Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-09-26

telligent policeman, with the best inten.
! tions doubtless first directed me to attempt
an entrance from a bridge on the northern
side OF the site, and it took a half a mile &
walk to convince me that unless a man had
more than the wings of dove or banker
| ing for mud bath he could not get across
a wide lagoon, as well as the afore-men-
| toned fence, conveniently. So trudged
back again after enjoying bird view
of the promised land from the elevated
bridge.
A NUMBER OF THE CURIOUS.
On my way 1 noticed that an old man.
whom had seen applying his eye to knot
hole in the fence as passed the first time,
was still glued to the same spot and peer
ing into the mysteries of the beyond with
fearful intentness. Men in similar atti-
tudes occurred every few feet in the fence;
in fact their number seemed to be limited
entirely by the number of holes and cracks
in the boards. One of these enthusiasts in
vited me courteously to share his peep
hole, and rather than hurt his feelings I
gazed for minute at a mound of dirt which
a score of men were digging away-all that
could be seen through the hole-and then
went on my way rejoicing, with modicum
of dust in my right eye.
And this might have been all that would
have seen of the Exposition on that day,
though / came upon legitimate entrance
to the grounds after awhile, for the stout
party who played Cerberus at the portal
sternly barred the way. His ''No admit
tance" faded away into soothing smile
when he read the pass with which l had
fortunately provided myself And it is
worth while remembering that it is impos-
sible to get inside the grounds of the Expo
sition without pass, such as is issued to
newspaper men and very few others whose
business entities them to admission
AT the very first glance the scene from
the gateway was impressive. On all sides
arose the clangor of labor; trains of small
cars laden with sand clattered over tram
ways behind scrawny horses; wagons filled
with lumber or returning empty rolled and
pitched over roads improvised with bark in
the heavy sand; the whirr of buzzsaws and
the snorting of steam engines, the clang of
chains in the derricks, the tapping of ham
mers, and the shouts of men mingled to-
gether made ones pulse beat faster, and
brought home the conviction that here was
great work in hand.
The site of the Exposition is about six or
seven miles from the center of the city, to
the south. upon the shore of Lake Michigan.
Roughly its total area comedies with that
of the Midway Plaisance, 122 acres, and
jackson Park as projected, namely 523 acres,
"a acres of which are improved and in
actual use as a park, and the rest a sandy
shore, swampy in spots, and more or less
cut up with lagoons. The total area of the
Exposition site is 645 acres. The Lake
Front is about l u miles long, and of course
in this lies the principal excellence of the
site.
THE NATURAL FEATURES.
The ground is level, except where man
has made hillocks, and the soil is altogether
that yellowish gray and white sand which
the traveller sees from the cars for miles
before reaching Chicago. 1t is fortunate
that visitors 10 the Exposition will not have
to walk upon this same sand, in which my
feet sank several inches at every step, so
that by the end of two hours tramp in it
there was as much sand as anything else it
seemed in my shoes, and a 20-mile walk on
pavements would not have been so fatiguing
But of course the sand will be out of sight
when the Exposition is ready for business
Looking across this Cooke county Sahara,
blazing under the sun, the prospect hardly
suggested the evolution of anything so orna-
mental as Exposition buildings. The fore
ground in fact from the entrance resembled
a vast lumber yard more than anything
else, and while the noise of manifold in
dustry came from all sides, nothing as yet
of the beautiful was to be seen in concrete
form.
The first time visited the Exposition 1
gained admittance by the Fifth-ninth street
gate, hardly WEIGH, on the plans at least. j
is located the Bureau of Information. But
when L asked Cerberus fora pointer or two
he shook his head, and stretching out an
INN mo- ind fa6 in rrb
buildings a quarter of a mile away, as the
fountain of all knowledge. Toward this
goal road of bark wound its way between
stacks of lumber and sawmills, and over
and among countless tracks of narrow and |
standard guage railroads. Close to the en-
trance, however, is the building furthest |
advanced of all at this date, that destined |
to contain the woman's exhibit This is |
already above the second story, and some |
hint of the style of architecture is conveyed |
in the arched windows and doors. 1t is |
good-siZed structure, the precise dimensions |
being 200x400 feet and will cost S97, ,747.
A POINT FOR THE WOMEN
Why it should have progressed more rap
dly than the other buildings do not know,
put it would seem to speak well for the
activity of the women who have charge of
his part of the Exposition. Between the
" Women's Building and headquarters, as the
Service Building of the Exposition is now
allied, nothing but the materials for build
ng appeared where some day the exhibit of
horticulture will fill structure 900 feet'I
ong and 200 wide, to cost 1928, SS7. Head
quarters loomed up like veritable oasis,
or some trees threw a grateful shade about
he southern side of the low frame buildings,
nd a colorei gentleman with a hose was
inl-1 31oe 7
Here are the quarters of the executive
'fficers of the Exposition upon the ground;
nd there are rooms for the architects en-
aged upon Exposition work, and for the
contractors. In one of the inner rooms is to
e found Dion Geraldine, the General Su-
of the Exposition; an aggres-
i've, positive little man, with black NOUS
ache, and imperial, keen, swapping, dark
yes, brusque manner, and voice such as
Rider Haggard's "She, Who Must Be
)beyed, might have envied.
If work lags, or laborers in any sphere
oaf, while Mr.. Geraldine is about, it will
e strange. He ought to be success, any,
low. The way he disposed of nv modest
etition compelled admiration. I wanted
omeone to pilot me about the maze. Mr..
Geraldine said he should have liked moth
hg better than to fill the people of Pitts.
urg with any information he possessed
bout the Exposition, but he had
ot five minutes even to spare and
10 one to delegate for the purpose.
Then he pulled his ehin-tuft and wrote
ut brief order to the superintendents of
he various buildings in course of erection
0 give me any general information they
ossessed, providing they had the time and
he disposition so TO do. This order would
ave been invaluable had 1 been able to
isc0veT a superintendent anywhere. Just
the time l called, however, they were all
!. L