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| THE MINES AND MINING BUILDING - The $265,000
which were spent by S. S. Beman, the architect, on this edifice were,
in a large measure, bestowed on the enduring interior steel
construction, which was the principal characteristic of the palace.
It was one of the earliest works on the grounds; its steel pillars
were first in place; and its Chief, F. J. V. Skiff, of Denver, was
the only one of the Director General's lieutenants to open his
building on May 1st, with a display nearly complete. The Mines
Building had about nine acres of floor space, including a gallery
extending entirely around, in rectangular form. There was no
sculpture on its pylons or pavilions, nor did its portals express
other than the material worth and endurance of its architecture. But,
placed as it was, between the red
Transportation and the equally unconventional Electricity, the Mines Building, probably, by its
lines of stately simplicity, redeemed the scene, and kept its
neighbors from looking worse. A skylight ran the whole length of the
building, and the ingenious exhibit of Baron Stumm, the favorite of
Emperor William, made a central piece for the building. Here, too,
the Zulus washed diamonds before a continuous queue of people, and
the Montana silver statue, weighing five thousand pounds, was seen by
millions. Mexico showed a golden castle of Chapultepec. In the
gallery was a nugget of gold worth $41,000, and a meteorite might be
seen that weighed one thousand and fifteen pounds. Nuggets of gold
and crystallized silver were wondrously plentiful, and always the
object of popular attention. Area, seven hundred by three hundred
and fifty feet. |
