People's Pilot, Volume 2, Number 48, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 May 1893 — WORLD’S FAIR NOTES. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

WORLD’S FAIR NOTES.

Items Picked Up In a Ramble Through Jackson Park. The Condition of the Fair a Week After the Opening —Some of the Sight* That Amuse—Fake* and Fakirs. {Special Chicago Correspondence.]

ITH. the expiration of the opening week the Columbian exposition hae lost much of its incompleteness, and, although there is much yet to be done, still the grounds are in such shape as to permit of a most enjoyable and profitable stroll among the great white buildings. The number of visitor per day during

the week has not been large enough to crowd the grounds, and the going has been constantly improving so that the discomforts of the first day have almost entirely disappeared, and a visit to the fair is now much more pleasurable. Each day brings forth some new attractions as the exhibits are unpacked and installed and fresh features of interest •re constantly being added about the grounds. The electric fountains and search lights have been completed and are now In operation at night and the displays are ■perfectly dazzling. The gilded statue of the Republic and the dome of the Administration building glint in the flashing light and the whole city of white is flooded with splendor. These displays ■undoubtedly surpass anything of the hind ever witnessed before, and their magnificence will be one of the greatest wonders of the fair when completed. The search lights are stationed on the Agricultural building and by their aid the whole country for miles around can be illuminated. In addition to these there are many great arc lights which lend their brilliancy to the scene. Those portions of the fair which still remain unfinished are now receiving the attention of a doubled force of workmen, who are putting forth every

effort to bring them to completion. Day and night the work goes on almost unceasingly, one force relieving the other at regular intervals, scarcely losing a moment, so eager are the exhibitors to Teach the completion of their tasks and have everything in shape as soon as possible. The exhibits are still coming in from every direction, and as fast as they arrive they are seized upon by their owners and conveyed to their respective departments. In most of the large buildings great piles of boxes await their turn to be relieved of their contents, and as fast as they are taken away others arrive to take their places. When one views the immensity of apace that is to be covered by the exhibits of all kinds it seems an interminable task to fill it, an'd it hardly seems

posible to get things arranged within the time allowed for the completion of exhibits; but, judging from what has already been accomplished, but little further time will be needed to finish th? work of installation. There is just about as much to interone in viewing ,the people at work at the fair as there would be were it all finished. When it is all done there wiU be the display of products, curios, etc., but at present is much to be learned in tee different methods of doing things to vogue among the various nations. It has been said by a .great- many of the .parly visitors at the fair that- they wouldn’t have missed seeing the buildings in process of construction for anything, and truly there were wonders performed in the line of ATvlutoelural ingenuity.

, : i -i Besides the electric light displays at night there is another big attraction in the grand musical concerts which are furnished by the exposition band. An elaborate programme is prepared each day and some of the numbers are fairly entrancing. The band occupies a large pavilion in the grand plaza east of the Administration building, and when it is performing the surrounding space is usually black with people. Among the members of the band are some of the best musicians in their respective lines in the country, and their director, Prof. Liesegang, is an acknowledged leader among the musicians of Chicago. In a stroll about the fair grounds there are many sights to be seen that are extremely amusing. To behold a diminutive specimen of manhood, with spectacles on his nose, all bowed up behind one of those trundling chairs, trying to propel a two-hundred-pound woman with near-sighted eyes and an irascible temper is something well calculated to stir up pity in the bosom of a professional executioner. And when the ground was wet and soft and the

crowds were thick the guides who engineered those man-killing wheel-chairs were indeed fit subjects for commiseration. At lunch time there is a general parade of baskets and boxes, and there is a wholesale scramble for sequestered nooks wherein to discuss their contents. Since the knowledge became general that extortion was being practiced in some quarters a flourishing business has been done by the lunch stands outside the fair grounds. Many of the visitors also come provided with all the comforts of home in the shape of eatables. Some who do not care to be seen carrying lunch boxes may be observed about noon-time to quietly

steer for corners remote from the throng, and when they think no one is looking reach into their inside pockets and draw forth adult-sized sandwiches which they speedily dispatch and resume their tour of sight-seeing. There will soon be a better outlook for provender, however, for the rigid investigation of the fair officials into cases of extortion has put the restaurateurs on their good behavior, and the action of the people in boycotting the restaurants has had a salutary effect, so that the difficulty some have experienced in obtaining creature comforts at moderate prices will soon be overcome and it will be no longer necessary to load one’s self down with food or transform one’s self into a perambulating commissary when contemplating a visit to the world’s fair. Those gay and festive gondoliers, about whom there has been so much talk, are now busily plying their oars about the lagoon. As their boats skim along with their bright colored streamers trailing in the water behind them and their gaudy hangings fluttering in the breeze they remind one of the pictures of Venice in the art galleries. These sunburned sons of Italy are gathering in American coin at a great rate, for the gondola has become very popular with pleasure seekers from all lands. Among the most novel modes of conveyance at the fair is the sedan chair, which is fast growing in favor among young women of an aesthetic turn of mind. It takes two strong Turks to handle one of these oriental carriages, and now that the weather is getting warm the exertion makes them perspire very freely. Occasionally some young man with a taste for luxury will engage one of the chairs, and as he is jogged along he will sportively stick his feet out of the windows and assume an air of utter languor /or the express benefit of those who are trudging along on foot. Such a scene never fails to create a great deal of fun, and everybody joins in the laugh. Good nature seems to possess everybody who visits the fair. •

Outside of the fair grounds the fakirs and peddlers fairly swarm, and the din they keep up in calling their wares and attractions is enough to ruin an ear trumpet. Everything in the shape of souvenirs is these in great profusion, badges, books and what-not. Here the popcorn man balls up his corn and bawl* himself hoarse trying to sell it There the man with a guide book

deftly flirts his accordion-like publics* tion under your noee aad in stentorian tones invites you to part with your hard-earned ducats. These are of a harmless order, and should you patronize them you will get some value for your money, but there are those who will fleece and rob you at the slightest opportunity. Light-fingered gentry are scattered through the crowds, and un- ' less a good watch is kept up for them they are apt to get familiar with a person’s valuables on very short notice. There are also innumerable side-show attractions and “fake” enterprises to j separate the unwary stranger from his money. The oleaginous individual with a tough mug and uproarious apparel warbles his seductive tale of wonders to be seen in some two-by-four stall or wagon, and all for “the small sum of a quarter of a dollar, twenty-five cents, two dimes and a nick.” They are all running what they call a “suckers* game,” and any money invested with them is simply a purchase of superflu- ‘ ous and unprofitable experience

THE WHEEL CHAIR.

THE BAND PAVILION.

ON THE LAGOON.