St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1893-10-21
OVER LAND AND SEA.
A STRIKING DISPLAY OF TRANS
PORTATION FACILITIES.

!
:, tation Building at the Columbian
Exposition - Ancient and Modern
. Methods Of Travel Contrasted.
Apollo's fiery horses snuffed the liqui(
| gold of morning when he drove hi
, | golden chariot. Venus had teams O
, sparrows, swans, peacocks, dolphins anC
! doves. Pegasus was but a winged horse
and had he gone as near the sun as Icaru
did, perhaps his wings would have melted
off. Thus only in Imagination did the
ancients see distance obliterated. The,
never dared to dream of the marvels the
transportation Building contains. Apol
los horses would be tame affairs compared
with the putting steel breasted monster
No. 999, of the New York Central, whose
record is mile in 30 seconds-a speed
equivalent to 1924 miles in an hour.
Think of Neptune's chariot beside one
Of the modern Atlantic Ereyhounds The
Transportation Building is not re-
markable Tor its architectural
beauty. Designed on basis of utility,
classic mould was not given considera-
ton in its shape. characterization came
to the rescue aud saved the building
from the reproach of being mere shed.
In truth, the ornamentation seems to have
been an afterthought. The golden door
is certainly magniticent-ive concentric
and receding arches ornamented with
has reliefs of modified acanthus leaves in
gold and silver. The story of the de-
velopment of the means of transporta-
ton is told in bas reliefs on the base of
these arches. These reliefs are certainly
very beautiful. Beginning at the left
with old age carried in rude palanquin
of the long, long ago, the story finishes
with the interior of modern dining car.
At frequent intervals along the front of
the Transportation Building allegorical
groups of statuary stand on pedestals
about feet high. Each group is dupli-
Gated, one being north of the Golden
Door, the other south. The building is
painted in a terra Gotta tint and between
the windows there is fresco. In each
instance this fresco is white and gold
angel in style suggestive of Egyptian
Art He holds straight ribbon in his
hands, the arms hanging full length at
his side. This ribbon bears the name of |
some noted man who has secured fame
in the world of travel At the north |
and south ends of the building are
statues of those whose inventions have
marked period in transportation. The
glory of the display within is certainly
undeniable. It appears to me, however,
that one point has been omitted. The
efforts made to secure aerial navigation
have no representation. Yet sinA the
days of Joseph Michael Montgolfier many
an ambitious inventor has turned his
mind to securing some means by which
he could speed through the air. But
transportation by land and by sea,
however, are laid before the visitor in
chronological order. Everything from
the crudest palanquin to Il modern palace
Car, from q Mexican burro to Columbia
cycle, from an aboriginal bark canoe to
models of the stateliest ocean steamers;
baby carriages, magnificent coaches,
beautiful sleighs, Chinese craft, by-darka
of the Aleutian Islands, Spanish Volante S
and thousands of other queer vehicles
and vessels, with names just as queer,
used in every land and on every water t
known to man. But let us study the /
progress in road making. A magnificent !
display which takes up the entire divi- /
sion of the annex is made by the Museum 1
Of Osnabruck There are e. separate S
parts to this exhibit. The first part is a $
relic of the early Christian era. It is a
part of the original plank way laid by v
Somitius as Roman military road over o
he fen Of Devenmoor, near Osnabruck. t
The road was ten and a half miles long h
The planks are about IL feet by inches, c.
nd overlap each other in the same fash 81
On as the clapboards on an ordinary cot
age are fixed to-day. A hole about Il
wo inches square is chiseled at about six o.
inches from each end of each plank. II
through each hole dog headed
take is driven. The stake is about al
hree feet long. Thus each board was OF
trongly fixed in position: For ages hi
hat old road was there. Kindly Nature W
acked it away in some six feet of moss tt
rom whence it was excavated in 1892. ii
rom Exhibit No. to Exhibit No. 2 H
here is lapse of 16 centuries. A wood fir
n tramway and Car in which not the in
nalest piece of iron has been used 81
institutes No. 2. The rails of the road Sc
re about IS inches apart, are fastened to as
lie grounds by means of pegs and seem A
, be the bodies Of small trees or branches sa
large trees. The wheels of the car
e large spools with concave surface so TO
lat they hold to the rail.
he car itself is rather small di
fair shaped like bin and about sti
lie size of barrel This kind of vehi- tn
e and road is still to be seen in parts mt
Hungary. No. 3 is the first approach
a modern iron road. 1t was con- co
ructed in 1916 by B. J. Curr. Each ira
il is but three feet long, the sleepers or
e rough stones about foot square th'
d iron nails are used at the joints 20
le rails are angle shaped. A wagon of I
avy iron wheels was drawn along this on
ad by means of animal power Sh
le first locomotive experiment was the
ade over this road in 1904 by the
chard Trevithick at Merthyr Tydvil,
w Aberdeen Junction. From this Ing
ere is a steady and rapid improvement ant
every connected with railroad build kal
:. These points are four: the rail,
. sleeper, the fastener and the joint.
the 81 displays no two of the roads
, exactly alike in all of the points.
History had been searched and wher-
er an idea of steam locomotion on land eve
Ind expression in words that idea has Br!
IN given material shape. Thus there IT.
about fifty engines or models of vii VII
yines displayed. The first of these VIII
RS as much resemblance to the loco ing
tive turned out Of the shops to-day as TO ood
chrysalis does to the hrtterf1v Hero UUU