Democratic Sentinel, Volume 18, Number 1, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 January 1894 — OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.

CALIFORNIA'S EXPOSITION IS NOW ON VIEW. Indications Are That the Show Will Be a Financial and Artistic Snceess—Brtff Description of the Buildings— Patterned After ir.e “White City.” Midwinter Fair Begins. The California Midxvinter Fair is now open to the public. Here, in this Western metropolis, writes a correspondent, at the extreme edge of the Western hemisphere, with the placid waters of the great Pacific in view, the hand of man has created a city neither so beautiful, so wonderful, nor 60 extensive a 3 the now quickly fading White City by Lake Michigan, but one that is truly grand and of which the people of California and the other Pacific States may justly be proud. It wus only in the latter part of last May, when the end of the Chicago Fair was in view, that some Californians in Chicago conceived the idea of having a fair in San Francisco. Shortly afterward it was decided to go ahead in the matter and Golden Gate Park was selected as the location for the fair, conceded by all to be one of the prettiest spots on the face of the globe. Aug. 24, in the presence of 80,000 people, the enterprise was inaugurated by turning the first shovelful of dirt, immediately after which the work of grading commenced, followed in a few weeks by the inauguration of work on the main structures. Patterns Afnr Chicago. The Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building is the la gest on the grounds. This building is Moorish in design, with all the picturesque effects to which that style of architecture readily lends itself. The Mechanical Arts Building is the second largest structure, and is nearly puro Indian in design and highly artistic in its rich, Oriental sty’e. By far tho most striking architectural feature of the exposition is the Horticultural and Agricultural Building. It is in Spanish mission style and is a low-roof design, so much in favor on the coast. This

structure contains the greatest display of the products of the soil of California over put together, and that is synonymous with saying that is such'a display of agricultural and horticultural material as the United States have never seen placed on exhibition. It is typical and almost exclusively Californian and will afford visitors an opportunity of judging of the vastness and variety of California's resources, such as no amount of travel and observation could give. The Fine Arts Building is intended for a permanent structure, constructed of brick and iron. The Administration Building, like its namesake at the Columbian Exposition, which faced the grand basin, is directly in the i ear of the allegorical fountain. In this tho

sculptor has tried to tell the whole history of the state and much can be plainly read from its design. The familiar statue of California, crowned with a.wreath of poppies, stands on a pedestal whose rugged character suggests the mountain regions. The principal central figure is the eagle, emblematic of the state’s loyalty to the nation. The central figure of the grand court is the electrical tower. On the ground floor is a pavilion for the use of the public and flanking the open space there are four Moorish pavilions, containing four stories and decorated in Oriental colors. The base of the tower occupies a space of fifty feet square, while the first gallery, eighty feet from the ground, has "a seating capacity of 200. There are three other galleries of large seating capacity, the topmost one being within six feet of the pinnacle. The concessional features of the Midwinter Exposition are both numerous and interesting. There is a modest counterpart of the great Ferris wheel of the World’s Fair in the Firth wheel,

which is 125 feet in height. There are Chinese, Japanese, Hawaiian. Esquimaux, Canadian and German villages, an ostrich farm, a Colorado gold mine, a scenic railway, a Santa Barbara aquarium containing a dozen sea lions, a reproduction of Cairo street, a Turkish theater, a Moorish 4 mirror maze, a reproduction of the celebrated Prater of Vienna, a tc malehouse, a reproduction of Anne Hathaway’s cottage, and last, but by no means least, a ’49 mining camp. This camp occupies a space 450 ( feet long and 250 feet wide. In the jeenter of the camp is a street 450 feet long, lined on eaeh side with old-time shanties which do service as newspaper

office*, saloons, hotels, theaters, and gambling bouses, as In the days of yore, representing a typical mining town. Mackay's, Perkins’, and Jones' cabins are set up just as they were when the millionaire miners deserted them. The camp promises to be one of the most interesting spot? on the Exposition grounds, as it is the intention to faithfully represent the days of ’49 by mock duels, trials, lynchings, and other episodes of those stirring times.

AGRICULTURE BUILDING.

ADMINISTRATION BUILDING.

FINE ARTS BUILDING.