People's Pilot, Volume 2, Number 51, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 June 1893 — WORLD’S FAIR GOSSIP. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

WORLD’S FAIR GOSSIP.

Fresh Notes of Interest from the Columbian Exposition. Th» Number of Visitor* Daily Increasing —A Mistake That Some People Are Making—Beauties of the State Exhibits. (Special Chicago Correspondence! The beautiful weather of the past few days has done much for the great fair. People have been able to get out without umbrellas and wraps, and a trip to Jackson park has become something more like a pleasure than it has been heretofore since the opening. The effect upon the receipts at the fair gates has been to nearly double the daily admissions, a fact which affords the financiers of the great enterprise much satisfaction.

The tide of traffic may now be said to have fairly set in, and should the weather continue favorable the daily attendance will soon put the exposition on something like a paying footing. To judge from the number of persons who are to be seen on the grounds each day a casual observer would suppose the gate receipts to be much larger than they really are, but there is a force of several thousands of workmen, and a population of several thousands more who are domiciled permanently within the inclosure, so the size of the crowd is no guide in estimating the number of paid admissions. Besides there are the press representatives and favored individuals in other professions who have passes. Altogether there are a great many non-paying visitors who, while they help to swell the crowd, do not contribute very materially to the financial success of the enterprise. There is some danger that people at a distance who have been influenced by the newspaper reports of the incompleteness of the fair may make a mistake in deferring too long their contemplated visits. It may be deemed wise to remain away until all the exhibits are installed and everything put to rights, but there will be some discomfort consequent upon such a course.

"When there is a daily attendance of from two to five hundred thousand people, as there will doubtless be in another month, there will he much greater inconvenience in getting about than there is at present. A great many country people are planning to come after their season's work is done and they can leave their homes without interrupting the necessary application of their personal attention to their crops. This will have a tendency to create a jam at the fair during the latter part of the season which does not now exist. It would be advisable, therefore, for those who can come now to do so and thus secure greater comfort and convenience in viewing the wonders of the mammoth exhibition. As for the present condition of the exhibits it can be stated

that with the exception of a number of foreign displays in the Manufactures, Agricultural and Machinery" buildings they are all in place, and those as yet unfinished will be ready in a few days. The principal attractions of late have been the opening of some of the state and foreign buildings, among the latter being the formal reception of visitors at the palatial quarters of Germany at the fair. The educational display of the Germans is very extensive and beautiful beyond description in some of its details. The massive structure occupies a prominent position on the lake front just north of the Fisheries building, and is'made conspicuous by its architectual grandeur. Just opposite, and standing alone; as if in symbolism of its independence among the nations, is the representative structure of England—Victoria hall This building is not as notable for its dimensions as for its neat and artistic appearance, and both its interior and exterior are highly

complimentary to the skill and taste of British workmen. Among the state buildings recently thrown open to the public is that of the hostal state —Illinois. In this handsome structure, whose interior and contents are a great credit to them the people of the “Sucker” state have just cause for pride. Such an extensive and beautiful array of implements and products as were never before displayed by the commonwealth bears convincing evidence that the Prairie state is np with the world in the arts and sciences as well as in the bountiful products of her soil. One feature of the building that commands especial attention is a

beautiful grotto and aquarium which occupies a prominent position in the main hall. This splendid piece of work represents one of the natural beauties of the state, and all who behold it pronounce it a wonderful production. Other state buildings which contain objects of rare interest are those of California and Washington. In the former are exhibits of bottled fruits that are luscious enough in appearance to keep one’s teeth in a constant state of inundation. On every hand are pyramids of golden globes of fruit, pagodas constructed of beans and grain of all kinds, and high up in the central portion of the building is a man on horseback, of prodigious size, composed of choice dried fruits of various kinds.

The mining interests are also largely represented, there being in great profusion rich specimens of gold-bearing rock and quartz and mineral ores in great variety. In the Washington building, which in itself is a great curiosity, the foundation consisting of 6ome of the largest timbers ever seen in this part of the world, are to be seen a great many of the new state’s choicest products. In the mining department is the largest lump of coal that was ever mined. It is five feet thick, twenty-six feet long and weighs over twenty-five tons. At the entrance of this building stands a flagstaff the like of which does not exist in this country. It is a single tree, spliced once in the middle, and is nearly three hundred feet high and as straight as an arrow.

These are but a few of the many wonders of the great fair belonging to the state exhibits, each building possessing many rare relics and curios of its own state, and after viewing the wonders of the greater buildings one may find many surprises awaiting him here. An institution of the fair that is creative of some trouble and much .amusement to the visitors is the folding chair which has recently been introduced. It is a diminutive affair of very frail construction and about as conducive to bodily comfort as would be an upturned strawberry box. To witness a two-hundred pound man trying to perch his bulging anatomy on one of these inquisitorial contrivances is equal to seeing a slack-wire performance by a novice in the business. Such a sight was witnessed the other day near the Administration building where a crowdhad gathered to listen to the music of the hand. A big man had one of the little chairs and tried to sit on it, hut the little chair was not equal t 6 the task and collapsed. The chairs are let for ten cents and are to he returned by the user, hut that little chair was not returned. It got a kick that reduced it to toothpicks and scattered it over half an acre of territory.

THE RIGHT KIND OF GIRD.

GROTTO IN THE ILLINOIS BUILDUNG.

PERFECTLY AT HOME.