The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1893-01-27
INDUSTRIAL PROGRESS.
The Worlds Fair Will Mark an
Epoch in the Worlds History.
Electricity the Main Factor In a New Civ
Mization-Thc Central Point OF Sci
entific Interest in the Com
ing Exposition.
Especial Chicago Correspondencel

worlds fair was made in my hearing
few days ago The speaker was one
who as truly cosmopolitan gentle
man, a man of wide knowledge and ex-
perience, might be supposed to possess
the faculty of forming an unbiased
! Judgment
81 hear so much about the magnitude
| of this exposition" he said "Why is
| it that the size of it Is so con-
I stantly talked about, instead of
| its intrinsic value, instead of an inn
| portant step in the progress of civiliza-
| ton which it might serve to mark? 1t
sometimes impresses me as if it had
been influenced too much by the ma
ture OF the country, which runs to the
colossal at the expense of delicacy. 1t
| is so in the vegetable and animal king
dom in America, it is SO with the eli
mate, everything moving in extremes.
Is this worlds fair going to be simply
the biggest in point of the size of the
grounds and buildings and the amount
| of money spent?"
We had quite a discussion about the
matter. The criticism is natural enough
reading what has been published with
regard to the exposition. Much of this
| has been on the style of the advertiser
who loves to use big figures and big
words and succeeds in making an i'm
preston upon people who do not think
very profoundly. but, as the instance
quoted shows. fails to produce the de-
sired result among such as do their own
thinking.
But it is not true that the worlds
fair will be simply the most colossal of
its kind. 1t will be much more. 1t
will mark an epoch in the industrial
development of the world.
1t was urged in the early stages of
the enterprise that enough time had
not elapsed since the Paris exposition
to show anything new, and this was
one of the great objections of European
manufacturers But if the truth is told
it seems that our worlds fair will have
Il more powerful rdis0R d'etre or excuse
for being alive than did the brilliant
exposition of 1889 at Paris. That ex-
position was n triumph of art and
taste, place where one could enjoy
oneself and all the triumphs of modern
art and industry. But did it mark any
particular epoch in civilization?
1t seems that our worlds fair will be
more like milestone on the road of
industrial progress. Perhaps this fact
is most apparent in the electrical de-
partment.
A worlds exposition is to be a mir
ror rejecting the civilization of the
period in which it is held. The past
twenty-five years We're the age of
steam. The steam engine produced
the greatest revolution in industrial
methods that history records. 1t gave
its stamp to our entire civilization.
everything conferred in it. 1t promoted
specialization, it developed the division
of labor, on which civilized human
society rests, into the smallest details,
and created corresponding modes of
thought and forms of life.
The worlds expositions which re-
fiected this condition of society CEN
tered in the machinery hall. The
pdiiis des mdchines, palace of ma
chinery, at the late Paris exposition
w
dustrial point of view. The very con-
structiou of the building was unique
and novel, n feat of engineering never
before attempted, but carried out in
this instance to complete success and |
introducing n new principle in n
gineering.
Machinery hall reached its highest |
development as a feature of worlds |
expositions at that time. 1t was its |
swan song, at the same time, for it |
was the last time that this building |
appeared as the center of the whole eX-
position.
What steam was to the civilization |
of the immediate past, electricity will |
be to the civilization of the future. We |
are living in the period of transition.
An indication appeared at Paris of the
shifting of the center of industrial de-
velopment An attempt was made to
produce Il great electrical exhibit.
But certain reasons prevented it. The
two greatest countries in the matter of
electricity as applied in practice, the
United States and Germany, did not
take any very active part in that expo
sition. hence the electrical exhibit was
a failure.
1t is different in Chicago. Here we
are in the heart of the land where
electricity is recognized as the main
factor in the new civilization. No
foreign country takes so active an in
terest in the exposition as does Ger
many. In fact, it set the pace for all
IN, ha ]
of participation in this exposition.
Thus the two greatest factors in the
electrical world are engaged in friend
ly rivalry. 1t is unfortunately true
that the greatest German electrical
firm is not going to make an exhibit,
but, nevertheless, this department will
form the center of the exposition from
the industrial point of view. For the
first time electricity will occupy that
position in a worlds exposition. 1t
marks the end of the supremacy of
new era of electricity.
The management of the exposition
early recognized this point and decided
to give fit expression to this historic
event Accordingly, the Electricity
building was located in the center of
the main buildings of the exposition
proper. 1t was planned on colossal
scale and provided with everything in
the way of opportunities and accom-
nodations for the proper development
Of the idea. One of the best practical
electricians of the country, Prof. L. E.
Barrett, who for years has been at the
mead OF the electric system of the city
Of Chicago, was put in charge of the
department of electricity at the worlds
fair and received an able assistant in
he person of j A. HornsbY. who has