Omaha daily bee., 1902-09-21

tenant and master Of ornamentation, Gu.
Renee, spends the whole of each year in
c0ntriving means Of using other incand S.
cents, and he succeeds so well that for
the twenty floats to be used this year be-
has ordered $500 lamps. These he wi,
secrete so cleverly that not many of them
will be visible, but all Of them will Doc.
effective in bringing out the marvel.8s
beauty of his colossal figures or in givins
colCr effect to his grJttos and fountain.
Their candle power will vary from l6 to t.
The greatest number of lamps ever used
on a float was 500, but that was when Mr.
RENEE was experimenting, ana the result VS.
not wholly a success. The lamps mad
such heat that although it was a co.l
night, Mr.. Renzes brOther-in-law, who was
on the float in costume, nearly succumbrd
to sunstroke. Since then the number has
been reduced, but there are never less
than $50 CT the little globes distributed
about any float.
Seventy-fve per cent of the lamps %h
in this work are colorvd. and the colorins
is done at the den under Mr.. Renze's super
vision. The globes are fastened on d
board, 100 at a time, and a can of eXsicca'
tive preparation thrust up around each one,
then a can OF the cOloring fluid, either
green for the verdancc of Quivera's field-,
yellow for the gold of its hills, red for
the blood of its lords, or purple as signih-
cant of its royalty. One man can color
800 globes in a day if nothing interrupts.
1t was in 1896 that the electrical worker
introduced, as an absolute novelty, am
electrical float, and the following year
electricity was used on all of them.
Omaha pioneered in this, as no chy
had previously attempted general illumina-
tion of its floats by electricity. New Orleans
had been struggling along in partial dark
ness with gas or oil torches. For the
first few years there was much trouble win
the floats, as it was difficult to keep the
circuit complete. Last year Mr.. Rem
remedied this by having constructed, at d
cost of $4,000, twenty special trucks
equipped with Hanged wheels, on which
rest iron shoes connected with the trolley
wires. The peculiar construction OF the
wheel allows it to ride either on the pave
ment or the rails, and the heavy springs OF
the truck and of the trolley pole assuI
the proper connection above, making IN
wagon as well grounded as a street car.
The lighting of the Ak-Sar-Ben d'i
when it becomes the kings palace for Ut.
coronation of the queen and the grand o''
is another great work. The ball room
arched dome is studded with $40 of the
little globes, twinkling as stars in l'.
armament. One hundred and forty NOR
in c%olors, furnish the border. Five hui
dred are distributed about the gallerle
200 are distributed about the throne, some
in red to match the upholstering, and some
in green for the foliage; $50 are used abo T
the fountain in the center Of the roo..
Each of two hanging baskets suspend j
twenty feet above the floor is equip
with $50; 300 more are for the convenien e
Of Milady and her lord in their rob- :
rooms. And in addition to this total d.
2,43O incandescents fifteen are lights are
distributed about the building to add a
further luster. The electric light compall
furnishes the current for the arcs and n
: 200 Of the inCandescents. The street r j.
e way company furnishes the current for DE-
, rest. Neither makes any charge foT D.
r lighting at the den nor Goes the ST. FL.
railway company charge for the Cu'r.n.
e required for the floats.
e When all the lights of an Omaha earn. .
% night are on the glow in the heaven %
. plainly visible at points twenty-five M
5 from the city. 1t is the most elaboI.
t illumination ever attempted by any Am
/, lean city and William E. Curtis, the n.
5 tier and correspondent who had retuI' .
P from the queens jubilee in London on.
= short time before visiting Omaha "
President Mckinley in 1898, wrote thai
a Gate City's s]plendor made the En- .
p ciiy's lighting seem insignificant,