The Savannah morning news., 1902-01-12
TO SEAT $4,000 PEOPLE.
CHICAGO's BIG PLANS FOR THE
OLYMPIAN GAMES.

Immense stadium to BE Erected
Covering Eleven Acres--Arena
Alone Will He 500 Feet Long by
$50 Feet wide-wiII Have Roof of
Waterproof Curtains which Can
BE Rolled Back i'm Fair Weather.
The Olympian Games of 1904 Ex-
pected to Exceed Anything of the
Kind Known to Ancient or Mod
ern History.
Chicago. Jan. ia stadium which
will seat $4,000 people and which in
point of size, elegance and excellence
of arrangement will probably excel any
other building ever erected for a SINH
lar purpose, is outlined in a set of
preliminary plans just placed in the
hands of Mr.. Harry J.. Furber, Jr.,
president of the Olympian Games AS
ISOLATION. The structure, it is asserted,
will house the Olympian Games to be
held in Chicago in 1904. The building
will cover approximately eleven acres,
the arena alone being 800 feet long and
100 feet wide. The stadium at Athens,
where the Olympian games were held
in 1896, was but $40 feet long and 100
feet wide. The stadium at Athens
seated between $4,000 and $4,000 per-
sons. The plans for the Chicago stad-
tum provide for more than $4,000 seats
in case they may be necessary on the
days when there will be special at
fractions at the games. A striking
novelty in the way of a roof is pro-
Vided for. The area over the seats
will be rooted in the usual way, but
the arena will be protected by a roof
or left without one with almost the
ease with which an umbrella can be
opened and closed. The roof of the
arena will consist of series of water
proof curtains, arranged on rollers OPP
Grated by electric motors. When the
games are in progress the curtains will
be rolled back. In the event of a storm
all that will be necessary to put on the
roof Will be Ito press a button" So,
in good weather, while the audience
will be protected from the suns rays,
the contests will really take place in
the open air; and with the aid of the
adjustable roof, postponements will be
unnecessary "on account of the wealth
err" An unusual feature is an ar
rangement for dividing the stadium
into three or more buildings for special
occasions when the whole space will
not be required. At either end, or in
the center, a hall for any sort of gath
ering cans be made in three or four
days at nominal expense. Another
feature of construction is that there
will not be a pillar or post in the whole
interior to shut out the view from any
n0int The first caafe five
feet above the arena and the topmost
row so feet above.
The Olympian games of 1904, it is
predicted, will be greater than any ever
held before at any period in history.
Athletics have advanced with the arts
and sciences, and where the ancient
Greeks had but few tests of strength
and endurance, there are now scores.
The ancient sports will be reproduced
in Chicago, but the modern games of
all nations will doubtless attract great
er attention. There will be the old
Greek foot races and wrestling and
the Egyptian chariot racing, but also
modern fencing, boxing, wild cowboy
racing-everything in fact except medi-
aeval jousting.
The athletic end of the games will
be under the direction of William Hale
Thompson and A. G. Spalding, The
formers duties will be to round up ev-
cry sort of sport on the globe, and Mr..
Spalding is to select the contests which
are to make up the programme for the
month. Mr.. Thompson already has men
at work in Europe and Asia as we'll
as in America looking for the best
athletic material available.
President Furber feels assured that
the programme at Chicago will be bet
ter than that at Athens in 1896, or at
Paris in 1900, and with view of add
ing features not seen at Athens or
Paris, it has been decided to keep the
stadium open for month instead of
fifteen days as was at first planned.