Staunton spectator and vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1896-1916, 1902-02-07
CHARLESTON EXPOSITION.
THE CITY ITSELF 4 PLACE OF HISTORIC
INTEREST.

nj bill l llDtLF a rhAuh vi HlDlUhI
INTEREST.
Exposition 8 SuccesS-SpleDdid Build
ings and Costly Exhibits-Grounds ar
Handsomest of any Exposition-EIec
trio Display makes Gorgeous Spectacle
The Beautiful Sunken Gardens, Etc
Charleston, 8 c., Feb. This is s
beautiful city, "this Charleston by tn
sea-" as the Stauntonians who wer'
here at the great Confederate reunion
two years ago will bear me witness
Nowhere else is there such seaside
walk as ''the battery" with it's fine
smooth drive, the grim black moutheo
cannon adding to the picturesque, the
| fine monuments and the handsome
residences of the wealthy Southerners
| with their three storied balconies look
| ing out on the forts, and the islands
and the ocean. There is but one Fort
Sumter, associated as it is with de
fense SO gallant that history may be
searched in vain for parallel. Then
there are Fort Moultrie and Castle,
Pickney, Battery Jasper, Morris Is
land and Sullivan's Island, all with
history that still lives and will live.
and many of those brave 600 COnfed-
crate officers still live too, who placed
under the fire of their own batteries,
on Morris Island, by retaliatOry pol
icy of Gen. Grant, laid there patiently
for months as their own shells Shrek
ed and burst above them. having sent
word to their comrades to fire away
and not think of them, and then too
the more recently improved Isle of
Palms, with it's magnificent beach and
grand ocean view, pavilion and big
Ferris Wheel
Only today l took a sail with con-
genial party around the harbor and
took all this in, then on out to old
ocean, through the famous jetties
where the U. s. Government has spent
millions of dollars in bringing thou
sands upon thousands of tons of stone
and dropping them in two converging
lines several miles long reaching out to
the sea till they pile away up above
the surface of the water, and chan
mel % feet has been washed out
making an easy entrance for the larg-
est ships to magnificent harbor.
ITS OWN PECULIARITIES.
The city has features of its own
which attract the visitor. Most of the
residences along the streets have their
gables to the street and the entrance
in the end, the long porticos looking
out upon side instead of a front
yard and all facing to the South or
Southwest. This, it is said, is to catch
the south breeze from the sea and the
people spend much of their time on
these piazzas. They are sitting out
tonight or with their doors wide open
the breeze, while you people
Of the Valley are with closed doors
enjoying your fires inside. The long
and ornamental iron fences too inclos-
ing the houses and the handsome en-
frances and large grounds in the midst
of the city are other characteristics
Of the place, and the earthquake re-
minders are peculiarly distinctive.
Long irregular cracks filled up and
newly painted over may be seen here
and there, and the circular OF s shaped
ends of iron braces which have been
run through weakened walls and
twisted monuments and tomb stones
still tell something of the dreadful
night in 1885, when part of the city
was destroyed, many killed and hum
dreds driven to the country for safety.
But in courtesy to strangers and hos
pitality to their guests. the people of
this good old city yield to none. not
even to my own State, Virginia, so
long famous for its hospitality.
THE EXPOSITION.
The South Carolina Interstates and
West Indian Exposition, now in full
blast here, is all that its name implies.
Very interesting exhibits from Cuba,
Porto Rico, the South American Re.
publics and the Philippines, are here
with the natives of those counties and
lew possessions of the United States.
South Carolina has number of
splendid exhibits from her counties
arranged in very handsome State
building. Besides these there is very
interesting State exhibit of fruit, corn
and other products of Missouri, large
State exhibit of minerals and every
variety of grain from North Carolina,
superior to any State represented, and
a magnificent object lesson of the pro-
ducts, resources and enterprise of our
neighboring commonwealth, which
ought to stimulate Virginia to make
a SOW worthy of herself at the St..
Louis Exposition of 1908.
OTHER STATES.
Illinois with it's fine exhibit of grains
and grasses and handsome landscape
pictures of farms, farm buildings and
domestic animals worked in grains of
of corn, grass seeds, bits of shuck,
corn stalks, &c, taken for oil paintings
at little distance, are admirable.
Pennsylvania has some costly ex
hibits besides very large and beauti-
full building, the admiration of every
one, not quite complete. Maryland is
here in a handsome and cosy home of
her own, showing portraits of distln-
guished sons, valuable statistics and
useful historical Information, while
her big reception room, furnished
with settees and easy chairs and a