The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1893-05-20
An Electrical Display Of Wonderful
Beauty at Chicago.
THE SUN-LIKE SEARCH LIGHTS,
And the Myriads Of Lights ON the Tops Of
the Big Build ings-A Display which
Must he Seen TO he Appreciated-The
Great Center OF the solar system

lines OF the huge buildings. 1t has Its
btars and other heavenly bodies In the cleo
tric scarch-lights which throw out brilliant
streams Of light from elevated places. 1t
has q solar system, and the center of this
bystem, the center Of light, power and
Energy, is the mammoth horizontal engine
which Is the king of oil engines and which
stands in the center Of the Palace of Me
bhanic Arts. Today this monster was
lying still. A dozen or more of his assist
bnts, each q lesser monster, were furnish
ing all the power needed during the hours
of sunlight. 1t was an hour Of rest foi
khe big fellow, and while he rested q very
pretty scene occurred. Standing near the
base of the foundation which supports the
main shaft and the great wheel was a
fond mamma and her pretty little daugh.
Ter. They looked at the belt which runs
from the thirty-foot wheel to the dynamo
which has power enough to electrocute a
whole city full Of people were It's currents
burned upon them. This belt is seven or
hight feet wide, and q carriage and pair of
horses could be driven over 1t without
hanger of collapse.
The little girl in some way had gotten
bhe notion into her pretty head that she
wanted to walk out upon the big belt.
Her fond mamma, over indulgent, or In
bpired By some fancy Of the Imagination,
Endorsed the idea and appealed to the en-
Hineer In charge. Would he objectt
Would 1t do amy harmi The good-natured
master of the monster looked at the pretty
little girl and the eomely face of the
mamma, made more interesting by the
koft pleading words and the appealing
eyes, and had IL not in his heart to say no.
So he took the wait in his arms, lifted l,r
upon the giant belt, and fearlessly she
tripped out along its broad pathway.
Quite n crowd IA present-there Is al
ways q crowd around the big engine,
whether it Is in motion or not-and they
applauded with ~clapping of the hands.
"a little child astride the monster"
commented a visitor whose long hair and
soulful eye bespoke the poetic instinct;
IAN angel standing upon the center Of the
kolar system"
A few hours later the breath of the
steam was let into the lungs Of the mons
ter and the Gfeat wheel was set In motion.
III one ChICu W lO14OW OQJ tnc bitlllle vi tn6
solar system with this as it's central life
giving agency he would have to let his
imagination travel first through the I'M
the exposition grounds, carrying tho hun
dreds of electric cables and the magic cur
rent in every direction. At night he
would find this current manifasting itself
I'm myriads Of lights ON the tops Of tho big
buildfngs, IN Eve enormous coronas under
the roof Of the tent of glass md steel
which Is the covering Of the leviathan
Manufactures building, IN q cirolet Of
brilliant arcs around the central court, in
I'M ineandescent dome over the Horticul-
tural building, In dazzling succession of
vari-colored rays thrown upon the cleo
trical fountains, in q crown of jewels at
the top Of the crown-like Administration
building, In the sun-like searchlights, to
be seen nearly across Lake Michigan, and
In a thousand ways which would unfold
themselves at every step about these mar
Vicious precincts.
The truth is, this electrical display IL,
next to the palaces and the architectural
effect, the most brilliant and enhancing
thing in the exposition. II there were
nothing here but the big buildings, their
characterization Of statuary, their water
fronts, and the electricity, the show would
be worth travelling across the continent to
pee. There In not q single feature in which
the exposition Is a disappointment. It Is
strong in every department. But the cleo
trical display partakes Of the marvellous,
che sublime, the incredible.
Naturally, It In a thing which must be
been to be appreciated. You never saw an
artist who could paint the constellation Of
the heavens, did your Yeu never knew n
writer who could describe tho glories of
the frmamentS No. Nor could artist or
writer, or both together, give you any
thing like an adequate idea Of the beauty
of this electrical manifestation. The most
that / hope to do Is to impress upon you
the fact that il Is a spectacle which every
man, woman and child in America who
can manage to do SO should see and enjoy.
4 81 , erely advise sacrifice of other things,
of home pleasure, Of profits In business, Of
d share Of savings, of time devoted to trade
or school, in order to come to Chicago.
And If you have but two days and a night
to spend here, let one day or a good part
of 1t be put in at tho center of this solar
where tho city block of boilers
generate the steam that moves the many
monsters, where tho hundreds of miles of
wires are im~pregnated with the current
which produces all these wonderfully
beautiful effects.
Spend q night In beholding the brilliancy
of the scene about tho central court and
within the Electricity building. See the
mammoth pillar Of fire, composed Of thou
sands upon thousands of electric lights i'm
various hues and with alternating currents
which produce effects beautiful beyond
ones dreams. See the lightning arrestors
posts with broad, spreading
up and along which the current leaps
with magic strides, leaving behind IL a
counterfeit representation of the lightning
nature, only more vivid, infinitely more
beautiful. See the Assyrian temple,
Illuminated by innumsrable electric lamps
placed behind screens OF inlsid glass made
all the soft hues known to the art.
See q hundred ingenious contrivances for
the display of the power and the effect of
this new and most wonderful servant Of
our race-things which will thrill and
astonish you and fill your mind with
thoughts Of the almost infinite ingenuity
of man and his almost divine control of
the forces Of nature.
The point that 1 wish to impress upon