The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1905-08-11
Making Rapid Progress; Some
Good as in Any School.
President Roosevelt Ranch
Cabin Is On Display.
Utah's irrigation System; Gay
Art Work From Japan.

From Wednesdays Daily.
Mr.. and Mrs. S. d. Works, who have
Just returned from their trip to the
west, were at the Lewis and Clark Ex-
position at Portland on August 27, %
md 90. They did not find any great
rowds on the grounds. Probably the
average attendance is thirty thousand
people per day. As the grounds are
very large, much more extensive than
those of the Minnesota state fair, the
people are always very much scattered,
and it never appeared that there were a
great many there.
One of the most attractive depart
ments of the exposition is the Japanese
exhibition in the Liberal Arts building.
There were beautiful vases, embroideries
md hand carved ebony and ivory. En-
broidered silks gave beautiful pictorial
representations of famous events in Jap
we're for sale, and it seemed that the
vendors were doing thriving business.
The mineral exhibits from Alaska in
| government annex building compris-
I'd an exceedingly interesting feature.
The products on display were chiefly of
gold. Methods of placer mining were
wildly represented. A number of large
nuggets were on display in a show case.
visitor could thrust his hand through
l hole in the show case and handle the
nuggets, under the eyes of the guards,
but the Jumps of gold were too large to
permit of their being drawn out through
the opening. So there was no danger
of their being stolen, though every per-
son was permitted to enjoy the thrill
ing sensation of having in his hand gold
nuggets, three of which would amount
in value to more than $4,000
Alaska also furnished another depart
ment of intense interest in her fur ex-
hibits. The costly pelts of the frozen
north were on exhibition in great
quantities. There were hides of polar
bears, foxes, minks, offers, and numer-
Gus other animals, whose protection, pro-
yided by nature, against the intense
old of the frigid zone, is sought after
by man for even the warmer chimes.
Then there are interesting specimens of
work done by the Esquimaux, largely
fancy articles of gorgeous shells, and
embroidery or gay colored skins of
snakes and other animals.
But the exhibits of work by the Alas
kan Indian are not all of crude and
sage kind. Esquimaux children in the
government schools are learning to read
and write and figure, and some of their
work would almost make one think he
was looking at that of white children.
Some of the work of the non Caucasian
children of the far north is as good as
is displayed in the exhibits in the Fran
kiln or Union schools at Mankato These
native boys and girls are also taught
painting and sewing after the white peo-
pies methods and the results are indeed
good, as is amply demonstrated by the
results shown at the fair.
"The Trail" corresponding to "Ths
Pike" at the st. Louis exposition or
"The Midway Plaisance" in that of Chi
cago, is hardly worth the price of ad-
mission. In it there are such features
as "Streets of Carlo, mining Scene"
Japanese and Chinese Theatres" CA
Mining Camp in Operation" and "The
Captive Balloon" in which people go up
and down.
In one. of tn buildings may be seen
the cabin that Theodore Roosevelt oc-
cupied near Medora, s. D., when he was
a young rancher. The structure is
crude affair, measuring l2xl6 feet, only.
one story high, with dirt covered roof
The forestry exhibit in the govern
ment building is very attractive. Here
are great maps showing the forest res
ervations in the west where trees were
never indigenous. Large tracts of arti-
fetal forest land are shown in minia-
ture, made of earth, plaster of paris
and papier mache.
Moving pictures illustrate the opera
lions of the great fisheries in various
parts of the United States. These vita
SCOPE views are intensely fascinating
but very hard on the eyes. A miniature
net boat on an artificial river, shows
the way in which fish are caught on the.
upper Columbia, where the nets are
operated by machinery, propelled by the