The times., 1898-07-17
oMAHA'S WONDERS.
Octave ThaDet on the Effect of the
TransmississIpf Exposition.


TransmississIpf Exposition.
Il call it beautiful" said the man in
front of me. In the street cars.
81 call ii wonderful - said his neighbor
with the resources at your command
you have actually done more than they
did at the Worlds Fair"
The first speaker We marked at
glance as a Western farmer. well to do
evidently and of good general informa-
toni heard him talk afterwards real
representative Of his class. The other
man was an Eastern business man. Each
spoke from his own point of view. and
both were right. The Transmississippi
ExpositioHis, beautiful. II has the haunt
ing. deepening charm OF line and col
or which every visitor to the Columbian
Exposition felt OF course it shows the
Columbian influence and frankly admits
the fact The great buildings grouped
about the lagoon in the center have the
same opUlence of sculpture and the
same wonder of color, which is called
called white and yet really has every ten
der and delicate tint OF violet and gray
and yellow and faiutest far-away
thought of red in its delicious shadows
The exquisite sky line against the mar
vel of clouds gives the same poignant
pleasure that was the first and last i'm
preston of SO many visitors at the
Worlds Fair. -
There is the Midway. 700, faring and
blaring, throbbing with violet color and
noise. and somehow attracting every one,
just as it did five years ago.
One has, wandering among the build
ings. the strangest sensation of being
back" Nevertheless in a thousand de-
tails il is different; sacrilegious as 1t may
seem to some devout lovers of the first
exposition, in some respects there are
improvements: for instance. the colon
nades which connect the buildings, a
most pleasing graceful and grateful fea-
ture for the Nebraska sun is warm.
There is no lake at Omaha, but to COM
pensate there are hills everywhere the
lovely rolling hills in all their sump-
tuous early Summer hues. Trees have
been planted along all the roadways.
Beside the towering walls they seem
| toy-viIlage trees; but they give shade.
The landscape gardening impresses one
at once: 1t IS so wisely unobtrusive and
| yet so ingenious in its details, so harmo-
NOUS in its broad effects. The walks
| are In gravel and brick and the color
| scheme of the brown and red is very
| rich. The roller chairs of the Columbian
Exposition are in evidence rolled in gem
| eral by colOred boys who wear white uni
| forms.
| I asked a chair boy if he had many
| customers.
| only when Eastern people come
| said he. these Western women they
walks fifty miles a day and don't know
| it,
If he tilted his other customers in the
| dizzy and perilous fashion ne used with
US, II is small wonder that they should
prefer to walk.
| a much pleasanter form of conveyance
| rs the jinricksha. They are droll little
| buggies in the shafts OF which men pull
| iI.sIead of horses, and they are so high
| that one has an admirable view
| But a rule it is pleasanter to walk
| through the shady colonnades. The dis
! tances are not great for walking. and
| the gravel in the end is less fatiguing
| than asphalt. Asphalt has specious en-
| ticement about it at first, like the wine
! cup; but later (after a days waIking) it
| biteth like the serpent and stinge;h like
| the adder.
| Beautiful, certainly, the exposition is,
| and wonderful as well. The inception
| of it was during the dark days of the
panic of '93. after the worst drought
| that ever afflicted Nebraska. 1t was
| builded amid nnumerable obstacles. and
| when the struggle seemed successful a.
| last and the board of management drew
| a long breath of relief. since everything
| promised well, the Spanish war threat
ened complete disappointment The mil
| itary parades which were to be such an
| attractive display. had to be abandoned
| the Indian exhibit was pushed months
| behind and far worse than all, the pub
| lie interest was absorbed by this new,
| eager, fierce claimant
| Yet in spite of everything. the expo
| sition is a success all down the line. 1t
| is not only beautiful and of extraordinary
interest; it is actually paying expenses.
The idea of the exposition arose before
| the Columbian Exposition. Long before
| the White City arose by the lake, the
| Omaha Bee was publishing occasional
articles advocating midcontinent expo,
| sttion, an exposition by the great food
| producing States west of the Mississippi
| After the Worlds Fair there was expo
sition in the air.
In 1894 the Transmississippi Congress
| convened. Mr.. Richardson. chairman oi
the Nebraska delegation, when the ques
| ton of what city should be selected
arose. suddenly thought of Omaha, tele
| graphed home for instructions and au-
| thority. Then there was the usual up
hill dragging of artillery to make enthu
| sasm.
The work which Rosewater of the Bee
Wattles. the president of the board, ans
Mr. Richardson, who was sent out ovel
the country to work up sentiment" die
| during the next two years. cannot b'
computed. But, somehow. it was done.
The full history is too long to be writ
ten What it was may be inferred from
President Wattles' remark, when asked