The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-10-20
THE WoMAN'S BUILDING.
n i CONCEDED TO BE THE GEM OF
THE EXPOSITION.

Remarkably Fine stained Glass
wtndows-A Description of the Diff
f.rent ROOms-Most of Them Are OF
Rare Beauty and Have superb Col
Iections-The kindergarten school
in the Basement-A Wonderful
81 1000, 900 Process for Using Gold
on China.
Atlanta. Oct. 1s.-With its beautiful ar
,5ifscture and varied collection of rare
and useful articles. the womans building
IS the gem of the exposition. From base
-rsnt to dome. it is the work of woman.
IL was designed by woman architect.
Miss Elsie Mercur of PittsbIrg, and erect
"a at a cost of $4,000. aside from the gov
eminent building. the most expensive
structure on the grounds. While the me-
,.1aulcai labor on the house was done by
men. on the interior, the fresco and relief
. decoration was done by women's hands
the very artistic hands of Miss Shelton and
Miss Temple, who very properly share the
triumph of the building with Miss Mercur
and the ladies' of the board.
A detailed description of the building it.
self is unnecessary. The reading public
is already well acquainted with it. The
inside of the building is, however. as yet
an unopened volume TO the thousands who
have not had an opportunity of visiting it,
but who, nevertheless, feel an enthusiastic
interest in the work, and either may or
may not find ii possible to make a per-
sonal inspection of it.
The lauies of the space committee of
the WOmans department had a great deal
OF trouble in finding accommodations for
an the eXhi bits and departments that
were projected, and in the end had TO
build an annex, which itself is very con-
siderable structure. They finally succeed
ed however, in giving everything and ev-
erybOdy place, and the result is more
satisfactory all around than even the
most cheerful had hoped for in the trou-
blesOme times OF preparation. In hXin5
the departments the Baltimore, New YORK
city Connecticut and Louisiana rooms and
the rooms of the Daughters of the Amer
lean Revolution were located on the hrst
floor, together with the department or
decorative art. The second floor was as
signed to the assembly hall, where the
women hold their congresses and other
gatherings, the press headquarters, the
boards offices, the colonial tea room ana
the Virginia, Pennsylvania, Tennessees
Cincinnati and Columbus, Georgia, and
Lucy Cobb rooms, with departments of
Russian industries and silk culture.
The decoration of the assembly hail
was placed in the hands of the ladies'
of Charleston, and through the tireless
efforts of the beautiful and accomplished
Mrs. Andrew 5imonds, II has been male
a veritable bower of beauty. The walls
are covered with the portraits of the
lord mayors, the governors of the state
South Cardinals earliest days. Between
two of the windows, which are draped
texture, japanese creations of art, is a
piece of Goblin tapestry one of the
prize pieces of the Paris exposition. All
the windows OF the room are hung with
these rich japanese curtains, valued at
q thousand dollars a window. To add 10
the effectiveness of this window decora-
ton, one of the windows in stained glass
is a representation of Longfellow's Min
nehaha." 1t was donated by the ladies
Of Minnesota. The furniture of the room
is one of its most interesting features.
There is a little spinet that brings back
the colonial days and in one corner, the
table that Lafayette dined off during his
last visit to this country and an old piece
of furniture, hardly recognizable now as
Modern refrigerator, but Yet which aid
valiant service in the ante-bellum days
for cooling. the wine and keeping the
butter hard. Other quantity interesting
articles brought up by the ladies OF
Charleston for this room are an exquis-
itely carved old couch and some antique
lamps and vases.
Both the ceiling and the frieze were dec
GRATED by Charleston ladies', the ceiling
by Miss Walker and the freize by Miss
Wragg. The work is exquistely done and
attracts much attention.
Charlestonians viii surely feel proud of
their representation as well as their gra-
cious representative, Mrs. Simonds who
has taken up her residence in Atlanta I'M
til the close of the exposition, and is in
daily attendance upon the Charleston room
to receive the visitors. In addition to their
own room the Charleston ladies have also
decorated the walls of the room of the
board of lady managers with miniatures
and art needleWork.
Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love,
besides sending the priceless liberty bell
to the Pennsylvania state building, is also
well represented in the woman's building.
The collection of water colors from the
Quaker City is especially attractive, but
there is a case of China i'm old blue that
the women delight to linger over. The
Philadelphia school of industrial art is
q Ien rpT1 on cd n Wi a
ton of the fine work in relief effects
1t is not over enthusiastic to say that the
Lucy Cobb room is what a woman would
call "a perfect dream of loneliness" 1t is
all in white and gold, with white and
gold piano that looks as if it had been
made for real fairy fingers. The furnish
ing is done with rare taste and effect, and
is a delight to all visitors, especially to
Georgians. Among the art works in the
room is a part of the famous George 1.
Seney collection presented to the college.
There is one of Elizabeth Gardner's best
works, with portraits of General and Mrs.
7. R. r. Cobb and Lucy Cobb, their
daughter, for whom the famous institute
was named. The Lucy Cobb girls also
have some of their work on exhibition
anonymously.
The Tennessee room is filled with fine
portraits of some of the famous Tennessee
beauties of the present day. There is also
a rare collection Of art needlework and
china painting. The setting of the room is
IN green and gold, and is verey effective.
Next door to Tennessee is Columbus, Ga.
an oriental room. The work was de-
signed and executed under the direction
OF Mrs. Osborne, one of the states &C
knowledged society leaders and beauties.
The walls of the room are covered with
japanese paper, and there is an oriental
corner that fairly sets the women deliri-
Gus, with its rich crimson, gold and blue
pillows and sunptuous cushions. Heavy
Turkish stuffs are draped overhead and
the sunlight that comes through the win
dows is mellowed into a golden cloud by
the rich orange shades, while several
oriental lamps lend their soft rays to COM
plete the picture.
The Cincinnati room furnishes a study
worth a whole days time. Every piece
q furniture is of the most elaborate hand
carved design, most of it done by the noted
Flttman family of artists and wood cary
ers while the brie-a-brac is from the IA
nous lockwood potteries. One of the
vases in this collection, a small thing but
SIX inches high, has been sold for 500.
Another piece that has attracted a good
deal of comment is a punch bowl repre-
Senung the feast of Bacchus painted by
MISS Strange, who also has in the art sec
ton a copy of Corrugios famous Italian
Boy" The central piece of the room is
i une statue by AnnaValentine, Hero Wait
The ladies of tho Niroinfa roo,,a sbovy