[179] - From the manufactures of the United States let us turn to those of foreign lands, represented at the Columbian Exposition in larger volume and variety, of richer material and of more finished workmanship than at any of our great world�s fairs. Among all the foreign participants the largest amount of space was allotted to Great Britain an her dependencies, 500,000 square feet in all, of which the mother country appropriated more than three-fifths, leaving but 184,000 for what Sir Charles Dilke has termed the Greater Britain of her colonies. Considering that some of these colonies voted individually almost as much money as England herself, this allotment appears somewhat out of proportion, and especially in the hall of Manufactures, where to Great Britain is assigned 100,000 square feet apart from gallery room, and to all British colonies only 35,000. It is also worthy of note that Britain has no central pavilion, like those of France and Germany, in which to mass the best of her exhibits, though occupying one of the choicest sites in the gift of the director-general.

The front of the British section, facing on Columbia avenue is largely occupied by pottery, and especially by porcelains and chinaware, all grouped under the heading of ceramics and mosaics. If in certain respects the display is inferior to that of some other European nations, as to the French man in elaboration of design, it is nevertheless a creditable exhibit, one far superior to any before collected in the British isles. While the years that have elapsed since the London Exhibition of 1851 have witnessed what may be termed a renaissance in ceramic art, of late manufactures have devoted themselves rather to improving the quality of their wares than to the production of new designs or methods of manipulative treatment. Still is noticed the influence of Japanese art, with motifs borrowed from the French and from the choicer product of Sevres and Dresden; but in the specimens [181] presented at the Fair we have no mere striving after effect; rather a chaste and subdued embellishment, with variety of detail and excellent workmanship.

A prominent place in the British section is given to the exhibits of Doulton and company of Lambeth and Burslem, contained in a double pavilion connected by a dome-covered hall, with decorated panels displaying ceramic processes from the digging of clay to the ornamentation of a vase. Among them is a ewer, six feet high, of slender proportions and novel design, probably the largest ever fashioned of stoneware. On another more than four feet high are groups around its widest part representing epochs and incidents of English history, beginning with the Druids offering human sacrifices in the dark and ending with the reign of Queen Victoria. Around the neck are single figures of English kings and queens, from Caractacus to George I. On a ware vase are depicted scenes from rustic and animal life, and on other pieces are paintings of birds, scroll work and models in bas-relief. On one of the Faience vases are depicted some of the heroines of antiquity, as Dido, Cleopatra, Medea, Ariadne, and Lucretia. On a pair of vases more than five feet high are portrayed the legends of Perseus and Andromeda and Theseus and Ariadne, the daughter of Minos, as she gazes seaward from the shore of Naxos, "watching, weary, and forsaken," calling to mind one of the most descriptive lines of Ovid:

On a tall, slender ewer are figures typical of art and music, with heads symbolical of epic and lyric poetry. Chief among the exhibits from the Burslem works of this firm are the Columbus and Diana vases, the Dante and Chicago vases, with numerous articles for use and ornament. Of other of the Doulton exhibits, in the gallery of the Manufactures building; and in the grounds of the British building mention will be made elsewhere. Second to the Doulton display, and second only, is that of the Worcester Royal Porcelain company, containing a large variety of specimens, and in value varying from one to many thousands of dollars. Among them are some beautiful vases tinted in ivory and ornamented with gold filigree of cunning workmanship. In their list of specialties are porcelains in many colors and patterns, including chaste and elegant designs in encrusted gold and Pompeiian green, with figures and statuettes in stained ivory, jardinieres and flower-pots, lamps and candelabra. But the most attractive feature is their dinner and banquet sets, the pieces ornamented with coral rose and gold, with lace-like edges and figures painted in delicate hues. On a so-called rustic table the centrepiece is encircled by a fence of ivory and gold, and filled in with figures suggestive of rustic life.

[182] - A specialty of the Coalport China company�s exhibits is its reproduction in chalcedony of the hues of agate, as may be seen in two of its vases intended for Princess Christiana. In those of another company is a remarkable illustration of what can be accomplished in the way of decorative art on porcelain and china-ware. Among them is a Shakespearian centerpiece of more than a hundred parts, its base in Rouen green, with tints of ivory and gold, with figures emblematic of poetry, history, tragedy, and comedy, supporting a vase on which are depicted the heroines of Shakespeare. By one firm is displayed a fine collection of Copeland, Minton, and Wedgewood wares, among them specimens of the pate-sur-pate process, of Chinese origin, and producing the effect of cameo work, the decorative scheme being applied in thin layers of liquid clay before the vase is burned. Here also is a reproduction of the jubilee vase presented to Queen Victoria in 1887. By other firms are exhibits of artistic pottery, jet goods, tiles, and mosaics.

Prominent among the exhibits of gold and silverware and jewelry are those of the Goldsmiths� and Silversmiths� company of London, in the line of gem ornaments, plate of all descriptions, cutlery, chronometers, clocks, and other articles, including some of the best and most recent specimens of English workmanship. A feature in their display is a Shakespearian casket, intended to illustrate the art of damaskening in connection with goldsmiths� work. The lid is fashioned in the form of moldings damaskened iron and gold, with figures typical of dramatic and literary art, surmounted by the crest of Shakespeare. On the body of the casket, contained with moldings in gold, are enameled paintings representing some of his most famous scenes, with a medallion bust of their author, and a picture of his birthplace in gold repousse. By Mappin brothers is also a display of silver and electro plate, and by another exhibitor one of historic articles, including old English, Scotch, and Irish silver plate. In an adjoining group are reproductions of Irish art in metal work, largely in the form of crosses, croziers, and shrines, copied from the collections of the Royal Irish Academy and Trinity College, Dublin. Of these there are duplicates in the Blarney Castle Village in Midway plaisance, each one forming a link in the history or traditions of the emerald isle. Here is a facsimile of the bell of Saint Patrick, said to have been preserved for fourteen centuries by custodians descended from the same family. There is also the famous Tara brooch, its face inlaid with ornamental designs in many varieties, resembling delicate tracery. This, it is related, was picked up on the seashore by the child of a poor Irish woman, sold for a few pence to a Drogheda watchmaker, and finally purchased by the academy for the sum of $1,000. Other historic brooches there are, one named the Dairiada, the most ancient of all the collection, and another, bearing the date of 1050, unearthed by the plough of a farm laborer. Of crosses we have the cross of Cong, made in the days of Turlough O�Conor, king of Erin, and placed in the abbey of Cong by Roderick O�Conor, the last of Ireland�s monarchs.

In the Furniture group, which included upholstery and artistic decoration, the centre of interest is an exact reproduction in three-quarter scale of the banqueting hall of Hatfield house, the seat of the Marquis of Salisbury, probably the best specimen extant of the Elizabethan style of architecture. By a London exhibitor, all the oak carvings have been reproduced with remarkable fidelity of detail, portraying historic incidents long before this ancient manor became the residence of Queen Elizabeth or passed into the hands of Sir Robert Cecil. From one side of the hall, left open for the purpose, is an unobstructed view of the interior, its marble floor covered in the centre with a Persian rug, on which are plain oaken chairs and table such as the Cecils use today. On the further side is an old-fashioned fireplace, bearing the date of 1637, with fire-irons and dogs, or andirons, to correspond, flanked with the mailed armor which the Cecils [183] wore in the holy war. Above all is their coat of arms, beneath which are represented in tapestry their ancestors who took part in the crusades. At one end of the hall is a minstrel gallery, with balcony of lattice work, and lions rampant grasping the shields on which are displayed the primal quarterings of the family; at the other end are large folding doors, with life-sized portraits of Elizabeth, and Mary Queen of Scots.

On a billiard table contained in this group he who is so disposed may expend the sum of $5,000; for such is the price of what is said to be the finest table that English makers have produced. Its frame of oak is richly carved, and on its panels are depicted sporting incidents or scenes from rural life. The pockets are of novel device and above it is a specimen of artistic metal work in the form of an electrolier, each burner fitted with crimson silk shade. Among other exhibits in the furniture line are dining-room, drawing-room, and bedroom sets in the last of which the display is especially strong. By a Birmingham firm is exhibited a bedstead with canopy of solid brass, the central panel of the foot-rail containing a figure of liberty in full relief, and the pillars supporting vases whence issue flames symbolic of the Chicago fire. Of wall papers, carpets, curtains, stained glass, and other decorations, and especially of the first, exhibits are fully in keeping with the remainder of the group.

In textile fabrics our British cousins are liberally represented, with about one-third of all the exhibitors included in these groups, to which was allotted a liberal proportion of space. While, as in other departments of manufacture, there were some who took umbrage at the McKinley tariff, all branches are here represented, and by firms of unquestioned standing. The silks, which were inspected by the queen before being shipped to Chicago, include, among other varieties, damasks and brocades, plain and figured satins, and velvets, embroideries, trimmings, and crapes, handkerchiefs, scarves, and shawls, gold and silver tissues, flowered silks, and mixed designs in silks and metals. As to delicacy of color, workmanship, and general treatment they form a good display, comparing not unfavorably with the French collection on the opposite side of the nave. Of cotton, linen, and woolen goods, of clothing and costumes, and of the numberless fancy articles included in these groups, it is unnecessary here to make other than passing mention, for the quality of such goods is known the world over, and nowhere better than in the United States.

[184] - In the group of chemical and pharmaceutical products, including druggists� supplies, there is a large number of exhibitors, prominent among them being those of the United Alkali company and of Stevenson and Howell. The former is a combination of manufacturers, organized in 1890, not as a trust but for mutual protection, first to avoid the violent fluctuations which, before that date, had been of frequent occurrence, and second, by the adoption of new or improved processes to establish a superior and more economic standard of working. The company has a paid up capital of $42,000,000, and a reserve fund of $2,500,000, owns about fifty chemical, copper, metal, and salt works, several hundred miles of railway sidings, railroad wagons by the thousand, and a hundred or more of steamers and sailing vessels, employs an army of men, and with its valuable patent rights and exclusive licenses, has largely reduced the prices of many lines of goods. A feature in this section is a model of Windsor Castle erected in the booth of one of the exhibitors, a perfect facsimile in miniature, forty feet long and some twenty inches in height, a green baize cloth doing duty for the green sward which surround this ancient abode of royalty.

Manufacturers of paints, colors, dyes, and varnishes are well represented, as also are those of type-writers, papers, blank books, and stationery. Of art metal work a single exhibit has a group of bronze replicas, including one of Robert Burns. In marble and stone work there are Keltic and other crosses, one of them a reproduction of the ancient cross of Kilkispeen, in the county of Kilkenny. Of glass and glassware there are two, and of stained glass in decoration, four exhibitors, in the line of domestic, civic, and ecclesiastic art. Of church furniture there are samples from and Exeter factory. Of hair work, coiffures, and accessories of the toilet, of travelling equipments of rubber and celluloid goods, of lighting apparatus, of heating and cooking apparatus, of vaults, safes, hardware, edged tools, and cutlery, and of materials of war and sporting implements there are one or more exhibitors in each of these groups. In conclusion it may be said of Britain�s collection that it differs from all her former exhibits, for while at other expositions her display was mainly hardware, cutlery, and other serviceable articles, its excellence now consists rather in the application of art to objects of common utility, and as will presently be related in the fine arts themselves.

Though in some respects a creditable exhibit, the British collection has been sharply criticized, and by none more so than by English critics, on the ground that it does not properly represent the manufacturing power and achievements of Great Britain. Says her commissioner, in an article recently published in the London Engineering, a magazine of which he is the editor: "While a handful of exhibitors will stand high in the Manufacturers and Liberal Arts building, the question naturally arises, why, in this great battle-ground of commerce, England has refused to push forward any considerable force of her manufacturing army? And why is this, which will be probably the most important, as it is certainly the largest exposition the world has seen? The answer is found partly in the fact that Englishmen have not realized the vast importance which the Columbian Exposition will have on the trade of the world in the immediate future, and probably for many years yet to come, and partly because the actual facts of the case were not brought clearly enough before the possible exhibitors, who care little for official circulars, and require conviction by personal arguments, a long and tedious process. They resent the policy [185] that has so largely helped to develop American industries and manufactures and to increase her wealth, ignoring the fact that in spite of tariff barriers the United States are by far our largest customers, and therefore most worthy of being studied and encouraged."

Before proceeding further with the exhibits of European nations, let us see what the dependencies of Great Britain have on display in their several sections extending to the south and westward of the British division. In the Canadian section, one of the most striking of all the exhibits is in the form of a mammoth wheel, the component parts of which are circular and hand saws. To present a detailed description of Canadian manufactures as represented at the Fair, would be to describe those of an ambitious and enterprising country, but one in which this department is subservient to her agriculture, lumber industries, and fisheries. In her 10,000 square feet of space Canada has a large variety of manufactures, but little of any one class, for here are illustrated many branches of industry. The cotton fabrics of the dominion, for instance, are almost represented by a single firm, and of other textiles the collections are insignificant, in quantity at least, as compared with those of the United States. Builders� hardware, as to their comparative importance, it may here be stated that the annual value of the agricultural exports of the dominion, is nearly $40,000,000; of lumber $24,000,000, and of the products of the sea about $10,000,000, while exports of manufactures proper are valued at less than $7,000,000, against some $42,000,000 a year of imports from Great Britain alone.

Among the more interesting exhibits is a miniature representation of the industries introduced and fostered by the dominion government among the Indians of Manitoba and other provinces through the schools established in their midst within the past few years. Side by side with printing cases, work-benches, carvings, needlework, photographs and models of industrial schools, and specimens of drawing and penmanship, are native lodges filled with robes, network, woven baskets, bead-work, and illustrations of those simpler occupations of savage life from which the rising generation is departing. A large skin filled with pemican, or dried and pounded buffalo meat, is displayed as somewhat of a curiosity, by the Assiniboin Indians. Among the models is one of a native village near Bute Inlet, British Columbia, and another of the Ruper Land industrial school, the latter fashioned by an Indian boy. This school also displays a neatly printed pamphlet, the handiwork of its pupils, and from which a portion of this brief description has been derived. A few feet from the Canadian section is that of New South Wales, whose motto "Advance Australia," seems not inappropriate, when we compare her exhibits with those of other colonies. Taken at a disadvantage, when required to stand before the world as a manufacturing country, she has nevertheless a creditable display, in view of the infancy of this department of her industries. Large photographs of public buildings and scenes in and around Sydney, profusely displayed on the wall of her pavilion, suggest to the observer the important part which the metropolis plays in the material life of the colony. At one point suites of library and dining-room furniture made of cedar, black bean, honeysuckle, and other native woods, neatly carved in designs representative of the native flora, may be instanced as superior forms of manufacture, while the furs and hides of opossums, cats, bears, goats, and [186] kangaroos, gathered into another nook, point to a not unimportant branch of enterprise. A large stand, on which are bottles of eucalyptus oil for lubricating and, as some use it, for medicinal purposes, a pile of asphaltum blocks, a case of horseshoes, which will compare with the best in the American section, stationery, clothing, washing machines, and other miscellaneous articles testify to the ambition of New South Wales to be classed ere long as a manufacturing country.

The exhibits of Hindostan are housed in a double pavilion, one part of which, constructed entirely of teakwood, is a specimen of Hindoo wood carving, as developed in the lapse of centuries. Among its contents are elaborately carved tables, desks, chairs, bookcases, mantels, and all the interior furnishings and decorations made from teak, black and sandal woods, executed by native workmen. In the other chamber is an exposition of metal-work fashioned by native artisans, including vases and ornaments in brass and copper, silver and gold, with enamelled work of cunning design. In the form of a screen to this apartment is a beautiful piece of embroidery, with interwoven silk, gold, and silver wire, on which is wrought in needlework a copy of a poem, inscribed upon the tomb of one of Agra�s queens.

In the pavilion of Ceylon in the form of a small Cingalese temple, is a collection of articles manufactured from native cabinet woods of extreme durability. There are also specimens of woven and hammered goods, with various implements for the preparation of food. In the structure known as the Ceylon court, between the French and German government buildings, near the lake shore is a fine reproduction of old time Cingalese architecture, of which, as also of the book in the Woman�s building, where are illustrated the occupations and condition of the [187] female population, mention will be made in other sections of this work. The Jamaica pavilion is a light and cheerful structure, filled with the natural and manufactured products of the island. Around the main entrance are views of Kingston harbor, and other scenes in this new and popular winter resort. Among the exhibits is a case filled with delicate fans, decorated with shells, ferns, and bird�s wings. There are also shells carved in the form of leaves and other articles of deft workmanship, and at the foot of the case are articles manufactured at the government penitentiary, with specimens of Jamaica beans and banana flour.

In a choice collection of native woods one-half of each piece is polished, to show the beauty of its grain and its value for cabinet and ornamental purposes. One end of the pavilion is somewhat suggestive of a grocery, with small bins containing samples of starch, tapioca, vermicelli, and sugar. Jamaica coffee, berries, ginger, lemonade, pickles, and guava jelly, with salt from Turks island, within the jurisdiction of Jamaica, tend further to demonstrate the richness of this portion of the British West Indies. Specimens of old Jamaica rum are not far removed from a counter of wide-brimmed straw hats, the making of which is an important branch of industry. A neatly arranged herbarium displays the flora of the region, and a dozen large rolls of sole leather, a collection of common pottery, and a few large tortoise shells presently to be carved into articles of surpassing beauty, are suggestive of other pursuits of the native and half-breed population.

Adjacent to the British section is the French pavilion, on the opposite of Columbia avenue, a handsome and tasteful edifice, its entrance near the clock tower, and the centre of the nave in the purest of French classic style, and with facade of the French renaissance, finished in white and gold, and rich in artistic decoration. Passing under the arched ceiling and between walls with figures emblematic of science, art, literature, and philosophy, we enter a chamber where is a rich display of tapestries and porcelains, rich not in number but in quality. Among the former are masterpieces from the Gobelin national factory, established about the middle of the fifteenth century, and whose tapestries are of world-wide repute. On one of them, named La Filleulle des Fees, measuring some twenty-six by fourteen feet, and yet of most delicate tone and finished workmanship, were expended nine years of continuous work. It is valued at a million of francs. In another of almost equal dimensions, whose theme is Homer deified, four skilled workmen completed a seven years� task. There are [188] also Beauvais tapestries of surpassing beauty, and furniture upholstered with silken tapestries made at the government factories, for this is the national salon, and everything that it contains is the property of the nation. In the centre of the room is a choice collection of Sevres pottery, some of the pieces never before exhibited. Here is an excellent illustration of what has been accomplished in this direction within the last century, and especially within the last decade, much of it due to the Sevres factory which, subsidized as it is by the government, under government supervision, and aided by some of the foremost artificers among this nation of artists, has produced the best and most recent results in design and decorative scheme.

Among the collection of porcelains is a large Mycenae vase by Doat, on which a tournament is depictured on a ground of vermiculated gold, and a Saigon vase by the same artist, with garlands of colored pate, with cameos and light green ground. A Tuscan vase is ornamented with roses on white ground, and of Escallier vases there are choice specimens representing summer and autumn, and one with theatrical masks and accessories. There are Persian vases by Gely, and antique Chinese vases, the latter with figures of birds and flowers; there is a Bullant vase with decorations of warlike design, and a Pompeiian vase with shapely figures of the seasons. There are also Lille vases, with ewers and cups of various patterns, and among the pieces by Bonnuit is a coffee service with flowers in enamel edged with gold. Of Sandoz baskets, ash-stands, and ring-stands there is a large collection, and of works in what is termed biscuit of porcelain there are reproductions of some of the most famous works of the past and present centuries. Finally, in a separate case, there is a groups of porcelains never before displayed in public, illustrating a new decorative method whereby the coloring is applied simultaneously with the process of manufacture.

On the eastern side of the French section are collections of bronzes, silverware, jewelry, and gems, some in separate pavilions and others arranged along the outer walls. In a central position are two gilded bronze candelabra, with life-size figures supporting branches for incandescent lights, interlaced with a network of gold filigree. A reproduction in bronze of The Defense of the Flag represents a company of soldiers surrounding [190] a battery, their features and attitudes reproduced with life-like fidelity, and forming a portion of the group is a bronze replica of one of the bas-reliefs of the Arc de Triomphe reduced to one-third of the actual size. A striking figure is that of Charles V of Spain, taken from the original at Madrid. In one of the corners is reproduced a Vatican bronze of Augustus Caesar, and in another is La Zingara, with conventional tambourine and pirouette. Of Napoleon the great there are several figures and busts, but for Napoleon the little no place was found among this assemblage of the mighty dead. In Napoleon�s Last Days the victor of Austerlitz is represented in sitting posture, a robe falling from his shoulders, on his knee a map of Europe, his hand resting on the country which owed to him her glory, and in his features an expression of unutterable despair. Near by are marble busts of the emperor, bronzes of Shakespeare and Milton, of Mars and Minerva, of the four seasons, and of countless other subjects and personages, real and mythical. Bearing the name of Gustave Dore and the date of 1877-8 is the last or one of the last productions of the great master, representing Bacchus, Cupids, and all the hosts of Pan sporting amid the shadows of leafy vines. There are also cabinets with decorations of chased bronze, chandeliers, candelabra, statuary, hall figures, vases, clocks, and articles of bric-a-brac, the property of royal households.

As to silverware, it is claimed by the French that only by their artificers is reproduced by the [191] hand of man the handiwork of nature, through working from the inside of the piece and pressing on the outer side the figures fashioned by elaboration from approved designs. In a toilet set, for instance, containing twenty pieces and valued at $6,000, the smallest of these pieces was hammered into shape, and each one represents some natural object. Near to it is a coffee set of only three pieces worth, to the maker at least, $2,300, while of a third in plain silver, and with dull finish, the price is $2,600. In a banquet set of thirteen pieces the jardiniere is of solid silver, and in a stand for grapes the trays are modelled in imitation of lotus leaves. In two corner cabinets of oak, fashioned as receptacles for silverware, the enamelling of gold, silver, and cobalt was done by hand, and represents the work of an entire year. An ebony jewel cabinet of the renaissance pattern, also with gold and silver enamelling, supports a marble globe, around which curls a golden vine in tracery as delicate as frost work. The interior is finished in ivory, and on one of the drawers is an intricate design resembling a tablet, but which, on touching a secret spring, reveals a steel-lined safe. Twenty-five thousand dollars is the price of this cunning piece of workmanship, together with a pair of lamp-stands in repousse work, finished in gold and gilt. The manufacture of jewelry is well represented, and in this, as in silverware, some of the foremost of Parisian firms have furnished an elaborate display.

In ceramics there are excellent exhibits, including one intended to illustrate the reproduction of ancient forms, materials, and colors. In brick and tile work is an imitation of the famous pottery frieze of Persepolis, its columns and figures reduced to about one-fifth of their actual size, and yet large enough for a building of ordinary dimensions. Of vases, including one of the Alhambra pattern, there are many which even an expert cannot readily detect as copies. In china-ware France is seen at her best, as also in her display of mosaics, next to the collection of bronzes.

In the line of furniture and upholstery there are exhibited some of the most elaborate articles of Parisian make, including Gobelin tapestries and the richest of drawing-room and other decorations, with sets and pieces of all descriptions, some of the smaller articles ranging in value from $1,000 to $5,000. But in this section the most attractive feature is a reproduction of the antique furniture contained in the royal chateaux of the Bourbons.

[193] - In a corner of the pavilion opposite the clock tower is the display of laces and embroideries, as to the merits of which it need only be said that they are French. To produce a single exhibit in the form of a double pair of lace curtains, valued at $6.000, was the task of several hundred women, and of another pair of chrysanthemum design, the price is $1,500. For the decorative work of a parlor, fashioned in gold thread, and resembling that of a chamber in the castle of Rambouillet, is also demanded the sum of $6,000. Still another feature is the clothing department, where, attired in the latest Parisian costumes, are figures in wax representing a bridal scene, with the bride surrounded by her bridesmaids and receiving the finishing touches of her toilet. The clergyman is also there, the ushers and the audience, the best man and the groom awaiting his fiancee, who is about to set forth for church.

In three compartments on the eastern gallery floor, above the French pavilion, with which they are connected by stairways, are the exhibits of silks and woolens, representing industries whose volume of production is little short of $200,000,000 a year. All these apartments are fashioned in imitation of royal salons, their walls hung with tapestries, their finish in cream color and gold, and the friezes decorated with floral garlands. In the display of silks are samples from more than forty factories, most of them from the looms of Lyons, and including fabrics varying in price from a few cents to $100 a yard. In one of the chambers is a collection of crapes and grenadines, gauzes, nets, and other delicate fabrics, largely the productions of Lyons, with her 150,000 weavers. Ecclesiastical vestments and decorations are the specialties of one of the exhibiting firms, its cases containing also prayer-books, whose text is woven in silk. By the union of reelers and throwsters, so-called, manufacturing processes are illustrated, and among their display is a gilded mulberry tree, [194] with cocoons hanging from its branches. Of plushes and velvets a Lyons firm has a rich assortment, and the ribbons of St. Etienne are so arranged as to resemble silken garments rather than accessories of the costume.

Notable among the woolen groups is that of an industrial society of Rheims, including a complete display of domestic and foreign yarns, together with finished fabrics. In another collection are raw wools gathered from many lands and of many grades, from the finest to the coarsest, with dyed wools and yarns in a separate case, these forming the exhibits of a corporation known as the Anonymous society of wool-combers. Here is represented one of the great industrial organizations of the republic, with three establishments, a capital of $2,400,000, 2,500 employees, and using among other raw material 350,000 fleeces of wool a week. Of cotton goods there are a few exhibits, and for children there is a chamber set apart, filled with dolls, dummies, and other figures fashioned in wax, wood, and metal.

With its wealth of decoration in rich and costly tapestries, in paintings in oil and water colors, in statuary of bronze and marble, together with all the beautiful things that France has prepared for display, it is no wonder that the French section is one of the most attractive points in the hall of Manufactures and Liberal Arts. A token of the nation�s interest in the Exposition is the group of statuary cast in bronze and placed by order of its government in the centre of the pavilion. In La France Republicaine, as the group is termed, a colossal personification of the republic is represented in sitting posture, her body girt with a cuirass, her right arm held [197] aloft, and in her left a drawn sword guarding a tablet on which are inscribed the rights of man. On the head is a diadem fashioned in figures symbolic of liberty, equality, and fraternity, and on the pedestal are reproduced in carvings the leading incidents of the revolution.

To Germany was given as a place of honor one of the four sections surrounding the central court of the Manufactures building, the remaining three being allotted to Great Britain, France, and the United States. In this, as in other departments, Germany is seen at her best, and of the total of all her exhibits, six times as large and ten times more costly than those at the Centennial Exposition, representing every commercial and artistic product of her empire, a large proportion is contained in her pavilion fronting on Columbia avenue, built after the style of the German renaissance and with rich and tasteful decorative scheme.

In a large rectangular space is reproduced the new German Reichstag, on the corners of which are towers surmounted by a dome, its apex in the form of the imperial crown, finished in burnished copper and overlaid with gold. In the statuary contained within are represented the foremost of German sculptors, their collections giving to it the appearance of an art repository. Among them are colossal statues of German emperors, and one in bronze representing Germania in the person of a female warrior, armor-clad and mounted on a richly caparisoned charger. In her right hand is the national flag, and in her left a shield, emblazoned with the imperial eagle. On one side is a youth with sword and laurel branch, grasping the bridle of the horse, and on the other the goddess of victory, proclaiming the glories of historic battlefields.

Passing through wrought-iron gates of elaborate design, flanked with towers supported by columns of the Ionic order, and with decorated plinth upholding golden eagles, we come to a richly furnished chamber containing tokens of esteem and gratitude, and articles of presentation bestowed on those whom the nation loves to honor. Among them are addresses of welcome or congratulation, with more substantial gifts, to Wilhelm I, Friedrich III, and Wilhelm II, to Bismarck, Von Moltke, and the grand duke of Baden. There are also costly works of art, including prizes awarded by the present emperor to yacht clubs and in other fields of sport, with cups, caskets, bronzes, clocks, and articles of virtu illustrating the progress of industry and art as applied to such purposes.

Adjacent to this section are the exhibits of gold and silver ware, jewelry, and ornaments, clocks and watches, and ceramic art, the last including the display of the royal porcelain factory. Prominent among these groups is the collective exhibit of the jewelry and precious metal industries of Hanau, Pforzheim, and other German centres of these branches of manufacture. In this collection are some fifty exhibitors, and among their varied assortments it would be difficult to mention any article pertaining to the craft that is not here on exposition. To name them merely, together with those contained in the adjoining groups, would almost fill a chapter of my work. Suffice it here to say that they form a complete and most valuable illustration of a line of industry which, in [198] the little Baden town of Pforzheim alone, gives work to ten thousand artisans, with an output of $10,000,000 to $12,000,000 a year.

As a background to these exhibits is a portico with pillars of porcelain, and a huge allegorical painting on porcelain tiles, representing Germania surrounded by men who have won for themselves a name in the world of art. The central figure is of heroic size, and from her pedestal of fleecy clouds pronouncing a benediction upon the assembled group. In the foreground is Father Rhine, and above him the sculptor Peter Vischer and the artists, Hans Holbein, Albert Durer, and Burgmaier. Elsewhere are figures typical of commerce, industries, and art, with those of Guttenberg and of Gerhard von Rhiel, by whom were designed the lofty spires of the cathedral of Cologne, which forms the background of the picture. On either side are reproduced in a plaque of porcelain the weapons of medieval warfare bound in peaceful companionship by ribbons of silk. Curious are the twisted Saracen pillars that support the roof of the portico, to which there is access from stairways with wrought-iron balustrades. A bathroom is furnished in porcelain work of purest white, and in a dining-room the table is spread with porcelain work of choicest pattern. An alcove has for centre piece a mirror with porcelain frame of cunning workmanship, and above which is a plaque of Friedrich III, and in another alcove is a mantelpiece, with sides in the shape of human figures, and above them cupids upholding a medallion. On the tile paintings which partially inclose these alcoves Cupid appears in the role of a professor, teaching the birds of the air to sing and the beasts of the field to dance. There are also life-sized fowl and feathered songsters, and overlooking the entire scene is a donkey gazing with the solemn stare that only a donkey can assume.

Worthy of mention is the wrought-iron fence which guards this section of the German exhibit, 160 feet long, 40 feet high and 22 in width, its gates alone with posts and top-piece weighing more than twenty tons. In the central gate, its massive iron bars are filled in with delicate tracery work, and on the top is a basket of flowers resembling, except as to color, those made of wax. The decorations suggest rather the work of a goldsmith than such as was fashioned by hammer and anvil; yet all were made by hand, forming a six months� task for several score of the most skillful artisans of Frankfort-on-the-Main.

A centre of attraction is the Bavarian pavilion fronting on Columbia avenue, and forming an integral portion of the German display. It is a temple-like structure, with arched central portico, and roof, cornice, and frieze richly adorned with statuary and bas-reliefs. In the interior are reproduced a German dining-room of the renaissance period, an imperial boudoir, and the presentation room already mentioned. In the first of these apartments the ceiling is quaintly panelled and the walls draped with dark velvet tapestry, relieved by vertical sections of richly embroidered cloth in brighter hues. Among its furniture is a colossal sideboard with glass-ware of [200] rainbow pattern; on a centre table of antique fashion is a beer tankard three feet high, and a hand-made jewelry box of iron, while the chairs are such as the kaisers might have used three centuries ago. The other chambers are furnished in lighter style, and especially the boudoir, the furniture of which, once the property of Ludwig II, came from a castle in the Bavarian Alps, and is so richly gilded as to resemble solid gold. The walls are hung with tapestry of blue velvet, heavy with floral designs in gold, and among the mirrors is one made up of forty smaller pieces in the rococo fashion of the sixteenth century.

In this pavilion also, as indicated by an inscription on the architecture, is a portion of the exhibits of the Bavarian art industry association, the remainder of which are contained in stalls or booths representing the various eras and phases of German life. Among them is a hunters� room of olden style, its walls adorned with antlers and stuffed birds, with shells containing the quaintest of tankards and beer-mugs, and in the centre a heavy oaken table and leather-seated chairs. Another apartment, illustrating the substantial luxury of the German renaissance period, is a dining-room, with oaken sideboards, cabinets, chairs, and tables of elaborate carving and design, with bronze busts and tall old-fashioned clocks, curtains of richly embroidered velvet, and wainscoting of gilded leather.

Passing these southward we come to a collection of stoves and cooking ranges, the first including specimens in decorated porcelain and earthenware, ten feet or more in height and with folding doors in the grate. Near them is a display of bronzes, and of embossed leather work, raised, colored, figured, and gilded by hand, with a tanned ox hide, from which the hair and horns have not been removed, indicating the principal material of which these articles are fashioned.

In the cutlery booths a single exhibitor has forty feet of show-cases containing every class of goods, from pocket knives to surgical instruments. In front of one of these cases is a pair of so-called ladies� scissors, six feet long and weighing the tenth part of a ton, with blades of mirror-like brightness and handles beautifully chased. There are also carving and other knives and forks of Brobdingnagian dimensions, contrasting somewhat strangely with articles intended for actual use. Adjacent to these are the collective exhibits of the German Engravers� Union, prominent among which is that of Prince Stollberg�s works in the Hartz mountains, including breast-plates, helmets, shields, battle-axes, swords, and spears, such as were worn or wielded in by-gone centuries by German men-at-arms.

Among the minor exhibits is one representing a steamer at sea, wrought entirely of needles so skillfully arranged as to resemble the sheen of ocean. By a Munich toy factory is displayed a huge Santa Claus wagon, with children grouped among its contents, and above all a figure of Santa Claus. Seated in front is a young girl driving a stuffed horse, and at the side is a St. Bernard dog. In a glass kiosk adjacent is a collection of toys representing in miniature all articles of daily use. A banqueting board, for instance, two feet long, is furnished forth for a score of guests, with the usual table ware, and with candelabra, wine glasses, and bottles of wine. Dolls there are in endless array, a toy kitchen and a toy stable with horses and hostler, and other exhibits from Thuringia factories. From the industrial museum at Nuremburg is a collection of scientific toys, including battleships three feet long, manned, armed, and equipped, with tiny ocean-going steamers, steam-engines, and electrical machinery. By Nuremburg firms is also displayed an assortment of drawing materials, mirrors, and other wares among their toy exhibits, inclosed in a large panoramic painting of that ancient burgh.

In Germany the origin of ceramic arts is almost as ancient as her empire, and in her samples at the Fair are all descriptions of workmanship, from the crudest efforts of by-gone ages to the most finished products of the present day. There are few German industries of more importance than those represented by her glassware and potteries, and none perhaps to which she points with a more becoming pride.

Among the exhibits of metallic wares is one of hammered copper goods, including crucifixes, chandeliers, and vases, some of them fashioned by hand out of a single piece of copper. By the manufactures of the iron gates, already noted, is displayed a large collection of specimens hammered out of iron by hand work and [201] among these groups are illustrated the results of patent processes for the enamelling of iron goods with such perfect finish as to resemble porcelains and china-ware. Among them are flower-stands, inkstands, vases, shields, consol and card-tables, and numerous articles for table use.

In textiles Germany is well represented, with individual exhibits so combined that a single group may contain the choicest products of a score of factories. In one of the windows, for instance, a number of firms unite in displaying all the processes of silk manufacture, from the cocoon to the completed fabric. Side by side with dress goods and trimmings are silks prepared for upholstery use, for neckwear, umbrellas, and parasols, all these from the mills of a single town. Another town makes a specialty of laces and embroideries, and a third has an assortment of knit goods in woolen, silk, and cotton. Still another excels in lace curtains, which are displayed on the surrounding walls in most elaborate designs. From a state institution at Schneeberg comes an assortment of hand-made laces; from Reichenau a choice display of woolens, and from Glauchau of the women�s dress goods produced by the mills of Saxony.

Adjacent to the German section is the Austrian pavilion, and passing between its massive pillars and beneath an arch surmounted by the national Eagles, attention is first attracted by the life-size portrait of Emperor Francis Joseph, woven in cotton and silk by the power loom. This is said to be the first work of the kind executed by machinery, and comes from a Vienna factory. A photograph was first enlarged on a scale of more than fifty to one, the image being reflected on a linen sheet. The outlines made from this served as the foundation for the likeness, which was reproduced on one hundred sheets, composed of nearly 20,000 cards, and the cotton and silken threads of the design drawn through millions of holes [203] punctured on the surface. An entire year was required for this task, and no wonder that the delicate lines and shadings of the finished portrait aroused the admiration of the emperor, to whom it was presented. With his permission it was placed on exhibition in the Austrian section as one of the triumphs of textile manufacture.

As in the German section and the German village on the plaisance, so in the Austrian pavilion, one of the most attractive exhibits is that of art metal work, especially of vases, plaques, ancient armor, and imitations of ancient handiwork. A fine display of bronzes is made by Camerden and Forster, agents in New York for the manufactures. From time immemorial the Germanic races have excelled in this line of manufacture, giving to their wares a beauty and finish which is not found among those of southern artificers.

But the gem of the Austrian section is the exhibit of Bohemian porcelains and glassware. It was at first intended to establish temporary works in the Midway plaisance, where could be shown all the processes of manufacture; but for some reason this project was abandoned, and we see only the results. No mere factory, however, could explain how for many ages this industry has descended from father to son, each generation patiently striving to improve on the workmanship of its predecessor. The display is therefore the illustrative and collective result of centuries of individual endeavor. All the famous factories of Bohemia have contributed to the exhibit of glassware, which is placed, as it should be, in the foreground. As a centrepiece is the tall vase, fashioned in imitation of onyx, and loaned for the occasion by Emperor Joseph. Side by side are huge punch-bowls and tiny glasses, ornamented with arabesque designs, and softly tinted with the hues of wax or pearl. There are entire services of porcelain ware, adorned with flowers and wreaths in gold and light blue; there are beautiful statues of clay so manufactured as to resemble ivory, and as a contrast [205] rose-colored pieces of Pompeiian glassware.

Around a huge jardiniere is a group of decorated porcelain, in royal blue and gold, and near by are two revolving urns, towering above the head of the tallest visitor. The last are from Carlsbad, the free city of Bohemia, and the paintings wrought by hand upon their sides bespeak a love of freedom, representing, as they do, the signing of the magna charta and the declaration of independence, the taking of the Bastille, and the abolition of slavery. Vienna contributes the most varied assortment of fancy articles, together with a large collection of jewelry and gold and silver ware, while the entire monarchy may be said to have an interest in the model room, under the gallery, royally furnished and decorated. By mural paintings and shrubbery plants the background is made to represent a conservatory opening from a beautifully frescoed chamber. The gilded, [207] heavy furniture is upholstered in rich Gobelin tapestry, and included a grand piano in ivory and gold, and a huge Moorish clock with fret-work of cunning design.

In the line of leather goods are tables, chairs, and other furniture made of pressed leather, wall decorations and specimens of book-binding, ancient and modern. A treasure guarded with jealous care is a bible bound in silver, its covers hand-carved and inlaid with gold and on the front a vine traced in topaz.

To the Belgian section was accorded a site adjacent to the French pavilion, in recognition of the close geographic and commercial relations of the two countries. Here we have the nearest approach to a purely national display contained in the hall of Manufactures, for the entire enterprise was organized by chambers of commerce among such cities as Brussels, Antwerp, Ghent, Liege, and other centres of commercial and industrial activity. From each of these bodies members were selected by the king, forming together the Superior Council of Industry, whose special duty it was to see to the choice and preparation of the various collections. The result is a well considered, well proportioned, and skillfully arranged exhibit.

The pavilion, which is of itself a product of native skill and taste, was fashioned by Belgian workmen before being shipped in sections to Chicago. It is of the same height as the French structure, and its lofty central portal, draped with rich garnet portieres, forms a sightly entrance way. Within is a bronze statue of Leonidas at Thermopylae, by Gaef, one of the foremost sculptors of Bruges, more than seven feet high and cast in a single piece, on its left a bronze urn, and on its right a dainty statuette representing Innocence Tormented by Love.

First among the exhibits are the finest of Belgian laces, including Valenciennes, Venetian point, Venetian guipure, duchesse, and Mechline. Near them are the daintiest of shawls and bridal veils, one of the latter made of round point lace, fifteen feet long and a dozen in width, being valued at $7,000, while for a lace shawl with very few feet of its precious surface twice that sum is demanded. Other textiles of more substantial character, as linens, cottons, and dress goods, though forming an excellent display, attract but little attention as compared with their costly environment.

Ceramic wares, in the form of vases, porcelain sets, and glassware, cut, etched, engraved, and stained, fill other portions of the pavilion. Deserving of special mention is the fine display of porcelains, tableware, tiles, and mural decorations by a La Louviere firm. The exhibits of marbles is also worthy of note, including, among other pieces, a handsome staircase and fireplace, into which are worked eight different native varieties.

Liege has long been recognized as one of the great centres for the manufacture of small arms, both for military and sportsmen�s use, its collection forming a prominent feature in the Belgian section. One of the largest establishments has a collection not only of guns, but of unfinished weldings, with a view to illustrate the methods of manufacturing [209] Damascus and twist barrels. But to enumerate all the branches of manufacture represented in the 45,000 square feet allotted to the Belgian department would be an endless task. Prominent among them are the draperies, decorative panels, and paintings, and other applications of art to household use. A suggestive feature also is the exhibit of soft felt hats and sombreros, of which many millions are imported by the United States and Latin America.

The vast empire of all the Russias, occupying nearly one-fifth of the land surface of the earth, is represented in the hall of Manufactures by some 40,000 square feet of exhibiting space, or about one square inch to every two square miles of her territory. The exhibits are arranged as they should be, with a view to illustrate all the phases of national life, representing not only the luxury and civilization, but the suffering and semi-savagery of the empire. Thus it is with a realizing sense of the vastness of her dominion that we enter, for instance, the Asiatic room, and here compare the fabrics of Persia and Turkestan, of Khiva, Bokhara, and southwestern Siberia. Other sections, including those which are subject to the empire and those which she is striving to render subject, contribute to what is known as the Central Asiatic exhibition, which was also displayed at a former exposition held in the city of Moscow.

The pavilion is of the ecclesiastic style of Russian seventeenth century architecture, with the principal entrance at the corner, in the form of a lofty arch surmounted by a tower, and with a smaller doorway in the centre of its facade, fronting on Columbia avenue. Near the main portal are two vases of red jasper, forwarded by the royal museum, and which it would be extremely difficult to duplicate, while the copies, in lapis-lazuli and malachite, of others in the royal palace at St. Petersburg cannot be readily detected from the originals. Other vases and urns of most intricate workmanship are contained in this collection, with statuary and mantelpieces, fashioned of porphyry, obsidian, jasper, malachite, and various ornamental stones, aglow with nature�s richest hues.

In the bronze collections, more than in any other are illustrated the extremes of Russian life, one group being devoted to the army and the government, which are virtually the same, and another to the lowly and suffering peasantry. In this exhibit are many pieces by the sculptor Lanceret, whose recent death was a loss to the empire and to art. In addition to these works are allegorical figures and statuettes in solid silver, one of them, mounted on red jasper, representing Alexander bestowing freedom on the serfs, and rescuing Bulgaria from the grasp of Turkey.

Silverware is displayed in many rich and attractive forms, much of it belonging to the imperial household. The enamelled variety indicates the revival of an ancient process of manufacture, which is gradually being extended to other countries. Some of the pieces seem almost transparent, so delicate is the material used, the designs being added by pouring melted enamel into the ornamental figures. The skill required to perform this operation and the danger of destroying an entire piece by a single mistake gives to these wares their high marketable value.

Russian furs, which form a most important article of commerce, are displayed in every conceivable class and form. There are stuffed animals, skins, and robes, with costly garments composed wholly or in part of furs, such as are worn by the highest officials, and by the titled dames of St. Petersburg and Moscow. Garments also may be seen such as the Siberian huntsmen wear when in chase of the bear, the sable, the otter or the seal. Among other exhibits are many which tend to reveal the more luxurious phases of Russian life. Furniture is shown, made of native woods, artistically carved and ornamented, with the choicest of Russian silks and rich sacerdotal vestments, worked with gold and silver thread upon silken textures. In the more homely groups of cotton and woolen goods, the display is also creditable, St. Petersburg, Moscow, and Piotrkov being well represented in these branches. In a word, except for leather goods, the crude metals, and a few other items, the Russian exhibit is almost a reproduction on a smaller scale of the great fair which for centuries has been held at Nijni Novgorod.

[210] - Norway�s exhibits are for the most part divided between the Manufactures and Fisheries buildings, but with several in each of these departments which are officially classified with others. The Agricultural division, for instance, including food and its accessories, related machinery, and forest products, is represented in the hall of Manufactures by the displays of milk-condensing companies, of makers of liqueurs, wines, and malt liqueurs, and of the products of wood pulp mills. Various farming implements are shown, and an ingenious milking apparatus operated by a suction pump. The exhibit of timber for house-building purposes is mainly confined to the pavilion itself, which is constructed of Norway pine, and whose facade contains some excellent specimens of native carving in [211] wood. With the exception of a few designs in simple colors at the main entrance, the pavilion is untouched by paint or oil, and though somewhat overshadowed by the loftier structure of Russia, shows to excellent advantage the natural beauties of Norway pine.

An attractive feature is the collection of Norwegian birds and beasts, including stuffed water-fowl, polar bears and deer, mounted on stands, in cases, or suspended from the walls. Norwegian granites and marbles are displayed in the form of polished columns, fireplaces, slabs for wainscoting, paper weights, and smaller articles. In the centre of the court is a tall monument, each panel representing a different variety of marble, the quarrying of which is a comparatively new industry in Norway. At the back of the pavilion is an exhibit of a national character, prepared by the Norwegian Home Industrial society, and by several private firms which make and export the costumes characteristic of the country. Here may be seen, attired in their usual garb, the Norwegian wife and maid, the peasant and hunter, with birds and animals on every side, and with large photographs scattered throughout the apartment, adding to the realism of the display.

To the tourist and sportsman an interesting feature is the quaint collection of snow-shoes, skates, sleds, and carriages; nor should we omit the models of locomotives, railway-cars, and steamers. One of the railway-cars is so constructed that its wheels are adjustable to tracks of various widths. There are also models of the tourist steamers Venus and Mercury, which travelers in picturesque Norway will doubtless recognize. The snow-shoes are of all patterns, from simple strips of wood with a strap in the centre, to such as are delicately inlaid with mother of pearl, while the skates vary in style from wooden articles with heavy steel runners which turn up at the toe to those of modern make, fashioned of aluminum, and with the lightest of blades.

The industrial products of the peasantry are illustrated by choice specimens of embroidery and needlework, and by ingenious wood-carvings in the form of boxes, card-receivers, photograph-cases, paper-knives, spoons, and tankards for wine and beer. Elsewhere in the exhibits of wood and metal work the convivial habits of the Vikings and their descendants are brought into prominent notice. Among them are ancient wine-horns, ornamented with silver, which, on festive occasions, the guests were expected to empty a prodigious number of times. Native smiths have also reproduced in silver the massive cups of earlier days, while among originals is a tankard of 1683, and a wine-cup of 1790. Another relic, more admired than any is a crown of silver, made in the [213] seventeenth century, and worn by the brides of several generations descended from a prosperous peasant�s family. A dozen Norwegian manufactures send their contributions of antique Scandinavian silverware and ornaments, filigree and enamel work, the exhibits of gold and silverware, jewelry, and other articles of personal decoration, forming one of the strongest features in the Norwegian section.

On the other side of Columbia avenue are the Danish and Swiss pavilions, of which the former is recognized by its lofty towers and its coats of arms. On either side of the main entrance are bronze statues of Thorwaldsen and Hans Christian Andersen, near which are collections of personal relics commemorative of their national characters. In fact, the room is substantially reproduced in which the charming writer of fairy and other tales lived and labored for so many years. His writing desk, inkstand, pens, fire screen made of newspaper clippings, clock, spectacles, pictures, sofa, and several original manuscripts are placed as he loved to see them when in the flesh, bringing his personality home to us as never before. The entire collection was loaned by the royal museum of Copenhagen, which also permits the visitor to linger over many curios illustrating the career of the great sculptor. He is was who built the museum itself, which is here reproduced in miniature, together with most of his works of art which grace it. Side by side with the model is a case containing the hat which he wore at his triumphal entry into Copenhagen in 1838, together with the medal of the order of knighthood conferred by the king, his favorite pipe, cigar cases, match boxes, autograph letters and sculptor�s tools.

The Erikson room, dedicated to the memory of the bold voyager for whom has been claimed the discovery of America, contains rude sketches believed to refer to these pre-Columbian voyages. Its furniture is a reproduction of that which is used in Iceland at the present time. Upon the outer walls of the pavilion are also pictures illustrating those stirring times in the northern seas, one of them representing a Danish fleet crossing the North sea in 860, another some primitive craft touching in 980 at a foreign shore, perhaps that of Rhode Island or Massachusetts.

The main exhibits are divided into four classes, and passing through the chief entrance, we come first to the display of gold and silver, introduced by the equestrian statue of King Christian, mounted on the charger which for many years he rode on public occasions in Copenhagen. It is made of silver, the work being modelled from a photograph by Heinrich Hansen. Rosenberg castle, the King�s summer residence, built early in the seventeenth century, is shown in a model of gold and silver consisting of 1,700 separate pieces. The principal manufacturers of gold and silverware also make creditable display of ancient work, either as originals or imitations.

Prominent among the ceramic wares are those of the royal porcelain factory of Copenhagen, occupying the centre of the pavilion. Among its exhibits is a service, in rococo style, each of its pieces with landscape decorations by a Danish artist, and representing in all the labor of many years. Of works of art in underglaze there are not a few by prominent members of the royal academy.

Elsewhere in the Danish pavilion are figures and vases in terra cotta, with furniture of oak and walnut, wall-hangings in silk and figured leather. Dainty embroideries, laces, and articles of domestic decoration represent the women of Denmark, and the exhibition of the Danish Sloyd association illustrates the system of manual training in the form of industrial school, with specimens of printing and book-binding presented by leading publishers.

[214] - Entering the dark colored Swiss pavilion, beneath the arch which bears the national cross of red, the visitor finds himself surrounded by colored crayon pictures of the castle of Chillon, Jungfrau, Mont Blanc, Geneva, Lucerne, the Bernese Alps, and other romantic scenery, which serves for a time to draw his attention from the lower planes of industries. Soon, however, he observes that watches and watch-making occupy much of the space, Geneva, of course, making the strongest exhibit. Several of the firms not only display time-pieces, but every portion of their mechanism, an entire family of watch-makers showing how the different parts of the watch are distributed among the cottagers to be finally put together at the factory.

Wood carving is also one of the most prominent industries of Switzerland, where the gables of their houses, the framework of their doors and windows, and the interiors of their residences are rich with sculptured ornamentations. The natural taste and skill in this direction, developed by many centuries of practice and by the efforts of industrial societies, is now the source of a good revenue, many large firms exporting such articles of virtu to European and foreign lands. Forty of these houses make exhibitions in the Swiss section, and about twice that number of watch-makers and manufactures of scientific instruments and music-boxes.

At the main entrance of the Italian pavilion, with its dress of cream and gold, is a bronze statue of a lion and his prey, flanked by the famous group of "The Wrestlers," and near by a figure of Augustus Caesar, and tile paintings by Achille Mollica. Throughout this section statuary is scattered in lavish profusion, and the life-like beauty of the creations in pure marble is further enhanced by the hangings of heavy velvet which form the chief accessories to the exhibits themselves. Among them is a Psyche from the studio of Rossa, and images of Rebecca, Esther, and Margherita by one of the few real artists who are also dealers in works of art. Columbus, bent and feeble, is taking his last view of land, and in a somewhat daring combination of marble and bronze is the figure of a female slave, the head, arms, and feet of metal, and the drapery of two varieties of marble so artistically blended that they appear to be cut from a single block. Worthy of note also are those which depict the eager fresh delight of a group of children, for the first time absorbed in the marvels of the stage, in contrast with which are the figures of a little girl, first with a live bird in her hand and then with its body, the face and attitude symbolic of joy and sorrow.

[215] - In the northern portion of the pavilion are the wooden carvings, not a few of them second only to those in marble. On a large panel of Italian walnut, for instance, are groups of cupids, flowers, and birds of most artistic execution. The famous carvings are massive and handsomely decorated sideboards, cabinets, settees and mantels. Among others worthy of note are the decorative carvings and figure delineations of Francesco Toso, of Venice, whose death occurred in Chicago while earnestly striving to make the entire exhibit worthy of Italian art and workmanship. Toso was partial to dark-hued woods, and his negroes in ebony will not be soon forgotten; neither will his cupids, having as background garlands of flowers. His masterpiece, however, consists of the figures of Marguerite and Mephistopheles, carved from opposite sides of the same block of wood, their life-like forms reflected in a mirror, so that they seem to be walking together. Other carvings from wood are in the shape of guitar players, gondoliers, punchinellos, etc., illustrative of the gay and grotesque. Still another group represents a score of old-time Italian servants, and there are several specimens in which the wood is so stained as to resemble bronze.

Glassware, ceramics, mosaics, inlaid work, and cameos are represented in forms for which Italy has ever been famous. The majolica ware of Naples, the Byzantine mosaics, the Venetian glass, and furniture of all designs inlaid with ivory, are liberally displayed. Of choicest texture and tracery are the Venetian laces, the manufacture of which, under the patronage of the queen, has within recent years, revived a long dormant industry. In the case which contains the cameos is a royal shell with over fifty figures carved upon it, among them members of the royal family of England. Coral jewelry, embossed leather work, carvings in tortoise shell, and bronzes reproducing many famous pieces of statuary, with replicas of Pompeiian utensils and ornaments, are among the attractions over which the fair pilgrim is apt to linger.

Adjacent to the Italian division, and in the southwestern corner of the Manufactures building, are the sections allotted to Spain and certain of her old-time dependencies. The Spanish pavilion, with its gloomy arches, its massive pillars, its pink ceilings and richly fretted ornamentations, is an impressive structure, reproducing some of the more salient features of the cathedral of Cordova. A collection of religious images, tall candelabra and embroidered tapestries in which are recognized the features of the pope and the queen-regent of Spain, further tend to create an atmosphere of church and state. At one of the entrances is a court inclosed with rich specimens of stained glass and mosaics, with a background of gilded moldings.

Barcelona plays an important part with her exhibits of glass and mosaic work, of rugs and blankets, and other manufactured products of that historic city, still one of the industrial centres of Spain, especially in the production of textile fabrics. Here was held in 1892 an exposition of industrial arts, designed principally to illustrate the technical skill of Spanish working-men, and the best of the exhibits there collected were forwarded to the World�s Fair, forming the bulk of the display in the Spanish section. There are silks of antique pattern, swords, ceramic wares and tiles, carvings in metal, chemical soaps, cordage, and a small collection of Spanish books. One of the most monumental works contributed by the editors and publishers of Spain is the Spanish and South-American directory. There are also some unique bindings in leather, metal, and wood. Of special interest to women are the point d�Alencon, Chantilly and other laces, and the photograph of the infanta Eulalia, taken in Barcelona many years ago.

The small area originally granted to Portugal was transferred to Italy; but in the exhibits of her former New World empire of Brazil, as also in those of the Argentine republic, a portion of the ancient Spanish vice-royalty of Buenos Aires, we have sufficient evidence that primitive systems of [216] manufacture are being rapidly superseded by modern methods and machinery.

In connection with the Brazilian section, it may here be mentioned that her appropriation of $600,000 exceeded, with one or two exceptions, that of any European power, and that this amount has been well expended is nowhere more apparent than in her department of manufactures. Here in truth is one of the surprises in which the Exposition abounds; for by many, even of the more cultured class of visitors, men well informed as to the agricultural and mineral wealth of the young republic, little was expected in this direction except for a slender display of textile fabrics, the fashioning of basket work and of household utensils from clay and cocoanut shells, with preparations of tapioca, manioc, chocolate, dye-stuffs, and india-rubber, with perhaps a few hammocks of fine material and workmanship; for to Brazilian Indians is attributed by some the invention of these articles of modern comfort. But entering this section, the first thing noticed is a choice collection of ceramics, mosaics and wall-papers from Rio Janeiro, and the states of St. Paulo and Bahia, with saddles richly embroidered in gold and velvet, with inlaid wood-work, and massive ebony furniture. The Columbian era is illustrated in the manufactures division. Government is represented by the guns and models of cannon sent from the naval arsenal at Pernambuco, and by the uniformed dummies of officers, musicians, and privates.

[217] - The display of the Argentine republic serves also to counteract the prevailing idea that for the most part it is a country of pampas Indians, who scour the plains in search of cattle and ostriches, ever on the look-out for scattered settlements and wandering settlers. True, in her fine art gallery, installed in this section, is a painting which represents a foray of savages upon a defenseless village; but such scenes are merely incidental, as are those in which the leading roles are played by gauchos or half-breeds of Spanish and Indian blood, who tend cattle, capture wild horses, protect the frontiers, and wage constant war against the savages of the pampas.

But although long Indian spears and bolas or lassos with iron balls at the ends play a small part in the Argentine exhibits, they are merely accessories to the real display of modern industrial life. All the world knows that the republic stands well in primary manufactures of leather, hair, wool, and meats; but here are also paintings of no small merit, with mosaics, bronze figures, delicate wines, liqueurs, chemicals, perfumes, billiard tables, and other articles which show that the Argentinians are not merely an agricultural and pastoral nation. A form of industry, which is neatly represented and is quietly developing into considerable importance is the manufacture of oils from peanuts, grapes, and flaxseed, the last in the form of what is commonly know as linseed oil. The country is well adapted to the raising of grapes and barley, and the influence of the Italian, French, Spanish, English, and German elements is seen in the rapidly increasing production of wine and beer, as is fully illustrated in these exhibits. Concentrating her exhibits in this section, the republic also presents specimens of government printing in the way of bank notes and postage stamps, a large frame near by containing the title pages of various literary and musical works issued by publishing houses within recent years. Here also are cases filled with the fancy work made by orphans under the care of the state and the religious orders.

In Mexico�s division is fairly represented her industrial progress within recent years, now that the successive administrations of President Diaz have put an end to revolutions, or predatory raids in guise of revolution, which followed the acquisition of independence. Her section is enclosed by a glass partition, on one side of which are specimens of wood carving from old Spanish churches, most of them representing sixteenth century art. On the opposite side are several pieces of primitive artillery, such as were used in the days of Cortes, side by side with models of some of the last pieces of ordnance cast at the national foundry, and among other historic articles near by is one of the swords of Cortes. In a small picture gallery are portraits representing the military and civic leaders to whom the republic has accorded places of honor.

[218] - The display of manufactures consists mainly of pottery, bronze, onyx, artificial flowers, and textile wares, including, among others, cordage and hammocks fashioned of heniquen fibre, the sisal of modern commerce. Specimens of bronze work and cotton goods of native manufacture represent two of the new industries of the southern portion of the republic. The clay pottery and the artificial flowers are largely the handiwork of the Mexican Indian, who is a deft, though untrained modeller, and possesses in an eminent degree the faculty of imitation. So also with the groups of onyx, whether in slabs or fashioned into such articles as scarf and shawl-pins, watch-charms, paper-weights, and plaques for the decoration of walls, on the last of which are painted figures typical of Mexican life. Of embroideries, laces, and other delicate fabrics there is a collection which will not suffer by comparison with those of European make.

Somewhat in contrast are the exhibits of Turkey and Bulgaria, the former consisting of a single display of oriental rugs, while the latter has furnished well selected specimens, not only of her manufactures, but of her [219] agriculture and her national costumes, those of the peasantry in their gay attire, and those of her soldiery and civic officials. Of wheat in the sheaf and in the kernel, of barley, sesame, and other food-plants there are many fine samples in her neat pavilion. Here also are attar of roses, wines, tobacco, silk, and hand-made textiles, including an embroidered carpet with 500 square feet in area, and in a single piece, while finely wrought harness and wood carvings, with the tall candles made for cathedrals and religious ceremonials, and a hundred other articles illustrate some form of industry or national life.

South of the Ceylonese section is the toy-like pavilion of Korea, for even the so-called hermit kingdom, though yet secluding herself from the influences of western civilization, has sent commissioners and an exhibit to the World�s Fair. Of these commissioners in their flowing silken robes and tall Korean hats, one is the minister to the United States, resident in Washington, and another the secretary of the American legation at Scoul [Seoul] or Seyool, the capital of the Kingdom. It was to the latter that the king intrusted the twenty-five or more tons of exhibits, most of them taken from the royal palace, which illustrate the customs and industries of this strange and isolated nation, whose monarch, ministers, and people have probably more confidence in the United States than they have in any of the foreign powers. The collection includes a variety of silken garments especially made for the queen�s ladies, and embroidered screens, mats and hangings give the visitor an idea of the interior decoration of the palace. A sedan chair, such as is used by the nobles, is not unlike some of those in the Midway plaisance, but provided with a wheel about four feet in diameter, over which is a seat. Except on level ground, however, the chair is borne on the shoulders of servants, six at each end. There are also specimens of the paper manufactured by the Koreans, varying in grade from the tough substance used to carpet floors and roof houses to that which is as fine and glossy as silk. The Koreans are extremely jealous as to the secret processes by which they produce these fabrics. They claim, moreover, to have taught the Japanese what they know of the manufacture of pottery, or rather that their southern neighbors have forcibly carried away their artisans and their secrets. Among the most interesting of the curios are specimens of the ancient pottery, known as Satsuma ware, the manufacture of which is now a lost art. The pieces still possessed by the nation are priceless treasures, kept as heirlooms from one generation to another. A bowl, belonging to the king, and more than 500 years old, is of a greenish color, delicate texture, and richly polished and decorated on the outside. Korea also presents an exhibit of her medicines, and is especially proud of the ginseng root, said to be worth almost its weight in gold, and especially esteemed by the Chinese as a curative for disorders arising from the use of polluted water. The curing of tiger skins in which the natives are experts, also forms a considerable source of industrial revenue. Of minerals and metals there is a large collection, and among miscellaneous articles are carpenters� tools, cabinets, lacquer-work, tobacco-boxes, vessels of brass and pottery, grains, nuts, seeds, kite-reels, chess-boards, candle-sticks, hairpins, and entire suits of clothing for men and women, showing the national dress of the common people, and of those of high degree. An interesting feature is a group of brass cannon made in the tenth century, about the size of a small howitzer, but with barrels wrought in modern style.

Between the Argentinian and Mexican exhibits is the richly carved, gilded, and colored pavilion in which were housed, at the Paris Exposition of 1889 the exhibits of Siam, and reproducing the garden house of the Siamese king. Although only twenty-six feet square, it is one of the most unique and attractive structures in the [220] Manufactures hall. The floor is considerably elevated above the dais upon which it stands, is approached by two ornate stairways, and open on all sides, its sharp gables and slender pillars, being painted red and yellow, and decorated with pieces of glass and broken pottery. As remarked by a spectator, the structure resembles nothing so much as a large piece of jewelry, one of the settings of which is a pair of elephant�s tusks, flanking one of the entrances, and curving gracefully from the floor to the sides of the pavilion for a distance of nine and a half feet. These were taken from a domesticated animal, and are among the largest in the world. Here also is a display of gongs, drums, guitars, violins, chimes of bells, harmonicas, and zithers, with models of Siamese houses, carved from wood beneath the projecting eaves, these, with the models of native boats, suggesting the city of Bangkok with her cumbersome river craft, and the half nautical life of her common people, for among the Siamese as with the Chinese, there are many families who live entirely in boats. Within and without the pavilion, are depictured in photographs the royal family with scenes characteristic of Bangkok.

A remarkable piece of workmanship is a series of figures representing Buddha in different attitudes, all carved from solid tusks of ivory, and framed in an intricate floral design. That the stories told of the rich deposits of gems on the banks of the rivers and streams of Siam are not unfounded may be inferred from the collection of rings, bracelets, toilet-sets, and trays, the framework of which is gold, and the decorative diamonds, sapphires, garnets, amethysts, emeralds, and rubies. Of articles made of the precious metals none are more elaborate or richly wrought than rice and betel-nut dishes for domestic use, and the bowls which the Siamese engraved with the figures of animals, from which are named the Siamese cycles, each of a dozen years. Among the wealth of illustrative material may also be mentioned mattings, screens, priestly fans, made of the leaves of the sacred poh tree, rich embroideries, silks and satins, sets of Siamese money, beautiful caskets of filigree and mother of pearl, samples of chipped meats such as are eaten by the royal family, and plain specimens of native cloths, with models of looms and spindles. Finally, there are skins of the tiger, leopard, deer, buffalo, otter, armadillo, python, rabbit, rhinoceros, and other animals illustrating the fauna of Siam.

Persian industries and Persian life are seen to better advantage in the Midway plaisance than in the small oriental pavilion adjacent to the Spanish section. Here, however, is a collection of native rugs and carpets such as was never seen before outside of Persia. For one of pure silk with fifty-six square feet of surface, maroon and dark blue in color, and richly embroidered with flowers and figures of birds, $15,000 is the price demanded. A Bokhara rug, with rich Oriental red ground, an India Cashmere rug, in green and red, with light-colored carpets of mixed Angora wool and silk, and a Sarmarcand carpet from Central Asia, are a few of the fabrics which cover the floor and walls of the Persian pavilion.

In the southeastern corner of the Manufactures hall is the Chinese exhibit, consisting of ivory carvings, silk fabrics, embroideries, porcelain ware, bamboo screens and fans, mattings, fire crackers [221] and other miscellaneous articles. On account of the partial rupture of friendly relations with the United States caused by the exclusion act, China has sent us, not a representative national display, but rather one gathered together by a few wealthy Chinese who have business interests in this country. In the booth of a Canton merchant its wooden enclosure is decorated in the fashion peculiar to the Chinese, and fastened to it are tiny carvings of joss-houses, pagodas, dwellings, and shops, from the windows and doors of which protrude the most grotesque of figures. Gold, red, and green are the most prominent of the decorative colors. Within are some wonderful carvings in ivory and sandal wood, beautiful silk embroideries for screens and dresses, ebony furniture gilded or inlaid, ebony or ivory boxes, and richly enamelled vases, one of the last made for the emperor Ching Tai, of the Ming dynasty, about four centuries ago. Side by side with a portrait of the merchant, is that of Lee Hung Chang, viceroy and statesman. In adjoining booths two other merchants display their specialties in ceramic wares and mattings.

Of the $630,000 appropriated by the Japanese government, a considerable portion was expended on her exhibits in the hall of Manufactures, adjacent to the Austrian section; and here is sufficient evidence of the growing commercial intercourse between that country and the United States. Already the trade between the two countries exceeds forty-four millions a year in Mexican silver dollars, of which the exports from Japan [222] constitute over three-fourths; more than a quarter of her foreign, and nearly half of her total export trade, being with the United States. Among the main articles of export are porcelains, textile fabrics, metal, and lacquered wares, all of which are liberally represented at the Fair. The display is, however, less unique than at the Centennial Exposition, when for the first time was presented a complete collection of the native manufactures of Japan. Then is was that a great demand was originated for Japanese articles, especially in the way of ornamentations, one that even now is observable in many American branches of artistic manufacture. As a result, the simple characteristics of earlier Japanese work have become somewhat vulgarized; for the restless commercial spirit has seized upon Japanese and American alike, and lowered the former standard. Nevertheless there are many specimens representing the purest results of Japanese handicraft, so that the visitor may judge for himself as to the genuineness of what they have been taught to believe were true samples of Japanese skill and taste.

Among the best are the porcelains, of which a number of manufacturers have contributed beautiful specimens, some avowed imitations of the Chinese school, but, as is claimed, not fashioned merely from commercial considerations. Besides dishes, vases, and other articles, such as are usually composed of this material, there are busts and figures of Kaga porcelain, neatly molded and skillfully painted. The portrayal of figures in porcelain is something new to Japanese art, and a feature of additional interest is that the pieces represent with considerable fidelity of delineation, such personages as Columbus, Washington, Lincoln, and Grant. By a secret process the gold and colors used are so absorbed as to be virtually embodied in the work.

Another variety is the cloisonne ware with its metallic enamelling, of which there are two vases more than eight feet high, and among the finest examples of Japanese art. The process of manufacture requires no little patience and skill, for the enamelling often requires several applications, and the pieces are thoroughly polished after each firing. Upon these vases are elaborate designs representing the four seasons, and such political events as the threatened annexation of Korea by China or Russia. Flowers, birds, snow scenes, eagles and domestic fowl, are interwoven in intricate fashion, while the chrysanthemum and kiri blossoms, national symbols of Japan, appear between the rising sun and the American flag, indicative of the cordial relations existing between the two nations. On the stand of keyaki wood, on which they are mounted, are reproduced in carvings seventy distinct varieties of flowering plants.

Mounted on a pedestal at the northern end of the section is a marvel of imitative workmanship in the form of an iron eagle, two feet in height and five between the tips of the wings, each feather, of which there are several thousands, being separately traced, and containing as many as a thousand lines,. Here was a five years� continuous task, and in order to make a perfect model, the artist secured two eagles, one of which he stuffed, keeping the other alive that he might watch its movements. Among the carvings in bronze, the most noticeable are those which show the native falcon in a dozen lifelike forms, and suggest the sport derived by the ancient daimyos of Japan. Of carvings in wood, there are many specimens, one of the most striking of which is a model of the famous pagoda at Kyoto, known as Yasaka, and destroyed by fire many years ago. The original was a piece of hand carving in wood, as is the model, the latter requiring the services of thirty-seven skilled workmen for an entire year.

Most of the articles in wood and ivory carvings are of ingenious design, in striking contrast, as are the [223] ceramic wares and mosaics, with the crudity of much of the workmanship now palmed upon the public as of Japanese production. An attempt to check this imposition has been made by the government art school in Tokyo, from which many delicate carvings have been sent to the Fair. In the line of decorative metal work, also, the government illustrates the skill of native artificers with specimens of artistic handicraft from leaders in that specialty. There is, for example, a rich piece of chisel work in the form of a plaque, made of a mixture of gold, silver, iron, and copper, upon which figures are engraved representing a flock of herons, with effects of light and shade unknown to western artists. As a rule, Tokyo furnishes the best of artists and artisans, which, by the way, in Japan and the east, are much more nearly synonymous terms than in the United States. Lacquered wares are seen in quaint and beautiful forms, and there are gold boxes covered with wrought flowers and butterflies, writing-cases covered with marine views, toilet sets, fans, tables, and an endless variety of useful and ornamental articles in such profusion as to forbid a description in detail.

Of silks, embroideries, tapestries and ornamental needlework there is a choice display, and especially is this exhibit an illustration of the facility with which the Japanese adopt the best features of the products of other nations. Many years ago, one of the most skillful weavers in Japan was so impressed with the beauties of the French Gobelin tapestries that he commenced to copy them for the benefit of his countrymen. Competent judges of his work, as seen at the Fair, now assert that the texture of these tapestries is finer and more durable than that of the true Gobelin, while there are now depicted scenes from national life with an accuracy of detail beyond the best efforts of western masters. The principal work represents one of the religious celebrations held annually at Nikko; a temple with surrounding structures and foliage, and a procession of some 1,500 figures, the entire scene, as to architecture, costume, perspective, and atmospheric effects, as clearly presented as though depicted on canvas. Upon rich velvets are also views of the eastern empire, interior sections of Japanese houses, and other specimens of art in which the work of the dyer, the artist, and the manufacturer seem merged in one. In embroideries and pieces of pictorial needlework many are almost as ambitious, but, although the results are usually more gorgeous than in the products of the loom, they fall short of them in artistic qualities.

In the Japanese pavilion there are specimens of nearly every class of manufacture, from the art works which we have noticed to toys, walking sticks, paints, dyes, varnishes, drugs, and stationery. But the chief interest centres in the articles which tend to beautify the interior of homes, or to ornament their pleasure grounds. No feature in the exhibit attracts more attention than the model Japanese house, with its screen, its light and simple furniture, its silk drapings, lacquer and gilt ornaments, vases, and household implements and decorations. Here are real [225] Japanese apartments furnished by the most competent of native artists, so that those who would see for themselves the homes of the wealthier Japanese can find no better opportunity than is here afforded them.

In addition to the home and foreign manufactures already described are certain collections classed under that department, but housed in separate buildings, either through lack of space or for other reasons that need not here be mentioned. These are the Shoe and Leather, the Merchant Tailors�, and the Krupp exhibits. The Shoe and Leather building is a plain, substantial, two-story structure, suggestive of an eastern factory, and as it would seem, somewhat out of place in its location by the lake front, near the convent of La Rabida. Of the $100,000 subscribed for the erection of this edifice and the organization of its exhibits, about sixty percent was contributed by the New England states, largely by Massachusetts. Of the total exhibiting space, 15,000 square feet in the centre of the building were allotted to foreign participants, mainly to France and Russia, both of which nations have furnished an elaborate display. On the ground floor, in addition to foreign exhibits, are collections of leather and leathern goods. The galleries are filled with the best and most recent machinery, some of it in operation, for the manufacture of various grades of shoes; and there is a model factory in running order, with a capacity of a thousand pairs a day.

Among the more striking exhibits on the ground floor are the largest horse and alligator skins that have ever been tanned, each thirteen feet in length, and mounted with the head of the animal from which it was taken. California has a structure of walrus hide, inlaid with many varieties of leather; Mexico, a unique display of furs and skins, and the central figure of the Brazilian group is a mammoth globe, covered with samples of rough leather. There are calf skins almost as soft as silk, kangaroo skins, an elephant�s hide with a surface of more than 300 square feet, and cases filled with chameleon, lizard, and anaconda skins from Latin America and Asia. On the walls are displayed the horns of animals which furnish the raw material of the leather industries; of stuffed specimens there are enough to stock a museum, and here and there are niches filled with such curios as a milk bag of goat-skin from Jerusalem, a water bat from Jaffa, and the head of an Amazonian India, with bones removed, leaving only the shrunken flesh and cuticle. But of the primary descriptions of leather, one of the finest specimens is in the form of a belt 200 feet long and twelve in width. In belting and sole leather, New York, Pennsylvania, California, and Ohio are especially prominent, the American Oak Leather company, of Cincinnati, furnishing a striking example of the uses to which the heavy grades may be put, in its pavilion of grained leather, closely resembling black oak and mahogany.

But footwear leads all the other classes, the factories of America competing with those of France in [226] the finer grades. There are shoes made of alligator skin, of buffalo, and horse hide; there are heavy Russian boots, with wooden soles, and solid spiked shoes from Switzerland; there are dainty kid shoes of many buttons, and satin slippers from Spain, with numberless varieties and grades from France and the United States. Of morocco and dongola goods France and Germany have each a choice collection, while the United States excels in patent and enamel shoes. On the walls are several hundred water colors, representing the various styles of footwear used by the leading races of the world for three or four thousand years, with cases filled with models adapted to all climes and nationalities. Among them are velvet-lined shoes for dainty Burmese ladies; shoes with turtles� claws protruding from the toes, such as are worn by the African savage; the huge wooden clogs that the Dutchman wears; pattens with stilts attached for Japanese tea pickers; embroidered shoes with toes upturned for the Chinaman and Korean, and shoes lined and tipped with fur for Swedes and Russians, the scented jeweled slipper of the harem favorite, and the sandal of the Egyptian water carrier; all these with footwear for every people under the sun, from the Eskimo to the Patagonian, and from the Laplander to the Persian.

In decorative leather work the Russian exhibits contain some remarkable specimens. Harness leather in black, buff, and russet colors, is shown in a variety of forms by most of the participating countries, and from Cape Town comes a collection of trappings used by the Boers, together with a number of leather ornaments culled from Zulu territory. There are Chinese swords, with carved or stamped leather hilts; Moorish scimetars and Soudanese swords and daggers decorated with leather; Zulu shields of rhinoceros hide, and leather war belts from Abyssinia studded with precious stones and scarred with the marks of battle.

South of the Illinois state building is a miniature reproduction of the Acropolis, with the orthodox porticos in front and rear, and with broad stairways leading to the water�s edge. Approaching this classic structure, the visitor inquires as to its uses, expecting perhaps to find there a collection of works of art, and probably the [227] last that he thinks of is the purpose to which it is put, for here is the Exposition home of the merchant tailors of the United States. Entering this pavilion, of which the interior is finished in cream and gold, and with appropriate mural decorations, we read on the panels of the rotunda the following biblical inscriptions; "And they sewed figs leaves together, and made themselves aprons." "Unto Adam also and his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them."

On the dome above, supported by Corinthian pillars, are paintings representing the evolution of the tailor�s art, beginning with Adam and Eve, in primitive attire, and then the barbarian, somewhat more advanced in costume, followed by the Egyptian, the Greek, the citizen of the renaissance period, and of the era of Louis XIV-XVI, and so on up to modern styles of dress. In one of the mural paintings is the scene in a tailor shop of by-gone days, so graphically depicted by Charles Durand.

Surrounding this circular court, laid in light colored mosaic, are rooms designed for business purposes or friendly meetings; but the tailor�s pavilion is not merely a resort for members of the craft with their friends and families, for here are many typical exhibits, including, as an illustration of the perseverance and ingenuity of olden days, a colored cloth, hand stitched, and made of nearly 6,000 pieces of tailors� goods. Neither stitch nor seam is in sight, and to complete this remarkable specimen of workmanship was the eight years� task of its artificer. On wire frames and wax dummies are displayed the styles of costume prevalent in social court, and military circles. Here, for instance, are the tailor-made trappings of Queen Victoria�s ladies-in-waiting; the liveries of her coachmen, and the uniform of General Miles, with business, dress, and other suits, reversible garments, and costumes decorated with devices suggested by the Columbian anniversary.

On the lake shore, south of the convent of La Rabida, is a castle-like structure, with towers at either end, typical of the Fatherland, and on its eastern side a tower decorated with the shields and coats-of-arms of the several German states. Here is the exhibits of guns and missiles, mammoth and miniature, manufactured at the Essen works of Friedrich Krupp. Extending along the western wall of the pavilion are sixteen monster guns, with their cavernous muzzles pointed lakeward. The giant of the group, protruding from the centre of the array, was installed in its position after ,[229] an eventful journey, attended by special envoys, and hauled through several states on a car made specially for the purpose.

In this weapon it would almost appear that the limit of size and carrying capacity had been reached; yet many a time before has this been vainly predicted. To say that the gun will throw as a projectile for a distance of twelve miles a solid ton of metal, that to start this missile on its way requires a quarter of a ton of powder, that the gun itself weighs 101 tons, affords but a feeble description of the great leviathan of war. From the floor of the building we look upward at an angle of forty-five degrees and then can see only its under surface, supported on a carriage of massive and complex design, and around it the steam and electric appliances whereby is brought into play its awful potency for destruction.

Around the great guns are their projectiles, by the side of which are thick plates of armor, torn like folds of paper. Beneath the monster weapon, the largest in existence, is a tiny gun which has seen service in the hands of an African bushman, and near by are the smallest of mountain howitzers, such as may almost be carried by a man, and are often strapped to the backs of mules.

The eastern portion of the building is devoted to such exhibits as the prow, rudder, shaft, screw, and other metallic portions of a modern steamer, with a shaft ninety feet long and three in thickness. There are also steel driving-wheels for locomotives, and protective plates for the bows and sterns of merchant vessels. In a word there are few articles of steel, whether pressed or forged, such as are used for protective purposes, which have not a place in the collection, for in these works are more largely produced the means of defense than the enginery of destruction. On the walls are photographs and paints of the Essen factory, and in the office are models of the ancestral home of the Krupps, and of the monument erected in honor of the late Alfred Krupp through the voluntary contributions of officials and workmen. In the centre of the pavilion are the so called glacier fountains, cooling the atmosphere, and serving as a relief to their sombre environment.

Finally there is a wrought-iron balcony, designed and executed by citizens of Dusseldorf, from which is an excellent view of the building and its contents.

World�s Fair Miscellany - Of the 16,500,000 feet of lumber consumed in the hall of Manufactures and Liberal Arts, more than 3,000,000 feet were for the flooring and underpinning, and the foundations of the girders, the remaining being principally used for the galleries. All of it came from the northwest, except 4,000,000 feet of southern pine. The main floor is two inches thick, and the floor of the galleries one inch. Both were so constructed as to withstand five times the pressure to which they would probably be subjected, mainly with a view to prevent the vibration apt to occur in a less solid building. No danger is apprehended from tornadoes, every pillar in and under the building having a separate foundation, so that it is prepared for the fiercest storm to which the land is subject.

For lighting the Manufactures building there are used five electroliers, suspended longitudinally 60 feet from the roof, and 140 feet from the floor, the central one fitted with 102 powerful arc lights, and the others with 78 lights, each of 2,000 candle power, making in all 414 arc lights and 828,000 candle power. There are additional lights for the aisles, loggias, galleries, and inner spaces, supplementing the main system and giving stronger emphasis to the grand proportions of the building. For the great search-light on the northwest corner, already mentioned, it is claimed that a newspaper can be read by its light at a distance of eight miles. The apparatus, which is eight and a half feet in height, includes a mirror, ground and polished on both sides, and a lamp operated by electric motors placed under the platform.

Around the edge of the main semi-circular roof is a promenade, nearly a mile in length, reached by elevators running to a platform beneath, from which a stairway leads to the roof. Here the city of the Fair and of Chicago may be viewed from a height of 240 feet [230] and on a clear day the cities on the opposite side of Lake Michigan are distinctly visible.

The work of installing the exhibits in the Manufactures building was finally completed on the 17th of June, on the evening of which day a reception was held, with formalities suitable to the occasion. For two years the chief of this department, James Allison, labored without ceasing to insure its success, finally "presenting, under one roof," as he says, "in a congruous, comprehensive and representative series of exhibits, the results achieved in most of the great divisions of human industry and ingenuity."

The following regulations, framed by Mr. Allison, and approved by the director-general, apply also to other departments of the Exposition, in addition to the general regulations already mentioned. Exhibitors must be producers or manufacturers of the materials or finished goods intended for exhibition. All applications must be accompanied by a suitable diagram, on a stipulated scale, explaining the plan and distribution of the exhibits. No fire, inflammable oils, or other combustible materials would be allowed within the building. All designs for pavilions or other structures, and for platforms, cases, and partitions were subject to approval by the director-general; platforms to be not more than seven inches, and counters two feet ten inches above the floor, with railings two feet six inches above the platforms, all to be kept within the space assigned to the exhibition. Signs must be so placed as not to obstruct the light or view, or uniform design, and must not be made of inflammable materials.

In one of the cases in the Tiffany pavilion is an interesting collection of precious and other stones, including the largest rock crystal found on this continent, and an engraved diamond, the only one in the United States, the cutting of which was performed at intervals extending over five years. The display of gems in this pavilion includes about 10,000 diamonds, and of pearls an unknown quantity, the latter valued at little short of $400,000. There is also a complete assortment of precious and other stones, such as are used in the lapidarian art, from their crude state as contained in the matrix to perfectly cut and polished gems. At times are shown in practical operation the processes of cutting and polishing diamonds.

To the groups in the American section, consisting of woolen goods and mixed textiles, contained in square black cases of unsightly aspect, and contrasting somewhat sharply with the tasteful foreign pavilions on the opposite side of the nave, was given the name of the Undertaker�s section of the Manufactures department.

Of gas stoves, apparatus, and fittings, there is a large display, though not so large as was anticipated, for it was the original intention to erect a separate building for the purpose. Two Chicago firms have an elaborate collection, including the latest devices in the way of burners for heating or manufacturing purposes, so constructed that gas and air form a clear blue flame of great power. There are also instantaneous heaters, of American make, attached to bath tub and other fixtures, and heating water to the boiling point in the briefest space of time.

The exhibit of shirts in the clothing group is mainly by New York manufacturers and the Zions Cooperative Union of Utah. On this class of work sewing-girls in the eastern states average only some $5 a week, much of it being done by charitable institutions, while the shirt-makers of Utah can earn from $8 to $10 weekly.