Democratic Sentinel, Volume 12, Number 36, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 September 1888 — TEMPLE OF MONDAMIN. [ARTICLE]

TEMPLE OF MONDAMIN.

THE MAGNIFICENT CORN PALACE , AT SIOUX CITY, lOWA. A Dazzling Structure of Maize and Cereals—Graphic and Interesting Description ■ —A 845-Ca's Lawsuit Bankrupts Liti- j gants and Impoverishes Communities. [Sioux City (Iowa) special.) The second annual corn-palace festival opened in this city under most propitious auspices. The streets were thronged with visitors, and the eity was ablaze in its holiday attire of maize. The brightness and splendor of the palace of Mondamin outshines that of 1887 as the noonday sun outshines the gentle twilight. The idea and the working out thereof is distinctly original with Sioux City, and she claims the honor ■of being the “only corn-palace city of the world.” The palace is 150x150 feet in size, and occupies every inch of a quarter block of ground. At the southwest corner or main entrance rises the main tower to a height of 175 feet, while to the east and north are Norman towers which support the Moorish pavilions. At the apex of the main pavilion rises a flag-staff to a height from the ground of nearly two hundred feet. From each corner of the pavilion rise smaller flag-staffs, from which float beautiful streamers bearing the words “■lowa,” "Dakota,” “Nebraska” and “Minnesota.” In the main tower there is a winding stairway, and from the top a splendid view of the city can be obtained. Between the small towers are beautiful fountains in the center of miniature landscapes, Imade as natural as life with gree'n, grassy sods, mossy rocks and dwarf trees, with a silvery rivulet flowing past.

The great body of the outside is covered with ears of corn, sawed lengthwise through the center, and nailed with two brads with the flat or cob side next to the walls. To relieve the monotony different colors are used, and white, red, speckled, purple, and golden-yellow ears were obtained. The exterior is laid off into panels, which are plainly marked by the varied colors of the great Western product. Next to the ground is a wainscoting of cornstalks, stripped of their leaves and packed close together. The entrances, windows, etc., are also bordered with cornstalks prepared in the same way. The railing of the towers is also covered with cornstalks, and the long stalks of grain—wheat and oats—while the capstones •of the turrets are represented by the bushy heads of millet, bearded oats, and sorghum seed. Springing from the inmost corners of the towers to the apex corner of the roof of the main pavilion are light festoons, or, to use the architectural term, flying buttresses, covered with full sheaves of golden grain, and imparting an effect, of massiveness to the structure. The roof lines are harmoniously irregular, sweeping from the central pavilion to the exterior as the several front elevators require. The broken and irregular outline was intentional in order to give a maximum surface for decoration. The apertures in the towers are spacious, generally of an arched style along the upper sources and entrances' but angular in the ground course. This purpose was also to give a ‘variety of outline for decorative purposes. Thus, while the structure is ■of a composite and original architectural order, the plan is admirably adapted to the uses for which it was designed. In addition to the plans of decoration furnished by the artist, many original and unique designs are worked out by the deeorators themselves. Panels are laid out and covered with variegated ears, mostly sawed lengthwise, but some cut’ crosswise of the ear, forming bright rosettes, about an inch thick and of the diameter o' the corn ear. A single slender nail through the center of the cob holds each piece in place, and many fanciful designs are thus made. Signs and mottoes are made, the borders being stalks denuded of blades and ears, interwoven with golden wheat-straw and somber-col-ored sorghum heads. The letters are made by fastening the corn rosettes as above, and a very gorgeous style of block-letter is produced. The windows of all the towers are latticed with corn ears strung on wires. Some are purple, some are red, others yellow, and still others white, giving that variety of coloring which is at once the charm and novelty of the general effect. Viewed from the distance of a block or two the trifling irregularities of detail are softened and a magnificent blending of color is presented to the eye. The prevailing ■shade, of course, is yellow, while the red and white of the corn ears, the brown of the sorghum, and the dead green of *the corn blades relieve the outward surface of a monotony which might ordinarily have been ■expected, while the varying heights of the salient outlines add a charm of perspective, with lights and shadows, that combine to produce a singularly beautiful and striking effect. The interior of the palaeo is veritably a a realm of enchantment, Under the brightness shed by half a hundred electric lights after nightfall, it presents an appearance that rivals Fairyland. From the rough plank walls, ungainly posts, and a high vaulting dome of irregular outline and unsightly rough surface has been created a bower of beauty never before equaled in any clime. And all this marvel was worked without the aid of those adjuncts of decorative arts which have heretofore been deemed essential to the plans of skilled artisans. There is no tinsel or fine material, no precious metals, no use of costly pigments. An ear of yellow corn, a handful of prairie grass, a bunch of unsightly weeds, a wisp of golden straw—these are the materials used. Scattered about the walls are appropriate mottoes curiously wrought with corn and other field grains and grasses. The rough posts that support the galleries are covered with corn and changed into Tonic, Dorie. •Gothic, and Corinthian columns, while ■others are laden with bouquets of tinted grasses. The ceilings under the galleries are ornamented with devices that can not be described in words so as to convey a suggestion of their appearance. Landscapes, maps, flags, mottoes, a music staff with corn-stalk notes, emblems of husbandry, and quotations significant of the fertility of the country are everywhere shown. A seemingly infinite variety of designs is presented to the eye, and the originality of the decorations is truly amazing. The palace is lighted by electricity, and is fitted with appliances for fighting fire and has a perfect system of sewerage. The exhibits by counties, townships, towns, and individuals are far in advance of anything ever seen at State and county fairs. In addition to the decorations of the palace proper, the entire city is in holiday attire. On all the principal street intersections in the business portion great gas-pipe arches have been erected, each bearing three hundred colorted-glass globes. Nearly every business house and many private residences are beautifully decorated with corn and cereals in a multiplicity of designs that bid fair to eclipse even the palace itself. From a simple veneering of corn in the ear to a complex and carefully drawn [plan of artistip adornment, every building is made to honor the event of the second annual festival of King Corn. The palace is built by an incorporation ..known as the Sioux City Corn-Palace Exposition Company, having an authorized capital of $250,000, the idea being to make the institution a permanent one. The pal--ace has cash in the neighborhood of $60,000, •atid over fifty thousand bushels of corn and

grain have been used. Already is a move on foot to convert the building into an ice-palace, with another jubilee during the midwinter holiday season.