Rensselaer Republican, Volume 25, Number 48, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 July 1893 — THE WOBLD'S FAIR. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

THE WOBLD'S FAIR.

*4? V's J "-J* i/A T J f" u W’iy- jf< V - g ' “ Mt. Vernon Reproduced Pearls JL'J I From Wiec*4»ia|-Ti>e I ■ s | ■ B»ttleship.| f ; MOUNT VEttxbN. Everybody who goes to the national capital visits Mount Vernon. And everybody who comes to the Fair wants to see the Virginia building, which is a copy of the home of Washingt<Yh. The reproduction is' as faithful as that of the Chinese artist who put a tear and a grease spot on the new coat which was to be “exactly like the old ope” left with him for measurement. . Even the hole for the cat in the door of Mrs. Washington’s room, where the mother of her country locked herself up when she desired solitude, has not been forgotten. In the old homes of Virginia have been gathered the furniture and the heirlooms of the Revolutionary period to fill the twenty-five rooms in this'World’s Fair Mount-Vernon. Many of the articles are Washington relics. There is one thing modern, and that is a collection -of books, written by Virginians. The mother of Presidents has been a good contributor to literature. The list shows more than 3000 volumes by Virginian authors. On her history Virginia prides herself, and that is the best foot she puts forward in her State building. --. s - ,;4,. ■ .i_..; —_zi.. .. .. 4 WISCONSIN PEARLS. Pearls from Wisconsin! They I have come black pearls, dahlia pearls, pink pearls and white pearls. The story is a familiar one, around the Wiscdfisin building, but not everywhere else. Four years ago there was a loafing Norwegian, Peter Olafson, living . near Calamine. ; Peter would disappear at intervals [only to come back well fixed. Once in his cups he let out the secret of his good fortune by boasting that he had “vun golt mine.” He was watched. It was discovered that when Peter disappeared:he went to the Sugar and Pecatonica rivers and dug clams in which, ha found pearls. The news spread. tfeople who didn’t like steady work any better than Peter did flocked by thousands to these two rivers and waded in. They raked the mud over and over for clams. They kepi at it until the mine was exhausted. One of the I pearls which was found weighed | twenty-eight ounces, and sold for I $875. The Wisconsin pearl industry 1 had a short run, but the pearls are ' much treasured, and are valued at several hundred thousand dollars. The collection brought to the Fair is ! made up from the gems loaned by the owners. It includes besides pearls quite a number of “slugs” which are almost as interesting. The “sing" is "Bn’’lmperfect pearl. It takes on strange forms. Some of ■ these slugs look like the hand with i finger pointed. Others imitate shells. The collection of Wisconsin I pearls is in a case, and is considered Iso valuable that. it. is locked in a ! vault every night. JAPANESE POTTERY. Pausing before three mammoth vases,valued at $50,000, shown in the Japanese department in the art gallery, the visitor is informed that the make is the “cloisonne,” to give the ware its French name, or the Shippo of the Japanese. Cloisonne means “bent wire;” shippo means “the seven jewels,” in other words, -the precious stopes of Japan. Both names are appropriate. Of manifold forms, including effects from microscopic color eontrast, to great masses of solid color, or shades blending impreceptibly into one another, is this the great ware of Japan. . i Some sixty years agtf one Kajita, a Japanese artist, made a great discovery. He was in search of a means whereby all the effects of the potteries of all nations could be successfully imitated. More than this, he desired that the new wares should have an individuality of its own. In other words, he wanted to find the way to grasp the best of existing art while adding something superior of his owq. His complete success or the reverse remains a question of taste, but whether or not cloisonne has taken to itself the merit of other wares, in itself it is of great and unique beauty. THE BATTLESHIP. It is difficult to believe that the Illinois is not a sure enough battleship in spite of the. fact that it is so often referred to as Uncle Sam’s brick and mortar cruiser. It is apparently an exact duplication of the cruiser Oregon and is complete down to the most minute details. It represents a ship 348 feet in length, 70 feet on the beam and drawing 24 feet of water. On the deck are four ISrinch rifled guns within revolving steel turrets 12 inches thick. With 450 pdunds of powder each of them can throw a 1,100-pound projectile a distance of 13 miles. Eight smaller guns burn 150 pounds of powder apiece to throw 000-pound shot eight miles. The amount of powder that can be consumed bv the four-inch rifles and the 18, Hotchkiss rapid firing guns, not to mention the four Briggs-Schroeder guns on the bridge deck, the two Hotchkiss guns in the foretop, the two Gatling guns on the fighting top of the military mast and the revolving cannon in the forecastle, is easier to imagine than compute. The conning tower for the protection of the pilot and his Apparatus

is-araaered with 42-inefe -plftto and fitted Up with speaking tubes and electricbells. abe any number of small boats, launches, cutters; gigs, diugies, whaleboats, lifeboats ■ and catamarans, many more <rf them Wan the smaU crew of 25 men can possibly handle. - provements in the way of electric lights and burns SQO 16-candle incandescent lamps when fully illuminated. Her searchiights are of 38. 000 candle power each and area revelation to the uninitiated when they get flashing about at night The power for all these lights is furnished by compound engines of 50 horsepower, the only ones necessary for a - ship ’thai never leaves her moorings. THE FERBIS WHEEL. Since the 21st of June, when the inauguration ceremonies took place, over 100,000 people have been carried aroundthe wheel, and every day the average is increasing, as people see how completely free from all danger the trip is, and how little the nerves of even the weakest women are taxed by making the revolution. Then all those who have ventured are never weary of tellirfg others what a grept thing it is, and how wonderful it feels to be lifted smoothly in the air 265 foet, feeling little motion and rising out of the dust and heat to where the cool lake breezes fan the cheek, and where a magnificent bird’s eye view of the White City and Lake Michigan

folds itself to the admiring eye. No one ought to miss this view, as it affords the most thorough comprehension of the architectural grandeur and vast size of those wonderful buildings, and this, blended with the other pleasant sensations whjeli the passenger experiences, makes a journey around that vast circle a thing- which no visitor ought to miss. A well-known California gentleman, stepping out of the car the other day after taking a ride in the wheel, remarked to his companion: “I never got more for fifty cents in my life.” ELECTRIC SCENIC THEATER. The Electric Scenic Theater is a leading attraction at the Midway Plaisance. It presents what one would realize during a day in the Alps. Early dawn and sunrise, brilliant daylight, thunder storms, twilight, moonrise and sparkling starlit skies are among the woderfully realistic electric scenes that are presented, accompanied ty Tyrolese yodeling and instrumental music, ft is the most intellectual and absorbingly interesting spectacle in the Plaisance, which no World’s Fair visitor should fail to see,