The weekly tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1891-1894, 1893-06-09
A CITY OF MODELS.
Buildings, Farms and Towns
Reproduced in Miniature.
A DELIGHT TO FAIR VISITORS.

San Francisco and st. Gothard Railwa,
and Tunnel.
WORLDS FAIR, June g. Especial. =
This has been called the Model City, anl
such, indeed, it is. 1t is also a city O
models. To my mind there is nothing il
the fair more interesting than the model.
of great buildings, of famous engineering
works, of farms and cities which are dis
played in various parts of the grounds
Hundreds of these miniatures are to BIZ
found here. The gem of them all, / think
is the model of a farm shown in the Wash.
ington state building. 1t is a graphic rep
resentation of farming as it is done in the
great west. A space probably sixty feet
square is covered by it, and you may be
sure great crowds of delighted visitors are
always found here. The farm is more per.
feet than a picture. There are a dozen
fields, the grain and the grass growing in
them. In the pastures the cattle and colts
are feeding, in the fields men and ma
chinery are harvesting the ripe crops. The
soil is real soil, the grain real grain, the
fences are real fences, the machines actual
hih' iihVS u d oh a immature az
A perfect little self-binder that you could
hold in your two hands is cutting the
wheat. A boy follows to stack up the
bundles into shocks.
In the adjoining field a western header
is at work, cutting off the tops of the lux
uriant oats. Wagons carry the rich prod
uct to n steam threshing machine in opera
ton at the edge of the field. Not far away
one man is blowing with a riding pillow,
and near him another is following the
furrow behind IL walking pillow of the old
style. All the details of this farm scene
are admirably executed. Along the coun-
try road drives Il farmer in his wagon, his
sturdy horses kicking up the dust and his
W eyes, farmer-like, critically inspecting
the fields of his neighbOr. Where the
fences sub-diyide the farm into fields there
are fringe of heavy grass and rank weeds,
with Il few flowers showing their bright
hucs in the mass. just as the fcnce-corncrs
are ON every farm in Christendom. \ boy
with a pony is carrying cold waite. FROM
the spring to refresh The workers H. the
harvest field. There is even Il snHhp-a
green, Harmless, pretty thing-iu the
grass. One iuIaGincs he can hear the click
click Of the moving machine in the clover,
or the hum of the steam threshcr at he
cd%e "f the oats field. surely The water
boy j. Whi~tiing or singing.
Of course the farm house, The barH and
the ~Outbuildings are there too. tb,y are
ike life. The dog IN the NooryarG : ,vag-
EiIg his bushy Tail and ,milirH with his
red mouth at the visitors to disc H'iId's
fair. The milch COW stands il g., .tid>
Of i Blooming peach tree chew ing l,..Jd.
No,cr RIM, from tn" spigoJ OF III. pump
tiat il operated hy a miniature wi1duiil.
thc stream thH6 j. fvfl by tn" spriar# and
runs through the b%arnNard j. Il stream Of
real water. This is model which brings
TO four visitors ont Of five visions Of Tie
oil! ilr'a on which thcir youthfpl days
Upr, pre~gd-yi.ioL.s of Toll and hNpnin,..,
Of communion with nature and lessons Of
Industry, economy and hUnorwell learned.
i j. iniajnture worth seeing, for it art
only ylcases the eye and informs the I.!ind
but atIrS the imagination. Eyoryw here in
this wurlG | take OF my hat It The farmer.
To rhc genius who designed and con-
structrd this most perfect e models |
Offer my congratulations.
There ar" 50 many interesting models
IN this exposition ] cannot stop Jomention
them all, but two in the California state
building deserve special mention. One
represents the city Of san Francisco. Il is
a splendid work, and must have cost DO
end of labor. In an amphitheater much
resembling the pit in which IA railway
is operated the visitor beholdS
in miniature the whole city Of San Fran
cisco, excepting the suburbs. There are
the waters OF the bay, the wharis, the
principal th~oroughfares, all the great pub
lt. md ,,i,nt. ln;lli,., .1- II.-..
quarter, Mob Hill, the steamships, rail
ways and cable lines. 1t is not often one
has the opportunity TO study Il city-street
for street and building orbuilding-with-
out moving a foot. The OF Icr is II model
Of Alameda county, showing the city of
Oakland, across the bay from san Fran
cisco, the suburbs, the farms, hills, val
lcys, country seats, school houses,
churches, vineyards and livtle electric rail
ways penetrating every part Of the beauti-
full region.
Almost every building in the exposition
has its models, and of course the trans
portation department is no exception to
the rule. Railway tracks, locomotives and
cars are, of course, best shown by means
of the things themselves. But even the
genius OF Chicago could not devise a
method by which the steamships of the
world could be brought here in bulk, and
hence there was nothing to do but to show
them in miniature. In a former letter |
spoke of the variety and beauty of these
models, some of which cost thousands of
dollars to build. There is a model here of
the St. Gothard railway and tunnel, with
a panorama of the Alps for a background.
There is also a model Of the Nicaragua
canal-the canal that is to be if American
energy and manifest destiny count for
anything in the realm Of prophecy-and it
is always surrounded by large throngs Of
visitors. 1t is built of paper mache, and is
itself a work of art. On the one side the
Atlantic, on the other the Pacific. Be-
tween them the Land, in the center the
waters Of Lake Nicaragua. A blood red
streak shows where the canal is t. enter
the lake on its way from ocean to ocean.
For the most part it follows the bed Of
some river, but here and there great cut
tings must be made through the rocks,
and in ten minutes the model gives every
a better idea Of the magnitude Of
the work than he could obtain by a days
study Of printed maps and descriptions.
The Nicaragua Canal company keeps an
employe here to describe the model and
the engineering difficulties that are to be
s~urmounted, as well IA to enlarge upon
tho Il yuptan. u ar, thia .I, ~ rt ,uht,h nm