The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1894-06-16

uOOl mOIli III tuc OOcIttIQdlH
rung" recalled me to earth-for l
had ridden with the maddest of this
mad company-was it that | saw
them returned to their accustomed
places to await their RELOCATION to
the land of dreams and shadows.
All beauty is feminine. 1t is,
therefore, a law unto itself. This
Wonder City, robed in creamiest Of
stuffs, with coronet of gold, is as
capricious and changeful as any
woman conscious of Der charms. She
is most brilliant in the sun bath of
the early morning, when the sheen
on the waters that lave her feet
throws into relief each grace ofform,
and regilds the crown upon her state
ly brow. She is dazzling now, and
it is in this revelation of sensuous
line and brilliance of complexion
that. the ardent newcomer falls most
readily victim to her charms.
Later the visitor sings the praises
of this enchantress in the ehiaro-os-
euro of grand illumination, when
her ravishing proportions are
glimpsed by flash of searchlight, or
visioned through the variegated
spray of Illuminated fountains, or
traced in the glow of countless bulb
lights that traverse, encircle, and
crown every height, fringe miles of
cornice, follow the lines of bridges
and eolonnades, encompass the great
basins as with zones of stars, while
numberless rockets bursting in many
colored splendor fill the upper air,
and the whole is reflected and re-
peated in the mirror of many waters.
However, no created thing is so
perfect that its charms are not en-
HANGED when seen through the veil
of illusion. And so it is that the
older lovers of this regnant beauty
come to prefer her twilight mood,
when all lines flow to gracious har
mony, and the element of mystery
centuries to poetic fancies. Now is
the time to paint into the picture
whatever of beauty your magma
tion may yield. Now the muse of
history comes most readily to your
aid, and while Ariel lends his wings
to visit lands of modern romance or
classic story, you in fancy recon
struct the worlds vanished splen
doris out of the visions that rise be-
fore you.
1t was at the. moment when the
grateful tones of the Angelus, chimed
from one of the towers that overlook
the court, brought every whirring
wheel to a standstill, and spread
over all the Fair side a spirit of
peace and benediction-that our lit
tie company of kindred dreamers
(you alone being absent-and how
we missed you'd entered gondola.
Seldom have | seen more glorious
sunset; first brilliant reds, then ex
quisitely intermingled blue and rose
tints with dash of green. Finally
a rare gold filled all the atmosphere.
Meanwhile, we were gliding noise
lessly over the waters of the island
studded lagoon. Suddenly a splen
dor of domes and colonnades burst
into view, and never shall we forget
the effect under the golden glory of
the dying day. You have seen Tur-
ner's Carthage in the London Ma
tional Gallery, and beside it the
superb architectonic Claude to chal-
lenge comparison. Now the column
ed splendor which Turner and
Claude with inspired imaginations
expressed on their glowing canvasses
was here more than realized. In
light rivaling that of these tone mas
ters for richness, depth and mellow
ness, terrace rose upon terrace, pal
ace succeeded palace, in almost end
lest vistas, and when the measured
stroke of our gondoliers brought US
to the angle whence there is an un-
INSTRUCTED view of the architectural
setting of both the great and little
basins, as well as the lagoon, the
vision reached it's climax, and from
one and all broke a cry of admira-
ton.
If l am to reproduce this picture
for you at all, it must be as an i'm
pressionist. On convass so vast
details are commonplace. There is
nobility of mien, grace of line
and harmony of form, and withal
such subtle regard for values about
the whole, that one loses all feeling
of separateness of parts, making it
nearly impossible to discrete the
work of one master from another
without recourse to formal discrim
nation, and to do this in the &C
cepted nomenclature is to vulgarize
the composition. What, call yonder
inspirations, unrivaled amongst the
palaces of kings, Agricultural Hall
l refuse to do it. And it's elsa Uis
is the Manufactures Building, is it?
Perish the thought! Verify, these
Jovian cloud temples are the abodes
of god and goddesses, parts of vast
Olympian Loan Collection, and such
may be described only in Homeric
rhapsody.
Slowly, as the golden twilight
melted into the mystic sheen of
moonlight, our gondola turned once
more into the lagoon, and, with the
north star for guidance, passed into
the realm of enchanted isles, whose
groves and dells twinkled with my
Rad fire flies. Here fairies abide,
and elves and fawns. From this
gondola, and anon from another, or
some swiftly gliding launch, snatch
es of song came to us over the wa
tiers, accompanied by tinkling of
guitar or mandolin, for it does not
take long to catch the spirit of Ven
ice in this setting. Leaving behind
the stately and classic, the middle
ages, and then the modern world
came into view. Here one discerned
a bit of medieval Germany. Beyond
another discovered suggestions of
Constantinople and Cairo. A third
caught glimpse of Stockholm, the
Venice of the North, which others
revealed a Moorish scene, or intro
duced us to bits of Toxic and Pekin.
Passing thus picture after picture,
each in its appropriate setting, we
came to where the lagoon widens
from a narrow strait into broad
cxpanse of ripping waters, and, be-
fore us, in a food Of moonlight,
stood the matchless Art Temple.
There are those who regret that this