Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1897-05-18


what has been done and then invited
he whole nation TO participate IN the
BENEFITS.
Triumph OF Nashville.
No word of hoastfulness, no syllable
Of Standardization was heard. There
has been erected here the greatest, the
Droadest. the most beautiful and the
most complete exposition ever built
without government aid. II is big
enough to represent the whole nation,
from the Atlantic TO the Pacific, from
Canada to the gulf-more than 200
acres Of park land, with all the con-
comitants OF shady walks, groves,
lakes and flowers enough to deck the
garden Of fairy queen. Its scope lit
orally and figuratively, is broader than
any state. any section, over-reachinS
even national boundaries and bringing
together the products Of all civilized
peoples The arts and sciences, edu-
cation and commerce. history and pro-
ductive possibility, the skill OF handi-
craft which transmutes the coarse ma
teral of mother earth into the dainti-
and the genius which preserves the
dreams of the poet and artist for the
delight of humber beings--all are rep
resented within the walls OF these
white palaces. In its parts and in its
entirety it has all the completeness of
the master workman's finished prod
net, all the beauty of the artists con-
ception.
From end to end it is the work of
Nashville-of Nashville, the modest
capital of a modest state, city which
is outclassed by score of American
cities in numerical strength and in
lustrial Importance, a city where less
than 100 900 people live. Nashville men
conceived the idea. Nashville men gave
the brains which has given that idea
form in landscape and architecture.
Nashville dollars have paid the bills
10 the last cent The last spadeful of
earth has been turned. the last brick
laid. the last nail driven and paid for
and the result is offered TO the people
of the whole country with the simple
invitation. Come and see" The men
of Nashville who have done all this
look for their reward only in the per-
sonal consciousness OF work well done
and in the admiration of their fellows
for the fabric they have reared. As
one looks at this exposition with the
minds eye, taking in the associations
which cluster around the landmarks,
old and new, aboriginal and transplant
ed from other lands and other ages.
one wonders at the audacity of the or
iginal conception and maFyels that so
much of this gray old worlds life story
can be told on so small page
In the beginning, this exposition was
planned to celebrate the one hundredth
birthday of the volunteer state" Pr
oneers of the same blood as those who
laid the foundations of this nation and
cemented the stones with their blood,
carved state out Of the wilderness
embracing the rivers of "the big bend"
June I, 1886, the star OF Tennessee
was admitted to constellation Of states,
and these pioneers took upon them
selves all the responsibilities of the
new distinction. For n hundred years
those responsibilities have been borne
how well the history of the whole
country tells. The name volunteer
state was given and confirmed in re-
peated baptisms of fire.
Tennessee riAemen, led by Jackson
Of Tennessee, rolled back the tide of
British red coats at New Orleans. In
The Florida everglades Tennessee men
quenched the bloodthirsty Seminole's
appetite with draughts from his own