St. Paul daily globe., 1892-07-17
I'd gables that made it seem toy

and gables that made it seem a toy
house.
by mechanical means 1t was so ar
ranged that, when empty, the pavilion
would rise to the surface of the minia-
ture lake. At little distance il re-
sembled nothing SO much as pretty
conservatory, such as might be seen in
the Jardin des Plantes at Paris or i'm the
gardens at London. Happening along
! little later you might wonder what
had become of tie pavilion. An at
tendant would tell you that the king
was taking recreation with mis- harem at
tile bottom of the lake, and point to the
spfre-like ventilators rising above the
IIiepei of the placid surface as evidence of
tile truth of what he tells you.
by one door only can the king enter,
and this closes Theoretically after him.
Ar once The editice begins to sink, the
valves in the tall pipes in the roof open,
ana in few minutes it is resting
beneath the placid waters. There, in
his cool and perfectly dry habitatiOn.
with the sOftened light trickiing through
fthe panes of colored and figured glass,
I the king spends the hot summer days,
singing, smoking. eating and drinking,
Win his harem and fayorlteS about
! him.
What magnificent suggestions there
are in that idea of the Chinese architect,
which has not only been realized, but is
! now in fine working order. The writer
OF this knows nothing of architecture,
nor Of pneumatics; this is written pure
iy from altruistic and philanthropic mo-
tiyes. For it is utterly absurd to suppose
that this Chinaman can do what an
I! American architect cannot. Nor is the
| idea unique; the huge safes of the Bank
| OF England are submerged at night for
protection against burglars, and they
! contain, not one sovereign, like the
glass chalet of Siam, but hundreds OF
! thousands.
1t will be indeed surprising if some of
the multi-millionaires of America do
not adopt the Siamo-Chinese idea and
have built villas that can easily be sub
| merged in the placid waters of an arti-
| fetal lake or lagoon. Then the million
| aires could keep cool under all circum-
| stances, and it's sometimes difficult to
keep cool when railroads are going to
smash and ruin or when some thousands
| of men. armed with rifles. petroleum
| and dynamite bombs. are determined to
enforce their demand for higher wages.
i Some of the millionaires of Wall
! street, suggests the New York Herald,
would be perfectly at home in water. of
| which they have used enough on their
| stocks to Submerge village of cha
with fish and SO have the delight of
| seeing sharks swimming around them
or of being gaZed at, as they are now,
| by open-mouthed suckers and minnOws.
Think how charmingly exclusive it
! would be when tens of thousands are
| painting for breath, when tenement
children are dying like flies, to invite a
! choice company to cottage of glass
| and sink to the cools of limpid lake.
Perhaps then the reports from the
watering places would read something
+; like this:
| 'sMilles dor, the millionaire president
of the G. & I. H. railroad. gave a mu-
| sicale last night at 'Glace Sous-Mer,' at
| is coming out in New York next win
ter. The guests entered the villa at
o'clock, and it sank at 9:16. When the
distinguished assemblage reached the
| depth of forty feet it was found that the
| water that pressed against the opOi and
blue sides Of the villa was uncomfOrta-
FblEs cold, but the genial warmth of the
| host went far to counteract that. AS ii
I was, however, all the champagne was
trapped, and the famous Burgundy was
! simply undrlnkable. The belle Of the
teXening was Miss Bullion, who wore a
Magnificent sable coat that was ordered
/ for the Empress of Russia. Mr.. Bullion
!. saw it in st. Petersburg and outbid the
,czar."
| But it is not impossible that the con
| strnetion Of these submerged houses OF
i.g1ass may become so cheap that com.
panes will be formed to build such
! pleasure places for the people. Then
There will be .'barkers" along the
! wharves and on the edges of the lake in
! Central park, crying: "Here you are,
1 now; pass in. pass in; just going down;
/ the great and only sinking palace
I Only 25 cents. and the palace stays
under twenty-five minutes! Guarant eed