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| JAVA'S QUAINT EXHIBIT - The exhibit which is
portrayed in the engraving was placed in the east gallery of the
Agricultural Building, and it was by covering a
window and creating
this artistic typanum that the picturesque effect was produced.
While it might be thought that this was an out-of-the-way nook, and
that few would care to note the quaint and modest display of the
humble Javanese, still enough millions came that way to entirely
destroy the matting, which, as may be seen in the picture, was
beginning to give away when this scene was perpetuated by the camera.
On the central show case was the model of a Javanese bridge, made
after the fashion of Javanese engineering without nails, screws or
mortises, but by merely lashing the timbers together. Here the
principles of the truss and arch are demonstrated. The Japanese
operate in a similar way. The show case contained bunches of grass
and tea, for the Javanese, like the people of Ceylon, while famous as
coffee makers, are most desirous to secure some of the tea trade
which China and Japan enjoy. The glass jars contained samples of tea
or coffee in the leaf or berry. The scene in the center of the
tympanum is an English painting of a Javanese landscape, while the
low estate of native art may be noted in the rude carvings and
paintings which are seen at the sides. |
