Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1893-07-14

municipal triumphs must needs have a
certain alloy of proyincialisin. A So
ciety which has grown faster than
its institutions necessarily produces
I. cranks. The arrival of the worlds
q fair in the center of the continent
has had some such effect as the heat OF
the half-cooled earth in geological
times upon the animals which walked
in the high grass and ate the aspara-
I gus tops of the succulent bushes and
trees. The megatheriun of the exhi-
bition appears to have been our John
Boyd Thatcher. II diInly occurs to the
mind that this is the man who buys AL
2 the relics, pinch of Columbus ashes.
q piece of the manuscript which Co
u. lumbus used for shaving paper, etc.
letc The world has held many exhib-
tions and juries had given out the
awards of merit to the eminent exhib-
itors, but Mr.. Thatcher saw an individ-
ual and shining opportunity Instead
! of having juries, he was going TO be
rthe whole faculty. He attacked the
piano men as they came in. with his
Thatche-ian system. after the manner
of the occupants in that place where
Orpheus pursued his wife. Every body
was charmed except Mr., Thatcher
Orpheus shouli not cone in there with
his pipe. unless the pipe or flute went
in with the Chicago pianos and con-
sented to have a fourth-class medal
The eastern piano men wanted more
equity and less dictatorship. Finally
the foreign exhibitors constituted
themselves committee Of award. with
iuries of their own. After surviving
until about the ist of June, Mr.
4 Thatcher was sat down upon. He
Illustrates the provincial period in
the formation ~ worlds fairs.
Nothing survives him of a provin-
cial sort but the various synods and
dcrvish meetings, which are deter
! mined to have a last ruinous victory
70 for their sabbath e over the gatsp0sts of
! The exhibition at Chicago is 10 teach
e the people of the United States how
disunited and vagrant their forms of
must needs be with four or
! five kinds Of government conteDding
!, with each other. We have the United
! Stat ties. which wonld be the most de-
cent element in the whole affair but
for congress. which Is an experimental
school for provincialisms All that is
executive about the United States gov
ernment has come ont here respondent.
Its exhibition was the first to be ready,
ard was ready on the first day. In
managing the hospitalities of the con-
tipent. the government has been
prompt. exact and thoughtful. The
foreign fleets which came here had
nothing to complain of. and joined in
the celebration of Columbus with eclat
The descendant of Columbus came
here with his family, the princess
Of Spain. placed in charge of an
American naval officer, rode over
the frictions which might have
been expected between a purely re-
Publican and oil mouarchial cohn-
tries. Ert the exhibition itself has
had 4 thousand fassy masters, while in
reality tbs genius of this exhibition
has been from the first in the hands Of
The director general. Mr.. Davis, and
his assistant. Mr., BUrnham- by the
lst of .IuGc it is seen that these are the
men who can agree without intruding
their isrns into the organization. The
principal music man of the exhibition
has had TO contend with the advertis-
ing spirit. which looked for local ad-
vanta-es over national considerate-
ness. Nevertheless the press. on the
whole. in Chicago has been clear and
definite in its sympathies and rulingA
and the many troubles which sectari-
ans and ere is have strewn in the
path of the @ hibition have been met
without passion and cooled of with
the hose and the shower bath
Of course. an exhibition held in the
interior of the continent. thousand
miles from the scaboard. has had double
the trouble which would have attended
an exhibition on the coast The trans
shipping of the infinite articles of eS-
hibition has caused a delay of a full
month, but it is hardly longer than the
delay incidental to these great exhibi-
tions in every part of the world The
young city ON Lake Michigan has been
schoolel. So to speak. and its leading
men nave been learning all the time,
and will come out of this enterprise
with stronger heads and with execu-
tive hands. while the people will learn
the inevitable lesson that to do great
things their faith must be intrusted to
few. and among those few must be
one or two who will be the masters of
the occasion. Men of one idea appear
to great disadvantage in worlds fair
of this sort. who expect to survive the
assizc of all nations by their perseve--
ance in some non-essentiaL
The city of Chicago has shown. on
the whole. strong contributing
power to sustain an exhibition OF this
kind. and up to the present time the
great suburban multitude has not put
in an appearance here. The farmers.
who are the dominant class in the
northwest, are putting in their crops.
and when these are gathered. in mid
Pilgrimage to the fair. Meantime. Chi
cago has sent .ier fifty thousand visi-
tors a day with regularity to the show.
That which has been against the ex-
hibition more than anything else mp TO
the present time has been the highly
marked prices of board and lodging in
the city Unlike an old town. with set
tied habits. Chicago has been building
her Lodging places coincident with the
fair. and has indnlged In extrzvagant
idc2s Of riches and pfofitA
There viii probably be weed
ing out of these fierce hopeA
Many investments will go into liq-
uidation- When we consider that
hardly 500 head is the property OF
our American society. the outlay Of
500 to visit the fair is beyond the
means of an enormous number OF our
| people. The railroad rates from the