The Portland daily press., 1893-05-01

spena ner million to such good advantag,
tnat not one unworthy piece has been seer
within the gates.
AS Il the great Republic, the majesti,
Mac els fountain and number of col
uinns bearing Neptunes aloft were moi
enough. Tor this basin, the management,
IS now completing pair of electrical foun
uains Wnlch are to stand Immediately IL
'front.' Of the, Administration building
Aanklng on either side the great worA
OF MacMonnies. Looked at to-day thest
electrical fountains are mere circles of iroi
pipes and queer looking MOBILES, strengt
ened by many bolts and rods, but next
3 Monday evening we are assured that they
WILL De ready to produce one of the most
beautiful spectacles the eye ever witnessed
An electrical fountain, you must know, ID
species of hydraulic fireworks. Merely
to whet your appetite for what you are I'd
drink IN when you come to the fair let me
tell you briefly how these effects are pro-
duced
Each fountains 1856 feet in circurnfer
ence. Eighteen jets of water, each Jet two
inches in diameter, will shoot
up from the outer rim of the
fountain and meet at a point which is
$50 feet above the level Of the basin. With
in this circle is another of smaller Jets,
and within that third Then there are
other Jets OF varying sizes to be used in the
production OF special effects-for you must
remember that the whole apparatus is con.
trived SO that circuits are changed and
some OF the jets are playing while others
may be shut off, or all be operated to-
gether. Even in daylight these water.
effects will be very charming; but IL they
are charming by day what will they be at
night, when the changing colors Of thirty
great electric lights with parabolic reaec-
tors are thrown upon the waters as they
rise and fall? It Is said they can produce
almost any sort of illusion known to fire.
works by playing the changes upon these
streams, suiting the quantity and color Of
the light to the streams that are used at
the moment. For instance, we are prom.
ised hydraulic flowers, sheaves of wheat,
Temps Of gold showers of rubies, pearls
and amethysts; and II the half that has
been told OF the wonderful combinations
and beauties of the fountains be true I
fear Miss Republic will drop her liberty
pole and globe in sheer amazement when
the current is first turned on.
CHANGING around the horizon from this
spot at which President Cleve-
land is to touch the button
one perceives innumerable fagstaffs
rising from the roots of the palaces.
Said to myself to-day, on observing the
poles: Il think have caught these Chi
cago people mapping at last. Twin wager
they have been too busy to arrange for the
flags which they are to hy from. all these
staffs.n When mentioned the matter to
Director General Davis an hour later, he
smiled peculiarly under his gray beard
grayer now a great deal than it was three
years ago-and for answer simply said:
"Come with me-"
He led the way to q large room in cor
ner Of the gallery of Horticultural hall.
There were long tables at which
women and girls were sew
ing various colored stuff together, while
others were guiding pieces Of fabric
through q score or sewing machines. A
number of men. were cutting out from
patterns like tailors. "Here," said the
director general with another smile, 1--WE
have made all the flags, banners and drap-
cries for the Columbian exposition. The
work was begun last November and has
been going ON ever since. We have had as
many as 11o persons at work at one time
in this room, though the number now en-
ployed Is not more than seventy. Mr..
Millet, the director Of decorations, has
been in charge. He has had to obtain cor
rect designs for fcrty-six national flags,
that being the number Of countries exhib-
iting in the exposition, though some of
them of course are represented nominally.
We have used nearly a million yards Of
bunting, and have made acres and acres
Of draperies for sky-lights, their function
being to protect the eyes Of visitors
from the sharp glare of the sun on
bright days, while it is so arranged that ID
can be rolled away when the sun is OBJ.
secured by clouds. As for flags and banners,
we'll have display next Monday that will
astonish all beholders.o
And never again will I suspect these
Chicagoans Of forgetting any part or frag-
ment Of the multiple details Of their great
enterprise. ssYa
There never was an international exposi.
ton in which so much attention was paid
to details. The comfort of the public has
been provided for in q thousand ways, but
in none more strikingly than in the drink
ing water provision. Hundreds and hunl
dreds-the number is immaterial because
there is one every few rods-of free foun-
tains have been erected, where the water
of Lake Michigan, pure and cold, may be
had at all times.
AS for details it is appalling when
one stops to think of the number of things
that had to be attended to. The erection
Of city Of palaces in swamp and the
filing Of these palaces with the contribu-
tions of hundreds of thousands of firms
and individuals from all the nations of tho
earth was no light task to be accomplished
in two years and haif How these Chi.
cagoans have ever managed to do it in
spite Of their troubles their awkward
double-headed Organization imposed upon
them by congress, the constant demand
for money which the government was
rather chary in helping with, the struggle
against adverse weather in both summer
and winter, the chickering's with labor and
wages, the efforts made in certain quarters
to stir up prejudice against the fair on
sectional and political grounds--is nays.
terry. With sill these things added to the
infinite details Of design, construction, con.
tract, allotment Of 1spaces--the friction
and collision inevitable In SO vast work,
which no 6ne was trained for and where ell
were more or less tyros-C hicago's ac.
coYn I;Shr1enf will u,Jroyx, ctord or %bs