The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1893-09-08
A SHOW OF RACES.
Forty Varieties of Mankind In
Friendly Rivalry.
SET DAYS FOR FUTURE DISPLAYS.

The Far-Foreign Visitors Are Much More
Interesting to Each Other Than to Us
Who Are the Fairest People on the
Grounds, Irish or Swedes?
WORLDS FAIR. Aug. g. [Special.1 -
The proper study of mankind is man, says
Pope, and here one may take him lin
Guiding herr in details Of every shade Of
color, shape of face and style of raiment-
the Edenio alone excepted, though few
OF the plaisance people come sufficiently
near to that. The most northern man
here Is from latitude 70 degrees or there
abouts, and the most southern from Pata-
gonia, and as to heat, well, in the fine
medium weather now prevailing the Alas
kans lie in the shade and pant while their
black neighbors sit in the sun to rest.
Man is certainly here to be studied and
man is likewise here to study him.
In colors one may range through forty
varieties, from the lily white lady Of Dub
lin to the shining black beauties of Da-
honey, not to mention the sallow denizen
OF the Mississippi delta or the Anglo
Afric-American dude of Chicago. Add to
the list those queer burlesques of human
tty, the higher anthropoids now on exhibit
ton, and one may trace the rectiflcation
of the facial angle. as Darwin has it, from
the prognathous to the dolichocephalic,
that is to say from the ape to the Greek,
or from the shovel-faced Krooman Of
Guinea to the cultured Christian Of
Brooklyn.
Everybody knows by this time that the
many colored folks of the Midway plais-
ance are as a whole the most interesting
part Of the show taken as show. That is
they interest a larger number of people
and interest them longer. may add in
cidentally, though it has little connection
with the immediate subject, that SO far as
I can see the art galleries interest the few
est people and that of all who go through
them not one in ten goes second time.
You see man has to acquire some knowl-
edge to appreciate art, but he is born with
the capacity to get interested in his fellow
men. OF all who go through the plaisance
at least three out of four go through it
again If they have time.
In truth, as an object Of interest at all
seasons, nothing interests the average
amusing feature of the case is that these
far-foreign people are much more Of a
show to each other than they are to us.
This was some time mystery, but a lit
tie reflection shows why it must be so.
White men have visited every part of the
world and their products have penetrated
even those remote and dangerous sections
where they as yet dare not go. We make
rum for the pagans of central Africa,
crosses for the Christians and pocket
knives for the Mohammedans, and the
latest business joke las jokes go for age in
England) is that factory in Birmingham
Is now turning out brass gods for the Hin
docs. So nearly all the savages have seen
white men and all have seen their products
and know something of them; but savages
do not travel and therefore have not seen
each other.
BY a neat trick of the authorities the ex-
tremes are brought together ON the plais-
ance. The Laplanders and the Dahomey-
ans are side by side, the Esquimaux front
the Arabs, and the South Sea islanders
neighbor with the Turks. Among our own
sort OF folks, so to speak, the mixtures are
still more suggestive. French, Germans
and Austrians are sandwiched between
darker races and the Irish are within q
stones throw Of the Chinese. Already a
warm fellow feeling has grown up among
the dark races. As an exhibit they are
"agin the whites" and some of the friend
ships thus formed are described as quite
touching. One in particular between a
Javanese and an Algerian is perennial
source Of fun. They are regular Damon
and-Pythias pair and when off duty it Is
their delight to promenade arm in arm.
eaon chattering away in his own language,
with the little English he has picked DIP,
their mutual understanding helped out BY