Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1905-09-14

ihe SlouuuS are cnarmlngly lalC
out and oh, the roses-Americar
Beauties four feet high and hedges OF
La France roses bordering the paths
for block, until the eye fairly aches
trying to take in all their beauty; hell
otrope beds whose perfume scent the
air for a hundred feet, truly flowers
and foliage and shrubbery of the trop
les 1t is this maze Of floral beauty
that is the chief enchantment of the
exposition.
You will meet cynics who say
ct don't compare with the St. Louis
exposition but comparisons are obi
GUS anyway, and who expected that it
would!
Portland can boast of only 100000
people within the radius of 500 miles,
while even the exposition at Omaha,
drew from 100000 people within it's
800 mile radius The attendance at
Portland as given me by Mr.. Merricl
the head Of the Press Bureau has
reached 100000 people up to date,
which is marvellous considering the
distance mos. of these people had to
come.
Compact and Picturesque.
1t is not alone the beauty of the
site and its surroundings, but the COM
pactness and picturesqueness of the
TAR itself that appeals to the visitor.
We covered the grounds fairly we'll in
enc day. going through many of the
principal buildings. One sees at a
glance that the purpose of this expo
sition is to exploit this great Pacific
Northwest with view to attracting
settlers in which it must be an unqual-
lfied success. And that just reminds
me of an unique placard l saw in one
of the county exhibits in the agricult-
ural building. 1t read: Come Tomor-
row Today" which was puzzling me
until l noticed that the name of the
county was Morrow.
Every state in this new country is
represented by building aud COM
prehensive display while many coun-
ties in Oregon and not few in the ad-
joining states have individual dis
plays. These must prove boon for
the prospective settler
The Buildings.
A striking feature of the exposition
site is the natural lake at the foot of
the hill Of som hing over 200 acres,
in the center of which is a peninsula
of sixty acres where the United States
governments five magnificent build
jngs are located. The principal exhib-
it palaces, the Forestry, Oriental, For
eign Exhibits, Agriculture and Varied
Industries occupy the elevated plateau
their short ends facing the water feat
ure, Guilds Lake. The Auditorium,
the Machinery, Electricity and Trans
portation building and the Mines and
Metallurgy building occupy court
east of the main group. The Art
building is over in one corner and
here must stop to say that we found
the masterpieces, Rubens' "Holy Fam
ily," and two of Millias' "The Man
With the Hoe" and the "Shepherdess"
all of course, in the Loan exhibit.
Magnificent View.
The foothills of the Cascade range of
mountains reach down to the western
edge of the grounds From Lake
View Terrace at the head of the
Grand Stairway the panorama across
the lake itself, the palaces on Govern
ment Peninsula grouped picturesquely
the willamette river in the near dis
lance and half a hundred miles away,
four snow capped peaks, Mt. Hood
Mt. Adams, Mt. ST. Helens and Mt
Rainier, is one to remember The
popular promenade of the grounds is
called the Lake Shore Esplanade and
is built like bridge on piles over the
water, intersecting the Bridge of Ma
tons.
Forestry Building.
1t is the Forestry building that is
Oregon's own pride for it was design
ed to display the forest wealth of this
great country. The building is an ar
tistic triumph of rustic architecture.
It is in reality an immense log house,
6fty-two of the giants of the forest,
each fifty-four feet in height, forming
he columns that uphold the structure
These trees are Douglas frs and most
If them were cut in Columbia county,
)regOn-a revelation to those of us
Who believe California had all of the
zig trees. In this building the ex- /,
ibits Of Forestry, Fisheries and Game
ire intensely interesting.
Illinois Day. {
1t was our good fortune to get there {
IN Illinois Day and as Iowa has no f
at the exposition l had to be t
content for the time being, to being an I
llinoisan. The Illinois building is the {
I'D Lincoln homestead brought here
or the occasion and it looks like a
ut OF ancient history set down among $
he modern structures that surround 9
t. :
Unique Display.
| enjoyed greatly the California I
building. 1t has so many unique dis t
days; there is big bear built entire c
OF prunes, an elephant made of wal l
luts and an elk constructed of beans, c
pavilion of fine fruits and vegetables
made my mouth fairly water and I i
'azed in awe at single stock of as /
'aragus weighing 91a ounces. c
The foreign exhibits are very good t
md we were much interested in the t
inc display Of Russian brasses. But
he corals! saw nothing to t
qual them at the St. Louis exposition c
nor anywhere else-such beauties. i
Md in the most exquisite shades of a