The Press., 1891-12-17

and the wings will be enormous struc- lures in classic style The machinery hall, the building for electrical apph- ances, the building to illustrate the ad- vance in and present condition of methods of transportation, and the women's build ing, are already nearing completion. The size of these structures is so great that nothing suggested itself that we knew of with which to compare them. They are each of them over a quarter of mile in length, with proportionate width and height.
 Every fine architectural effects are pro- duced by the use of material called staff This is compound of plaster of Paris and cement, with strong fibre run ming through it, which is poured into moulds and hardened. It is white, and takes high polish and finish. The weather produces no effect upon it, and it
 is claimed for it that it is more durable than wood. The perfection of the flower, or figure, or architectural design, or statue, which it is intended to represent, is wholly dependent upon the perfection of the moulds. This material will cover all the buildings, so that the visitor will see before him enormous structures with Doric, Corinthian and Ionic columns, pre-
 
 adapted to modern uses in building, each one ofrwhich is as large as almost any half dozen of the most famous ones of an- tiGuity. Tho impression will be that they are constructed of Pentelican marble, as this is the finish which this material best takes. A very good example of what can be done is already visible in the women's building This is a sort of Greek temple, with a flat roof and statues all around the cornice of the roof. The frieze all around is very elaborately carved, and the whole exterior exceedingly rich in the sculptur- ed designs. The plan is from the pencil of a young lady in Boston, whose design was accepted from among several com petitors. The idea in that building is that women's work in every department shall be housed in the best possible struc- ture, designed also by women. This building has received the most ardent praise and the most enthusiastic admira- tion among the architects who have been for weeks in Chicago experimenting their own work.
 ''It is impossible to spend afew hours on the grounds without appreciating the fact that the fair is great national exhi- bition, and it's projectors are building it upon national lines. No city and no state could afford the expenditure or venture upon works of such magnitude. One million dollars month is being paid out right along in this work. The $10,000,- 900 subscribed by the state and by the citizens of Chicago is about exhausted. It will require H5,000,000 more to com plete the buildings and grounds, and pos sibly $7, ,000,000. After studying the mat ter very carefully, 1 came to the conclu- sion that the whole country had as much at stake ill the success of the exposition as Chicago; that Chicago had done every thing which could be asked of the locality where the fair was put, and that the gov ernment should appropriate an amount sufficient to complete the designs, and stand in with the city and citizens in any l risks there might be from commercial side in the investment. This fair, when the country thoroughly understands the | magnitude and estimates the splendor of the proportions which have been provided for it, is going to be the most phenomenal exhibition the world has seen up to this | time.
 "Of course the moving sidewalk is al ready erected. You step on it and it car
 ries you along at from three to six miles
 an hour, and if you chose to walk, with it | you make just that much more time, and you step off just when you please All
 the other novelties of the same kind are | in process of erection" "