Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1893-10-10
WorId's Fair Letter.

CHICAGO, September. 1893
Editor SpiJ-it:-We are in the s'White City,
We secured an official catalogue and have
tried to see the Fair intelligenily. but the task
of seeing 1t all is appalling. and an attempt to
describe all that we have teen is futile. The
Yastness of everything Is wonderful. In the
immensely of the Exposition we behold in the
external and internal exhibit the triumphs OF
mans skill and labor in the millions of dol
lars worth of the finest architecture which has
ever been produced and the wonderful dis
play of the resources OF all nations.
jackson Park, the locutioT of the Fair
buildings, has an area of 6B4 acres. with q
frontage on Lake Michigan OF a mile and a
half. The great buildings, thirteen In number.
are OF ample dimensions, no two being alike,
and are masterpieces of architectural beauty.
Staff is the material used in the construction
of the buildings. 1t is composed of powdered
gypsum. alumins. glycerfne and dextrine.
which are made into paste with water and
cast into mOld's of different shapes. in imita-
ton of stone, holdings and leaf designs, and
allowed to harden. The staff is white, is i'm
nent building material. Mixing it with ce.
ment, which was done for the lower parts of
the walls. makes the staG hard.
The largest OF the great buildings is the man.
nfactures and liberal arts building, which COW
ers thirty acres of ground, cost e15 OO0. 600
and is the largest building ever erected. The
interior OF the building is divided into pavil-
ions which are made gems of artistic beauty by
eNnlOlJOTR. American ana foreign. Tor tile dis
play of their goods, some of which are mag
uiiceut and include furniture in various de-
signs, tapestries, carpets, rugs. gold and silver
ware; in fact the interior of this building pre-
sents grand display. all civilized and semi
civilized people having added come of their
products to the exhibit. il is in this building
that the big diamond valued ut 800, 600 and
owned by Tiffany of New York is exhibited
The CRldrOn China Co. of England has on ex-
hiLitiOn twelve plates illustrating the pathetic
story of "Evangeline." The plates were de-
signed aud painted by a. Boullemier. aud are
for sale. price $1,000. Think of it; u fraction
over S116 apiece The twelfth plate illustrates
the bedside of the dying Gabriel" and
''Evangcline" rs q sister of mercy bending
over him.
Gabriel! oh my beloved, and died away into
silence.
Then he beheId in dream once more the
homo of his childhood"
In the electricity building one sees chickens
Matching. cloth cut 10y electricity, electro-plat-
ing. electro-gilding. &c.
In the agricultural building every State and
Territory in the Union, rs welk Us n number
OF foreign countries. are represented by their
products and limitless number of manu-
features made from them. A number or ex-
hibits are placed in pagodGs. paViiOns, &c,
which are exhibits in Themselves showing the
wood products from the countries whence they
came. These pnTilions are of every design.
West Virginia's section being indeed novel and
artistically fashioned. and with . porticrG
(curtain) made of huge cars OF corn and
looking as gracefully as one of chenille. proves
that corn eau be made into other than John
ny cake" AtauOther side of this pavilion and
doing service for n window is huge realistic
spiders web made of blades of grass and con-
tanning big spidery looking spiders which
emphasize the fact that there are no flies on
West Virginia."
Jefferson county has number of exhibits in
this section. Capt. Baylor of your town being
an exhibitor of grain and seed.
In the mines hnilding West Virginia's sec
tiO0 is naiufPd black (unnTODriatP coal
know frightened with gold. and contains
specimens of coal. crude and refined petroleum
West Virginia is holding her own, and / Sm
sure others than those who install themselveI
in one of the comfortable rockers on the porch
OF her 100000 building think 20.
Among other Interesting things we saw, Is
the uI which was used by Hon. VIM. z. Glad
etoRe in telling trees ON his estate ut Hawar-
den; the famous Ada Rrhan statue of Montana
which contains $75. 600 of silver and rests on
plinth of gold valued at 1924 600: n gold
brick worth $3.50. 600; y map of Pennsylvania,
1924 feet made of pickles, fruits. vegetables
&c. an ll0-ycar-old bearing orange tree from
California. and n limitless list OF other things.
But just n few words about the midway
Plaisance." which is the sides of the big
Fair and embraces eighty acres. It is a
thOroughfare of ever changing scenes and
ever recurring events. One sees the cuee.s
Chinaman. the pasty japanese woman, the
hordes of Turks, Arabs. AlgcrianR. Europeans.
Esquimuux. Dahomcyans and people from uli
over the LcYant And ali. what an amazing
mixture Of reality and art. 1t is bcwildcring
strange rather than excellent. Such medley.
One hears on the midway" the droning bag
pipe, the squeacking fife, the discordant
pounding of drums aud scrap iron, the clash
ing of shields and swords in mimic battle.
the yells of the impoTtunatC street vendors, the
droning gutteral melody of Oriental music. in
fact enough to make one deaf. Understand,
though. one doesn't hear such n combination
at one time. The Midway" lie Il pide-sbow
and cUntins queer people from far away
cnuufripS whose chnTFP6 for yiaEinCT their
villages range in price from 10 to % cents.
Some OF these villages are not worth seeing
and some nre exceedingly disgusting-the DR-
honey village for instance, where the picRnin-
nice and their parents eat dirty looking rice
and meat from their fingers ont of tin pans,
aud live in low huts thu;ched with palm leaves.
1t is siekening sight. and one iorgets for an
instant that they are Gods people and deserve
our pity and efforts to civilize Them, though nm
attempt to do so seems rather risky.
The streets Of Cairo" are pronounced the
circus of the midway" III which the visitors
take part. Yuu pay 25 cts. aud enter Cuiro.
and the sights and sounds make you. like the
Southern congressman. eXclHim Where am
at" First. one secs queer looking Egyptian
seated Ou q camel, beating queer looking cym.
balls and shoutiug and singing at the top of his
voice. few steps further one secs cumeIs.
donkcys, street vendors screaming out the
merits of their wares. bare-footed camel
with temples, towers, gardens, aud booths
fantastic in appearance and q laughing.
screaming, shouting mass of people and
braying donkcys aud believing dromcdaries
make up the jargOu.
For so cents nnc can ride through "Cairo''
on camel. but the experience is more novel
than pleasant. The camel kneels. You get
on its back and 1t proceeds to rise, seemingly
In sections. aud its queer and various move
ments make you think that before all of its
anatomy is elevated and ii is finully ON its feet
thnt the situation will be reversed and Won
viii be on your back when it gets ON its feet.
Bravely ono holds on to the strap as the great
swaying body. led by IN Egyptian. shutIIes
along while its rider twisiE. bOwa bOhs re-
wolves and gyrates. grateful that American To-
comotion. though not rs elevated is more
comfortable.
For so cents one can be rOwed in Venitiau
gondola. by picturesque venitians. wearing
caps and sashcs, around Wooded Island. pnss.
ing the great buildings
We went ut night. The buildings and
grounds were lighted by electricity The
twin search. lights crossed aud recrossed
throwing their powerful light on the tnll build
ings; making them shine ont in splendor- The
MacAonlnes fountain was bathed in q glory of
ever changing light. the great basin WINS a
hood of fairy moonlight with the moving gon-
dolaS and gay Venetians bending to their ours.
made up beautiful picture aud entrsnced
the behOlder. A e
Mrs. Danske cambridge met with
a painful accident a few days ago.
Just as she had gotten into n car
rage to take drive the horse started
off and the lines became entangled
so that she could not stop him. The
carriage was Knocked against post
and Mrs. cambridge was thrown out.
sustaining painful injuries about her
face and head. Her nervous system