Worldfairs Forum - Expositions Universelles et Spécialisées

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Among the many wonderful exhibits in the great Palace of Varied Industries there is one that every freedom-loving American should see. It is the national exhibit made by Bulgaria, and it means infinitely more than appears on the surface. The fact that Bulgaria is able to make a national display at a great World's Fair is of more consequence than the display itself. Only a quarter of a century ago this little principality was under the baleful sway of Turkey, and her story was tragic in the extreme. The long struggle between the Bulgarian and his mortal enemy, the Turk, is symbolized by the fountain in the Bulgarian exhibit, a fountain of bronze showing a Bulgarian in hiding in a cave and a Turk creeping down upon him. A stream of water perfumed with “ otto of roses” pours from the fountain, by which it is intimated that Bulgaria has perfume where, but a few years ago, she had blood. The manufacture of this oil of roses is one of the chief industries of the country. Of the other industries the leading ones are, the making of rugs, silk worm culture and silk weaving, hemp and wool weaving, and the making of wines and liqueurs. But a few years ago all these things had to be imported into Bulgaria.

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Passing into the Palace of Varied Industries from the central east door, through the monumental hall of Germany, one comes to the view here shown, that of the open court designed by J. M. Olbrich, typical of the courts of the well-to-do Germans in their country homes. The bronze figure of a youth with a fawn is flanked by light metal screens meeting tall stone columns bearing carved female figures. Gateways at the right and left lead to cool brick-paved porticoes. Detached walls at each side seclude pleasant garden seats. Bay trees and potted plants, with bits of grass, surround the basins near the center, into which water trickles and plashes musically. A few bright-colored tiles set in the walls at intervals give just the needed touch of color. From the shade of the tiled porch-roofs, one passes in any direction into the exquisitely furnished rooms that Germany has provided, each designed as a perfect model of a room worth living in. The court is the center, as it is the keynote, of the vast display made by Germany in this building. In these rooms surrounding the court are needed lessons in domestic art. Germany has made exceedingly creditable displays in every department.

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It remained for a British firm from Oldham to install the most complete cotton factory exhibit of the World’s Fair. This is to be seen in the northwestern part of the Palace of Varied Industries. The operations demonstrated are those from the boll to the finished thread. The space occupied is seventy by eighty feet and the machinery is very heavy and of fine finish. The cotton as delivered from the field is introduced at the western end of the exhibit, entering a gin which removes tire seed from the fibre. A Creighton “opener” removes the sand and dust. Thence the fibre goes to the “scutcher” which forms it into coils or “laps.” The cording machine and combing machine are next and finally to the spinning mule whence it emerges in thread on bobbins. The dust from the “opener” goes to a basement room and there disposed of so that the exhibit is dustless. It is the most expensive installation in this building and the firm of Platt Bros. & Co. are the largest manufacturers in the world of machinery for making cotton, wool, worsted and other textile fabrics, and employ 14,000 hands.

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From an artistic point of view the German section in the Palace of Varied Industries is considered by many to be the most noteworthy exhibit in the entire Exposition. It includes forty-eight rooms, each one specially designed according to a definite artistic principle, every piece of furniture made by hand, and every picture and piece of bric-a-brac selected to harmonize with the general decorative scheme. The other exhibits in this section are those of under-glaze pottery, German toys, Kayserzinn, artistic jewelry and amber. The central door on tire east side of the Palace of Varied Industries opens into the monumental hall, from which one may pass directly to the various exhibits. This hall is a magnificent architectural and decorative conception, the prevailing color notes being blue and gold. The decoration follows the lines of the Moderne Kunst, of which it is the finest example that has ever been displayed in America. At the sides of the door which leads out to the court are two bronze groups that attract universal attention. They portray the Training of the Family, and their message is a potent one. At the left is the father who instructs the boys in bravery, vigor, pluck. At the right is the mother from whom the daughters learn gentleness, tenderness, piety, self-sacrifice. And the father’s expression tells plainly that hl's part in the rearing of the children is the least important.

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The long colonnades, domes and towers are the distinguishing features in the architecture of the Palace of Varied Industries. It has the same dimensions as the Palace of Manufactures, being 525 feet wide by 1,200 feet in length and covering an area of fourteen acres. The exhibits within this beautiful palace are gathered from many states and countries. Germany and Japan are rivals in the extent of space covered, but their rivalry ends there, for the exhibits are radically different. Germany occupies a large area in the northeastern corner, the installation for which is very elaborate. The manufacturers of fine wares have put forth their best efforts with results most creditable and interesting. In this building the exhibits are those of art industries, such as art pottery, cut glass and art glass, office and household furniture, brushes, fine leather articles, jewelry, silversmiths’ and goldsmiths’ wares, clocks and watches, products in marble, bronze, cast iron, wrought iron, paper hangings and upholsterers’ decorations. The Japan exhibit occupies a very large space in the southwestern corner with a beautiful temple as its entrance.

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The Palace of Varied Industries is a beautiful building, 525 by 1,200 feet, fittingly occupying one of the most prominent sites in the Exposition grounds. The visitor learns early to locate things with reference to this structure and its neighbor across tire Plaza, the Palace of Manufactures. The great Plaza of St. Louis is the center of everything that requires large space. From it one sees much of what is greatest and best. From it one passes into some of the finest exhibits in the great buildings. The noble entrance shown in this illustration leads directly into the monumental hall of the German exhibit which occupies a large number of beautiful rooms grouped about an open court. Art pottery, cut glass, silversmiths’ wares, wrought iron and many other articles of use and adornment are found in these rooms, and one section is devoted to an exhibit of the amber industry. Japan has divided the honors with Germany in the Palace of Varied Industries, and has installed a wonderful collection in the southwest corner, with an imposing temple-gate as an entrance. The view here shown is one that will often be recalled by the World’s Fair visitor after the Exposition is only a memory, for the scene is one of the first to greet the eye and one with which pleasant recollections will be associated.

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One of the first exhibits to be completed in the Palace of Varied Industries was that of Japan. It occupies an immense area in the Southwest portion of the building. The visitor approaching it is at once attracted by the towering central structure, patterned after the entrance gate of a Japanese temple. It is composed of materials brought over by the Government of Japan, and, ornately elaborate as it is, it is a costly structure. Planked at tire north side by long diagonal wings of cabinet work containing artistic displays of Japanese .wares, and with its great height and overhanging eaves, this temple-gate is really impressive. Splendid vases of metal add to the effect. The remainder of the floor area of the exhibit is occupied by pavilions and cases filled with displays of the wares that have made Japan so interesting to Americans—delicately carved ivory, shapely and exquisitely decorated pottery, tortoise-shell, quaint pieces in wrought metal, lacquered ware and wonderful embroideries. Superb collections of cloisonne are there, a feast for the eye and a revelation of the patient industry and artistic achievements of the clever people of the Far East.

The domes and towers carry the lights far into the sky.


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