Bismarck weekly tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1943, 1893-05-26

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o INTERESTED IN II AIR.
show which is of acute interest to him.
He has struck his line.
Take, for instance, the undertaken,
the physician, the minister of the
gospel, the lawyer. Surely there isn't
anything here of special interest to them?
o, yes, there is. They will find them
selves attracted to particular spots just as
the machinist, the electrician, the agricul-
turist is attracted to his spot. For the un-
dertaker there is an illustration of the
burial methods and appliances of all ma
tions, including cremation and not omit
ting the mummies of a thousand or two
thousand years ago, which must make him
marvel at the art Of his ancient forerun-
ners in the business. For the physician
there are all the medicines and tools of his
trade, not only those made in his own
country but those used by his brothers in
all the lands of the world. For the minis
ter there are no end of pulpits ancient and
modern, rich and rare, too, the beloved
Bible in all the languages of the earth-all
the curious editions of Bibles. the Bibles
of the ancients and the moderns, even the
plates from which famous editions have
been printed. For the lawyers there is q
collection of curios from the department
of justice at Washington which will de-
light his eye-rure old law books, curious
and ancient briefs and opinions delivered
by famous men.
AS these crowds go about, each constit-
uent part of them making a sort of walk
ing Interrogation point of himself, one
can't help thinking that this is a great
town or city, complete in itself, and
created for the mere purpose of showing
the architecture Of the period and the
shops and wares Of all creation. That is
Just what it is. And d wonderfully com.
plete city we find it when we think of all
the arrangements made here for the care
of everything and everyone. Under the
ground are miles upon miles of water
pipes and sewers, and tremendous con-
duits through which the electrical wires
are carried to a thousand points where
light is given off at night in sparkling
lamp jewels. There is q railway to carry
people from one end of the city to the
other. There are all sorts of craft on the
canals, basins and lagoons. The city has
its own pier, the greatest pier in the
world, with a line of steamships touching
at it, and even a tramway to carry people
from n end Of the pier to the other,
There is a complete fire department, just
such as any city has; only, perhaps, better
than most cities can boast. The police de-
partment has more than 1900 men under
it's control, and among them are smart de-
t~ectives by the score on the outlook for
~pickpockets and confidence men. This DO
lice force has its guard houses, it's patrol
wagons, its police telegraph line. There is
even a sort of police court in which com
plants are first heard by a judge known
as "the officer of the day." and he decides
in case of arrest whetherthe offender shall
be let go or turned over to the regular
civil authorities without the grounds for
punishment. There is q medical depart,
ment, with hospitals and ambulances and
surgeons. There is q bank, where one
may deposit or draw. The United States
government has here q complete p~ostofice,
with all departments, and a service of car.
riers just rs in any other city.
In addition to all this there is a CITY
council, composed Of the board of directors
Of the exposition company and the nation.
al commission, and they make the laws
and the ordinances. Ifthereis any official
corresponding to the mayor of the city he
is Director General Davis. This quickly
created city has its music hall, its restau.
rants, its telegraph lines, its railway sta,
lions, it's streets and alleys, its palaces and
its shops, like any other city. But it is 8
city in which people do not sleep, except
ing the guardians of peace and properly,
1t is a city in which there are no novels
and no display of poverty, no public exhi.
bition of vice. 1t is a city in which the
weakness and the wantonness of man are
excluded, where he has gathered to show
all the good and great and beautiful thinps
of which he is capable. Therefore it is ar
ideal sort Of city. AS q social study it il
altogether as interesting as from any in.
dustrial or artistic point of view. You
and l will live a long time If we survive
to behold another like it.
Like any other city, too, it has it's idlers
and its drones, its Indifferent people. its
denizens who seek pleasure rather thar
knowledge. Down at the great pier I saw
a scene today which startled me. It was
that of a score or SO of men with FISHING
rods in hand, watching their lines in the
waters of the lake. 1t was indeed startling
to come upon men who had the time or in.
clination for such III avocation as FISHING
in the midst of assembled splendors of the
world. How q man could sit watching =
cork dancing on the water and praying
for a bite from some poor fish while the
palaces and their splendid contents, the
fountains and the s~tatuary, and the NOV
ing picture made by the masses of people
were within a few steps from the spot
was more than I could understand. There
was but one explanation, and that the
trite one, that it takes all linds of people
to make up a world.
I was surely right in the observation
made in the second paragraph of this letter
to the effect that human nature is one OF
the most interesting studies to be seen al
the Worlds Columbian exposition.
WALTER WELLMAN.