The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1892-03-05

mitted to their care, and they are strug-
Cling manfully under the burden of re-
sponsibilitv. The men who are doing
the bulk Of the work are men who do
not expect to reap dollar OF benefit,
directly or indirectly, from the exposi-
ton"
What would you expect Worlds e1-
position to be in a city of such men as
these? Another superlative, another
"greatest on EARTH" of course. 1t is
with this feeling You go down to Jack
Son park to see what has been done
there. Your expectations are already
high. But in a moment, after rapid
survey of the scene, you lift your hands
in amazement while your brain in vain
endeavors to evolve an adjective bedtting
the occasion.
AT least that is the way it was with
me, who am naturally enthusiastic; but
it was so also with such cold blooded
men as Senators PETER, Shoup and Gal
linger, and Representatives Enloe, Cool
idge, Jerry Simpson and scores of others.
Tongue cannot tell nor pen describe the
scene on the shores of Lake Michigan in
jackson park. Even the graphic art
fails, and pictures are but suggestions
of the magnitude and magnificence there
found. 1t out Chicagos Chicago-out-
superlatives the superlative.
I am not going to attempt to describe
it, but I will hint at it. Imagine a
square mile or more of ground which
less than two years ago was for the most
part swamp. Chicago passes over it
the wand Of her magic energy, and now
you behold dozen palaces rearing their
roofs toward the sky. The swamp is
converted into park. Lagoons and
wooded islands embellish the landscape.
Hundreds of miles of sewers, water
mains, gas pipes, electric conduits are
put init is like creating city in a
night.
A police force with hundred patrol
men is organized, a fire department. with
a half dozen fully equipped engine
houses provided. Ten thousand men
work on grounds and buildings. Only
one of these great palaces is nearly COM
pleted, and it is characteristic Of essen
TALLY modern, alert, adaptable Chicago
that this one is silent tribute to this,
woman's golden era-the Woman's build
ing. Other palaces are half done, one
quarter done OF just begun. The floor
of one is so vast that a dozen United
States Capitols could be set down upon
it-slarger," says Senator PETER, ethan
the farm / used to till in Indiana"
In another is a steel arch larger than
| o. 1ov. Ii, i'm
the world. Growing still another is to
be dome greater and grander than the
dome of, the Capitol or st. Peters. One
is to have doorway of solid 1S-carat
gold and a companion door Of solid
silver. AT every step new wonders I'M
fold till the visitor, stopping to kick
some mud off his boots and assure HIM
self he is not in fairyland, asks if these
stupendous plans can be carried out, If
| the giant buildings can ever be finished
in time for the opening day.
In the Woman's building @ map of the
grounds is hung upon the wall. "A big,
strong man, muffied in greatcoat,
stands before it, pointer in hand, ex-
planning to the visitors the landscape
and architectural designs. He is Chief
| Constructor Burnhanl, and in this forest
of palaces, this cluster Of superlatives
upon which 10000 men are working,
there does not appear to be stone, a
brick, a truss, a spike, q timber which
he has not before him in his minds eye.
Instinctively the audience concludes
and whispers one to another, '"There liz
Chicago man; see how he grasps
everything; he is master of the situa-
ton" And when, a moment later, Mr..
Burnham modestly says all these build
ings will be ready for dedication next
October and for occupancy two or three
months later, there is not a doubling
Thomas within sound of his voice.
There is universal agreement that if
this masterful man, this typical Chi
cagoan, says SO, tits SO.
Best of all is not the magnitude, nor
the matchless speed with which work is
driven, nor the gold door, nor the super
lative steel arch and gilded dome-big
things we expect of Chicago. The best
is the art and the beauty of every detail,
every effect. Not only is Chicago build
ing on a vast scale, but she is building
with an artistic sense, in form and color,
with dignity, with impressiveness, with
every structure and every integral part
thereof perfectly adaptable to the func-
ton required Of it. Art is old and Chi
cago is young; but Chicago was wise
enough to trust not to herself, but to
Gull her architects from all parts of
America and her artists from all the
schools in the world.
If Jackson park in ,midwinter, with
buildings in embryo and mud, with the
lagoons mere morasses, with no color
yet applied and all decorative effects
still lacking, with a hundred minor
buildings not begun and an air of new
ness and confusion about everything
that is-if the Worlds fair of February,
1892, can capture the imaginations of
skeptical visitors, what will the Worlds
fair of 1858 do, when the palaces shine
with color, with statues, with flags and
ornamentation; when innumerable less
er structures picturesquely fill out the
background, when great pier and ca
sino adorn thsa WATERS edge and steamers