The next day, when the "Alley L" road let them off at the station next
to the electric road, they decided to ride around and view the "White
City" from that elevated position. The intramural road is about three
miles around, and makes the trip in seventeen minutes. It was like going
around the world in that time, so much was to be seen on either side.
The four made a fine picture of age and youth gathering mental breadth
from this great exhibition of human wisdom and achievement. They passed
around the west end of Machinery hall and along the south side of it,
then between the Agricultural annex and the stock pavilion. Here they
emerged into what seemed to be the waste yard of the Exposition, debris
of all kinds, beer houses, lunch rooms, hundreds of windmills flying in
the breeze and heavily loaded cars, back of which could be seen bonfires
of waste materials, these making a striking contrast to the white beauty
and massive art on the opposite side of the car.
The queer looking Forestry building flew by, the leather exhibit was
passed, and the train ran around a station not far from the Krupp gun
works. They had not yet made the grand tour of the grounds, but another
investment in tickets sent them back again, the way they had come, on
the parallel track. When they reached the west side they looked away
from the massive buildings across Stony Island avenue at the amusing
medley of hotels, booths for lunches, and tents for blue snakes, sea
monsters, and fat women strung along the front. Little merry-go-rounds
buzzed like tops in cramped corners between pine lemonade stands and
cheap shooting-galleries. Looking eastward, the eye rests with
satisfaction upon the gilded satin of the Administration dome, and then
it may take an observation to the westward of a flaunting placard:
|-------------------------|
| _Four Tintypes |
| for Twenty-five Cents_ |
|-------------------------|
Back of the sandwich counters and fortune-telling booths are stored the
World's Fair hotels, looking like overgrown store boxes, with holes
punched in them.
The train flew on, and uncle saw little of the outside because of his
interest in the strange machinery that was propelling them forward. The
engineer pulled a lever and then there was a buzz and a whirr; another
lever was turned, and the car would come to a standstill at some
station. It was amazing to see such simple movements by one man control
such unseen energy. From the farm to the Exposition grounds was as
marvelous a change as from one world to another, and to the simple
genius of rural work it was like going from the peaceful valley to the
mysteries beyond the clouds.
Past the Esquimau village, the richly varied city of state and foreign
buildings came into view. All the varieties of architectural genius from
the different countries of the world appeared one after another and it
was easy to imagine a flight of incredible speed all over the earth. The
terminal station at the northeast was reached and uncle wanted to ride
back again. In this way the panorama of the great Fair was quite well
fixed in their minds when they descended from the southeast station at
the entrance of Agricultural hall. For once Uncle felt at home when he
walked into that paradise of grass and grain.
[Illustration: "HE STOOD CHEWING A WISP OF HAY."]
"Every body but me and Sarah can scatter and we'll all meet at the far
end of this house, or if not there at the south side of the Sixty-third
street gate at six o'clock." Fanny and Johnny took Uncle at his word and
were soon strolling among the booths, but they were more intent upon
watching the maneuvers of the various types of people than of observing
what the earth is able to produce out of its soil. They heard a band
playing somewhere in the distance and they moved on that way.
As a curious observer of this moving world, Fanny made note of the many
interesting exhibitions about her of country ignorance and enthusiasm.
At one place she stopped near a tall, lank farmer, whose cowhide boots
had left their massive imprint on every roadway on the grounds. He stood
chewing a wisp of hay plucked from an exhibit, while he gazed in delight
at the harvesters, plows and sheaves of wheat which stretched away
before him in an endless vista.
"Wall, I swan," he at length confided to the dignified guard, who stood
like a sign-post near the door, "this 'ere's the only thing I've seed
'minded me of hum. Bin tramping raound these 'ere grounds, scence 7
o'clock, b'gosh, an' ain't seen a blamed thing did my ole heart so much
good as this show right here. By George! wish I'd a struck this buildin'
fust thing I come in. Would a saved me a power of walkin'. Say, had a
great show out our way a spell ago. Had a corn palace--Sioux City, you
know. Be they goin' to have a corn palace at this 'ere fair?"
The guard unbent enough to guess not.
"Sho! y' don't say so. Wall, that's curious. Corn palace out to hum was
the biggest show ever give out that way. And crowd! Say, I'll bet a
nickel I've seed as many as hundreds of people thar in one day. In one
day, reclect, all just looking at that there corn palace. Wonder these
fellows didn't think of that. Would a drawd all the folks from out in
our section, shore. Tell you what I don't like about this show," he went
on, waxing confidential, "Too much furrin stuff here. Don't see nothing
from Keokuk, Sioux City, Independence or even old Davenport. But all
London and Berlin and Paris, and all them other places where they's
kings and things. Ought to a give the folks here more of a show, b'gosh,
same as we did out to hum. Why, they wasn't none of this statoo stuff
thar, I tell you. Wasn't no picters and the like of that. What good is
them picters over there, I'd like to know? Why, some on 'em, the folks
ain't got a stitch of clothes on 'em, and you couldn't hang them air
picters in a barn. Ought to have more of these things here--oats and
wheat and seedin' machines. Them's what people want to see. And say, I
was daown here below this mornin', and by gum, I seed the damdest
lookin' fellows I ever seen in all my born days. They was heathen Turks,
I reckon, with rags round their heads and wimmin's clo'es on all o' 'em.
I was a-scared to stay there, b'gosh, and I jest lit out, I tell ye.
Well, I'm goin' through here and see what you've got, but I jest tell
you this is the part of this show that'll do. Yes, sir." And the rural
visitor stalked away.
In less than two hours the brother and sister had reached the west
doorway, but uncle and aunt were nowhere to be seen. Then they went up
into the gallery to hear the musicians again. It was very evident that
Agricultural hall had swallowed their grandparents for that day and the
grandchildren were left to shift for themselves. It was now past noon
and they were both hungry enough to welcome the first lunch counter they
could find. One o'clock found them again wandering listlessly about the
gallery absorbed in the sights about them.
_CHAPTER IV_