The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1900-07-05
PARIS LETTER.
From our Regular Correspondent.

Seine and facing directly the river, a
row of detached buildings each one of
which is national building and oc-
cupied as a sort of national headquart-
ers by the nation that built it. Over
each waves the nations flag and IN
each walks two or three soldiers in the
uniform of their country. These
buildings of foreign powers or as the
French say it 'Pavllens des Puis-
sances Etrangeres" are situated in the
following order: Italy, Turkey, United
States, Austria, Bosnia, Hungary,
Great Britain, Belgium, Norway, Ger
many. Spain, Monaco, Sweden, Greece
Servia, and Mexico. Behind these, as
it were on a back alley, are Denmark,
Portugal, Peru, Persia, Luxembourg,
Finland "a section of Russia) Bulgaria
and Roumanla. l have wondered why
the United States Pavilion was built.
1t appears to be an empty piece of
extravaganza having in it and without
it nothing that is characteristic or
home-like. 1t contains in one corner
post Office, but this is little used,
and affords no facilities that are not
found in the French P. o. The build
ing is quite eclipsed in size and in
taste of furnishings by some Of its
petty neighbors, as for example by
that little gambling hell of the Medit-
erranean, the Principally of Monaco.
Most of the buildings are crowded
with the works of art and other ex-
hibits peculiar to their country, and
the space rented to exhibitors will
doubtless much more than pay for the
building.
The United States buildidg has but
one central group on pedestal about
eight feet high. 1t is three lfe-size
Indian ponies of plaster in a terrible
tangle of legs, heads, necks, and tails.
! asked an attendant what it meant.
He said 1t represented horses STAN
peded and on the brink of precpice,
those behind pushing those in from;
and those in front trying to pull them
selves back. The explanation was
quite necessary to the motive OF the
artist and the three ponies. But why
should this Omaha sculptor with
models of good Nebraska plow horses
ever before his ewes strive to express
himself in something horrible and
theatrlc impressing the superficial
foreign observer, represented by nine
In ten of all who will see 1t, that the
typical American horse is a scraggy
Indian pony with chronic habit of
stampeding over precipices.
The exhibits that interested me
most IN all these buildings were those
Of Norway and of Spain. In the for
mer, the place of honor is given to a
bust of the explorer Nansen; very
large model of his ship, Fran, two
of the dogs that accompanied the ex-
pedition; the reindeerskin bag in which
he slept when SO near the north pole;
his dog sled, small boat and some OF
the prepared food left ovef from the
trip and still in good state of preser-
vatlon.
In this pavilion we see also life size
hgures in wax representing the people
OF the country in various costumes
and in various industries, stuffed seals,
walruses. and the preserved head of a
whale down whose capacious throat
Jonah with proper presentation might
have travelled.
Spain has remarkably fine Gobelins
worked with historic scenes entirely
covering the sides of the ample rooms
OF her pavilion; but the most interest
ing relic is the coat, or tunic of Boab
dll the last King OF the MoorS, with
two of his swords and two dirks. These
are shown IN glass case in the cen
tire of an otherwise empty room, ant
proclaim with a hautiness that Il
pathetic in view of recent history the
vanished greatness of country thai
once and forever saved Europe anC
Christendom, from Mohammedanism
Proud Spain! Poor Spainl The tunic
which is of crimson figured velvet i:
time worn, but after four hundred
years appears to hold together as wei
as Washlngton's clothes in our Ma
tional Museum. The swords are hnely
wrought, straight-bladed weapons witt
but little guard to their hits. ThC
scabbards are of metal, heavy, richl.
ornamented, and of fine workmanship
1t seems to be impossible with tn,
United States government to make al
appropriation without promoting
lunket. Let it be the funeral of ;
member of Congress or an Interna
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