Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1893-08-25
NO DULL TIMES
At the Columbian Exposition
Since Tide Turned
And the Crowds Pour in Delighting
Landlords and All.


ssstsrtui Sights ia he uasAiasssa ssiit-
iss-iiiiasis' fsrsstY.
WORLDS FAm. Aug ~ lspsc;ai-l-
The '.hootoo'' Is lifted The spell Is
broken The evil spirit Of unbelisf Is e.
orctsed and the people are coming to the
fair. ]. Is noted that On each special state
or race day the crowd Is much bigger than
on the preceding one and 1t noon today It
begins to issok as II all Illinois were here
20 celebrate her day. Two weeks ago the
general talk Was that loo. 900 day aver
age was big paid attendance Then il
began TO rise rapidly and soon ran up TO
llo, 90 or more, and now the sznguine be-
gin TO talk Of an average Of tso, go a day.
The landlords OF the Hyde Park annex
smile once more. for the baggage wagons
roll through the streets piled high with
trunks and the jingle Of the daddy dollar
| is head in the tro1seo Of the incoming
farmer.
| call this region the Hyde Park annex
| TO the fair, and a queer creation IL is.
! There Is an cas-, and west street through
| it, south Of which il Is Illegal to sell
whisky, and north Of it, might almost
say Ii Is Illegal 10 sell anything else. Now
II this were On the line between Kansas
| and Missouri, or anywhere else that state
sovereignty comes IN, or even II it were
county line, these small hotels and cheap
show fellows would probably have some
respect for it, but in the same cosmopoli-
tan city they look on il as foolishpess and
violate the law many a time and oft. So
there is Il storm center hereabouis. Mrs.
Ellen Foster has been lecturing Us about
it. The law and order leagues and the
moral purity leagues and divers other
leagues are at work among Us, while "Old
Subscriber y "veritas," PRO Bono Pub
licor and the rest of that gang entertain
us in the newspapers
Now it is a fact oft commented on that
there Is as little drunkenness and disorder
here as one ever saw in 50 large a crowd,
and as walk home of evenings through
that tangled wilderness of pine sheds
tcalled halls and hotels by courtesy
often have 10 laugh at the careless secur-
ity of ladies and other strangers to the
sunny side OF life. The American woman
is not here for her health She came 10
see the entire show and she Is seeing it re-
gardless. / stepped into concert hall
about $50 the other evening Tiny hotel is
on the north side Of the street above men
toned, and sat down near the door when
was greeted with a merry laugh from
the next table There sat a matron aud
two young ladies of my acquaintance from
an inland town. I'VE take in the play
zanoe tomorrow" said the matron. and
decided on a preliminary lesson tonight"
You must be careful there" / remarked.
"for it is reported that some OF the shows
are bad" ''If there's anything one bit i'm
proper was the retort, well tell the
folks at B. all abou. it, for we shall quail
fy ourselves to testify"
The only danger can imagine in this
pinewood and plaster village is Of fire.
Nearly all the buildings are low and there
are open snaces in plenty, but II fire should
once get started | fear that this new and
oily pin~ would go in fash and before a
man could get wide awake and jump out
of second story window. From Sixtieth |
street TO the south end OF the grounds all
the outside is thick set with every kind Of |
cheap show and open air games. Buffalo |
A1iAl Il RlttS VI Nbufct- "a sIiAth ltAtby u |
the Esquimaux have seeded from the |
main body and set up an independent |
show there. In short. II Is "Coney isl
aud crowd" ali through The Manitoba
building too is outside, the more's the
pity. for it has a really fine exhibit and
yet few people think of looking outside |
the grounds for state or provincial build
ing.
Washinzton's state building is wonder
in itself-an immense structure of stone
and staff and cedar. resting on founda-
ton Of mammoth logs. and almost |
cra1nrned with every curious and useful |
product of the state. Everything is on a !
gigantic scale from the flagstaff in front,
a single trunk Of fir 207 feet long, to the
great skeleton mammoth in the hall. the |
largest ever dug up outside of Siberia. |
Ereryfbing in the structure is from
Washington except the glass and the |
paint. The ground plan is that of modi- |
fed Greek cross, 22sx125 feet in extent,
aud there is floor space of 5000 square
feet. In the main hall is that represen- |
tatiye model of Washington grain farm |
Of which SO much has been said While |
not SO artistic as the famous grain-and |
grass picture in the Illinois building |
that is on the wall while this is on the
fioor-it is still faithful and curious re-
production.
Washington's day is TO be In September. |
but the time cannot be set till Governor
John W. McGraw can state positively
the time he can be here. Commissioner
George V. Calhoun, in charge of the
building, adds that the size Of the crowd
depends good deal on how the railroads
behave 'You see Washington Is long
ways off and most of our 411. 900 people |
are pretty busy aud have not made their
fortunes yet. and so we could not expect
many thousands here on any one day"
The fir logs forming the foundation are
Us feet long and average 20 inches in
diane r. and much longer flag pole
could have been secured but could not be
transported over the crooked mountain
railways.
One great curiosity is a vase six feet
high and four feet across the top. turned
on a lathe from a single red cedar log and
claimed to be the largest piece of turned
wood ever made on lathe. The lathe, by
the way. was specially constructed for
such work by Mr.. j. l. Nygran OF the
Tacoma Lumber company. The wood
takes a polish as fine, apparently, as that
of mahogany, and is rapidly growing in
use for decorative purposes. Beside the
vase is a cross section Of an old cedar log
which had laid upon the ground SO long
that fir 80 years old had grown on the
decayed portion of il. Yet the main part
Of the fir log was perfectly sound when
discovered. and many such logs are found
in Washington. There are also some
cedar shingles from the roof Of the oldest
school bause and though they turned the
rain for forty years 100 inches year the
hydro" men say, there wasn't fuza
snoueh On them 70 make hornets nest.
thought that, perhaps. the 400 inches
Of rain had beaten the fuxx of as fast as
it formed and kept the shingles freshly
polished, but with all the deductions Of
skepticism this cedar is a mighty lasting