The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1893-06-07
A CITY OF MODELS.
Buildings, Farms and Towns
Reproduced in Miniature.
A DELIGHT TO FAIR VISITORS


!, Great West Shown in the Washington
| State Buiiding-Modeis of the City OF
! San Francisco and st. Gotilard Railway
| aud Tann-l.
WORLDS FAIR, June s. [Specia,.l -
! This has been called the Model City. and
models To my mind there is nothing in
the lair more interesting than the models
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 be
found here. The gem of them al, think,
is TIE model of d farm SHOWN ina he Wash
ington state building It is graphic rep
resentation Of farming as it is done in the
great west. A space probably sixty feet
square is covered by it. and yen may be
sure great crowds of delighted visitors are
always found here. The farm is more per-
feet than & 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 ha vssting the ripe crops The
soil is real soil, the grain real grain, the
fences are real fences, the machines actual
machines, but all on a miniature scale.
A perfect little self binder that you could
hold IL your two hands is cutting the
wheat. A boy follows to stack up the
bundles into shocks.
In the adjoining field a western header
te at work, cutting off the tops OF the lux
a.. Il
uct to steam threshing machine in opera
ton at the edge of the field. Not far away
one man is blowing with riding plow,
and near him another is following the
furrow behind a walking plow of the old
style. All the details of this farm scene
are admirably executed Along the coun-
try road drives farmer in his wagon, his
sturdy horses kicking up the dust and his
own eyes, farmer-like, critically inspecting
the fields of his neighbor. Where the
fences sub-divide the farm into fields there
are fringes Of heavy grass and rank weeds,
with a few flowers showing their bright
hues in the mass just as the fence-corners
are on every farm In Christendom. A boy
with pony is carrying cold water from
the spring to refresh the workers IN tle
harvest field There is even snake-a
green, harmless, pretty thing-in the
grass. One imagines he can hear the click
click Of the moving machine in the clover,
Or the hum of the steam thresher at the
edge of the oats field Surely the water
boy is whistling or singing.
Of course the farm house, the barn and
the outbuildings are there, too They are
like life. The dog in the dooryard is wag
ging his bushy tail and smiling with his
I. II. -.
fair. The mich cow stands in the shade
of a blooming peach tree chewing her cud.
Water runs from the spigot of the pump
that is operated by miniature windmill.
The stream that is fed by the springs and
runs through the barnyard IS stream of
real water This is model which brings
to four visitors out of five visions of the
old farm on which their youthful days
were passed-visions of toll and happiness.
Of communion with nature and lessons of
industry, economy and honor well learned.
1t is miniature worth seeing, for it not
only pleases the eye and informs the mind
but stirs the imagination. Everywhere in
this world take off my hat TO the farmer
To the genius who designed and con-
structe3 this most perfect of models /
offer my congratulations.
lutTo are 50 many Interesting
IN this exposition l cannot stop to mention
them all, but two in the California state
building deserve special mention. One
represents the city of San Francisco. 1t is
a splendid work, and must have cost no
end of labor. In an amphitheater much
resembling the pit in which a railway
turn-table 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 wharfs, the
principal thoroughfares, all the great pub
lie, and private buildings, the Chinese
quarter, Mob Hill, the steamships, rail
ways and cable lines. It is not often one
has the opportunity to study a city-street |
for street and building for building-with- /
out moving foot The other is a model |
of Alameda county, showing the city of |
across the bay from San Fran /
cisco, the suburbs, the farms, hills, val |
leys, country seats, school houses, /
churches, vineyards and little electric saiI- /
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 4
the rule. Railway tracks, locomotives and 4
cars are, of course, best shown by means /
Of the things themselves. But even the /
genius of Chicago could not devise q .
method by which the steamships Of the I
world could be brought here in bulk, and /
hence there was nothing TO do but to show
them in miniature. In former letter /
spoke of the variety and beauty of these
models, some OF which cost thousands OK
dollars to build. There is a model here of
the St. Gothard railway and tunnel, with
a panorama of the Alps for background
There is also a model of the Nicaragua
canal-the canal that is 10 be If AInericaa
energy AID manifest destiny count for
iii the realm Of prophecy-and it
IS always surrounded by large throngs Of
visitors. It is built Of paper mache, and is
itself 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. y blood red
streak shows where the canal Is TO enter
the lake on its way from ocean 70 ocean.
{ or the most part it follows the bed Of
some river, but here and there great cut
.ings must be made through the rocks,
Ind in ten minutes the model gives every
observer better idea Of the magnitude of
.he work than be could obtain By days
'tuGf OF printer maps S4sA NSsosl ttl3cAIs
The Nicaragua Canal company keeps al
smploye here 10 describe the model and
he engineering difficulties that are 10 be
as well a. to enlarge upon
lac advantages 20 this country which con
,trzctica q the canal wvuIa h-Ing.
A model which ATTRACTS aauch attention
s thai Of he town cs Pullman, twelve
niles south Of Chicago. Every factory,
esidence and ether building IN thls model