The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1904-05-24

- We're duly impressed
The biggest bird cage in the world
is prominent object of interest. 1t
must be three hundred feet long, a
third as wide. and seventy-hve feet
high and is under the auspices Of the
Smithsonian institution.
There is a stadium for athletic sports
and seats sufficient to care for an
audience of p, 900 people.
The Ferris wheel rears its network
of spokes and. felloes high above the
adjacent buildings. but viii not be
ready for the visitors who wish to take
turn around its hub for some time
to come.
Nebraska has no building; she spent
her money on exhibits and other build
ings, but right next to the Kansas
building is a low wooden structure, a
restaurant, called 1.-The Nebraska"
The public generally seems to think
that it is the Fair home of our neigh
Dor on the north, but as a building it
is joke. The blue grass state has
what she calls her New Kentucky
Home, creditable building. and the
Texas structure is large like the state
and shaped like a lone star, the en-
blem OF that commonwealth.
To Go Down the Pike" in St.
Louis is not to drive over the macad-
amlzed roadWays of eastern cOmmuni-
ties. but to stroll along the mile of
with attrac tiOns, heretofore known as
the Midways of former Expositions. On
the Pike" are thirty odd side-shows,
many Of them expensive contributions
TO entertainment Hundreds of thou
sands of dollars have been spent here
in the interest of fun and froIic and
the pOcketboOks of the promoters.
About three-fourths of the displays
here are ready and in full blast. There
are many familiar friends to the Ex-
position visitor. Sucn are The Streets
of Cairo, Hagenback's Animals, the
Moorish Palace, which is an exhibition
of wax figures in groups, the Temple
of Mirth, an aggregation of convex
and concave mirrors and a dark and
crooked hallway, known as the foolish
house,the Irish Village. the Esquimeaux,
Moving Pictures Old Plantation; these
are all more or less familiar.
One of the most satisfying of the
Pike attractions is the naval exhibition
at one end. There is nothing of the
fake about it. There is a pond of wa
ter several acres in eXpanse, six feet in
depth, on which float small vessels, the
exact cOunterparts in miniature of bat
tleships, cruisers, submarine boats, tor
pedO boats, and the White Squadron
of the United States navy Real smoke
from the miniature guns. There are
various maneuvers of peace and war.
Ships are decorated and again are
blown up, mines explode, throwing the
water fifty feet high, forts are silenced,
powder magazines blow up, vessels are
beached, the whole giving an hours en-
tertainment for twenty-five cents. A
grandstand here seats about two thou
sand people.
The Galveston Flood is fair, but not
up to the former. exhibitions of the
JohnstOwn disaster. The Magic Whirl
Pool, the shoot the chutes' and the
Cliff Dwellers' exhibitions are not yet
open. Hagenback's is as good as ever.
In the Creation are some very clever
of the creation earth as
eXpounded in the book of Genesis The
hereafter is a representation of heaven
and hadese as conceived by the adroitful
designer. The slTyrolean Alps is well
worth one IS While and rnQneX-s IL is the
most expensive OF the Pike attractions
and it is said that there is Likelihood
that it will be made permanent 1t is
on the extreme edge of the grounds
The st. Louis Alps are wonderfully
like the real mountains They loom
up for a couple of hundred feet in the
air; the peaks visible from almost any
portion of the exposition grounds
The real trees and rocks and houses
melt into the pictures of the same,
and the vegetation, glaciers and the
snow as represented deceive the eye
of the tourist accustomed to the Alps
themselves. There are concert rooms
and halls and cafes of the true Swiss
type An electric railway takes the
visitor through tunnels of rock, the
car stopping at frequent points and
presenting scenes which seem to be
of real lakes, mountains and valleys
An elevator large enough for hun
bred people lifts one to the top of
what is known as the slippery slide.
Nearly everyone takes in" this feature.
There are steps for those who pre-
fer to walk, but the fun is in sliding
down. We visited the Alps in the day
time and again at night. In the even
ing there are electric fountains, music
by Swiss singers. One of the good
restaurants is at this attraction. As
a part of this exhibit there is one hall
which will seat about as many people
as our Auditorium. There are dozens
of other large and small banqueting
halls and dining places fashioned and
decorated like the halls and castles
along the Rhine. Standing at the
base of these papier mache and paint
ed Alps, hearing the voices of the ma
tive singers and gazing at the odd
buildings the writer could easily
imagine that he was again at the foot
of the real Alps.
A five dollar bill would not last a
Worlds Fair visitor from one end of
the Pike to the other if he visited all
but some are not worth while. The
range from ten cents to
twenty-five cents, and there are fire.
quently fees of equal amounts to att
fractions still further within.
OF the three buildings devoted to
paintings and sculpture, only two are
open. but in these two is a days en-
tertainment for the lover or student of
art. The main structure devoted to
Fine Arts is of stone; one of the few
buildings, and is not yet
quite ready for the public
The Exposition at night is a thing
of beauty; particularly at the foot OF
what is known as the Grand Basin
On either side the great buildings are
outlined with electric globes. The
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