Show SCENE AI THE WORLDS FAIR As it opens to view on the first day OF GOLDIS UNVEILED beautiful works of art tho grand basin in front of the administration april 27 when president cleveland steps out upon tho platform babilt for the purpose in front of the administration building next monday to make a short speech and declare tho worlds fair open then while touching a button which will start the great engine revolving and machines in motion bo will face the most beautiful spectacle in architecture and art and landscape ever created ia this world it is the judgment of foreigners and americans alike that no such scene as that here presented can be found elsewhere it is not worth while to attempt a description of it there arc things which cannot be described and this is one of them to the left the magnificent entrance of the mining building farther along the mammoth roof and wall of the manufactures building on the right the corner of that cathedral of milan the hall of machinery and the classical agricultural palace directly in front the great basin covered with gondolas and other picturesque craft and seen through the noble with its thirteen col nans and as many beautiful statues the blue waters of lake michigan at the ends of this basin stand two of the most noteworthy objects of art in all tho world in front of the facing the administration building and the president who la to push the button is the colossal figure of the republic just now it is the most interesting object in the exposition though completed last fall tho great figure has been housed all winter from the storms and the frost so great was the taken of the precious form of columbia that a furnace was fired within the enclosure during the extreme cold weather to maintain the compactness of the material of which it is composed two weeks ago a number of men were set at work gilding the huge statue with gold leaf literally encasing it in the precious metal something like a thousand dollars was the cost of the gold leaf alone now the winter house is coming down and as the workmen tear away the boards which have so long screened the beauty of columbia from curious eyes a large throng of people line the banks of the basin to witness tho unfolding it is the largest statue ever made in this country it Is well named the colossal for the draped figure of the woman who typifies the republic Is no less than sixty five feet in height and the pedestal upon which she stands rises thirty five feet from the surface of the water the arms are upraised toward the head and in the right hand Is held aloft a golden globe on which poises an eagle with outstretched wings the left hand lifts feet above the basin as high as a tall building in any city eave chicago a liberty polo surmounted by a cap one does not need to bo told that the artist worked with this as his con trolling idea that the figure was to typify not only the strength and grace but the and yet the gentleness of america and her pose was to indicate that in this land liberty is held dearer than anny ahing else the drapery of the figure hangs in heavy and yet graceful folds upon the bust are many shields and from a corsage depends n broad sword which we all know columbia peacefully inclined Is able to wield with dorco when she will alto THE GOLDEN GODDESS kether the statue much resembles the goddess of liberty in new york harbor but anstad of a torch with which to enlighten the world she uplifts the traditional emblem of liberty miss republic Is to have a diadem of electric lights however and her golden limbs and perfect lines will shine forth in all their glory by day and by night it Is almost sacrilege to measure such n divinity as if she were to be fitted tor a tailor made gown but it may not be amiss to state that a wedding ring ten and half inches in diameter would be required to go around her finger while lier nose Is thirty inches in length at the other end of the basin Is the beautiful macmonnies fountain the most glorious piece of sculpture in all the fair for this one object the exposition managers paid no less than and the artist avera that he has not made day wages in ite construction the better part of two years work of his own entered anto it and besides he had to hire five or six other artists to help him to say nothing of plasterers carpenter and the expense of shipment from paris and erection in place even in plaster these works of art cost much money and it is to the credit of the manageri ma that at the outset they set apart more than a million dollari for this species of ornamentation and grounds when their financial troubles seemed hardest to bear they cut down the estimates for statuary by a couple hundred tt arsand but undo ohp pressure of their own desire again I 1 creased the appropriations and now spent considerable more than their allowance U honor to chicago for her generosity in the art outlay and for the culture and judgment which enabled her to spend her million to baich good advantage that not one unworthy piece lias been been within the gates As it the great republic the majestic macmonnies fountain and a number of columns bearing neptunus cs aloft not enough for tills basin the management Is now completing a pair of electrical foun balna which are to stand immediately lu front of the administration building flanking on cither side the ecat work of looked at ayi electrical fountains are mere circles of iron fp pipes and queer looking nozzles strength many bolta and roda but 1 i wo co c o assure a will be ready to produce one of tho most beautiful spectacles tho eye ever witnessed an electrical fountain you must know is a species of hydraulic fireworks fire works merely to whet your appetite for what you aro to drink in when you como to tho fair let me tell you briefly how cheso effects aro produced each fountain Is feet in circumference eighteen jets of water each jet two inches in diameter will shoot up from tho outer rim of tho fountain and meet at a point which Is feet above the level of tho basin witha 1 FROM THE OF LAKE in this circle Is another of smaller jets and within that a third then there are other jets of varying sizes to be used in the production of special effects for you must remember that the whole apparatus 1 contrived so that circuits are changed and some of tho jets are playing while others may be shut off or all be operated together even in daylight these water effects will be very charming but it they are charming by day what will they be at night when the changing colors of thirty great electric lights with parabolic reflectors are thrown the waters as they rise and fall it Is said they can produce almost any sort of illusion known to fireworks by playing the changes upon these streams suiting the quantity and color of the light to the streams that are used at the moment for instance we are promised hydraulic flowers sheaves of wheat fences of gold showers of rubies pearls and amethysts and it the halt that has been told of the wonderful combinations and beauties of the fountains be true I 1 fear miss republic will drop her liberty pole and globe in sheer amazement when the current 1 first turned on glancing around the horizon from this at which president cleveland is to touch the button one perceives innumerable flag staffa rising from the roofs of the palaces said I 1 to myself today to day on observing the poles 1 I think I 1 have caught these chicago people napping at last I 1 will wager they have been too busy to arrange for the flags which they are to fly from all these staffs when I 1 mentioned the matter to director general davis an hour later ho smiled peculiarly under his gray beard grayer now a great deal than it was three years ago and tor answer simply said come with me he led the way to a large room in a corner of the gallery of horticultural hall there were long tables at which women and girls were bew ing various colored stuff together while arthera were guiding piece of fabric through a score or sewing machines number of men were cutting out from patterns like tailors here said the drector generali with another smile we bave made all the flags banners and draperies for the columbian exposition the work was begun last november and has cen going on ever since we have had as many aa persons at work at one time a thi room though the number now employed 1 not more than seventy mr fillet the director of decorations has cen in charge he has had to obtain correct designs for forty six national flags hat being abo number of countries exposition though some of hem of course are represented nominally wo have used nearly a million yards of un ting and have made acres and acres f draperies for sky lighta their function icing to protect the eyes of visitors rom the sharp glare of the sun on aright days while it is so arranged that it an be rolled away when the sun is obscured by clouds As for flags and banner well next monday that will astonish all beholders and never again will I 1 suspect cheso chicagoans of forgetting any part or fragment of the multiple details of their great enterprise there never was an international exposition in which so much attention was paid to details the comfort of the public has been provided for in a thousand ways but in none more strikingly than in the drinking water provision hundreds and hun number 1 immaterial because there Is one every few rods of free fountains have been erected where the water of lake michigan pure and cold may be had at all times As for details it 1 appalling when one stops to think of the number of things that had to be attended to the erection ot a city of palaces in a swamp and the filling of these palaces with the contributions of hundreds of thousands of firms and individuals from all the nation of the earth was no light task to be accomplished in two years and a half how these achl caguana have ever managed to do it in spite of their troubles their awkward double headed organization imposed upon them by congress the constant demand for money which the government was rather chary in helping with the struggle against adverse weather la both summer and winter the bicke rings with labor and wages the efforts made in certain quarters to stir up prejudice against the fair on sectional and political grounds Is a mystery with ill these added to the infinite details of design construction contract allotment of spaces the friction and collision inevitable in so vast a work which no diio was trained for anywhere and where all were more or less tyros accomplishment will surely stand as abo most wonderful ahlie in the entire show wellmay |