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| THE PICTURESQUE WIND MILLS - We have before us
the world's wind-mills. The spectacle which they presented on the
windy days for which Chicago is famous was indeed charming to the
eye. Nor was the scene within one of the larger houses less
interesting. In fact, no person unacquainted with the uses of the
wind on land could fail to be astonished in seeing a great room alive
with machinery, and dozens of cunning workmen and artisans busy at
machines of every kind. Here a force-pump heaved its waters to all
parts of the farm; a lathe turned the implements of wood; a sheller
separated the corn from its cob; a grindstone turned its wearying
evolutions; a fanning-mill rattled; a sewing-machine hummed; a cutter
rocked the feed in pieces; these and other appurtenances of
labor-saving toil were all in operation at once, moved by the great
river of air, free to the millionaire or the small farmer alike. The
exhibitors of wind-mills could not have been more fortunate had they
selected their own site for the Exposition, for probably no other
great city has as many windy days as Chicago. The exhibit bordered
the pond south of the Agricultural Building, and even the old Dutch
style may be seen represented in the group. Each manufacturer
claimed some superiority; here a wheel could open to get more wind or
shut against too much; one would go swiftly in the lightest breeze;
another would work slowly in a hurricane. The visitor listened
respectfully, but he loved better to stand at a distance and see the
sun glint at a thousand angles. |
