Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1892-08-05
VIC Big Chicngo Tair.
The Best Thing About II VIII Hc Its
beauty ~ whole.

From letter iu the Sew Nor, World
More and more people are coming back
from Chicago with finer and finer accounts
of the splendors which we shall have to 90
and see next spring. If all of these peo-
pie were mere average Yankees with an
eye wnsophisticated by the sight Of trans
atlantic achievements and an uncontamn-
ated belief that anything American is bet
ter than anything else. of course we might
not be deeply impressed by their verdict.
But. in fact. the more a person has seen
and the more he knows, the deeper seems
his admiration for what a Frenchman
would call the installation of the big fair.
! remember the Paris exposition grounds
in 1889, with the broad Seine sweeping
through them under its bridge brilliant
with awnings and flags, with the huge vet
spidery Eiffel tower soaring in their centre,
and their great gayly colored buildings and
brightly planted parterres dominated at
one end by shining domes and at the other
by the Trocadero Palace throning on its
terraced hill, as panorama OF scenic
splendor which, one then believed. none
say certain artists who were also in Paris
and felt quite as ! did, the panorama at
Chicago will be quite as festal looking and
even more vast and more dignified. The
rushing current of the silver Seine will bee
well replaced by the iimitless pale green
expanse of Lake Michigan and by the
broad canals and pools, which will produce
a semi-N enetian rather than a simply ter
Viu1 ,aff nd al ba y
which rich plantation of large trees gave
to the Paris grounds cannot be initiated on
this once swampy shore. Mr.. Olmsted is
providing lawn and foliage effects of an
other sort which may prove quite as at
traCtive.
But. in truth, the most wonderful thing
about the fair is lust the way IN which II
was organized and its architectural crea-
tors were chosen and directed. \ group
of architects were selected from various
cities of the East and West. and they were
all men who unQuestionaby stand in the
very front rank OF the profession. Then
! these architects gathered together and de
cded IN a brotherly spirit upon the general
/ character and scale of their structures.
and then each was free. respecting the
/ broad lines thus laid down, to design and
/ finish his building as me- saw lit. The Tee
/ suit. a. even a picture already shows j,
monumental dignity and harmony OF gen
eral effect. combined with desirable de-
/ gree of variety i'm details. That each of
/ the buildings is tine-althOugh, OF course,
some are finer than other>-proves the eN-
istence OF much artistic skill i'm our coun-
/ try But that all together produce a tine
effect. and that each helps instead OF hurt
ing its neighbors is a greater artistic
achievement than any individual success
could bee.
The most ignorant visitor cannot fail 10
be impressed 10y the fact that the authorr
ties of the fair have wished. first OF all, tC
create a noble. beautiful 1pectacle, charm
ing to the eye and inspiring 10 the mind
Even the Philadelphia exhibition gave ar
powerful impulse But a still more pow
ertul one will be given by the Chicago eN
hibiton and in a very different and mucl
more satisfactory way. At Philadelphia.
the sight of a myriad beautiful thing
brought from abroad. and especially iron
Japan. awakened the love OF beauty II
thousands of unaccustomed breasts. Blu
at Chicago, while the same result will b
produced. American works will play tn
chief part i'm producing IT, American
will learn, not only that art is a rood an,
desirable thing, but that Americans cal
. create il.