Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1901-10-02
OCTOBER FLOWERS.

One of Its Most Attractive Features.
| Artistic Scenes which the Lover of
Beauty should Not Fail TO See.
! The Pan-American is one of the
greatest flower shows that ever was,
but there are so many other things in
which il is great that the rarity and
beauty of its floral features are per-
= haps apt To be overlooked. If people
/ would take more time To allow the ar
| tistic and beautiful features of the EX-
position TO impress their senses and
permeate their Utmost being instead OF
racing from one part of the grounds to
another. trying to see every exhibit
and every show on the Midway, they
would go home feeling greater benefit
from their stay i'm the Rainbow City.
The Pan-American is full of gardens
which tempt the visitor 10 rest awhile
and drink in the beauties of nature. 1t
may seem surprising that in the month
of October there are flowers worth
looking at but such is the fact. The
rains of the past few weeks have kept
the landscape as fresh and beautiful as
i'm May and June, and as one flower
goes out of the scene another takes its
place. On opening day the hyacinths
filled the air with their dainty fra
GRANGE. in June tulips lifted their proud
heads, later in the month OF brides and
sweet girl graduates came roses, with
their rich perfume, ard as the summer
passed the other flowers in their sea-
son sprang up as if by magic TO take
the place of those which had done their
blossoming and served their turn in the
entertainment of the visitors TO the
City of Light. And now one sees the
tall Gamma. the gay geranium and such
old fashioned IlOwers as grandmother's
garden had-the phloX, the pink. the
beGonia. the retunia and other posies
which are no less beautiful because
they do not happen TO be novel.
In entering the grounds by the Elm
wood gate visitors pass two tall and
curious looking trees, which perhaps
few in their anxiety TO reach the heart
of the Exposition stop to notice. If
they realized that they We're century
plants just budding. thing which, as
all know, century plants only do once
in long. long time, they would doubt
less stop and look with open mouths
and wondering gaze. II is Il sight
which one cannot see very often any
where else. One of these century plants
is nearly forty feet in height.
The Rose Gardens around the Wom-
ans building. having FOR their back
ground the outlines of the Spanish
renaissance buildings about the main
court and the Electric Tower looming
up at its north end. with the Mirror
Lakes and the Triumphal Bridge aud
the groups OF statuary Astounding. form
n xH-h rffS or 10
peal TO even the least aesthetic visitor
The cannas are very effective decora-
tive plants, with their tall leaves in
green and red and brown. y rich Gamma
one sees here is named Governor
Roosevelt. 1t would seem appropriate
now to change its name to President
Roosevelt.
on the opposite side of the Tri-
umphal Bridge is the Wooded Island.
and here one roams amid old fashioned
flowers. growing as though they had
sprung up there all by themselves with
out any assistance from the landscape
gardener and his corps CT assistants.
But of course that is not the case. The
studied carelessness of the gardening
of this island is onlyeone of the pretty
deceits employed to produce the I'M
preston that it is all the work of Moth
er Nature herself
Have you seen the fairylke effects
i'm the garden about the Fountain of
Abundance al night? 1t is one of the
new things. This small garden is very
beautiful 10y day. and at night electric
lights of different colors have been hid
den among the flowers and planks. so
that one sees the surface of the ground
dotted with these little spots of light,
bringing out the beauty of the flowers.
and all forming a scene impossible TO
describe, but very charming indeed to
witness. 1t is quite pretty surprise
even TO old Pan-American visitors.
Did you ever notice in crossing the
Court of Lilies, south of the Machinery
building, heavy vapor arising from
the basin in the center of that court?
it has so much the appear
ance of smoke that people think some
thing must he afire I'm the garden, but
1t is only the steam or vapor created |
by the heating of the water in that ba-
sin for the benefit of the tropical lilies .
which grow therein. These lilies, which
are known as the Victoria Regia. have
enormous leaves. some of them three
feet i'm diameter.
Other gardens where there are flow 4
FRS in bloom during this month of Oc-
tober are those in front OF the United :
States Government building and the
group, where the gay ge-
raniums and sweet petunias contrast
their eolors with the green flags grow
ing in the basin and with the white
statuary disposed along their slopes.
There was floral fete at the EXPOSE !
lion during the first week of October,
md this in its way. OF course. was an
affair OF much beauty and magnifi-
cence; but. as matter of fact. there
have been floral fetes at the Pan-Amer-
can since opening day.