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| STATUE OF GERMANIA - The engraving, besides
showing the statue of Germania, with its impressive surroundings,
informs the reader as to the general appearance of the stock barns,
three or more of which are here brought partly into view. These
barns were spread over a region a half mile long by several hundred
feet wide, from north to south. In September and October, horses,
cattle, sheep, swine, and domestic fowl occupied this region, and it
was visited by all the farmers. The people from cities chose the
French section in the Manufactures, the pictures of the Art Palace, and the flowers in Horticultural Hall. While there may be an
ideal love of novelty, the Exposition proved that at least the
visitor took the deepest interest in those things with which he was
best informed. To all students in cement, road-makers,
pavement-layers, builders, and even sculptors, this majestic outdoor
German exhibit offered lessons both in art and experience. Steps,
urns, tablets, pavilion and statue were all cast in Portland cement,
a material that came into widespread use when the tall-building era
began, about 1882. It is not understood that the laws governing the
preservation of cement are yet discovered, for there seems to be more
fortune than skill in the laying of the material. Sometimes it
drinks water and gets harder; sometimes dampness disintegrates the
formation. It has been alleged that cement was a disappointment to
Chicago builders. |
