The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1939-08-22

TO the almost unbelievably vast
Worlds Fair built by the magic
Of men on the Flushing Meadows,
until three years ago a New York
City dump, have described the
location Of the beautiful Florida
State building with expressions
of disgust. / spent a memorable
day and night at the fair, studied
the situation of the building with
an open mind and / think every
one of the critics is wrong.
Arriving on Ten Minutes,
Ten Cents tram of the Pennsyl-
vania Railroad from a convenient
station in the heart of New York
City, my first query was how /
might get to the Florida exhibit
II had seen the imposing stucco
campanile from the train.
Take any bus numbered 3. It's
two miles and half.
travelled through a daylight
fairyland of streamlined architec-
ture, along curving, admirably
handicapped asphalt roadways with
bus stations at numerous con-
venient points; passed the Ac-
quade where a hundred girl
swimmers disport in the bright
blue water of Fountain Lake at
from 40 cents to SO cents land no
taxi disport; crossed highways
on immense sweeping ramps only
to double back beneath the ramps
or beside the highways; swept
past miles of stout iron fence,
and finally alighted directly in
/ front of tie first objective of my
!. visit.
Magnificent Structure
Florida's State building has
been pictured and described an
untold number of times, and
nothing | have read which has
been said about it, is an exag-
geration.
Its design is superb, and the
tower can be seen from every
part of the grounds, rivaling the
Trylon and Perisphere in giving
the visitor sense of location.
The landscaping is exquisite, and
the foliage has remained almost
wholly verdant except for one
Royal Palm and one coconut tree,
which show following fronds.
All the various types of Florida
foliage which were gathered from
many. parts of the State, nursed
at the studios in DeLand, and
shipped to the Fair when the time
came, are .withstanding their
change of habitat wonderfully
well, including the orange and
grapefruit grove.
Al most colorful feature at the
present time is the bloSsoming
flame vine, far larger are its
gorgeous trumpets than the
bloom of the flame vine of the
North. The tall tower dominates
| the landscape, and is best seen
j from the further side of Mountain
Lake, nearly half a mile away. |
went to that vantage point at 10
tp. m. for the fireworks.
Florida" In Light
! The sign near the color
ed dome of the campanile CLOVIS
blue all day in the sun, the one
word Florida" in tall capital
letters on each OF the four sides.
AT night, the wizardy of Neon
lights spell the word against the
sky so it is visible from all di-
srections There is no missing it.
The building stands out in spot
lights like cameo, yellow stucco
etched against the velvet curtain
of the dark. But suddenly, as the
signal bomb showers the Dome
iof Heaven with a galaxy of bril-
liantly colored sparks to mark the
opening of the fireworks display,
the spotlights die and only the
magic word, Florida, remains.
There is a sound of bells, half
muffled by distance and the
chatter of the gathering crowds.
It comes on the fitful breath of
the night wind, from far across
the lovley lake. the Deagan caril-
Ion, which. according to a notice
on the equipment that operates
the instrument in a display space
| within the building beneath the
tower. is to be set up in the pro-
jected Stephen Foster Memorial
colonnade on the Suwanee River
lnear White Springs. after the
Worlds Fair is over.
A hundred thousand people
and that is conservative esti-
innate, because about 268, 900 at
tended the exposition that day
pressed closely together, rank
after rank. along the Amusement