Omaha daily bee., 1898-08-28
OUR EXPOSITION SUMMED Up
Octave Thanet's Impressions Of Art and
Industry Mirrored There.
SURPRISING BEAUTY ELECTRICAL EXHIBIT
Bound 10 Have n Lasting Eject In the
west-symmetry of Architecture
some Old Exhibits-How to
"DO" the ExpOsitiOn.

away GOWN In little hollow on the
blum tract stands red building with
forest OF slender smokestacks. An unob-
trusive Dlacard announces that here dwells
and tolls the captive genius that works the
greatest magic Of the century; but the
placard merely says. Power House. Wis.,
itors Are 1nvited!"
Yet one may spend wonderful half hour
here amid the dynamos. The electrical dis
play OF the Transmississippi Exposition is
far beyond any ever given in this country.
probably In any country. The electrical
appliances in the Electricity building are
only part Of the wonder. The lighting
OF the grounds shows what electricity can
do to turn night into day. 1t Is more brill
liant than the most brilliant boulevard OF
Paris; but there is nothing Of the harsh
dazzle nor the inky shadows Of the ordinary
electric lighting. At the Worlds fair there
were no half tones, the exquisite graduation
Of sunlight, the softened olives and violets
Of moonlight were lost; one was bathed in
light and suddenly one stepped into dark
ness. Here, the 10000 incandescent lights
preserve the transparency of the shadows,
producing a thousand exquisite effects.
To try to "do' the exposition in a day
is wearying mockery. One could easily
spend day in the Government, or the Lib
and Mining buildings. Doing" in this
sense, usually means tramp or ride in a
chair or jinrcksha around the lagoon, across
the bridge to the plaza, down past the
painted grotesqueries Of the Midway to the
State buildings, a little lettering in the
wide lawns amid the splendid parterres and
the riot Of color in plant and flower which
surrounds the beautiful Horticulture build
ing, statliest palace Of them all, then a dip
into the Midway on the other side, a re-
turn to the lagoon and an excursion into
oAe or two buildings with eyes and brain
equally dazed and satiated. The real way
to have either pleasure or profit in an ex-
position Is to know what one wishes to
see-and 60 to see It! The clamoring at
fractions on either side are not to be re-
garded. A leisurely morning spent in one
building, a leisurely ride for an afternoon.
resting on the settees which are placed at
convenient distances lat least in theory, in
practice found them too much like the
policemen, always in evidence when not
needed and apparently in another world
when sorely wantedD. then dinner on the
roof garden near the plaza, whence floats
the sounds Of music and an evening amid
the Incompatible loveiness Of the western
summer night and the lagoon-this makes
a day that does not greatly weary either
| mind or body, but leaves it's inenaoeable
| delight in the memory.
OF all the state buildings the log cabin
| Of Minnesota is the most original and typi-
cal. 1t is built of hewn logs. very tastefully
| and the receiving room has a great stone
chimney wherein almost q forest might
blaze. a floor Of ak planed logs and tables,
settees and easy chairs framed OF three
limbs in an ingenious fashion, which sur
passes the rustic furniture Of parks. The
building is lighted with acetylene gas.
| observed several farmers inquirng concern
| ing this gas on a ready tongued young man
who stood in a little room with the cylin.
ders, otherwise. I supposes 1.-The plant" Ii
acetylene the coming light for the country
| Will the carbide saturated water freeze Of
will 1t defy northern winter. Is there
| the safety from explosion claimed?
To all these questions the young mar
| makes plausible answers, and there Is 6
white radiance winking at you from th'
ceiling It winks at cents a night pei
burner, or some such sum.
The Art Collection.
The Art exhibit is considered the weai
point Of the exposition. The building Nsel
is one Of the most beautiful and impressive
1t is really two buildings corrected by al
open court. The order Of architecture 1.
Corinthian, but Corinthian of the renais
sance not Of the classic type. Broad anc
high flights of steps lift the Solumned por
ticos above the water and the two grea
domes are nobly proportioned. Above th'
porticos, with their richly sculptured en-
tablatures, are winged figures. The centra
court has fountain and the statues no
where have fairer background thai
against the velvet lawn and the innuruer
able vines that wreathe trees and colon ado
Within are some 600 pictures, a very fail
collection Of the French schools, a rather in.
adequate exhibit Of American art. There
are few statues. 1t Is not bad show
on the contrary, 1t is a very good collection
There are Carrots and Rousseaus and
Daubignys and l think and Ingres. and one
or two or more Jules Bretons and Detailles
and Monets and others Of the later great
French artists: there is a very good Car
penter-it is, in fact, most interesting. THAI
the pictures. as a rule, are not the masters
more important examples makes for moth.
ing: they all have distinction and charm
1t is merely that comparing the collection
not with the superb riches Of the Colum.
bian exposition, which would be unfair
but with those Of permanent nature In
any of our great cities, the dearth Of plar
apparent and the unbalanced character o
the collection. its lack Of proportion and
desultory character may blind one to its
real merit The Omaha papers have very
quietly done a good turn to the art gal.
leries and to the people Of the west They
have published steadily articles describing
the different paintings and other objects
Of art. Notably there have appeared 9
series OF letters or essays in The Omaha
Bee signed Ethel Evans, which have de.
scribed artists and pictures with admirable
lucidity and picturesqueness, withal. In En-
glish, not in the jargon Of the studio. ANY
honest farmer, any clerk or typewriter, any
business man or woman whether she had
the smattering of an art club education Of
the least tincture Of learning bestowed or
diligent readers OF the art periodicals or mol
could understand those letters. And after
those letters and the kindred articles In
other PAPERS. the art gallery cannot but be
a stimulant and inspiration to thousands
Do we. l wonder quite apDrehend how faI
our huge expositions, at Philadelphia al