[257] - Among the features which distinguish the Columbian from all former international expositions are the scope and character of its Woman�s department; and among the most pleasing exhibits of that department is the building which contains them. For the first time in World�s Fair annals, as I have said, a special edifice has been devoted to the purposes of that department, or rather to a portion of its purposes, for, side by side, not only in the great temples of industry, but in state and foreign pavilions, are specimens of male and female workmanship. For the first time also has been designed by a woman a structure fashioned for such uses.

In the plan of this building we have the result of a national competition, but of competition only among women, the choice being made from a large number of designs, not a few of which were of unquestionable merit. The successful candidate was Sophia G. Hayden, a graduate of the architectural school of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; and in the evolution of her scheme she has presented a neat and artistic solution of one of the most difficult problems of the Fair. In this building must be contained, not only a general and retrospective display of woman's work, whether in our own or foreign lands, but space must be provided for the exhibits of charitable and reformatory organizations, for a library, and assembly-room, for parlors, committee rooms, and administration and other purposes. All this must be accomplished in a space 400 feet long by half that width, adjacent to the Midway plaisance and the Horticultural Hall.

Selected for its skill of detail no less than for its grace and harmony of design, this composition is the work of a professional architect, and not, as some would have us believe, of an architectural scholar; for if Miss Hayden was before unknown to the profession, she has here given proof that she is far above amateur rank. If in her design its feminine features are somewhat pronounces, that is as it should be. As one of her brother architects observes, "It is proper that such a building should take its place with the other architectural productions in Jackson Park, and it is eminently proper that the exposition of woman's work should be housed in a building in which a certain delicacy and elegance of general treatment, a smaller limit of dimension, a finer scale of detail, and a certain quality of sentiment, which might be designated in no derogatory sense as graceful timidity or gentleness, combined, however, with evident technical knowledge, at once differentiate it from its colossal neighbors, and reveal the sex of its author."

In style the building is modelled after that of the Italian renaissance, [259] with the facades of the first story fashioned in the form of an Italian arcade, and surrounded with a portico, the roof of which serves as a balcony for the second story. The colonnade of the upper story is suggestive of the Corinthian order, and between the columns are windowed spaces, adapted to the comparatively small dimensions of the chambers within. The principal entrance is in the form of a triple arched pavilion, flanked by a surface of solid wall, with double pilasters, above it an open colonnade of the same design as those on either side, and with the pediment richly decorated in bas-relief. In front the corner pavilions are similarly treated, as also are the side entrances, but without pediments, and with rows of pilasters in place of colonnades. Over the side entrances is a third or attic story, opening at the main roof on gardens, around which is a screen of pilasters. From the central pavilion spacious stairways lead to a terrace a few feet above the water, where a landing is built on the northern arm of the lagoon.

In the interior is a central hall opening into a rotunda, with decorated skylight, unencumbered by columns, and of sufficient altitude to admit the light from rows of clear-story windows. On both floors this open space is surrounded with open arcades, those on the upper story serving as galleries, and resembling somewhat the corridors of an Italian courtyard. The interior plan displays the most careful economy of space in providing for suites of connected apartments, differing in size but for the most part of almost domestic proportions, and with due regard to lighting, circulation, and communication. The appearance of the building is in harmony with the conditions from which its design was evolved, suggesting rather the lyric features of the Art Palace than the heroic aspect of the larger temples of industry and science, and with a grace of expression worthy of its uses and its artificer.

For the decorative as for the structural scheme of the building designs were invited among women qualified for such work throughout the United States, and after eager and close competition the prize was awarded to Alice Rideout, of San Francisco, by whom were modelled the compositions on the main pediment and the symbolical groups of the roof-gardens. All the groups are more or less typical of the part that woman has played in the history of the world, of what has been, is, and will be her sphere of duty and influence. The mural paintings, with other ornamental features, as the carved wainscotings, screens, and balustrades, the tapestries and panels were also contributed by women, while from many of the states came offers of cabinet woods, marble and other materials in quantities larger than could be accepted, though to some was granted as a privilege the right of furnishing and decorating their own apartments and interior decorations.

On the roof are winged groups typical of feminine characteristics and virtues, all in choices symbolism, one of the central figures representing the spirituality of woman, and at its feet a pelican, emblem of love and sacrifice. In the same group charity stands side by side with virtue, and sacrifice is further sumbolized by a nun, placing her jewels on the altar. In another group is the genius of civilization, with the bird of wisdom at her feet; on the right a student, and on the left a woman groping in intellectual darkness but struggling after light. These and others, together with the figures on the pediment, typical of literature and art, of charity, beneficence, and home are from the hand of the San Francisco sculptress. On the frieze is a figure of youth, and on the panels of the entrance-ways are represented the occupations of women.

[261] - To Mrs. Candace Wheeler, of New York, was given the superintendent of the interior decorations, the most noteworthy of which are the paintings at either end of the rotunda, where is the court of honor. On the north tympanum, under the name of Bertha H. Palmer, primitive woman is depicted by Mrs. Frederick MacMonnies, of St. Louis, the central figure representing motherhood, with women on either side sowing seed and carrying jars of water. Upon the opposite tympanum is modern woman, beneath the name of Sophia G. Hayden, typified by a group of young girls in pursuit of a figure of fame, which is disappearing in the distant blue of the heavens. A broad frieze surrounds the gallery, and between its arches are inscribed on the intervening panels the names of women whom the world has honored, from Rebecca and Ruth to the celebrities of the present day.

From the corridors which surround the court, on the second floor, open the various parlors, exhibition rooms, and assembly chambers. The northern end of the main hall is decorated in gold and white, its windows of stained glass adding to the effect. The central window was furnished by Massachusetts, and symbolizes [262] the part which that commonwealth has played in the advancement of woman. It is flanked by two smaller ones, presented by the women of Chelsea and Boston. The walls are covered with portraits of some of the more prominent personages in the cause of education, reform, and philanthropy. A large space is occupied by a picture of Burdett-Coutts, with models of some of her institutions, and other illustrations of her labors. The figure of Fredericka Bremer is the most prominent in the Swedish gallery. France, Norway, and the United States have also their niches of fame filled by such owmen as Lucretia Mott and Harriet Beecher Stowe.

The Connecticut chamber and the woman's library open from the western corridors. In the decorations of the library is a subtle combination of colors, the ceiling, painted by Dora Wheeler Keith, daughter of Mrs. Candace Wheeler, resembling the frescoes of some old Venetian palace, although the symbolic treatment is appropriate to the purpose. In the central oval, enclosed by a wreath of white lilies, literature is typified by a shapely woman, science by a man in scholastic garb, and imagination by an angel with its outstretched wings. Between this oval and the Venetian border which encloses the ceiling, are loops and folds of drapery in softly blended hues representing the tints of sky and landscape, and at the four corners are medallions symbolic of history, romance, poetry, and drama.

[263] - The small but tastefully furnished and decorated parlor occupied by the women of Connecticut is hung with pictures from the hands of the daughters of that state, and in addition to its other purposes serves as a reception room for the commissioners of foreign countries. Into the eastern corridor open the reception rooms occupied by the state boards, and by the women of California, Ohio, and Kentucky. Though intended for residents of those states, the parlors are open to the public, as examples of decorative art. The California department has been called the cactus room, from the fact that its coloring and decorative scheme are largely in imitation of that plant. Mrs. Frona Eunice Wait, the commissioner from California, was the originator of the idea, and carried on the actual work. A pleasing effect is produced by the grayish green of the cactus, as seen in the glass windows and draperies, and the warm, rich hues of the polished redwood floor, the panelled ceiling and walls. The furniture of native woods is ornamented with similar designs, as are the carvings on the panel frames of ceiling and walls. On one side is a large mirror, and above it a panel of redwood, upon which is the shield of the state elaborately carved. The floor is partially covered by the skin of a grizzly bear from Humboldt county, and on the panels of the walls are pictures by prominent California artists, representing the flora of the state, and such scenes as the old San Francisco mission, the Cliff house, Mount Hamilton, Lake Tahoe, and Mount Shasta. Busts of native Californians are placed on pedestals of native onyx and marble; some of the draperies are of home-made silk, and there are vases fashioned by members of the Ceramic club of San Francisco, with other specimens representing the arts and industries of the golden state.

The largest of the suite is Cincinnati's parlor, the decoration of which was in charge of Agnes Pitman, of that city, daughter of Benjamin Pitman, who for years has been identified with its academy of design. Under the direction of her father Miss Pitman carved the first table thus decorated by a woman in Cincinnati, and here exhibited as a curiosity. Wood-carving is now a popular branch of industrial art among her women, and beautiful specimens of their handiwork are to be seen in the ceiling and in the furniture of the apartment. Around it is a frieze of floral design, shading from a pale cream color to a dark brown tint, and beneath the frieze is a border of buckeye leaves and blossoms, with tasteful mural designes. In a case near the centre of the room are speciments of Rookwood and other pottery from the women of Cincinnati. Over the door is a group named The Jury, representing in ceramic work a cluster of owls; and among the statuary may be mentioned a marble [264] figure of Ariadne, and a statuette of Evangeline in terra cotta.

Kentucky's room is called the colonial parlor, its ceiling divided by massive beams, the supporting columns of which are entwined with sprays of wild roses. The mirrored windows and the old fashioned fireplace are in keeping with the general design, the brass andirons being loaned by a member of the family of Cassius M. Clay. By other old and prominent families was contributed most of the antique furniture including a sofa which was the property of President Tyler, and a chair used by Elder Brewster, of Plymouth colony, more than three centuries ago. There are portraits of comely women on these walls of white and gold, and there is statuary by the artificer of the caryatides on the Woman's building, with tasteful specimens of ceramic work.

In the extreme southeast corner of the second floor, near the so-called organization room, is the office of the president, Mrs. Potter Palmer, commonly termed the fish-net room, with seines festooned from the ceilings, a casting net forming a canopy over the president's desk, and figures representing women engaged in making eel pots, nets, baskets, and other articles connected with the fisheries. For this collection there was no place in the Fisheries or other buildings, and here through the efforts of the president and lady commissioners, and of delegates from several of the states was found for it a suitable home with adequate representation. Among the decorations is a water-color painting of New Jersey's seacoast birds by Hardenburg with designs in fish-scales, and specimens from women taxidermists. By Mrs. Williamson, secretary of the State Charities Aid association of New Jersey, and a member of the school of pedagogy in connection with the university of New York, was originated the decorative scheme of this chamber, and to her is largely due its unique and tasteful equipment.

The women of New Jersey supplied the antique colonial furniture, including tables, chairs, sofas, and a piano in use as early as 1750, some of them valuable relics of the colonial and earlier republican eras contributed by the oldest familes of Salem county, New Jersey. Of such relics, in which the county is exceptionally rich, there are catalogues in the president's office prepared at the request of the Board of Lady Managers by Miss Anna Hunter Van Meter, chairman of the county committee on antiques.

Opening on the eastern corridor is the chamber set apart for the headquarters of the several state boards, with its dainty screens, embroideries, and mural decorations [265] from the hands of female artists of Kyoto, Japan. Special features are the ornamentations of the ceiling, with paintings on silk, and the panels fashioned of bamboo frames. Diagonally opposite the president's room is the model kitchen and the audience hall, the latter also festooned with netting. A placard on the wall announces that in the manufacture of this netting ninety per cent of the work was accomplished by women.

The 1st of May, the opening day of the Columbian Exposition, was also the time appointed for the dedication of the Woman's edifice, though the latter was completed long before that date, and as I have said was the first one finished of all the department buildings. The ceremonies were held in the court of honor, the hall of the rotunda; at two o'clock the doors were opened, and a few minutes later every chair was occupied, with many hundreds crowding the passage ways, and many thousands who could find neithe seats nor standing room. On the platform, in front of which the Spanish colors, flanked by those of other powers, drooped from the gallery overhead, were the Lady Managers and their invited guests, among whom the presence of some of the most prominent women of the time, including Lady Aberdeen, the duchess of Sutherland, the countess of Craven, the duchess of Veragua, the Russian princess Schalovsky, and the Swedish baroness Thomburg-Rappe, with a goodly representation from our own and other lands, attested the world wide interest in the Woman's department.

By way of overture was rendered the grand march of Jean Ingeberg von Bronsart, followed by prayer from Miss Ida Hultin, after which came another musical number, composed by the English musician, Frances Ellicott. Then to the front of the platform stepped the daughter of Professor Wilkinson, of the University of Chicago, by whom was written and read the dedication ode, its theme a tribute to Isabella of Spain, less as a sovereign than as a woman, and with eloquent lines descriptive of the part which she played in the Columbian episode. The dedicatory address was delivered by Mrs. Potter Palmer, whose impressive description of the sphere, rights, and duties of women [266] concluded with a graceful acknowledgement of the kindly and earnest cooperation of foreign nations. Then shorter addresses, with greetings, were offered by foreign participants, Italy being represented by Madame Marietta; Great Britain by Lady Aberdeen and the well-known philanthropist, Mrs. Fenwick Bedford; Germany by a lady professor who repeated the words of her empress, and Russia by the princess Schalovsky, who begged that in thought at least her countrywomen might clasp hands with their American sisters. The ceremonies ended with the gift of the women of Montana, which, when driven home into the place prepared for it, gave the finishing touch to the building. Finally the tones of the benediction proclaimed the opening of a department planned and created by woman's effort, and filled with woman's work.

As with the Woman's building so with the exhibits by women, they form of themselves a unique and distinctive feature of the Exposition, such as never before was presented to the world, such as never before was attempted. Not as at the [267] international fairs held in London, in Paris, and Vienna, have these collective specimens of woman's industry and art been cast into such nooks and corners as might be spared by the several departments. For the first time they were housed in a home of their own, in one of the most beautiful homes among all these palatial groups, or in the larger buildings were arrayed in open competition with the workmanship of men. At the Philadelphia Exposition, it is true, and also at the Cotton Centenary Exposition held a few years later at New Orleans, there were comprehensive exhibits of woman's work that more than merited the attention they received; but here we have not a mere adjunct of the Fair but an integral and most interesting portion of it, one recognized by the national legislature, approved by the commission constituted by that legislature, and with the earnest and cordial support, not only of our own but of European nations, whose titled dames, even those of royal blood, did not disdain to serve on committees acting in cooperation with the Board of Lady Managers.

In the act of congress which gave to the Fair the sanction of our government, the National Commission was instructed, as we have seen, to appoint and prescribe the duties of this board, whose functions and operations have been partially described in connection with Exposition management. Among those functions was the selection of "one or more members of all committess authorized to award prizes for exhibits which may be produced in whole or in part by female labor." Thus was conceded to woman, not as a favor, but as a right, such representation in the control of affairs as enabled the board to present to us, in all its symmetry of design and perfection of detail, their Woman's department. Here was in truth a most proper, a most significant concession, and as the president of the board has well remarked, "Even more important than the discovery of Columbus was the fact that the general government has discovered woman."

To the more thoughtful class of visitors one of the most interesting exhibites contained in the Woman's building is that which represents in the form of a retrospective collection, from prehistoric eras to the age in which we live, the contributions made by women to the huge workshop of which this world so largely consists, their contributions not only to the industries of the world but to its sciences and arts. Thus it is hoped in a measure to dispel the prejudices and misconceptions, to remove the vexatious restrictions and limitations which for centuries have held enthralled the sex.

In their preliminary announcement, the managers thus outline the purpose of these exhibits: "It will be shown that women, among all the primitive peoples, were the originators of most of the industrial arts, and that it was not until these became lucrative that they were appropriated by men, and women pushed aside. While man, the protector, was engaged in fighting or the chase, woman constructed the rude semblance of a home. She dressed and cooked the game, and later ground the grain between the stones, and prepared it for bread. She cured and dressed the skins of animals, and fashioned them awkwardly into garments. Impelled by the necessity for its use, she invented the needle, and twisted the fibres of plants into thread. She invented the shuttle, and used it in weaving textile fabrics, in which were often mingled feathers, wool, and down which contributed to the beauty and warmth of the fabric. She was the first potter, and molded clay into jars and other utensils for domestic purposes, [269] drying them in the sun. She originated basket-making, and invented such an infinite variety of beautiful forms and decorations as put to shame modern products. She learned to ornament these articles of primitive construction by weaving in feathers of birds, by a very skillful embroidery of porcupine quills and vegetable fibres, and by the use of vegetable dyes. Especial attention will be called to these early inventions of women by means of an ethnological display to be made in the Woman's building, which will supplement the race exhibit to be made in the department of Ethnology."

To present, in some branches of manufacture, an entirely distinct collection of woman's work, would have been an impossible task, for who shall tell, for instance, in a piece of cloth, what part of the weft was woven by men and what by women, who may have worked side by side in fashioning the completed fabric? But, as I have said, in the Woman's department the decorations and exhibits of whatever kind are the work of woman's hands. As originally planned the building was to be used only for administrative purposes and assembly-rooms; but although feminine industries were largely represented in all the departments, as the work of organization progressed it became evident that many would be entirely excluded were not additional space provided. Thus it was that the Woman's building was so largely devoted to exposition purposes.

As to the distribution of woman's work in other departments of the Exposition, Mrs. Palmer remarks: "In the department of charities and corrections, for instance, and also hospitals, many of the most important exhibits are from women, and we have gladly relinquished them in out building in order that they might be well represented in the Liberal Arts department. [271] In the Fine Arts building also many of the best pictures by women are shown, as the space we could give them was extremely limited. In the department of Transportation twelve percent of the exhibits are by women. In Horticulture forty-six percent, and in Fisheries twenty-six percent. We have also a fine showing in the department of Ethnology, and, it is uselss to add, in the department of Manufactures, where woman's work would naturally appear to great advantage."

Passing through the main eastern portal, the visitor enters a large vestibule decorated by English artists. Philanthropy is represented in the person of Florence Nightingale ministering to sick and wounded patients in her hospital. On either side of her figure are symbolic paintings, and on the opposite wall is a central group typical of artistic needle-work.

Turning to the left we enter the suite of rooms, containing the ethnological groups and those which demonstrate the practical ingenuity of woman. The collection from the Smithsonian Institution is at the entrance to this section, and is mainly illustrative of woman's work among the native races of the western continents. In a gallery of portraits are shown the various types of Indian women in North and South America. There are cases filled with costumes, needle-work, utensils, bodkins, tools, baskets, pottery, netting, and the like. There are primitive shuttles, distaffs, and looms, made of reeds and rough wood, samples of skins dressed by Eskimo and other Indians, tapa cloth from Polynesia, matting from Africa, and blankets from the Navajos of the Southwest.

In one of the landings on the southwestern staircase, the work of manufacture is shown in actual operation, in a booth fashioned of the products of a loom manipulated by a Navajo woman of Colorado.

[272] - In the exhibit of the Smithsonian Institute one of the most remarkable evidences of skill among semi-savage women is also from Navajo looms, and some of the basket-work made by North American Indians is so closely woven that it will hold water. Montana and Utah have special displays, Skull valley being the locality represented in the latter territory. Among the Smithsonian specimens illustrative of woman's work is the exhibit of laces and kindred fabrics, including a thousand samples, so arranged as to represent different periods of manufacture. Those selected prior to 1550 are merely knotted net, darned, and cut work. Then come point, bobbin, Venetian, Milanese, Genoese, and Flemish laces, with those peculiar to France and England, all the schools being represented in this assortment, which was loaned by Thomas Wilson, of the national museum.

By Mrs. French-Sheldon, who travelled through eastern Africa at the head of a large caravan, unattended by any of her sex, were placed in the ethnological section many curious collected during her expedition. Among them are spears, great and small; knives finely tempered in charcoal fires; beads of brass, copper, and iron, and various utensils made of gourds, traced with heated wires in Persian and Arabesque designs. The last are copied mainly from articles obtained at the bazaars held by the Arabs of the coast. There are also curios presented to Mrs. French-Sheldon by Frederick Taylor, of New York, procured while travelling in Madagascar; including colored silks, the while caps of the Hova soldiery, and other samples from the more intelligent portion of the population. From the warlike Sakalavas, a tribe of fierce and swarthy savages living apart from settled communities, were procured two of their hideous war-masks, made of perforated terra cotta, fastened with fibres of the palm, and to which are appended long beards of goats' hair.

From the ethnological section we enter an apartment which contains the inventions and patents of women; and here is sufficient evidence that aside from purely feminine industries women are applying themselves to pursuits of practical utility. among their inventions are weaving and washing machines, refrigerators, runaway horses from vehicles, with patent surgical bandages, hot-water appliances and sanitary dinner pails and filters; all these in addition to a choice display of needle-work, ceramic ware, paintings and statuary, engravings, etchings, and photographs. Near the entrance to the educational section, north of the vestibule, is a large picture representing the wreck of a ship and the rescue of her crew, while a portion of the wall beyond is covered with charts, testimonials, patent papers, and other evidences of the general adoption of the signal system invented by Mrs. Martha J. Coston more than thirty years ago. This is the only system of night signals recognized by the United States government and the British board of trade, adopted also in part by France, Italy, Denmark, Holland, and Brazil. There is probably no prominent steamship line, or life-saving station in the world which is not familiar with this patented invention of a woman. In the exhibits of the educational department are illustrated the methods of woman's training, physically, industrially, and intellectually. New York sends an array of architectural drawings, and designs for carpets, book covers, wall-paper, oil-cloth and printed textiles, the bulk of the contributions coming from the school of Applied Designs for Women, the school of Industrial Art, and [273] the Pratt Institute. Physical culture is represented by the Bryn Mawr school, of Baltimore, and there are many individual proofs of efficiency in the field of professional work. From Turkey comes a small collection of drawings, needle-work, and other evidences of female industry, from the American school for girls, at Scutari. The medical profession is represented by the Pennsylvania college for women, at Philadelphia, and nursing, as a profession for women, by the New York and Brooklyn training schools, and the Philadelphia hospital for nurses.

Adjoining the educational section is one in which are traced the processes in several branches of female industry, the exhibits being of a somewhat miscellaneous character. At the entrance is typified, in the form of a large Pennsylvania sheep, the shearing industry, in which thousands of women are employed. A case filled with raw silks and silken fabrics represents the work of Utah women, and their many sisters, throughout the states, engaged in the raising of cocoons. Elsewhere are portable kilns, patented by women, with various articles of pottery; and from the women of Iceland is a display of hand spun and knit woolen goods, hosiery, and gloves.

Entering the rotunda, or court of honor, the visitor sees on one side a bust sculptured by Sara Bernhardt, and on the other the reproduced fragment of an old Italian statue, while on the walls are pictures representing the best work of women in all the national schools. The body of the hall is filled with long lines of cases containing choice specimens of needle-work and ivory painting. Around the central fountain, with its border of aquatic plants, is a cluster of statuary, consisting of figures of Psyche and Maud Muller, and busts of C. B. Winslow, Susan B. Anthony, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, with a group allegorical of the west by Vinnie Ream Hoxie, of New York, one of the pioneers among female sculptors. Near the western vestibule is also her statue of America, and this section if further beautified by several mural paintings of French artists, and by a bronze statue of [274] Leif Erikson, by Anne Whitney, the Boston sculptress. One one of the walls of the northern corridor is a shield of polished copper, and across its face a silver bow, with string of golden wire, and in raised silver letters the inscription, Silver Bow county, Montana. The shield is surrounded by a border of gold, silver, and copper, with designs of the state flower, the bitter root. Silver nails fasten the bow to the shield, which is adorned with Montana rubies and sapphires, and with medallions of copper and silver in low relief, representing various mining scenes.

Spain, France, and Germany cover the eastern walls with paintings by prominent female artists, among which may be mentioned the two French canvases named The Bath, and Jean and Jacques, both showing quaint and tender touches of child life; and The Wandering Jew, a powerful work by a German painter. Below is arranged a choice display of decorated fans, miniatures, and other articles of virtu. British-Indian and Bohemian fabrics may also be examined in a series of cases which cover a large portion of the ground floor, and many ingenious specimens of needle-work from the Bohemian Industrial museum, represent her earlier periods of national industry, under the title of Our Mothers' Work. A large area in the northern portion of the hall is occupied by the Danish exhibits, the location of which is indicated by figures of peasant women attired in national costume. The cases are filled with paintings, fine needle-work, laces, specimens of ancient silver work, and antique spinning-wheels. In one of them are the laces of Denmark, with roses painted by the queen, fruit by the Princess Waldemar, and from the princess royal a collection of laces and handkerchiefs. Italian, Austrian, English, United States and Mexican works occupy sections of the western walls of the rotunda, one of the largest and strongest paintings in this portion of the court being that which represents, in the British division, Eurydice sinking into Hades. The industrial arts find expression in the cases ranged along the hall, toward the south, containing, among other samples, the laces of Russia and Austria, and specimens of elaborate needle-work from the nunneries of Mexico. Among other objects of interest is the table presented by the women of New Mexico, and designed to show the mineral resources and filigree silver industry of Santa Fe and the mining district adjacent. On its face is a gold medallion of the territorial seal, with historic buildings reproduced in silver repousse. The gold, silver, and copper, the turquoises, garnets, agates, and petrified woods of which the table is largely constructed are all of local production.

The south wing of the building and the western half of the north wing are substantially occupied by exhibits from [275] foreign countries. Great Britain, with her dependencies, filling the largest area. The embroideries, tapestries, and other articles contributed by the royal school of art needle-work comprise many beautiful specimens of feminine skill, not a few of which are from the princess of Wales and her daughters. From the future queen-consort comes a chair, with carved frame of stained walnut, and seat of ornate leather work; the princess Louise sends a delicate sofa cushion of white silk embroidered with primroses, and Maud and Victoria, piano-stools ornamented with their work in the form of dahlias, while from Queen Victoria is a rich tapestry, whose central figure represents Pomona, wrought in colors which blend like those of ripe fruit. Among the screens noticeable for their beauty is a Louis Quinze, panelled with satin, and decorated with blue bows and sprays of flowers. In the piano-covers, bed-spreads, cushions, fans, vellu book-bindings, laces, wood-carvings, and ceramic wares are illustrated the many industrial pursuits of English women, and especially such as are fostered by the societies which have their headquarters at the Kensington museum.

But the most striking exhibits in the British section are those that pertain to education. Here Girton and Newnham colleges, Cambridge, Lady Margaret and Somerville halls, Oxfor, the Cheltenham Ladies' college, Queen's college, Belfast, Alexandria college, Dublin, Queen Margaret's college, Glasgow; all these and other in Great Britain for the higher education of women, are represented in a collection of photographs and reports. There is also a small gallery of the portraits of children, and appended to this collection of comely, fresh looking faces is the motto, Non angli sed angeli. The department of philanthropy is in charge of the baroness Burdett-Coutts, and illustrating certain phases of charitable work in England are models of a children's holiday home, a creche connected with the Ragged School union, and a cabmen's shelter decorated by the London Flower Girls' mission.

The women of Ireland, Scotland, and Wales have organized separate exhibits. Very homelike seem the knitted underwear and bed-spreads made by the people of Wales, and quaint are the living and wax figures of Welsh spinners [276] in their tall sugar-loaf hats, such as are treasured as family heirlooms and barely considered respectable until worn on Sundays and feast days by the women of several generations. From Scotland the women of Argyle send tartan hose, and those of Aberdeen socks, gloves, and stockings, with embroideries designed in Turkish patterns. Among antiquarian treasures is the embroidered coverlet from the bed of Patrick, earl of Kinghorn, said to have been worked in 1606, and loaned by the countess of Strathmore, with a portiere from Lady Aberdeen, made in 1740 by the countess Anne. From another contributor to the historic interest of the Scottish exhibit are antique laces, curtains, embroideries, draperies, and screens, characteristic of various periods in the country's history. The oldest is a portion of a hanging in green velvet, embroidered with raised needle-work, a style popular in Scotland during the later dynasty of the Stuarts. Another interesting specimen is in the form of an Arab frieze, fashioned of pieces of cloth, leather, and tinsel, sewed upon a background of plush, the figures, thus formed in relief, representing Arab chieftains and Bedouins of the desert - men, women, and children. This also is the handiwork of a woman who learned the secret of the art while travelling in Eqypt.

In conjunction with the Industries association, Ireland has a neat exhibit of laces and embroidered church vestments. Among the latter are a robe ornamented with an old Celtic cross, worked by the nuns of Kenmare, and an elaborate floral design, in many colored silks, contributed by the royal shool of Art Embroidery. New South Wales and Canada have also unique displays of woman's work, the former sending us, among other articles, a cow and calf modelled in wax, and covered with natural hair.

The Russian exhibits, adjoining those of Great Britain on the east, are under the immediate direction of the grand duchess Elizabeth, of Moscow, sister-in-law to the czar. They include a large display of laces and embroideries, with several collections designed to show the progress of Russian women in the practice of medicine and surgery, especially in relation to hospital service. The wives of governor generals throughout the entire empire aided in furnishing a complete representation of woman's work in Russia. Thus from the valley of the Amoor and the northern arm of the Volga, and from all the vast stretch of territory between Russian Poland and eastern Siberia, came specimens of female handicraft. Of excellent quality are the samples from the province of Kazan, including rich embroideries in silk, silver, and gold, on a groundwork of satin, linen, and leather. The native dress of peasant girls, and the court costumes characteristics of imperial dynasties, [277] are illustrated by models suitably attired. One of the dresses is said to have been worn by a member of the court during the reign of Ivan the Terrible, three centuries ago. There is also reproduced a convent door in Moscow, with its multitude of gilded figures, the groundwork of turquoise, and in the centre a curtain of olive-colored velvet on which are designs in antique lace.

In one of the cases in this vicinity is represented a work of philanthropy undertaken by English women at the time of the Russo-Turkish war of 1877. During that war many Turkish women flocked into Constantinople, and hearing of their destitute condition, Lady Layard, wife of the British ambassador, and Baroness Burdett-Coutts established a fund for their relief. As the sufferers were experts in oriental needle-work, possessed of many secrets in construction and design that were a revelation to their patrons, they were encouraged in these industries. The various colors which they were accustomed to weave into their fabrics, and the simple designs with which they adorned them, were modified and elaborated by the methods of modern schools. Hence, while the exhibit known as that of the Turkish Compassion Fund contains many samples of embroideries, cushions, silks, and shawls, it has also speciments of elaborate ball dresses, draperies, scarfs, and other articles of personal and domestic use and ornament. The proceeds from the sale of goods go toward the support of those employed, and for the care of the sick, supplying the needs of more than 2,000 Mohammedan women.

In the eastern portion of the north wing are the exhibits of the United States, or as announced over the entrance, an exposition of the applied arts of America. Here nearly every state in the republic displays its most artistic needle-work, its costumes, ceramic wares, mosaics, and other specimens of industry, largely contributed by societies of national repute. The associated artistis of New York have a choice exhibit of embroideries and tapestries, and among the costumes shown in this section is the dress worn by the late Mrs. Benjamin Harrison at the inauguration of her husband as president of the United States.

West of the court of honor, adjoining the vestibule, are the telephone office, information bureau, and the exhibits which illustrate the scientific education and attainment of women. Among them are many collections of minerals, fossils, and botanical specimens, gathered by women from all parts of the world. Woman's work in the surveyor-general's office finds expression in a series of maps and drawings, and Massachusetts, through the Prang Normal classes and various societies for the encouragement of home studies, illustrates certain phases in the scientific education of women. Here also is a case containing scientific works, including the Notes on the Satellites of Saturn by Maria Mitchell, late professor of astronomy at Vassar college.

Opposite the Russian section is a reproduction in miniature of the Sioux City corn palace, which may also be seen in other forms elsewhere in the Exposition. The one in the Woman's building was designed by Mrs. William I. Buchanan, wife of the chief of the Agricultural department, and the model is the handiwork of the ladies of Sioux City. The paintings of flowers and fruits which appear to decorate the interior are in reality composed of kernesl of corn and seeds of different colors, and the frescoes of the ceiling, of pampas [278] grass and millet seeds, while in the construction of the large picture known as The Water Carrier, the native grasses and grains are used.

In the main hall-way of the northern wing, opposite the exhibit of the Turkish Compassion Fund, is a case containing quaint, doll-like dummies attired in female costumes. This is a loan collection by New York women, the figures portraying women representative of American history, from the early Spanish to the present times. Among them is a St. Augustine beauty in full skirt and lace mantilla; then a colonial maiden, a miss of New Amsterdam, a New England dame, a Puritan and a quakeress, a New York woman elegantly attired in silks and furs, a matron of revolutionary times, a balloon-like figure of the era of the civil war, and the fashionable dames and damsels of the present day.

In the south wing, the Spanish pavilion occupies the post of honor, in the centre of other foreign exhibits, the collection illustrating many of the activities of women in the line of art industry, whether residents of Spain or Spanish -American countries. The display of woman's handicraft embraces speciments of needle-work, knitting, crochet-work, lace-making by hand and loom, plain and colored embroideries, tapestry, embossing, fine and coarse domestic cloths, and other textile fabrics peculiar to each section of the country, so arranged as to form a historic collection, this idea forming the motif of the design. The work of women is further illustrated by articles suggestive of their labors in the government tobacco factories, and in the culture of silk. Many of the choicest samples are from industrial institutions under government auspices, and from those established for the education of the deaf and dumb.

Separated from the Spanish section by the Japanese division is the pavilion of Italy, the royal laces of the house of Savoy, never before displayed in foreign lands, forming the nucleus of the exhibits. For their safe keeping and return a bond was required from the government of the United States, and then by their owner, Queen Marguerite, they were placed in charge of a detachment of royal marines, with the countess di Brazza specially instructed to see them safely housed within the pavilion; for these are heirlooms descended through many generations, some of them articles the secret of whose manufacture is known only to the royal household, and other samples of varieties which the queen is introducing among the women of Italy, reviving an industrial art that was well nigh lost. The pavilion is furnished in the style of the fifteenth century, the furniture and the iron gate at the entrance, of delicate lace-like workmanship, being made in Venice. Within the court is a lay figure, [279] engaged in making lace, with choice specimens of bridal veils, of Burano, Genoese point, and Sicilian and Venetian laces. Of all the queen's treasures there are none more highly prized than the bed-spread under which Victor Emanuel was born. Finally the collection serves as samples of the work which is now being done by the poorer classes of the kingdom, and many of the pieces on exhibition are from those who receive instruction at the schools of Burano, of which the queen is president. Much valuable information was collected by the Italian commission as to the ancient history of textile arts, and especially of lace-making, all of which is conveyed in the form o books and photographs.

Japan presents in her two chambers a dainty picture of the industrial and domestic occupations of her women, one representing the boudoir of a lady of high rank, and the other a library. In the former are all the articles of toilet used by the wives of the daimios, or feudal lords of olden times, specially prepared for the purpose. In the library is a collection of miscellaneous articles, including stringed instruments, mats, screens, banners, a case of books, a writing table, and other appropriate furnishings. There are also oil-paintings, pictures in relief, carvings in ivory, cocoons, raw silk, embroideries, crinkled textures and crapes, hand-woven tapestries, laces, cloissonne, enamel-work, china-ware, lacquer work and artificial flowers. The empress, the empress-dowager, and the princess Mori all took an active part in the organization of the Japanese exhibit. By the first were contribued choice specimens of raw silk; by the second, fabrics woven in her own palace, while the princess, as president of the Japanese commission, also gave her cordial support.

To the French section in all its completeness, Parisian milliners and glove makers contributed their daintiest conceptions. D'Alencon, Chantilly, and French point-laces fill several cases, and there are complete trousseaus for matrons, young girls, and infants, with handkerchiefs, fans, and parasols such as only the French can make. For the display of several elegant costumes by a Parisian house is provided a model drawing-room, in which a tea-party is in progress. The walls are covered with tapestry, and at the table of antique design presides the hostess, attired in a gown of brocaded satin trimmed with lace. The evolution of the art of dress is represented in a large glass case filled with dolls, or other miniature reproductions of famous women: St. Clotilde, wife of Clovis; the royal dames of Francis I and Henry IV; the Mdici, Marie Antoinette, and many other historic characters are here represented with singular fidelity, the details of dress being copied from portraits of the originals.

[280] - Between the French and Spanish sections are those of Mexico, Norway, Sweden, Siam, and the cape of Good Hope. The rich specimens of needle-work, in gold and silver, from the women of Siam, with many other samples, appear almost side by side with the industrial products of the peasantry and societies of Sweden. In the shape of a church window is a beautiful speciment of stained glass, the Swedish saint, Bridget, forming the central figure, and in the hall of the rotunda is a historic collection of engraved medals and bronze reliefs, contributed by a lady of Stockholm. Norwegian women display articles of needle-work, wood-carvings, and feather mats, through an Illinois industrial society whose members are of this nationality. A native woman on snow-shoes, with a basket of shells on her arm, stands at the entrance to the booth, and in the model of a Norwegian cabin are grouped figures of peasant girls in holiday, bridal, and every-day attire, with city ladies in more elaborate costumes.

Soon after the Russo-Turkish war, Kate Marsden, an English woman and nurse of the Red Cross society, journeyed east to Siberia for the purpose of founding leper missions, and near the Swedish and Norwegian booths is a model of the village which she established in the province of Takutsk. It consists of two hospitals, a school, a church, houses for lepers, and their attendants, and workshops for those who retain the use of their limbs. Fronting the models, is a miniature of one of the miserable hovels in which she found a number of unfortunates lurking in their forest lair. In an adjoing booth the women of the cape of Good Hope display in neat designs their native grasses, shell and feather work, with musical instruments, brooms, pottery, and filigree work of Kaffir production, and figures of Bushmen in full dress.

Mexico has a large and tastefully arranged exhibit. In the centre of her section are several cases filled with fancy-work, including artificial fruits and flowers, and fashioned in blossoms and twigs, [282] a ship under full sail, the latter made at a female school of art. The Ceylon tea-house is also an attractive spot, with its carved tables, its light draperies, its dainty cups of wood and china-ware, and its dark-eyed, native damsels. At one corner is a small case of dolls and fancy-work, contributed by the mission schools of the country, and across the passage-way, a more elaborate display of fine needle-work, from the school at Guntur, India, of which Lady Wenlock, wife of the governor of Madras, is patroness.

Beyond are the exhibits of Belgium, Austria, Brazil, and Germany. Especially attractive among the light specimens of fancy-work, contributed by the women of Brazil, are the desings in vari-colored feathers and fish-scales. By Belgium's queen and the ladies of her court was mainly gathered a small collection of embroideries, laces, and works of art, the queen sending two water-colors of her own execution. Austria's embroideries are the most noticeable features of her display. At the entrance to her pavilion is a screen painted by the archduchess Maria Theresa, and within are excellent imitations of ancient Polish carpets.

By Germany was organized one of the most skilfully grouped exhibits in the building, largely due to the efforts of the president of her committee, Anne Schepeler-Lette, of Berlin, who for years has been a prominent figure in promoting the industrial education of women. The decorated china and leather, the laces, embroideries, and other specimens of needle-work were, as a rule, contributed by those who have received instruction in the industrial schools and societies of the empire. There is also an educational department, including higher instruction, domestic economy, and the public care and training of children. The collections of the kindergartens, the children's hospitals, and the sewing and cooking schools comprise statistics, plans, photographs, models, and speciments of handiwork and utensils, with explanations by Frobel, thus enabling one to study from its inception the system of industrial education.

In another class is represented the industrial training afforded in the public schools of Breslau and Munich, and in various schools and societies throughout the empire. By [283] the woman's society of Baden, with its numerous branches, is illustrated its methods of training young women and caring for dependent children. Photography, drawing, cooking, printing, laundry work, book-keeping and art industries, are taught in establishments connected with the Lette society, and embroideries, drawings, sewed garments, printed books, artificial flowers, photographs, and other articles are displayed as specimens of the pupils' work. Special courses in dress-making, as taught at various institutions are illustrated by text books and paper models, while of domestic economy there are most interesting expositions. The committee which had the latter department in charge provided not only printed volumes bearing on the subject, but models of kitchens, cooking schools, and institutions for the education of servants and housekeepers. Samples of work produced by various charitable institutions, with a presentation of the professional labors of nurses, are also found in the German section, in the centre of which is the display of the Lette society, and above it a bronze bust of its founder.

Returning to the gallery floor, we find there, opening on the eastern and western corridors, the various committee, assembly, and reception chambers, whose decorative features have already been [284] described, together with the library and the exhibits of the British training schools. The northern section is occupied by the assembly room and the model kitchen, and on the south is the organization department, where are the headquarters of the industrial, educational, religious, and other associations of women. The space set apart for this purpose, including nearly 12,000 square feet, is divided into more than sixty compartments by rails and curtains of blue silk, corresponding in color with the tints of the frescoed walls, and fomring the only lines of demarcation between the exhibits of the various societies, thus giving to the entire collection a social and cosmopolitan aspect.

The largest area is occupied by the Woman's Christian Temperance union, representing more than 200,000 active members. On their walls are the banners of many local organizations, with portraits of such leaders in the cause as Frances Willard and Mary Clement Leavitt, the latter the first missionary to travel around the world for the purpose of organizing societies in the interests of temperance and social purity. Here is a monster petition to which are still being added the signatures of men and women in every portion of the earth; also a huge globe covered with the cards of four million children living in forty-four countries who have taken the pledge of total abstinence. A corner of this section, decorated with Japanese designs, and containing a large pendent bell composed of discarded opium pipes, calls attention to this branch of the reform, earnestly prosecuted by the union in Eastern countries. The booth is handsomely equipped, and in its exhibits is sufficient evidence of the world-wide progress of the cause.

Adjoining this section is the booth of the Chicago Woman's club, whose membership includes many earnest workers in charitable, intellectual, and reformatory movements. Near by are the headquarters of the International board of the Young Woman's Christian Association, whose central offices are in St. Louis, and whose special object is to watch over the interests of young work-women. Among the homes erected for such persons, as shown by illustrations, the one in New York City is on the largest scale. From the forty branches of this association come exhibits of class work, and over each is the sign of the order, in the form of an ivory-tinted shield, finished in threads of blue and gold.

[285] - The booth of the order known as the King's daughters, whose silver cross has been carried into many far corners of the earth, is tastefully decorated with festoons and banners of purple, silver, and white. The order of the Eastern Star, an auxiliary to that of Freemasonry, unfurls a banner of black satin lettered in gold, and a symbolic sheaf of wheat. Its quarters are luxuriously furnished, with carpet of moquette, couches, and easy chairs.

Without attempting to follow any special order of procedure, attention may be called to the work of several associations, as illustrated in this department. Home and foreign missionary societies occupy a considerable space, the latter displaying many curios gathered in connection with their work. Chinese women exhibit a banner of blue, gray, and gold, in honor of their American friends. A Japanese woman sends a robe, later to serve as her burial shroud, and over which are scrawled the blessings and consecrations of native priests. Converted heathendom has also contributed to the collection a Turkish prayer roll, and a Buddhist rosary.

There are here represented associations for the rescue of fallen women; and by one known as the Girls' Friendly society, under the auspices of the episcopal church, is illustrated the work that it is doing, with a view to the protection of girls whose calling exposes them to temptation. In the booth of a Philadelphia society, whose members excluded by sickness from contact with the world, console each other by messages sent through an official organ; in that of a Philadelphia home, whose purposes are revealed in its pictures and stories of crippled children and in the quarters of the Woman's relief corps of Kansas, is shown what is being accomplished for the aid of those suffering from physical ailments.

Seventeen unions and a very large membership are represented in the exhibits of the Woman's Education and Industrial association. Female suffrage is symbolized in various devices as on the azure ground of the American flag, with the great star of Wyoming, and the smaller symbols of Kansas and Michigan. There is also the irrepressible figure of Susan B. Anthony, in bust and portrait form, and in the shape of souvenirs. In conclusion much may be learned in this department as to federations and councils of women, industrial institutes, schools for needle-work, flower missions, ceramic clubs, and literary, scientific, and philanthropic organizations, all of which find expression among these collections. Results are further illustrated in a book of statistics, compiled under the direction of the Board of Lady Managers, giving the names and membership of the different bodies, with the number of women employed in every branch of work, thus enabling the visitor more fully to appreciate the significance of the display.

[286] - The walls of the staircases and vestibules are adorned with tapestries, not a few of them of oriental design, and of the galleries themselves many portions are tastefully embellished. A work which attracts general attention, but one less noted for its beauty than for its historic associations, is a reproduction of the famous Norman tapestry contained in the town-hall of Bayeux. The original is formed of a strip of linen, 200 feet long by less than two in width, with figures, worked in colored worsted, depicting various episodes in the career of William the Conquereor, including his departure from Normandy, and his invasion of England. As tradition relates, it was fashioned by his wife, Matilda; but be this as it may, there is little doubt that the tapestry was made during the years whose events it depicts. The copy forms a border for the eastern corridor, where also are the national costumes of Spanish women, belonging to various provinces, with the dress of a mountaineer, made of long grasses and wisps of hay, and yet said to be water-proof. In the north-eastern section of the gallery are the pictures contributed by Queen Victoria, and the princesses Christian, Louise, and Beatrice. In the northern corridor, from which open the large assembly room and model kitchen, is a chair of state from the Mexican government, and some rich tapestry work from London, and on the opposite side is a choice collection of French artistic embroidery.

A favorite resort in the Woman's building is the model kitchen, with floor of tiling, its gas cooking-range and modern utensils, all scrupulously clean, and in the neatest order. During the sessions of the classes in cookery are submitted for the approval of visitors specimens of their culinary skill, among them the lightest of muffins, corn-starch, and so-called Indian puddings. The kitchen is under the direction of Mrs. S. T. Rohrer, of Philadelphia, by whom were recently introducted in European countries, in conjunction with a government agent, all the various products of maize; and to illustrate the many uses to which those products may be applied is one of the purposes of the exhibit. Some of the recipes were furnished by an agent of the Smithsonian institution, who procured them while living among the Zunis.

The Woman's library, furnished by the [287] women of New York, the ceiling decorated by Dora Wheeler Keith, contains some 7,000 volumes, written by women of every nation, and collected by committees in many states and countries. More than twenty-five nationalities are here represented in more than twenty languages, their dates of publication varying from 1587 to 1893. New York sends the largest collection of any of the states, France of the foreign countries, Great Britain and Spain the greatest number of rare books and manuscripts, the last a loan from the Biblioteca Nacional in Madrid. Some nations and states have sent also photographs and biographical sketches of their authors; others, as Sweden, bibliographies of the women of their country, and still others, as Connecticut and New Jersey, have printed handsome volumes containing representative articles from periodical writers, all prepared expressly for the occasion. New York's collection of club papers and periodical articles is type-written, and a marvel of completeness and mechanical execution. Nearly all these works are intended to form the nucleus of an international woman's library, to which additions will be constantly received. In the form of a card catalogue statistics have been prepared as to the career, education, and public work of each author, and when printed, will form a valuable biography of women.

A collection of autographs and portraits of women of France, Great Britain, and America, the propery of Mrs. John Boyd Thacher, forms one of the attractions of the library. Another is a cabinet containing forty-seven different translations and editions of Uncle Tom's Cabin, in front of which stands a bust of Harriet Beecher Stowe. An oil portrait fo Mrs. Sigourney and two leaves from her diary accompany the Connecticut books. Other American authors are also represented.

At either side of the library proper are the halls of Record, their walls covered with diagrams, charts, and tables containing much information as to the number of women engaged in the professions, their ratio of savings, mortality, and emigration, with other phases of their condition and career. In the corridors adjacent is an exhibit organized by prominent New York families, consisting largely of historic embroideries, miniatures, watches, snuff-boxes, fans, and laces.

But in the corridors the main attraction is the Keppel historic collection of engravings and etchings by women who have won repute in those branches of art. Among the first in chronological order are the plates engraved by Diana Ghisi of Mantua, between 1581 and 1588, most of them copies from Raphael, Tuccari, and Giulio Romano. France, Italy, Germany, and [288] England all furnished skilled female engravers and etchers to the world of art, from 1535 to 1835, and specimens of their work are here on exposition. Many of them were the pupils of male relatives who had previously made their mark, and among them were Angelica Kauffman and Caroline Watson, the former a Swiss whose works were chiefly produced in England, and the latter engraver royal to Queen Caroline. Finally in the form of a bust is a wood-cut by Marie de Medicis, bearing the date of 1573.

South of the library is the exhibit of the British training schools for nurses, the walls hung with portraits of women who have been leaders in the work, and with busts and statues of others scattered throughout the apartment. Under a portrait of Queen Victoria is a statue of Florence Nightingale, and near it a bust of Princess Christian, president of the Royal British Nurses' association, with a statue of Sister Dora, and a bookcase containing her keys, scissors, chains, and other personal effects, such as remind us of her devotion and self-sacrifice. In a work, there is an entire gallery of celebrities, not least among which is the figure or bust of Rohere, the founder of Saint Bartholomew's hospital in 1122.

In large glass cases are the exhibits illustrative of methods and appliances, among which are ligatures and bandages, thermometers for marking the temperature of fever patients, surgical dressings, ventilated corsets, hygienic shoes, and other articles of wear for the sick. District nurses and private nurses have their separate outfits, as here illustrated, and in the ward baskets are most ingenious contrivances for packing articles into the smallest space. In the oil-silk bags of Queen Victoria's jubilee nurses are stowed the cordials and medicines with which they relieve the poor. Models of apparatus used in medical and surgical treatment, designed by an employee of a homoeopathic hospital, form an interesting though painful study. The dainty lace caps worn by English nurses, the medals, badges, and decorations awarded for distinguished service in war and pestilence, and the models which represent the costumes worn in various hospitals, are also among the collection.

Adjoining the exhibit of nurses' schools is a room which contains the overflow from the New York collections. It consists of articles donated by colored women of that state, and was organized by a colored female commissioner who well represents the capabilities of her race. In one corner is jewelry made by the natives of [289] West Africa, and elsewhere, specimens of cabinet work decorated in desings burned into the wood, with artistic embroideries, fans, and laces, and pictures in oil, water colors, and crayons. In the covers of a plush album is shown a sample of the first book-binding done by colored women.

Scattered throughout the Woman's building are striking illustrations of the revival of art needle-work, which in the middle ages was almost the only industry that occupied the minds and hands of women. In this modern revival, which is of comparatively recent date, England and the United States have taken the lead, and in this connection may be quoted a few extracts from an article contributed to the Art Amateur by Mrs. Candace Wheeler, director of the department.

"The old and familiar art of needle-work, the art which began when Eve sewed fig-leaves in the Garden of Eden, the art which has been the heritage of Eve's daughters in all ages of the world, has never in history made so great a showing or illustrated so conclusively its claim to rank as one of the great arts of the world. The needle-work of all the ages is here - stitchery which goes back to the time of the Beauvais tapestry, that historical treasure whose archaic story-telling renders it too precious for presence even in the wonder-time of the Columbian Exposition, and makes a reproduction of it a thing of national value. There are embroideries which are precious from every point fo view - from their antiquity, and the human interest which therefore attaches to them; from their methods, which have long been lost to the art; from the use of materials of a purity and preciousness almost unknown to modern manufacture, and from a color the subtlety of which only the painting of time can give, and which no dyes can rival. These qualities give a many-sided value, which dwarfs [290] even the best and the most earnest of modern effort."

"The first impression of all this collective wealth of embroidery is bewildering. One sees at a glance, almost, the first attempt side by side with the very latest development of the art. Examples of all countries as well as all times are here - of India, China, and Japan; of far-away Perisa; of Russia and Roumania; of Fayal and Ceylon; of Greece and Arabia; of south America and Mexico - the work of all races of women, wherever they exist or have existed, and wrought out their quiet days with the needle, sitting under palm and pomegranate. It is comparatively easy to mark the great divisions; but even to the practical observer schools and countries, uses and demands, have widely differentiated the methods and classes of these divisions. What we broadly call eastern work will be found to have very different characteristics and features. Chinese and Japanese, Persian, Indian, and Turkish embroideries differ from each other as do those of Italy, France, Germany, England, and Northern Europe. Embroideries of all periods characterize themselves. As a rule, eastern productions keep their separate characteristics through succeeding periods, so that it is difficult to fix their dates except approximately, and by condition of by quite obvious effects of time. Ancient Persian, and comparatively modern Persian, ancient Indian, and Indian embroideries of a hundred or even of fifty years ago, have the same style and methods, and use the same or nearly the same materials. Chinese, Japanese, Egyptian, and other Eastern peoples ahve scarcely changed their subjects or methods in a thousand years.

"Most of the antique embroideries of Europe are found n the shape of altar hangings and vestments, for in the embroideries, as in the pictorial art of the early centuries, the Church was the great patron. Many of them were wrought in nunneries, and, in fact, could not be produced except in the quiet and uneventful life of the cloister, where color and stitchery made the one interest and contrast of colorless lives, and could therefore almost monopolize the thought of the inmate who produced them. There is certainly a peacefulness and repose of subject and treatment in these convent-wrought hangings very greatly in contrast with other embroideries. The grotesque and wicked fancies of some of the miraculously wrought Chinese embroideries of the same date make these seem like holy pictures of madonnas and saints, although no hint of figure is shown in the design. Convent embroideries form a class by themselves, belonging for the most part to the Italian school, and covering a large part of the lustrous, softly colored, and reverent needle-work of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries in Italy. They are among the most attractive of all the antique pieces shown in the Columbian Exposition, and deserve almost individual notice and description."

[291] - Through the efforts of the Board of Lady Managers was built and furnished the Children's home, on ground adjoining the Woman's building, and forming of itself one of the educational features of the Fair. While intended mainly for the care of children too young to wander through grounds and buildings in company with parent or guardian, it is also in the nature of an exhibit, or rather of a series of exhibits, displaying the best of our nineteenth century methods of rearing and training children. First, may be mentioned the model creche, whose quarters are in a spacious, airy, and well lighted chamber, and where are shown from the earliest stages of infancy, the cradles and children's clothing of every age and nation, with the garments best suited in pattern, and material to the health and comfort of the child, and with brief lectures on these and kindred topics. Here, at a nominal charge, children are fed, amused, and cared for, the babies in an adjoining nursery, and older children according to age and conditions. In another apartment is a play-room suitably equipped, and there is a dining-room, kitchen, laundry, and drying room, all conveniently arranged.

Then comes the kindergarten, furnished and managed by the International Kindergarten association, with modern apparatus, and with object lessons of value not only to children but to those intrusted with their care, whether as mothers or teachers. In connection with the kindergarten is the kitchen garden, where, by the founder of this system, pupils are instructed in cooking, and other household work, but in such interesting method that their labor is one of pleasure. There are also classes in physical culture, a gymnasium, an assembly hall, a children's library, and a special department, equipped by the women of Pennsylvania, where may be observed the process of imparting to deaf mutes the faculty of speech.

The gymnasium in the centre of the interior court is furnished with dumb-bells, bars, swings, vaulting horses, and other appliances for the physical education of children. In cases and on stands around the gymnasium is a large collection of toys of many varieties, from those [293] of ancient and savage nations to the most recent devices fashioned for the amusement and instruction of childhood. There are the Punch and Judy and Mother Goose of England, shaggy-haired dogs from Russia, dolls and furniture from France, kite lanterns from China, and on the second floor, Japanese models of acrobats, and domestic gods, with samples of articles used in various national games. An elaborate display represents a child's Christmas in Spain, with models of lordly castles and humble cottages, tiny figures of children engaged in the festivities of their country, and a wide expanse of miniature landscape. At one of the entrances is an Indian wigwam filled with native toys, and at another kindergarten literature, and a book composed of autographic inscriptions dedicated to children, among them contributions from Oliver Wendell Holmes, Canon Farrar, the Shah of Persia, George W. Cable, and Rudyard Kipling.

For older children more solid entertainment is provided at the Fair, many of them illustrated by the stereoptico. Then, under proper care, they are permitted to view the collections of which the lecture treats, and thus to compare what they have heard with the exhibits of the country described. The outer walls of the library are covered with the sketches and manuscripts of authors who have made juvenile literature a specialty. To these and to the collection of books, selected and arranged with reference to age and capability, some of the publishing houses contributed. Of magazines and periodicals, principally American, English, French, and German, there is also a large assortment.

In one of the apartments instruction is given in the arts of wood-carving and clay-modelling, and in another is illustrated the process of teaching the deaf and dumb. In the latter children four or five years of age are taught to observe the movements of throat and lips, and the expressions of the face, in the articulation of words; for it is the theory of their instructors that, if taken in time, no case is hopeless, unless there exists some physical deformity of the mouth. There is also a room where the Ramona Indian school, of Santa Fe, New Mexico, displays its methods of teaching native children, a class of girls furnishing the living material for the illustration. The school was named after the novel written by Helen Hunt Jackson, and was partially [296] modelled in accordance with the theories therein advanced. On the gallery floor Charity is represented in this sphere of her mission by a group in marble from the atelier of Lorado Taft, a woman on bended knee parting in tears from her child, which nestles in the arms of the central figure, as with words of cheer and comfort she bids adieu to the sorrow-striken mother.

As with the entire display of Woman's industry and art, so with its Children's home, we have here a feature of the Exposition, of general, as well as of special interest. Just as the manufacturer, the machinist, or the electrician may study in their several departments the highest achievements of the inventor or the mechanic, so may all classes of visitors observe in the Children's building the most improved and enlightened methods for the rearing and education of children. In its creche, its kindergarten, its kitchen-garden, its playground, gymnasium, library, assembly-room, workshop, furniture, and even in its toys, are illustrated the best and most recent appliances and methods which our nineteenth century civilization has evolved for the training of those who are soon to take our places in the arena of life, now demanding, as never before, that he who enters the lists should be fully equipped for the struggle.

Beginning with the creche, where, in an airy and cheerful apartment, are shown the most rational modes of dressing and caring for young children, there is placed before us all that conduces to physical, intellectual, and moral development, all that expands child-nature and gives to childlife a healthful and vigorous growth. In the kindergarten and kitchengarden are object lessons of practical value to mothers and teachers; the former a playschool where instruction is conveyed in entertaining form, [297] and the latter also a place of recreation where young girls take a pride and pleasure in learning the art of housekeeping. So with the school for sloyd, with its exhibit of wood-carving, and the classes for physical culture, in connection with the American Turner-Bund. The library is also a most attractive feature, with its tasteful and comfortably furnished room, its books and periodicals from many lands, and in many languages. To gather this collection was of itself a task of no slight difficulty, for publishers refused, as a rule, to contribute, overburdened as they were, with solicitations from other quarters. But the managers were equal to the occasion, and addressing letters to American and European writers in the line of juvenile literature, thus secured, as a nucleus, a large number of authors' copies and autographs. To these, many others were added, including illustrated works, magazines, and newspapers, manuscripts, sketches, photographs, prints, and portraits. All these were selected, as far as possible, from the standpoint of the child, and not of the adult, such works being placed on the shelves and tables as children loved to read, and not as their elders might wish them to have.

Such is one of the many good works that the Board of Lady Managers has accomplished, and this it has done through its own unaided efforts, formulating its plans, erecting and furnishing its building, and raising the funds entirely through its own exertions, for by the Exposition management not a single dollar was appropriated for the purpose, this not from indifference but because not a dollar could be spared from its treasury. To get together this Children's home that nestles almost under the eaves of the Woman's edifice, was in truth an undertaking that taxed to the utmost their already overstrained resources; but it was to them a labor of love, and in the gratitude of thousands of children, of thousands of mothers, in the unspoken but none the less heartfelt sympathy of millions of visitors from every quarter of the world, they have found a just reward. Says one of the contributors to a recent work on the Woman's department, written by members of the board or by those who have their cause at heart: "It has been a great outlay of time and strength that the money for the Children's building has been raised and judiciously expended; but no one of the many workers who have contributed these building materials, time, and strength, have grudged the costly sacrifice they have made. We believe not only that the children who enjoy our building's hospitality will be benefited by our work, but that the children in every state of this republic, in every country of the world will directly or indirectly profit by it, and in this [300] happy result we shall find an ample recompense for what we have done."

Thus has the Board of Lady Managers, in conjunction with state and foreign boards, representing the most advanced and enlightened views of woman's sphere and woman's work, presented a complete exposition of what women have done and are doing in the cause of their sex, in the cause of their home, of education, charity, science, art, and in every branch of human endeavor, where is felt the all-pervading influence of woman's hand, and heart, and brain. Never before has been attempted so full and exhaustive a representation of feminine achievement, and capability. And especially do these collections illustrate the professin this direction of the United States; for nowhere else have the disabilities of women been so largely removed; nowhere does woman play so prominent a part as bread-winner, as a competitor with man in the several vocations wherein she is fitted to compete.

If in the United States the number of bread-winners is smaller than among European nations, it is because there is less need for them to earn their bread, though many do so from choice, or for what Burns has described as the glorious privilege of being independent. On the other hand there is no country in the world where the avocations of women are so diversified or so largely represented in commercial and professional circles. According to recent data there are nearly 3,000,000 women and girls who are self-supporting, many of them contributing to the support of others, and with at least an equal number who provide in part for their own maintenance. Of these more than 14,000 are at the head of business firms or conduct a business of their own, and 26,000 are employed as clerks and book-keepers. Of school-teachers there are 155,000; of teachers of music and professional musicians, 13,000; of physicians and surgeons 2,400, and of chemists and pharmacists nearly 2,000. Of [301] journalists there are 600, of authors known to fame about half that number, while more than 200 are practising lawyers or architects. But most remarkable of all is the number engaged in farming, planting, and stock-raising, in which pursuits no less than 59,000 women are represented. Such is the part that woman plays in the great workshop of our western republic, as, with the lapse of years, she rises slowly but surely toward the higher plane of her destiny.

One by one the disqualifications of women have been laid aside, their legal rights asserted, and acknowledged, so that in many of the states they share nearly all the political priveleges and civic duties pertaining to citizenship. In Wyoming, Washington, and Utah women may vote and serve on juries; in Kansas there are municipalities where the office of mayor has been filled by women; in Pennsylvania they may be appointed masters in equity, and in New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and in several of the western states as notaries public, commissioners of deeds, administrators, and executors. By the general government they may be commissioned as post-mistresses, army surgeons, captains of steamboats, and even as United States marshals. With some exceptions, our leading universities have not been slow to recognize the claims of women to such opportunities for higher and special branches of education as are accorded to men. At many of the law schools, the schools of medicine, surgery, dentistry, music, and the fine arts, women are trained and graduated, on department only closing its doors against them, and that is the department of theology. Thus, it will be seen that women can no longer be excluded on the ground of mental inferiority, and those who would advocate such exclusion must do so on other grounds.

"Women," says Ariosto, "have risen to high excellence in every art whereto they have given their care." And never since these words were written has been presented, until this year of 1893, a complete exposition of what woman has done, and is doing in the great workshop of the world. Here is in truth a complete and life-like representation of woman's condition among all the nations of earth, one relating especially to the great army of wage earners, many of whom labor under adverse conditions, their task injurious to health and their daily pittance barely sufficing for their daily bread. But here is also shown how women may find more congenial and profitable sources of employment, may learn how best to prepare themselves for new opportunities, and how to take advantage of the, each one according to her ability.

Of all the lessons of the Exposition there are none that will be longer remembered than those which the Woman's department has taught us, and to none is more credit due than to the Board of Lady Managers, forming, with its associated boards, an organization of women for the common benefit of woman-kind such as has never before existed in the history of the world. Theirs was the hardest task of all, and never perhaps was success more hardly won; never were the barriers of prejudice and apathy more difficult to overcome. [302] From oriental countries especially came most discouraging reports; for there were neither schools nor women with intelligence equal to the work. Many European countries were at first indifferent though later responding nobly to the invitation. Says the president of the Board: "We travelled together a hitherto untrodden path; we were subjected to tedious delays; and overshadowed with dark clouds which threatened disaster to our enterprise. We were obliged to march with peace offerings in our hands, lest hostile motives should be ascribed to us. When our invitations were sent to foreign lands, the commissioners already appointed generally smiled doubtfully, and explained that their women were doing nothing; that they would not feel inclined to help us, and in many cases stated that it was not the custom of their country for women to take part in any public effort."

But to the women of every land, to women who have near at heart the cause of their sex, who would not merely live a life of ease without a thought for their less fortunate sisters, personal letters were addressed soliciting their cooperation, and with most favorable results. Then it was that what had been merely a hope began to assume reality, and, contines the president, "our burdens were greatly lightened by the spontaneous sympathy and aid which have reached us from women in every part of the world, and which have proved an added incentive and inspiration." When first the Womans' building was designed, the managers were somewhat doubtful as to filling its space with creditable exhibits; but long before it was opened applications were made for four or five times the available room, thus permitting a selection of the choices and most attractive speciments of female work. Most fitting it is that the best of these specimens, including the Woman's library, should find a permanent home in a memorial building, there to serve as a nucleus for still more valuable collections.

World's Fair Miscellany

Adjoining the western vestibule of the Woman's building is a bureau where women are specially employed to furnish information or to act as guides through the grounds and buildings, and, if desired, through the city. The parlors and reception rooms were arranged and furnished with a view to the comfort and convenience of visitors, all of whom are permitted to use them free of expense.

In the rotunda of the Administration hall is a model of the treasury building at Washington, constructed of souvenir half dollars, twenty feet long, eleven in width, and four in height, placed there since the foregoing part of this work was put in print.

The correspondence maintained by the Board of Lady Managers was second only in bulk to that of the department of Publicity and Promotion, and included in its scope all social, charitable, reformatory, educational, literary, and art associations, together with women's exchanges, unions, and alliances of whatever description, throughout the United States, and in many foreign lands.

It was early determined that awards in the shape of medals or certificates should be made by juries or examining boards, in token of merit only, and as an acknowledgment of progress in the art or craft represented in the exhibits.

For the sale of exhibits by individuals, woman's exchanges, educational and decorative art societies, a cooperative system was arranged, each association or individual paying its proportion of the expenses. Twenty per cent is charged on all sales effected by employees of the management. None of the articles sold could be removed until the close of the Exposition except through concession granted by the committee on ways and means, and all articles admitted for sale must either represent the original work of exhibitors or such as their work had largely increased in value.

The so-called golden nail, driven home by Mrs. Potter Palmer at the dedication ceremonies, was made of pure copper, silver and gold. It was designed as the cross-bar of a brooch fashioned in the form of a shield representing Montana's state seal and coat of arms. In the foeground is a waterfall, behind which is a range of mountains wrought in copper, and encircled by a sunset effect in gold. The brooch is enclosed in a band of gold, with a farmer and prospector on either side, the former grasping a golden rake, and the latter a golden pick. In the centre, between these figures, is a Montana sapphire, appearing like a star in the sky depicted beneath. At the conclusion of the ceremonies the nail was withdrawn, returned to its place behind the brooch, and both were presented to Mrs. Palmer. The hammer used on this occasion was a handsome piece of workmanship furnished by the women of Nebraska.

Forty thousand souvenir coins, with a face value of a [303] quarter of a dollar, were issued from the government mint for the use of the Board of Lady Managers. On one side is a woman with a distaff, the figure encircled by the inscription, Board of Lady Managers, Columbian Quarter; on the reverse side a profile of Queen Isabella, after whom the coin was named.

At a meeting of the Board of Lady Managers, on July 31, 1893, it was resolved to establish a building fund for the erection of a permanent structure commemorative of the work of woman at the World's Fair. It was agreed to reserve as a nucleus for the fund the premium realized from the sale of the Isabella souvenir coins, amounting to $30,000, and to this sum Mrs. Potter Palmer added her salary, amounting to some $9,000.

Affixed to all the official documents of the New York Board of Lady Managers is a seal which recalls an oft-told tale in connection with the Columbian discovery, yet one which women love to repeat. The design represents an Indian woman standing upon a rocky shore, gazing anxiously seaward, and waving a torch high above her head, thus idealizing the story that the light which Columbus saw was the signal with which an Expanolan spouse beckoned homeward her belated lord.

The collection of antique and other laces in the Italian section is one of special interest, representing, as it does, a history of the art of lace-making from its earliest inception. this forms one of the most valuable collections extant, many of the speciments being worth from $12 to $80 a yard according to width and pattern. There are also copies of historic laces, including some of the queen's laces, one of them presented to her nieve, the Princess Letitia Buonaparte, on the occasion of her marriage to a younger brother of the king.

Worthy of note in the education section is an exhibit by the Pratt institute, of Brooklyn, including rugs, draperies, portieres, wallpapers, and silver-ware, designed by its graudates, and manuafactured by various establishments. Wood-carvings and costumes for women and infants were supplemented by variuos illustrations of the practical application of domestic science. Tests are given for detecting the presence of arsenic in paper-hangings, and upholstery, and of deleterious substances in baking powders, and washing fluids. Then there are charts of a model kitchen, and specimens of fine laundry work and pure soaps, with a collection of books containing information as to the various branches of domestic and industrial work.

Kate Marsden, the English nurse of the Red Cross society, whose work among the lepers of Siberia, as elsewhere noticed, attracted sledge, boat, and on horseback, to find a certain herb said to be a specific for leprosy. On reaching the district where it grew, she found it to be of no value. The book describing her experience, and entitled On Sledge and Horseback to Outcast Siberian Lepters, created a sensation when published in London. Princess Christian presented Miss Marsden with the badge of the Royal British Nurses' association, and she was elected a fellow of the Royal Geographical society.

Mrs. French-Sheldon, whose African expedition is mentioned in the text, travelled through the dark continent with a caravan organized and equipped at her own expense. She was unattended, as I have said, by any of her sex, her party consisting of 200 porters, who carried the provisions and outfit, with presents for distribution among the tribes. The palanquin in which she lived and wrote is displayed in the Transportation building, and most of the curios collected during the journey are in the ethnological section of the Woman's department.