[Illustration: The dear little thing reminded us of spring rain, and
morning sunshine, and nooks in the woods where the first violets grow.
She is called “Wild Flower.”]
WHAT WE SAW AT
MADAME WORLD’S FAIR
BEING A SERIES OF LETTERS FROM THE
TWINS AT THE PANAMA-PACIFIC
INTERNATIONAL EXPOSITION
TO THEIR COUSINS
AT HOME
BY
ELIZABETH GORDON
AUTHOR OF
“FLOWER CHILDREN”
“BIRD CHILDREN”
ETC.
WITH DRAWINGS BY
BERTHA CORBETT
SAN FRANCISCO:
SAMUEL LEVINSON·PUBLISHER
1915
_Copyright 1915_
by Samuel Levinson
San Francisco:
The Blair-Murdock Company
Printers
CONTENTS
Page
Preface v
A Letter Home 1
Festival Hall 6
The Palace of Varied Industries 9
The Palace of Machinery 12
The Palace of Mines 14
The Palace of Transportation 17
The Palace of Manufactures 20
Our Hostess 23
The Palace of Fine Arts 25
The Palace of Education 28
What We Saw at the Palace of Food Products 31
The Palace of Agriculture 34
The Palace of Liberal Arts 37
The Palace of Horticulture 40
Our First Lesson in Sculpture 43
The Court of the Universe 46
The Court of Abundance 49
The Court of the Four Seasons--The Court of Flowers 52
Mural Paintings 55
What We Did in Italy 58
Our Visit in Tehuantepec 61
Our Visit to Japan 64
Canada the Beautiful 67
Our Chinese Visit 70
More Foreign Travel 73
Our Day in Sweden 76
The Fireworks and Illuminations 79
The Panama Canal Concession 82
Our Day on the Zone 84
[Illustration: PREFACE]
_For many years it has been the dream of Madame World to have a canal
cut through the narrow strip of land between the East and the West, so
that folks might visit each other without having to go so far around._
_Also she thought that one family might have something which another
family might use if there were a short way to send it across._
_And there were other reasons: Families should know each other, and be
able to share each other’s joys and sorrows._
_Madame World said so much about it, that one of her older daughters
tried to get the work done, without success, and, finally, Uncle Sam
said, “Very well, Mother, I believe you are right about this; and though
I am your very youngest son, if you will let me try, I promise you that
I will cut a canal through that swampy back yard of yours, and that
your biggest ships shall float safely through.”_
_Then Madame World said: “Those are brave words, my son, but you have
not taken account of the difficulties in the way. Things called Fevers
lurk in the swamps ready to spring upon you, and there is also a monster
whose name is Malaria.”_
_“Nonsense, Mother mine,” replied Uncle Sam, “those things are born of
Fear, and I do not know Fear and will not listen to him. I will cut the
canal for you.”_
_So Madame World gave her son permission to go to work, and in a short
time the work was finished, and Uncle Sam presented his lady mother with
the Panama Canal._
_Madame World decided to celebrate the event, and sent out invitations
to her families to come to a big party which she would give. She asked
them to bring their families, and their work, and their fruits and
grains, and learn to know each other._
_Then she looked around for a place to picnic, where this big family
could be fed and housed, and where the elements were most friendly._
_Away out on the edge of the Pacific Ocean she saw the golden glow of
California’s magic city of San Francisco, and she said, “These people
have been brave under many difficulties, and they are a faithful people.
They shall have the honor.”_
_So that is why Madame World has given us this big beautiful Fair, which
everybody will always remember. It is the celebration of a dream come
true._
[Illustration: Night Illumination, Tower of Jewels.]
[Illustration: A LETTER HOME.]
DEAR COUSINS:
For weeks and months we had been reading every scrap of information we
could find about the wonderful Fair which was to be given in San
Francisco, the city of our dreams.
We had not even imagined that we could go to it, because mother could
not come until later, and then school would be in session, so when
father said that we might come with him we were more than thankful.
Mother looked a little doubtful, but father said, “Nonsense, it is no
trick at all for me to take them.” Madame World has sent us an
invitation to her Fair and we could not think of refusing. So we came at
once.
We have been so wishing that you could be here with us that father has
suggested that we write you a letter every day, and tell you about some
of the things that we see.
We think it is a good plan, and we shall try to make the letters as full
of interest as possible, in the hope that we may show you something of
it, and at the same time fix it in our own memories.
First, then, this Wonder City by the Sea is a real city, even though it
does, as we heard a lady remark today, look like a poet’s dream.
It has a bank, and a postoffice, a hospital, a fire department, a hotel,
a street car, houses for the different families of the world to live in,
and in fact about everything which any city needs.
The buildings and statuary are made of a kind of cement, called
artificial travertine, tinted to look like terra cotta.
Real travertine is a pure carbonate of lime formed from dripping water
which bears a lime deposit, and is found in Rome, where it is much used
in building and for statuary. The imitation travertine was discovered by
Mr. Paul Denneville of New York, and we have to thank him for the fact
that after all day at the Fair our eyes are not in the least tired; it
is due to the fact that the material is easily tinted, that Mr. Jules
Guerin who composed the color scheme of the whole Fair was able to carry
out his ideas.
You will remember that Mr. Guerin is the man
[Illustration: Madame World has sent us an invitation to her Fair and we
could not think of refusing. So we came at once.]
who makes the color pictures which we have so much admired in the
“Century Magazine.”
The roofs are covered with artificial tiles, and the contrast between
the pinkish walls and the red of the roofs makes a picture which will
never be forgotten.
It seems a pity that the city cannot remain, but it is not built for
permanency, father says, but is like a beautiful dream, which seems so
real that the memory stays always, and that its influence will color our
whole lives, and make each one of us better for having seen it.
And when we got our first glimpse of the Tower! We couldn’t even say
“Oh!” We just looked at each other, and then back at the Fair city, just
to make sure we were not dreaming.
There was the beautiful Tower of Jewels, smiling and twinkling its
shining eyes at us, and saying, “Come in, children; come in, and walk
under my beautiful blue arches, and through my magic courts, and my
sheltered gardens, and be happy, and love each other and all the
children of the world. Peace I offer you, and Plenty, and Harmony, and
Beauty. Here you are safe, and here you are welcome. Come in, my
children.”
So in we went. The sun was shining, the blue waters of the bay were
sparkling, bands were playing, the red and yellow flags were flying in
the sweet salt breezes, and the lovely white pigeons were cooing; and
best of all, little white people, and little brown people, and little
yellow people were here and there and everywhere, all happy and smiling
and glad that they had come.
We will tell you about the Tower. It is Madame World’s expression of joy
and satisfaction that the Canal is finished, and it is really the key to
the whole Fair. Mr. Thomas Hastings of New York designed it. It is four
hundred and forty-three feet in height, and the arch, which is the
gateway to the Fair, is sixty feet wide and one hundred and ten feet
high.
On the pedestals are figures of men who have made the world what it is
today. There are fifty thousand jewels on the Tower, of five
colors--canary, amethyst, ruby, aquamarine, and white. These were made
in Austria, of a peculiar kind of sand which produces a very hard glass,
called Sumatra stone, and which takes a high polish. The jewels were cut
exactly like precious stones, and are called Nova Gems.
These were set in bands of metal, and suspended from hooks, each jewel
with a tiny mirror back of it.
When the winds move the jewels, they catch the light, and sparkle like
real gems.
At night under the illumination of the searchlights the Tower is even
more beautiful than in the sunshine.
We are glad that we are going to have the memory of the Tower to take
away with us.
Your loving cousins,
JANE AND ELLEN.
[Illustration]
FESTIVAL HALL
DEAR COUSINS:
For Music, whom Madame World loves very much, she has provided an
imposing palace worthy indeed for so great a goddess.
It has a wonderful arched entrance, with statues of mythological
meanings, which father explained to us, but we liked best little Pan,
who sits at the left of the entrance. He has charmed with his pipes a
chameleon, who has come to his feet to listen to the music.
We often amuse ourselves by wondering how many panes of glass there are
in the great dome of the hall, but father says there is no way to be
sure.
But it is a very large hall, and will hold about four thousand people,
and is not large enough even at that. Music has so many adorers, many of
whom have made a pilgrimage to hear her, and who dislike being
disappointed.
To this palace will come while the Fair lasts all the worshipers of
Music, and all the world’s great orchestras, with their distinguished
leaders.
Even the Boston Symphony, which so seldom ever leaves its own beloved
city, is here for a season.
The Goddess of Flowers and the Goddess of Music are first cousins, and
so the lovely grounds are always crowded full of the dear little Flower
people, standing on their tiptoes to catch the strains of music as they
float out from the palace.
There are whole fields full of Pansies, in their gorgeous yellow, and
brown and purple dresses, and the golden-hearted Shasta Daisies have
crowded close up to the palace walls. The lovely Lady Hydrangeas, who
wear a different gown for each month in the year, seem eager not to lose
a note, and the dainty Heaths come hurrying and laughing up the walk
from the Avenue of Palms, beckoning the baby Blue Gums across the way to
come closer.
The darling naughty little California Poppies, who always go just where
they please, have simply broken loose and are everywhere you go, while
the Canterbury Bells, little rogues, who were expressly told to stay in
their own back yard, have come out in front and cuddled themselves at
the feet of the Lady Eucalyptus, who has thrown her bluish-green robe
over them, so that they may stay and hear the music.
Everything around Festival Hall is harmonious and beautiful, and the
glorious sunshine is over all, and the salt breezes from the bay, whose
work it is to keep the air always clear and health-giving, are never
idle.
Madame World was a wise mother when she chose this spot for her Fair.
Your loving cousins,
JANE AND ELLEN.
THE PALACE OF VARIED INDUSTRIES
DEAR COUSINS:
The Palace of Varied Industries, where we spend a good deal of time, is
a beautiful building in the old California Mission style, and has some
fine doorways. The statuary used around the building is meant to say
that work is honorable and desirable.
It is wonderful how many kinds of work there are in the world. We never
stopped to think until we came to this Fair, that everything that is
made has first to be thought out. And then all the little things that go
with it have to be thought out, even to a little flower in the wall
paper, or the way icing is put on a cake.
All Madame World’s families have sent samples of work to this palace:
There are the loveliest little hand-knitted sweater dresses for children
from the Argentine, laces from Spain, cocoanut fibre hats from the
Philippine Islands, wood-carvings from Switzerland, and some equally as
pretty from South Carolina made by boys in a private school.
Mrs. Adelaide Robineau has some wonderful porcelains from Syracuse, New
York, which are very beautiful.
We admired the jewelry; there are gems of all sorts in hand-wrought
mountings, both ancient and modern.
There are wonderful opals, tinted like the gleam in a bubble, some very
lustrous pearls, which you would think were worth the king’s ransom
which you always read about in stories, but which are made from the
scales of a little three-inch fish found in Russian waters.
We nearly forgot to tell you about the silkworm exhibition. It was the
thing we liked best in the whole palace. The silkworms eat a very great
amount of mulberry leaves, and are most inexcusably particular about
their diet, and when they are ready they go into their cocoons, and that
is the last of them.
Only a few are allowed to become butterflies, but they are not pretty
butterflies, anyway. When they have spun enough, and just before they
would hatch and spoil the silk, they are sterilized, and then the silk
can be unwound. They were doing that when we saw them, and they have a
delicate machine which winds the silk into nice soft yellow skeins,
ready to be woven. It is one of California’s new industries, and will be
more profitable as time goes on.
There are so many things to choose from, we are not able as yet to
decide what we shall do.
Your loving cousins,
JANE AND ELLEN.
[Illustration: Palace of Machinery.]
THE PALACE OF MACHINERY
DEAR COUSINS:
The Palace of Machinery is just across the Avenue of Progress from the
Palace of Mines, and is an imposing building of great beauty, as befits
a god of so much power and importance. It covers nine acres of ground,
and seems to suggest strength. Father tells us that it is the largest
wooden structure in the world. He says that six million feet of lumber
were required for sheathing it and four carloads of nails and fifteen
hundred tons of bolts and washers were used in building it.
We found many things of interest--machines for drilling oil wells, and
machines for refining the oil, machines for crushing great rocks, and
machines for making roads. There were canning machines, gas engines,
giant printing-presses, bookbinding machinery and all sorts of
electrical devices. Father says that every machinery appliance that has
been invented is shown here in completest detail.
There was a knife in one exhibit which opened and shut all by itself; it
was a giant knife, and we said to each other that perhaps a gnome was
making it open and shut. A little boy who was near said, “Aw! Sillies!
It goes by machinery!” So then, of course, we knew!
There were some moving-picture machines in the palace, but we did not
see them work, and we are going back there some day. In all the palaces
they have wonderful “movies,” and sometimes we go to them while father
looks at things.
We find that it is better not to get too tired, so we went and sat in
the Avenue of Progress and listened to a band which was playing, until
father came out, and then we came home. It was a heavy day, seeing so
much massive machinery, and we were a little tired, but very glad that
we had seen it all.
Your loving cousins,
JANE AND ELLEN.
THE PALACE OF MINES
DEAR COUSINS:
The Palace of Mines is a most interesting Palace, built in the Spanish
style, with some very fine doorways or portals.
Inside we found so many things of interest that we were quite surprised,
as we had not expected to be so very much interested in mines. Father
says that we came to this Fair to learn about the things in it, and
mines are very important. We began to think he was right, when we saw
the two big balls of gold which show where the most gold comes from, and
how much is mined every year.
Gold mines are not the only kind that are valuable. So many things come
from mines which we had never even wondered about before, that we wonder
now at our former ignorance. Jewels of every kind come from the
ground--lovely opals and diamonds, and our birthstone--the purple
amethyst--and rubies, and everything but pearls. It is wonderful to
think of, isn’t it? We were invited to go down in a coal mine, not a
real one, of course, but one which shows just how it looks. It was a bit
scary down there; and always after this when we are sitting before a
glowing coal fire, and perhaps popping corn over it, we shall remember
that some one went down in a dark coal mine and dug it out for us.
Father says that the Fair teaches us great lessons, and the best among
them is to be kinder to each other.
When we came up from the coal mine we were taken into a dark room, like
the ones which photographers have, and shown some radium. You have to
use a sort of telescope glass, and shut one eye, and look through the
lens, and there it is hopping about in the box just as though it did not
enjoy a bit being shut up in there. Being so little of it in the world
it is tremendously expensive.
We were glad to see that there are all sorts of ways to keep the men who
work in mines well and happy now, at least compared to what there used
to be, and the motto “Safety First” is all over everywhere.
The machinery for working the mines was interesting to father, but it
was a little too heavy for us, so just to help us to remember that we
had seen the Palace of Mines we went to a coal-mining “movie.” After
that we went and sat in the North Gardens and watched the ships go by
until father came for us. The bay is very beautiful, and we just adore
the sea-gulls. They were having a lawn party that day.
Your loving cousins,
JANE AND ELLEN.
[Illustration: THE PALACE OF TRANSPORTATION.]
DEAR COUSINS:
There are so many fascinating ways to travel now that we wonder why
anyone stays at home.
Father observed today that if we were to travel in other countries for
the same length of time that this Fair is to be kept open, that we could
not possibly learn so much about the manners and customs of the people
as we can by seeing the Fair. He says it is a privilege to have seen it,
because before we are grown up there will not be another, and children
remember such things so much more vividly than grown-up people do.
Today we went to the Palace of Transportation. Even Alaska is there with
some fine canoes and paddles, and models of steamships.
The Philippine Islands, Uncle Sam’s little brown children of the seas,
have sent an interesting means of transportation, in the shape of a
water caribou and cart. The ox has immense horns which spread out on
each side of his head, and measure about five feet in length. They must
be heavy to carry.
Contrasting with that are the great engines of our own railroads,
turning majestically on the turn-tables, which illustrate how men can
handle such monsters.
There are aeroplanes and automobiles of the very latest models. Here
again we were reminded that the ideas shown are all new ones, and we
should think that Madame World would consider that her families are very
bright children.
We went up on the deck of a big liner, and were quite fascinated with
the dear little rooms, with the twin beds, and pink and blue cretonne
furnishings.
We wrote a letter to mother on one of the dear little desks in the room
we are going abroad in some day.
Some English cars are shown, and we did not think we should care for
them, as one has to be really shut up in the compartment until it gets
to the next station; and if you do not happen to own it all, some one
whom you do not care about may be in there, and it seemed to us that it
would be unpleasant.
We do not wish to appear unduly patriotic, but we have seen nothing as
yet which convinces us that there is any place better than our own land.
But father says that every one feels that way, and of course it is very
proper.
Your loving cousins,
JANE AND ELLEN.
THE PALACE OF MANUFACTURES
DEAR COUSINS:
We went across the Court of Flowers, stopping to admire the darling
pansies, to the Palace of Manufactures.
This, again, is in Spanish Renaissance style, and has a figure of
Victory on the gables, another reminder that we have been victorious
with the Canal.
One of the interesting things we saw here was rope-making. A large
Colonial mansion has been made of rope, the big cable kind, with pillars
and all. It was clean-looking and very ingenious. The rope is made from
the wild banana plant which grows in the Philippine Islands and does not
look as though it were good for anything. They also make rope of a plant
called “sisal,” which is a cactus plant, and grows wild in Mexico.
At this place a variety of small tools had been made into a wonderful
waterfall, something like Niagara, only not so large, and a ship was
running on the river above the falls which did not look very safe to us;
it might be drawn over, we thought, but nothing happened. A very
life-like snake made of steel ran across the bank every few moments. The
boys seemed to enjoy it very much.
There was also a fountain made of wire, playing in the yard, and it
looked very much like water if you wanted to help out by some pretend.
A little Japanese girl in this palace is making hats all the time, but
she does not get tired because she is just a little statue, or figure,
in a glass case, but she shows how the work is done as well as though
she were alive, but you miss her smile.
Broom-making is also interesting, and we watched it until we could
almost make a broom. First the man takes a handful of broom straw, and
puts it in a machine, which does something to it, and gives it back.
Then he passes it on to another man, and he puts it in another machine,
and before you know it there is a regular broom, like your mother sends
you to the grocery for.
I have always thought it would be better to take the seeds out of the
broom and plant them and raise one’s own brooms, but I know better now.
The straw is put in hot water first, and so, of course, the seeds would
not grow. Besides, one would have to buy a machine.
A wonderful machine from Switzerland was making hand-made embroidery, or
some that looked just as well, and we wished that you might see it.
It appealed to us, because to stay in the house and embroider has never
seemed to us to be worth while, although we do like pretty things. Men
do the work with this machine, and they have a pattern of the flower
they are putting on the work pinned on the wall in front of them. I am
quite sure brother would let us go without embroidery before he would
stay in and do it.
We wouldn’t mind a bit cutting and making doll clothes from the darling
paper patterns that we saw, if they would lend us a sewing-machine.
But we didn’t ask to do it.
Your loving cousins,
JANE AND ELLEN.
OUR HOSTESS
DEAR COUSINS:
Of course not every one could come to this party, no matter how much
they might wish to, so there are several States which have no mansion at
the Fair.
California had thought about that, and so built a much larger house than
she would have needed for her own people, that those having no State
house might feel perfectly at home.
She is always a most delightful hostess, and makes one visiting her feel
so welcome and comfortable that the visit is never forgotten. Her
beautiful mansion is made after the old Mission style, with a bell
tower, and bells, and lots and lots of room in it--parlors, cafes and
rest rooms, and a lovely ballroom where the grown-ups may amuse
themselves.
We go over to California’s house when we are tired, because our State is
one of those which has no house, and one day while father was visiting
with some friends we went in the secret gardens and waited for him. It
is a lovely place, with old acacia trees in it, and a clipped Monterey
pine hedge around it, and a wishing well in the middle.
It was so still and sort of whispery in there that we began to feel like
children in a story, so we pretended that we were captive maidens in an
enchanted garden. Whenever we tried to get out, the place where the gate
was a moment before was just solid hedge. We despaired! An enchanted
pigeon flew down from the blue sky! We implored her aid! So she flew
away, and then father came. We know now that we shall be famous
story-writers.
In the counties’ annex, California shows that she is a whole world all
by herself. Each county has sent of her treasures, and the fruits are as
golden as the real gold which is found here.
If there were nothing else to be seen at the Fair, it would still be
worth while to have come to see California, whose blue skies and golden
fields are always smiling. No one has ever seen a frown on California’s
face,--not all over at one time. We love you, California!
Your loving cousins,
JANE AND ELLEN.
[Illustration: Colonnade of The Palace of Fine Arts reflected in the
Lagoon.]
THE PALACE OF FINE ARTS
DEAR COUSINS:
We fear that we are not old enough to write to anyone about the Palace
of Fine Arts, it is so wonderful, especially when it is reflected in the
little lake where the swans live.
We got our first glimpse of it in the lake, and we almost thought we
must have gone to Greece, and had not heard about it yet, because it
looked like something out of our Greek book.
We walked around among the lovely trees, and went in and stood in the
colonnade. It was so still and hushed, and different from the rest of
the palaces, that it made us feel peaceful and holy, like going to
early-morning service on Easter Day.
The galleries were a bit bewildering to us, there were so many pictures,
but we wandered around by ourselves, and found some fascinating screens
of lovely Chinese cats, and roosters, which we understood. There were
more of our Swedish snow pictures, and away down in a little room at the
end we found some miniatures which we loved. It made us feel quite
acquainted and welcome to find a miniature called “A Mountain Lassie”
which was painted by Bertha Corbett Melcher, our own dear Sunbonnet
Babies lady.
We wandered out in the grounds to wait for father, and there among the
shrubbery we found the darlingest little Pan, with his pipes. We stayed
with him a long time. Janet Scudder sculped him. Then we came to the
very prettiest thing we have found at the Fair--a dear little child
figure, standing on tiptoe, with her hands outstretched to us, and her
baby face full of joy, as though she had just seen the world for the
first time and loved it. She is called “Wild Flower” and was made by
Edward Berge. The dear little thing reminded us of spring rain, and
morning sunshine, and nooks in the woods where the first violets grow.
There is another figure by Mr. Berge, called “Boy and Frog,” and many
other dear little baby figures which we did not have time to learn
about, because it was time to go home.
Father was pleased that we had found something to interest us. We
intend to study the Expression of Art, because we feel so much better in
our hearts when we find some beautiful thing which we can understand.
Your loving cousins,
JANE AND ELLEN.
[Illustration: Western Façade, Palace of Education, Looking across Fine
Arts Lagoon.]
THE PALACE OF EDUCATION
DEAR COUSINS:
The Palace of Education has a most beautiful entrance, which is as it
should be, because education is the most necessary thing in the world.
Father says that we do not at all realize our blessings because things
are made so easy for us. He says that he and Mr. Abraham Lincoln did not
have things so easy.
But it could not have been so bad, because see what splendid men they
both grew up! We found so many things of interest that we could not
begin to tell you about them. But the thing which most interested us was
the vocational schools which Massachusetts was showing.
Their motto, “Earning while learning,” does seem so sensible. They
explain that there will always be some children who will have to help
support themselves, and so Massachusetts, like Sentimental Tommy, has
found a way.
The children go to school one week, and work in a factory the next week,
turn and turn about. Massachusetts has a large number of factories and
so can make an arrangement of this sort, but she believes that other
communities have some industries which could furnish work for children.
Another school idea appealed to us more: We do not like to think of
other little children having to work when we have so many good times,
and we hope that there will be found a way, very soon, so that they need
not do it.
But the idea is this, and it also belongs to Massachusetts: They build a
schoolhouse in the center of say twenty-five miles of country. They put
teachers there, but no pupils. The whole radius of twenty-five miles is
the school. If a boy over fourteen, who has attended regular school up
to that time, wishes to start a business, so that he can both earn and
learn, whether it is chicken-raising, carpentering, fruit-growing,
dairying, anything which he can do in the country, he becomes a pupil in
the school, and is entitled to one visit a week from a teacher, who will
not only show him how to do the work, but will instruct him how to
market his wares. He is expected to keep along in regular school work as
well, so that when he is twenty-one he will have a business, and some
money in the bank. Father said that was real common sense applied. There
are also schools in home-making, where any girl from seven to seventy
years of age can learn all about housekeeping, and taking care of
children. We saw some lovely leather bags made by the high school pupils
of Minneapolis, which father said were worthy of skilled workmen.
We have not yet decided upon a life work, but we are going to learn to
make gingerbread and jam, currant jam.
Your loving cousins,
JANE AND ELLEN.
[Illustration]
WHAT WE SAW AT THE PALACE OF FOOD PRODUCTS
DEAR COUSINS:
Fronting on the Esplanade we found the Food Products Palace. Madame
World considers that it is most important that the Spirit of Plenty, who
rules food production, should have a palace worthy of her august
Highness.
They were cooking so many things, and showing such quantities of food
that it was most surprising. We were offered almost everything to eat
that we had ever heard of, and some that we did not know existed. We
were willing to sample them all, but father said that he did not believe
we had better try to eat in so many languages. So we just had an oatmeal
scone, and some puffed rice, and some Chinese cookies, a cup of
chocolate, and a bit of biscuit, and a few other little things, but the
others all looked good.
A lady has the most fascinating display of flowers made out of butter,
red roses, and yellow roses, and water-lilies, and tulips, all growing
on a lattice work inside her refrigerator. The colored flowers may be
eaten because it is all colored with pure food colors. You could not
tell that the flowers were not real, they look as though they grew
there. She must have a lovely soul.
We wandered around to see the Aquarium. The fishes are lovely; we wish
they did not have to be called Food Products. The Shovel-nosed Sturgeon
is very probably a cousin to old Mr. Alligator, because he looks like
him. He has the same bony humps on his back, and his head is shaped
almost the same.
The Gar Pike looks like a submarine, and holds his body very rigidly,
swimming only with his fins. He is grey and looks very cool and calm.
In one pool with some big blue Catfishes were some Salamanders, with
funny furry tufts on their heads. They were lazy and would not get up.
They resemble lizards. There was a whole tank of lovely Golden Perch
from Catalina. They have faces with real foreheads, and a very bored and
haughty expression. There were also some lovely Rainbow Trout from
Canada’s mountain streams.
We were much interested in the fish-hatching processes. The eggs are
kept under running water on a sort of griddle or coarse net, and when
one little wiggly fellow comes out he uncoils and is long instead of
round as he was in the egg, and so he drops down into the bottom of the
tank, and begins to be a fish. He carries the rest of the egg around
with him for a few days so that he need not be hungry until he has
absorbed the nutrition it gives him.
Fishes do not care much about their relations except for dinner, as they
are real cannibals. I suppose they do not know any better, but it seems
unfortunate. I fear we neglected the rest of the palace.
Your loving cousins,
JANE AND ELLEN.
[Illustration: THE PALACE OF AGRICULTURE]
DEAR COUSINS:
We went around through the Court of the Universe, and across the Aisle
of the Setting Sun to the Palace of Agriculture, which is very beautiful
indeed.
We suppose that Madame World wished to do all the honor possible to the
Goddess of Agriculture, as she is a most useful goddess, and the world
could not do without her, because she has to furnish food for all the
earth.
We get used to taking things very much for granted, and do not seem to
be interested in where things come from, and so that is why such a Fair
as this is useful. It lets us know to whom we are indebted for the
things we eat. Iowa had a real mountain of corn, lovely golden corn, and
Vermont had real maple sugar to eat on the Johnnie cake the corn would
make.
North Carolina and South Carolina send us rice, and Cuba sends us
coffee, and South America sends fruits and also coffee, China sends tea
and preserved ginger and funny nuts, and California and Florida give us
oranges and grapefruit and strawberries, and almost everything good to
eat, and the Philippines send us cocoanuts and Hawaii sends pineapples.
Did you know that peanuts grow on a vine in the ground, and that bananas
do not grow on a tree but on a tall ferny-looking thing which is not a
tree, and pineapples grow on short plants which are set out every year?
It takes a long time for the pineapple to perfect itself, but we did not
learn just how long.
A gentleman from Cuba showed us a collection of fruit which is grown in
that island, including the avocado, or alligator pear. It is a very
wonderful fruit, and there is a tree in Southern California which is
insured for thirty thousand dollars.
But the big red apples from Oregon were of more interest to us, because
we know that we like those, and do not have to take any risks. And the
lovely juicy golden oranges of California are good enough for us. But we
liked to see all the things that have grown from the ground, because we
can never quite understand the marvel of it--how a little seed knows
quite well what it is going to be when it comes up. We know, because we
planted some lettuce one year and it came up turnips. It said lettuce
on the paper, but the seeds knew all the time that they were no such
thing.
We could not be deceived like that again, because we know the difference
now between lettuce and turnip seed.
We asked father if he did not think that Madame World should be very
proud of her children, and he said yes, he did think so, and also that
it was a great privilege to belong to her.
Father says such wise things!
Your loving cousins,
JANE AND ELLEN.
[Illustration]
THE PALACE OF LIBERAL ARTS
DEAR COUSINS:
As we went in the door of the Liberal Arts father called our attention
to the doorway, and also to the panel, representing the making of things
which we use, and the figure of the lady with the spindle, and the man
with the hammer.
These were made by Mr. Mahonri Young of Salt Lake City, Utah, and are
meant to show that work is honorable and desirable.
All the ideas shown in this building are not more than ten years old, or
if older they have been greatly improved in that time.
The telephone, for instance, has been so much improved that it is very
much more practical. We were allowed to hear a telephone message from
New York the other day, and shown movies of how they put the poles and
wires over the mountains. It was like magic. Now comes along a machine,
which we were shown in the Palace of Liberal Arts, which really is a
wizardry sort of thing, as it takes your message if you telephone when
your friend is out, and repeats it to him in your own voice when he
returns. We know because we tried it. The man asked us to speak into the
telephone, and then let us hold the machine to our ears and it spoke
right back to us. We have always thought such a machine would be a help,
especially if we wanted to stay at grandmother’s for supper, and could
not get mother on the ’phone.
Bookbinding appeals to us very much indeed, because it is so smooth and
shows that one has taken pains with the work, and perhaps we shall
become bookbinders. A lady had some beautiful leather bindings there,
and she was most kind about explaining.
We thought we would like one of the dear little cameras that go in a
hand-bag, and take little bits of pictures which afterward grow into big
ones, but father said we must wait for that. So we went to see the
apparatus for taking the “movies,” and also looked at the lovely
autochromes. It is too bad that they will not reprint in color, but
before the next ten years of course they will.
We wonder if you have seen the new lawn sprinkler which jumps around
from one place to another on the lawn. When we went home today we saw it
at work out in the lawns, and we could scarcely believe our eyes. It
sprinkled one place until it thought, apparently, that it was wet
enough, and then it bobbed out of sight and came up about ten feet away,
working like mad. Really if you did not know about it, it would make you
think you were asleep and dreaming a fairy story.
Your loving cousins,
JANE AND ELLEN.
[Illustration: Palace of Horticulture, looking across the Great South
Gardens.]
THE PALACE OF HORTICULTURE
DEAR COUSINS:
Horticulture, as you know, is the art of making things grow, like grass
and flowers and blooming trees and shrubs, which add so much to the
beauty of the world.
The Goddess of Horticulture, whose name is Flora, should be very happy
in the palace which Madame World has provided for her at the Fair,
because it is extremely beautiful.
Madame values the goddess Flora very highly, and loves her dearly,
because she knows what a very different place this world would be
without her.
Her palace at the Fair has a wonderful dome, where the sun shines in all
day, and several smaller domes, so that the palace is always light and
cheerful.
A perfect thicket of trees and shrubs and flowers surround it, seeming
to peep in at their less hardy sisters who live inside the palace.
The wonder worker among flowers and fruits and vegetables, Mr. Luther
Burbank, has his headquarters at the Fair, and will be happy to tell any
one just how to create new flowers and fruits, and give advice on
gardening.
We wanted to ask him why he wanted a red poppy instead of a golden one,
but we did not. We love the poppies golden just as they are, and we did
not a single bit like the nasturtium-colored ones we saw there. But of
course we are only children, and he is very wise.
The people from the Netherlands have a great garden of bulb plants in
the grounds, and the Japanese people have cherry, plum, and other
ornamental trees, as well as rare flowers.
A gardener told father that the great eucalyptus trees and the
cypresses--many of them sixty feet tall--had been brought down from a
park and put there around the walls of the palace. We wondered how they
liked being transplanted.
But they were playing quite happily with the little winds from the ocean
and seemed quite contented. The gardener told us that they were going
back home after the Fair is over, so perhaps they had heard.
We are planning a garden for next year. We shall have heaps of poppies.
Your loving cousins,
JANE AND ELLEN.
OUR FIRST LESSON IN SCULPTURE
DEAR COUSINS:
When we had looked, and looked, and looked at the Tower, and had almost
counted every jewel on it, we were so delighted with it, father called
our attention to the Fountain of Energy, made by Mr. A. Stirling Calder,
and told us about its meaning, or symbolism.
The sculptor means to convey the idea that the Canal has been finished
because of the pluck and energy and courage of our nation, and that now
we are going on to better things.
The queer sea creatures at the base of the fountain are supposed to be
carrying on their backs the four oceans, the North and South Arctic, and
the Atlantic and Pacific.
The figure of the man on the horse certainly looks very animated, and we
supposed that the figures standing on his shoulders are heralds who are
to clear the way for him.
Near Horticultural Hall in the South Gardens, at the left of the
Fountain of Energy, is a Mermaid Fountain by Mr. Arthur Putnam, which is
repeated at the right in front of Festival Hall. That gives you a
picture of the tower and what we saw from the main gate as we went in.
Father said that as we had made so good a start, it would be wise to
keep on with sculpture for the rest of the day. He pointed out to us the
figure of Victory, which has been placed on each one of the palaces, and
then took us to the Court of Palms to see Mr. James Earle Fraser’s “The
End of the Trail.” We felt just how tired both man and horse were, and
felt sorry for them both. We asked father why they had come so far to
get themselves exhausted like that, and he again told us something of
symbolism.
The statue is intended to represent the redman, and denotes that the
race is vanishing, and is supposed to be studied in connection with the
“Pioneer,” Mr. Solon Borglum’s very fine statue in the Court of Flowers.
That is meant to say that the white race will take up the work of
progress and carry it on. We completed the lesson by going to see the
Column of Progress at the end of the Court of the Universe. The
bas-relief, that means the flat figures on the surface, by Mr. Isadore
Konti, show men have striven for the best in life. The group at the top
of the column, by Mr. Hermon A. McNeil, is a great work, father says,
and is meant to express the idea of effort.
The artist has also expressed the thought that no man can accomplish
anything alone, but must have the love and support of his fellow beings.
We think that is a beautiful thought.
Your loving cousins,
JANE AND ELLEN.
THE COURT OF THE UNIVERSE
DEAR COUSINS:
While we were in the Court of the Universe, father thought we had better
have another lesson on sculpture.
He considers that the fountains of The Rising Sun and Descending Night
are the very finest things at the Fair, and he has traveled abroad and
is a good judge. They are the work of Adolph A. Weinman. Father wants us
to put in the names of sculptors and artists not because he expects us
to remember them just now, but because big brother will want to know.
The very big groups on the triumphal arches attracted our attention, and
we asked about them and what they were supposed to mean. Everything
about the Fair has some meaning, but we do not expect to get it all. The
group with the elephant and the Oriental gentlemen represents Eastern
civilization on the way to meet Western civilization, which is
represented by the group on the other arch--that with the prairie
schooner drawn by oxen, and the figure of the Alaskan woman.
The Spirit of the East marching to meet The Spirit of the West is meant
to typify the meeting of the world’s families now that the Canal has
been completed.
The groups are the work of A. Stirling Calder, Leo Lentelli, and
Frederick G. R. Roth.
Father liked very much the “Hopes of the Future” and “The Mother of
Tomorrow,” two of Mr. Calder’s best things, in the group.
We liked, especially after the lights were on, the figures representing
stars, of which so many are used in the avenue leading north.
Mr. Robert I. Aitken has four good figures in this court, and in the
evening when the lights were on and the vapor was rising from the urns
it looked like a story out of the Arabian Nights.
The flowers are lovely, and you never for a moment feel away from home,
because all the courts are so homey-feeling, just like one’s own garden.
Father said after awhile that he thought it would be well for us to see
something that we could really understand, and so he took us over to see
Edith Woodman Burroughs’ dear little figure of “Youth” which she has
made for a fountain. We just loved it, it looks so girly, and we were
also much interested in the Fountain of Eldorado by Mrs. Whitney,
because we have read the story about Ponce de Leon.
It would be nice to be a sculptor if one were a boy, unless one could be
an aviator.
Your loving cousins,
JANE AND ELLEN.
[Illustration: Youth.]
[Illustration: THE COURT OF ABUNDANCE]
DEAR COUSINS:
We are very happy and cheerful children--we have often heard people say
so--but behind our smiling faces lies the deep and consuming sorrow that
we have not a brother of our own age.
We can never understand why kind Providence did not create us triplets
instead of twins and make one-third of us boy! It would have made no
difference to kind Providence, and would have been much better for us.
We have never needed a brother as much as we do in seeing this Fair,
though of course we say nothing to father about it as we realize that he
is doing his best for us, but he so often has to leave us while he
attends to some business or other, and then it is we feel the need of a
brother of our own age. An older one would be of no use, as our
fifteen-year-old one is not any good to us. He says he has interests of
his own.
We were waiting in the Court of Abundance today for father, and were
having a lovely time pretending that the lanterns between the arches
were the homes of the light fairies, which would come out after the sun
went away, and waving their golden wands would say, “Let there be
light,” and there would be light, and that the color fairies would come
down from the pictures and dance with the light fairies, and goodness
only knows what we might not have accomplished in the way of a six best
seller when a young sparrow fell out of his nest. He was disturbed about
it, very naturally, but we were so sorry for him that we could not go on
with our pretend. If we had had a brother of course he could have
climbed up and put the poor little thing back, but a guard came and got
him, and while of course we shall never know what happened, we have our
fears.
Father came just then and we asked him if he wanted to give us a lesson,
and he remarked that he feared the Court of Abundance was almost too big
for a couple of ten-year-old tots to get much out of except perhaps
fresh air and incipient inspiration. That cannot be as serious as it
sounds, because we are sure father would not expose us to anything, but
we shall look up “incipient” as soon as we get home.
We stayed down and saw the lights this evening and when the vapor is
rising from the urns and the serpents are writhing, or at least seeming
to, and all the lanterns are lighted, it looks like something out of our
Arabian Nights’ book.
We shall try to finish our little play sometime, when the sparrows have
taught their young ones to fly properly.
Your loving cousins,
JANE AND ELLEN.
[Illustration: Night Illumination--Niche in the Court of the Four
Seasons.]
THE COURT OF THE FOUR SEASONS--THE COURT OF FLOWERS
DEAR COUSINS:
We love the Court of the Four Seasons, by Mr. Henry Bacon. It is so
homey and lovely in there that we feel that we could be perfectly happy
all day and every day in there. We like to hear the birds talking about
their nests, and how many eggs there are now, and when the young ones
are going to have their first flying lesson. We love also Ceres, the
Goddess of Agriculture, who is standing on a pedestal on top of the
lovely fountain. Mrs. Evelyn Longman is the lady who made it. The young
ladies who dance around the base of the pedestal are so happy that you
almost expect them to join hands and jump down and dance on the grass.
Mr. Albert Jaegers’ Feast of the Sacrifice is in this court also, but we
did not care so much about the symbolism of that. The artist has made
it seem so real that we are sorry for the poor animal, which we are sure
does not wish to be sacrificed.
But when we are in this lovely court it is impossible not to be happy,
so we enjoy the flowers, and the statuary without thinking too much of
what the symbolism is. Father says that we can think of that later, when
we are older.
The Fountain of the Earth is in this court, and we like to watch the
play of the water over the dome of the fountain.
In front of the Court of Flowers stands “The American Pioneer,” by Mr.
Solon Borglum, which we like very much, because it looks like something
out of our story books, which is not a very good reason, father says,
because it is meant to show that these fine old men and women came first
and made a way for us, and if they had not, we should have no beautiful
Fair today.
This court is supposed to be the Court of Oriental Fairy Tales, but so
far we have not met any one whom we know especially, except “Beauty and
the Beast,” by Edgar Walters, and they do not seem quite in the right
place.
Mr. Calder’s Flower Girls, with their garlands, make the place seem very
gay and happy, but the real flowers were what we liked best, and we
could sit for hours and hours in this beautiful spot, watching the big
butterflies flitting over the pansy beds, and the bronze, ruby-throated
humming-birds flashing like jewels escaped from the Tower.