The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1893-04-28
Survey Of the Mighty Field of
Effort at Chicago.
Not Spot in the Vast Enclosure that is Not
Replete with Wonders--Progress Of the
Work on the Grounds--Some of the No
ticeable Features Already in Place.

know that our own navy and war depart
ments are building guns at Washington
and at Watervliet, near Troy, which have
about the same effective force with one
third the weight and cost. The American
goes In for "getting there" whether it Is
In guns or engines, and il he can accom-
plish his purpose with moderate dimen-
sions SO much the better.
As one wanders about the grounds dur
ing these days of final preparations he is
impressed by the great numbertof statues
and figures Of art that have not been put In
place. Near the Administration building
are several score of female figures, mostly
incomplete, and very queer they look with
the open bodies and dismembered limbs
The wind blows through them and mud
has been spattsred over their shapely
forms. Down near the pier,' where the
beautiful peristyle lifts its columns, there
Is a veritable wilderness of statues and
parts and pieces Of statues lying about in
endless confusion. One has to pick his
way among them, stepping now upon the
outstretched hand of a divinity, and again
stubbing the toe against the face
OF some classical hero lying fiat
In the mud. How all these things
and parts Of things are to be picked up,
assorted, put together and erected in their
proper places before the opening day, is
more than can tell; but somehow we have
confidence that it will be done. They have
such a way here Of doing miracles that one
Is not appalled, at anything, no matter how
great the difficulty.
Most OF these statues and figures are OF
composition, a species of plaster OF Paris
stuck upon wooden frames, and therefore
they are not built for all time, as true
work OF art should be. But IL Is encour-
aging TO know that they are beautiful,
that they are works Of genius, and that the
same deft hands and aspiring brains that
produced them can, when the occasion
arises, produce their counterparts in endur-
ing marble or bronze. 1t has been said by
some critic that there is something char
acteristically American about this use Of
tawdry and fimsy materials In art designs.
But as We enter the great Manufactures
building we hear shutting Of the feet Of
many horses and men, cry Of "get out Of
the way" and there comes rolling by a
giant warrior from far-away Germany, bis
head and body alone filing the big wagon.
His legs will follow later on. He, when
assembled in all his glory, is to be one Of
the decorations of the German exhibit, oc-
cupying proud place at the entrance to
the most pretentious foreign display on
the grounds. Yet even this warrior from
Fatherland Is not the bronze which he ap
pears to be, but Of composition.
There is a pretty rivalry between the
Germans and the French here. The former
have the most money to spend, in all about
s750,00O, but the latter are endeavoring to
make up in skill and beauty what they
IL. in
hibits face each other, at the center of the
hall, and 1t is comical to see with what
frantic haste the Frenchmen work, occa-
sionally slipping out for a peep at the eff
forts Of their rivals, sure to be followed
by shrugs OF the shoulders and many ex-
clamations in French. The Germans plod
stolidly along, wasting not minute, ap-
parently taking no interest in the affairs of
their neighbors, and accomplishing so
much that already one may see they are to
have the most extensive and the most in