrical appliance ces
| This is to be fully shown here, providing
the present designs for electrical rail-
roads and other things are carried out.
| The grounds are splendidly Illuminated
by electricity. There are, separate from
the buildings, five towers, each 125 feet
high, and lighted by ten standard arc
lamps. The largest single electric light in
the world, one of 100, 900 candle-power, is to
| sprinkle its radiance over the falling Jets
of the fountain and across the waters of
the coming lake, Other powerful lights
will add to the brilliancy and light up the
| grounds and the Mississippi river which
flows by. The buildings are all to be
Illuminated by electricity.
THE BUILDINGS ARE SCATTERED OVER
TOO MUCH GROUND,
two hundred and forty-seven acres, un-
less some way is provided for getting
about. There is need of circular rail-
road such as that at Philadelphia. An
electric road is promised, and probably it
will come in time. There is no particular
ornamentation to the grounds, except the
live oak trees from which pends the
Spanish grey moss characteristic of a
semi-tropical cline. These trees are of
course an attraction in the eyes eff North
ern visitors. There are some Mexican
maguey plants, Towering crescent
and some other interesting semi
tropical plants. The design is to