The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1907-08-06
JAMESTOWN WITHOUT 1.-THE SIGHTS.
Something Of The Big Fair Outside The Track ct The
Guide Book.
By l.. l.. GRAY.

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TIE crowds approach the James
town Exposition, as 1t were by the
back-doo- which. paradoxically, IS
the main entrance.
Disgorgcd from the cars from Nor
folk, WiI.oushby spit ana OCEAN
View, one encounters Z series OF long
white sheds and ticket booths, turns
tiles. Dop-cOrn vendors and individuals
with prOcTamm@ and post cards Tor
sale. Past the gat the impression
is still distinctly rural. one
ers hot grave!ed paths, an ihdllerehe
lunch stand or 50 and a large open
parade ground frouted by "A grand
stand that Is fashioned on the archl-
lecture Of a county falT. IN the
great sweep Of distances with the
building swallowed IL the view and
q few knota Of detected looking peo-
ple walking about, the first impress
sion Of the jamestown Exposition IS q
depressing one.
Later When there has been time to
move from building to building, TO get
the grasp Of their architecture ana
experience the completeness Of the ex-
hibits: when one has mingled with
the good natured crowd on the war
Path" has. ~perchance, investigated
some of the attractions or loltered
with the throngs u the open ar
cafes; when, later still, he has walked
the length Of the board walk, through
the States buildings, been Wooed by
the beauty Of the Hampton Roads
stretching off into the distance ana
sending q. cooling breeze Whistling into
the lungs OF the grounds, he begins to
see that he has come upon the scene
wrong emo first.
The jamestown Fair should by all
means h. first approached from the
water. Brcasting the waves towards
the government pier and past the
Atrar-t Ep11iGlrG and h4f+lD&h1nS .lNJnR
at anchor the grounds are spread
forth in an attractive and alluring
picture. SO seen one gains at the
first an accurate measure of the eX-
tent OF the conception and the com
pleteness OF its realisation. This
Waterfront view is one of bigness, of
solidity and inspiration. The white
buildings loom up like the skyline or
some ancient city of the arts after
which they are patterned. There IS
81 stiffness. q dignity about the view
that is impressive. only the flying
flags innumerable, the round turrets of
some OF the larger War-path shows,
the skeleton structure of the shoot
the shutes and the aerial railways give
the touch of a holiday and the note
OF fippancy 10 the scene. out on the
historic waters edging away into dim
vistas of wooded headla1ds. strung
with cities and cleft with craft, the
view of the Exposition realizes the
event that it was designed to
crate in the record of achievement;
the civilization that grew from the
Anglo-Saxon restlessness for work
taking root in the midst Of a wilder
ness and shaping 1t to civilization.
Something else, also. it realized: civil
z%ation, which is ugly in practice,
coming through its ude victories
over natural beauty and coming back
to beauty through the medium of art.
n Complete Exposition.
Asked to write a column about
jamestown, to those who will read the
response is promised nothing of the
guide book. The sightseeing genius
can get that for the small sum of ten
cents on the grounds. He may, to
his hearts content, spend an instruc-
tive ten days in going from building
to building, in following the skein of
he Who'll" through the tangle of I'M
Countable exhibits. He can find
here the record historical. in object
lessons of curio, of invention, of
relics. He can see all there is to
- remember so much as his
sightseeing ability permits. The
States building contains possibly as
complete an exposition of the activi-
ties and of the county as
has yet been gathered together. The
army and navy exhibits, proceeding
from the days of the Revolution, the
War of 1872, through the Civil War
and the fight with Spain to the pres
ent preparedness of the country for
possible trouble with the mild man
nered Japs who walk about in non
committal interest, are in themselves
sufficient to give Mr.. and Mrs. Sight
seer and their children a hard days
work. In addition to these to follow
UP the Marine exhibits, the
turing and Liberal Arts buildings, the
Mines and M~ettalurgy, the numerous
buildings of the States is worth Ill
doubtless to those who would labor
for knoWIedge-and quite worthless
for the purpose of an article about
the big Fair.
No "Sight Seeing PUSH
Without these thing it would not. of
course, be a Fair; but the Fair itself
Is the people who CONDUCT its activi-
ties and those who come to see its
sights and enjoy it's amusements
And the crowds, that are really large
without seeming to be so are not the
"sight-seeing push" which one asso-
ciates with expositions. Whether it
be the difference between the Southern
character ana that of the West and
North or whether some subtle in
fiuence affects all the people alike, the
result is that it is an easy going crowd.
There are disCcrnible no frantic rusheS
towards exhibits; no mad haste any
where: no doing the exhibition III a
day hysteria; no forlorn little chill
dren tugged at b~reakneck speed by
nervous parents desperate lest they
miss something" In the place Of all
this familiar display of misguided
energy is a throng of people who
stroll about, some aimlessly looking
for amusement. some definite in pur-
pose yet not in a hurry, nearly all of
them well-dressed and prosperous
looking and all of them apparently
content and apparently happy. Oc-
c~asionally, of course, one is jOstled or
crowded. Invariably there follows an
instant apology. The people are
laughing and chatting. They are. in
a we'll bred way, familiar. No one
hesitates to ask questions and chance
conversations are common. No one
hesitates. to stop as they used to do in
Boston and walk to the corne to show
a W~ayfaring man his path. There is
no set and selfish fxity of gain, no
up-tO-date Obiiviousness of ones
neighbOr. The whole character of the
crowd and the sure concept of its per
sonality is that of wholesomeneSs and
the cheerful spirit of having a good
time"
\ Vanderbilt and Not 81 FIuttlI.
On the War Path, someone pointed
out q neghgee young man in a white
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