Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1893-05-18
TRANSPORTATION.
How Worlds Fair Visitors Are
Carried About.
MOVABLE SIDEWALK ON TIE PIER.

Ecfndecrs and Other Beasts of Burden.
WORLDS FAIR, May 49, - Especial -
Not the least interesting phase of the ex-
position is its horsemanship. We may see
here a comparative display of the horses
and riders of many countries. 1t happens |
that u number of hussars or other caval- |
rymcn are attached to the foreign commits |
lions here to serve as official messengers. |
Hence one may see, almost any fine day, n
German hussar, q Russian cossack an |
English horse uuardsman or an Arab |
courier flying about in the vicinity of the
exposition grounds. There are American
cavalrymen, too. The foreigners all use
big horses and rcsplendent trappings. The
American horse soldier alone looks as if
be were Quilted for actual service, the
others being mere parade soldiers. More
serviceable than any of the military horse
men in the capacity of messengers are the
cowboys of the plains, twenty or thirty of
them having been constantly employed in
the days of construction, carrying mes
sages and orders to and fro. They are to-
day the most interesting horsemen in all
this international menage. Their little
mustangs or bronchos fly about with soft,
sure foot, lodging distractions and pedes-
TRANS, swift and intelligent.
A magnificent specimen of the horse
manship is to be found here in the outfit
of Colonel Rice, commandment of the Co
lumbar guards. 1t is no small RESPONSE
bility the colonel has undertaken-cap-
taincy of the troop of 1000 men who are
. la 81
dicrs. In management and training of his
men the colonel finds it necessary to go
rapidly from one part of the grounds to
another In fact, he acts like man who
would, if he could. be at forty widespread
spots in one minute Of time. He rides n
massive iron gray charger, q noble animal
who carries himself with n proud stride as
if he were the bearer Of the general of
great army.
1t is indeed cosmopolitan showing Of
horsemanship and beasts Of burden which
we have here Buffalo Bits cowboys,
rough-ridcrs, steer tanners and Sioux
horsemen ore 10 he seen on the same
bride paths with the Cossacks and Hus-
sars. Immediately after them may be
pack mule from the Andes going over to
state street for load of feed for his fell
lows, or dromedary from the Egyptian
village in the plaisnuce. Now and then, at
rare intervals, a Iaplander may be seen
out exercising a big reindeer. In Hagen
backs famous animal show lions may be
seen riding horseback, and two or three of
the elephants are often ridden about the
ncighborhood OF the plaisance by their
trainers.
The horse show proper will not begin
till late in August. Then it is expected
there will be here the greatest horse show
ever seen. Certainly the management Of
the exposition has been liberal enough in
its provisions and prizes. There are twcn-
ty-fiVe acres of stock sheds, and in Il huge
amphitheauc that will seat nearly 1000
persons hundreds Of animals may he SIM
ultaneously exhibited. Ii is elliptical in
shape, 800 feet wide and 40 feet long, and
looks like an enclosed track. No fewer
than forty-six barns are to be erected for
the accommodation of horses, and if these
prove inadequate more will be built. The
premiums offered for horses are very lib
eral, consisting Of both cash awards and
medals. There are cash premiums on sin
gle animals as high as $500.
There is n wonderful variety of con-
triVances and vehicles for people to ride
upon within the enclosure of the EXPOSE
ton. The elevated electric railway,
which runs around the grounds, the steam
and electric launches on the lagoons, the
EondClas and the rolling chairs are all well
known. But this does not exhaust the list,
by any means. One of the most interest
ing spots in the exposition is visited by
only Il small proportion of the people who
come here. 1t is the steamboat pier which
runs more than half mile into Lake
Michigan from the Casino at the southern
to learn that this is the greatest pier in
the world, for these Chicago people have o
habit Of building everything little larger
than any similar thing was ever built else
where. This pier is the landing place of
the many big steamboats, which run be-
tween Chicago and the fair, and on q warm
day this is the best route to and from the
rity. The pier alone is worth going to see.
Its vast proportions may be better under
Etood from the fact that it contains fifteen
ucres of space, and that 10000 people NAV
move about upon it without crowdinU
| The view OF the lake and the exposition
from this pier is very fine, and one may go
out on the pier for the purpose of sight
seeing without taking passage on a steam
thip for tho city.
1t would not he like Chicago to build q
pier more than half a mile long and pro-
vide no means Of transportation from one
end to the other Of ii. \ pier so long that
II passenger railway is needed on its sur
| face will be n novelty TO most people, but
Il greater novelty is the railway itself. It
| Il what is known as movable sidewalk
and is a very ingenius contMyance. Two
| low platforms, endless, run side by side on
| n series of small wheels. The outer one
! runs constantly at n speed of three miles
} mn Nd "a,