Worldfairs Forum - Expositions Universelles et Spécialisées

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The most valuable feature of a great World’s Fair is the concourse of strange peoples, such as one would not be able to see in an ordinary journey around the earth. Never before have so many nationalities and tribes been brought together as may be seen at the World’s Fair. Every class of American native, from the Esquimau of tire far north to the giant of Patagonia is here. There are pygmies and Kaffirs from Africa, Ainus from the north of Japan and at least four distinct races that represent the inhabitants of the Philippines. These widely separated peoples may be studied in their characteristic dwellings in the Philippine Reservation, tire live Anthropology section in connection with the Model Indian School and on the Pike. It is on Sunday afternoons that the children of all these strange parents are brought together. The Model Playground, in the eastern part of the Exposition grounds, a part of the Model City, is the scene of the Congress of All Nationalities. Here Moro and Igorrote, Ainu and Cocopa, Esquimau and Moqui rub shoulders with their more civilized brothers. It is a sight that may never be seen again, one well worthy to be seen.

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The Russian dancers and singers affording entertainment at their striking building on the Pike have come from Moscow, and in spite of their sorrows at home they present their national songs and dances with brave sprightliness. Their costumes are something we are not very familiar with, and their manner of singing and dancing is novel. The boots that the maidens wear seem not to interfere with their liveliness, and the whole performance is conducted with a vigor that bespeaks a hardy race. The voices are good, with a peculiar glottal quality, and the Russian sounds have a musical quality that surprises the ordinary American. The music that accompanies the dancing is always rhythmic and clearly accented—joyous, not languorous or sensuous—and the troupe go smilingly through their parts as if they found pleasure in their work. Russia has felt it wise to devote her energies and resources to the high purpose of alleviating the horrors of war, and has therefore withheld most of her intended participation in the Exposition, so that the representation on the Pike is her chief contribution. A number of merchants united in making a limited display of manufactured products.

Russian Imperial theater


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In the Russian Imperial theater, one of the amusement places on The Pike, these peasant dancers may be seen, dressed in their native costumes and as free and hearty as if in their native land. The chorus of the Russian opera embraces two-score or more native vocalists. Several of the male singers engaged with the troupe have, since the opening of the Exposition, left to join their fighting countrymen in the Orient, but their places have been filled by recruits from St. Petersburg.

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Water is much used on the Pike in producing spectacles and amusements. Shooting the chutes is one of the liveliest sports. The patrons are loaded into the boats which lie on either side of the little lake and are drawn up the ways at the sides of the chutes. At the top an attendant swings the craft about and starts it down the chute. The chutes are supplied with water all the way down so that the boat rides on a shallow stream, gaining velocity with every foot of the way. When the bottom is reached the boat, with its merry, shouting load, dashes out across the lake toward the crowd of spectators that is always on hand to watch the fun. Other Pike attractions in which water plays a part are the Tyrolean Alps, with their mountain streams and fountains; the Battle of Santiago with its miniature sea; New York to the North . Pole, with the North River, New York Bay and Ocean scene; the Galveston Flood with the Gulf of Mexico washing the sands of Galveston; Under and Over the Sea, and Deep Sea Diving Exhibit.

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Of all the Pike attractions the one best calculated to cure melancholia is that which bears on its front the winking clown and the four grinning maidens. It is variously designated as the Temple of Alirth, the Foolish House and the Fun Factory. Clever barkers assist in drawing a crowd; but the patrons on the inside are the best advertisement for the concession. Screams of laughter may be heard issuing from within the mysterious portals. Where there is so much amusement for others, there must be at least a dime’s worth for any passer-by, hence everyone goes to the Foolish Factory. Those inside find, as a source of all this hilarity, first a mirror maize in which the victim may wander for a long time, encountering his own image at every turn; then a succession of grotesque mirrors and a collection of cabinets, each one containing some surprise, and finally Dead Man’s Alley, ending with the circular slide. The mirrors, concave and convex, that distort the reflection in a hundred different ways, producing the most ridiculous pictures, are provocative of most of the infectious laughter.

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Adjoining the Keep of Blarney Castle is a reproduction of one of the few surviving pieces of early Celtic architecture. It is the church known as Cormac’s Chapel and it was built in the reign of one of the Cormac McCarthys, an ancestor of that lord of Muskerry who sent the “blarney” messages to Queen Elizabeth when she attempted to compel him to acknowledge her suzerainty, and thus added a new word to the English language. The Chapel is still standing, although it was built in the beginning of the 12th Century. It is in Cashel, County Tipperary, and its builder was both King and Bishop of Munster. The cross of Muiredach antedates Christianity in Ireland.

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One of the most attractive features of the Irish Village on the Pike is the theatre, with regular performances every hour of the afternoon and evening. The numbers of the program are relined and of unusual quality. Singing, whistling, character work and clog dancing may be enjoyed free of charge by all who visit the village. Of greater interest even than the performance is the building in which the acts are given. It is a reproduction of the old and well-known Blarney Castle, that was erected by Cormac McCarthy, Lord of Muskerry, in the early part of the 15th century. The keep of the castle is still standing although it is no longer inhabited.

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The ostrich is a very interesting bird for a variety of reasons. First and most important of these is that he produces such beautiful plumes. Every lady who has delighted in the possession of a long, soft curling ostrich feather is eager to see the bird on whose back it grew. Alas, the lovely feather does not grow on the back of any bird. It was taken from beneath the wing of the ugliest, the most ungainly, the most stupid of all bipeds. The ostrich must be stupid because, with a body that weighs from two hundred to five hundred pounds, he has a brain that could be contained in an ordinary teaspoon. His color is dirty black while that of his wife is brown. The exquisite white feathers are not on display. They are almost wholly concealed beneath the wings, and a fresh crop of two dozen grows every nine months to be plucked for the benefit of the milliner. The flock is a large one. Several of the chicks are to be seen, and there are also some of the ostrich eggs, one of which is equal in bulk to thirty hen's eggs. The ostriches marry and settle down, and there is no divorce among them. Each one has but one mate, and the male aids in the rearing of the family, taking his turn on the nest.

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New York to the North Pole is a meritorious exhibition west of the Palace of Transportation and south of Hale’s Fire-Fighters. The scene opens with the familiar North River front of New York City, real water lapping the wharves. Boats ply back and forth, and the “Discoverer” lies at her mooring. As the sun sets, the lights of the city appear. Darkness succeeds, then the morning light comes, and the ship slips to the foreground to go out with the tide, and the city recedes, while the spectators follow the fortunes of the ship, which occupies the center of the stage to the close. The Battery and Castle Garden disappear from view as the ship begins her voyage; East River is seen, spanned by Brooklyn Bridge; Governor’s Island is sighted and passed; Long Island is left in the distance, and the ship is out in the open sea, all alone save for an occasional coastwise schooner. As the North is approached, icebergs imprison the lonely ship, and the northern lights appear with fine effect. The dash for the pole is made, the farthest possible point is attained, and from a pinnacle of ice the Stars and Stripes are flung forth.

Boer War Spectacle - "Victory", Battle of Colenso

Seven hundred armed men and nearly as many horses, all in full panoply, engage in thrilling and realistic conflict.


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Directly east of the Palace of Agriculture, and on the line of the Intramural Railway, a space of twelve acres is used for the reproduction of the battles and scenes of the Anglo-Boer War. About six hundred British and Boer veterans of the war take part in the thrilling scenes. Kaffirs and other natives, with carts and wagons, add to the picture. In command of the British contingent is Maj. W. S. Stewart, while Generals Piet Cronje and Ben Viljoen lead the sturdy Boers as in the days of the death-grapple on the veldt. The battles of Colenso and Paardeberg, with Cronje’s surrender, and De Wet’s flight through the British cordon, are the principal scenes re-enacted, and they are given with a daring and enthusiasm and realism that stir one to the depths. Colenso was one of the outer defenses of Ladysmith, and was held by 5.000 Boers when 23,000 British troops moved against it. The Boers held their lire so that their position could not be determined, and when the Britons had moved across the open plain a rifle-lire burst from three miles of concealed trenches, while the pompoms added to the carnage. Col. Long of the British forces, dashed into the field with twelve guns, onlv two of which were rescued, and those at frightful cost, while the Boers triumphantly captured the remaining ten. It is the climax of this fight for the guns that is shown in the illustration.