The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1900-01-21

front and rear, and the platforms" ex-
tend around the entire circuit. something
like an endless chain. When In opera
tion both platforms will be In motion all
along the line. A passenger must board
them while In motion. for they will never
stop except when the grounds are clos
cd. The passenger will first step from the
stationary floor of station to narrow
platform moving at a speed OF about
two and half miles an hour. The move
ment will be so slow that this feat may
be accomplished without danger II lit
tie care be taken. At the side OF this
gliding walk will be a wider platform"
running at speed of about five miles
an hour. After the passenger Is In mo-
ton on the narrow platform he viii
step to the faster platform" 1t is be-
lieved this may also be done by ladies'
and children without danger or difficulty.
Electric power will be used. The round
trip will be a matter OF two miles or more.
which will be covered by the fast plat
form" in half hour or less. Running
on the inside Of the triangle formed by
the exposition grounds. the platform will
pass the rear Of the buildings and through
most OF the circuit there will be little
to be seen. Along the inside Of the for
eign pavilions that line the south bank
of the Seine there will be glimpses of the
river and the buildings beyond.
= !.
The French are lining many facades
with great panels filed with human fig
ures In relief, these professions illustrate
ing various historic and artistic concep-
lions. These will be supplemented by or
nate minarets and floral decorations In
staff" The artistic bent will also run
to big and beautiful arches at the en-
frances to the grounds and the buildings.
The Alexander III. bridge. with its flank
ing columns and sculptured figures stands
fz-
grand sop to the vanity and the gratitude
of the car of Russia. This bridge and
the two fine buildings in stone will remain
after the exposition. 1t Is only fair to
admit that in these three permanent struc-
lures and in some of the decorations of
the exposition the French will surpass the
American genius displayed at Chicago.
Some Americans. moved by the pride of
home and the spirit of utitarlanism. tip
tilt their noses and refer to those artistic
trimmings as 'gingerbready," but, after
all. beauty has commercial value at In
ternat!onal expeditions.
The White city on the shores OF Lake
Michigan had triumphs of which Paris cam
not rob 1t, and the loyal American has
abundant opportunity for pride and glori-
fication without begrudging the French
man drop OF joy. There is always the
material fact that the Paris fair will be
only about half as large as that of Chi
cago. but the American inclined to vent
his patriotism In boastfu comparisons will
have even better reason than the mere
grandiose. The Columbian memorial had
glories tht Paris can neither eclipse nor
dim. The palaces of 1900 will have no
such noble settings as the jewels of jack
son park in 1898. Whatever art the French
may have in landscape gardening. there
will be little display of it on the grounds
of. next years international exposition
universelle." CWhy ''international,' since
1t is ''universelle?'D There will be no
winding lagoons spanned by artistic
bridges. There will be no refreshing lakes
with EMPOWERED isles and fitting craft
There will be no natural groves with shad-
ed paths on Mother Earth The buildings
will not stand out with four sides to be
bathed In sunshine and cooled by zephyrs
from land and water There will be no
such scenes of natural beauty as at Chi
cago, where there were hundred vistas
in which the loneliness of water, foliage
and heritage combined to enchant the soul
Everything at Paris will be artificial and
cramped, and the only water will be that
of the unlovely Seine, cribbed in rigid walls
of stone suggestive of suicides and with
a sluggish brown current tainted with the
stains of many MISUNDERSTANDING Ben
Finger, In Chicago Times-Herald.