Belding banner. (Belding, Mich.) 1889-1918, 1895-07-11

| " lmE1EM than the present
a YmYTpW exposition. Not two
NG5@R years have passed
N-YWk6ys since its close, and
1870 the elements and
man have COM
bined to create a ruin which in rapid
ity and breadth of contrast is really
unprecedented. Most of the great ruins
with which we are familiar have taken
ages to accomplish, and therefore we
have no accurate mental picture OF
what they were originally.
If we of this generation could have
seen ancient Egypt, we might appre-
ciate to the fullest extent the tumbled
masonry which to-day tells very in
complete story of od-time gradeur
But it is within reach of most of us to
take an object lesson or two in the
transit" business-a visit to what
used to be the Court of Honor, now in
all its desolation-and the thought of
what it was, ablaze with countless
lights and glorious with color, is
enough to stir the most phlegmatie.
Decaying wooden walls of big shall
low tanks, and piles of rubbish, are all
that is left OF the electric fountains,
and inexpressible heaps of plaster and
odds and ends have taken the place
OF MacMonnies' fountain. The elk and
other live stock of heroic mold which
looked out over the Grand Basin are
mostly there, and in various grades Of
dilapidation show the wear and tear
of couple of real hard winters. What
sorry condition they are all in! One
OF the elk has lost an antler, and a
curved bar of half-inch iron, which
formed the core of his horn, pokes hlm
In the eye.
The nymphs and goddesses, who fig
ured in the allegorical groups have now
degenerated into sadly dilapidated
lot, the wanton elements having played
havoc with their once graceful figures.
And il they and the bulls and horses
and the buffalo all got together and
tried to find sound member among
them, / don't believe they could do it,
The lady on the pedestal of the big
statue OF the Republic is holding her
own fairly we'll, but how lonely she
looks, and how lonely she is justified
in looking! She looms up high above
everything, and like the Sphynx, she
tells mighty little of what has gone on
around her feet. IL she could turn
around she could see tie place where
the magnificent peIistyie was-but
which is now mainly an ash heap. The
entrance to the Grand Basin is now
pile Of ordinary dirt.
! She now looks directly at an irregu-
lar heap of twisted iron and gray plas-
tic, which she might recognize, but |
which the visitor would have to tax
his memory heavily to connect with |
the Administration building. To her |
left hand are countless charred piles, |
burned almost to the ground. They |
indicate what was once the Agricul- |
tural building. A great stretch OF
ground to her right, covered with |
broken capitals, bent beams and black.
ened fragments, on the site of the
palace of manufactures and liberal arts,
show how wofully lacking in the pic
turesque a modern ruin can be when
it wants to, as compared with the eff
forts Of somewhat more ancient essays
in that direction.
OF the Machinery hall, the greater
portion of it's framework stands, re-
one for all the world of the
ribs of some mighty creature, whose
body is suggested by the
masses of debris all around. A few
car trucks standing lonely in the midst
of a great level surface. help to locate
the Transportation building. AS 1t was
built Of wood entirely, the fire didn't
leave much of It to cumber the earth
with unsightliness. Workmen are now
busy removing the Government build
ing.
The warship Illinois has a hole in
her side the size of couple of barn
doors, and the water swashes in and
out of her brick-and-timber walls, but
still she floats just as securely as Of
yore. The paint on her tunnels and her
plaster armor has blistered, and has
scaled like the bark on buttonball
tree. To-day, the chief end of the IL
linois is to furnish a good place for
he Juvenile Chicagoan to fish from on
/ Sunday.
II is a good, wholesome thing then
% turn from that desolation and walk
Up along the lake front. Workmen are
putting down new roads and sidewalks,
sea walls and beaches, and
when ones back is toward that partic-
liar section OF the park that was form
,rly the exposition, he can begin to
speculate on what the place will be :
Ike some day. The Geman building,
which was given by that government to
chicago authorities, is being painted :
md otherwise rejuvenated. Willows J