THE WORLD'S FAIR AT ST. LOUIS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLI, Issue 12609, 25 June 1904, Page 1 (Supplement)

THE WORLD'S FAIR AT ST. LOUIS.

[BY .7. ©. BEMTOBD, H.H.n.] St. Lor/is, May 15. THE LESSONS OF THE FAIR.' The Exposition is on such a grand scale, is so exhaustively representative of the industrial processes of the great nations of the world, .that no country which desires to extend its foreign commerce can afford to neglect its teachings. The Exposition is a great international schoolj, to which every ; country and colony, truly alive to its own interests, will send students. I know not if private enterprise in New Zealand will be of a sufficiently stalwart quality to send engineers, electricians, manufacturers, agriculturists—in short, representatives of our various industries to the World's Fail-; but Ido know that such ought to be the case. The Fair is amazingly huge. It, .is all comprehensive. ;: Each country displays ; its ! best. Each country shows how it produces that •best. There is not-merely an-unexampled array of exhibits ; there is an unprecedented exemplification of processes. "The results and products of the world's ingenuity and labour are here ; but more important still, causes are J; in; operation ' here—products are made here. The Fair is a gigantic workshop, in which workmen from Germany, Britain, Japan, Canada, the United States, etc., ate making things, and illustrating processes. Here the skill of the ; nationsViaifdcussedi' Here the industrial activities of the world have assembled for inspection ; and comparison. Here from the four corners of the earth men come to show what they , can do, and sea; what others are doing. I don't think New; Zealand can afford to miss the lessons.'..'. All that, the world knows /relative to industry is here. Let me illustrate this "demonstrating" characteristic of the Exposition. My powers to this end are feeble. The mechanism of modem machinery fills: me with wonder, but paralyses my understanding. -.'A- few facts, however, as to what is being done, without an ; explanation of ■■ how it- is being done, will serve well enough. : : Great founddries and laboratories are in the course of construction, and will shortly be completed, for the experimental treatment of ' all kinds Of ores. All operations of mining will be illustrated. Daily the Palaces of Electricity and Machinery arc the theatres of ■■".demon-: ■. strations," Daily i the; Palace of Education is alive with scholars and teachers, showing up-to-date methods of pedagogy. The United States Government lias installed a complete minting plant. : ; The same Government expounds, in a fully-equipped hatchery, the principles of hatching and protecting fish, with the various methods of catching them in the rivers and removing the spawn. Statistics' show the great success of the Government's operations. A magnificent aquarium completes this exhibit. Then there are experimental' dairy farms, where cattle are put under different treatment; and dietary, and the different effects in the quality; and quantity of, the milk and » the quality ' and quantity of the beef are observed. There are experimental poultry farms. There is experimental '. ploughing, •,'-:' with j;; gigantic steam; ploughs, turning ? over eight i furrows at a time. In ' fart, the; Exposition is a mighty experimental station, where all the nations of the.: earth are experimenting side by side, and under each other's scrutiny, Germany challenges tie attention and wonder of .-ill countries by her elaborate installation of surgical and veterinary apparatus. She : demonstrates the respiratory process of discovering tuberculosis in cattle. She shows how :■' she feeds and houses her dairy; cows; she 'shows how she converts - peat i lands into fertile fields. Britain puts cotton through all its processes ; atKi shows how she dispenses with engines and steam in her great railway yards, performing her shunting by the simple force' of gravitation. In the busy " : port of Liver- ; pool, :! ships : f are )> loaded: ; ; and unloaded ■■ bytrucks running backwards «nd forwards on inclined railway tracks. The Palace of Transportation is crammed full with the embodiments of new ideas, relative to carriage on land and sea. Bight in the i centre of .the'magnificent structure, built on the most approved American fplan,- of railway station architecture, is. a mammoth ; engine, aptly designated "The spirit of the | twentieth century." This mighty triumph of the age is raided aloft on a broad revolving platform, and .surveys from ita eminence j every.form of propulsion employed since the ; world began. The matter is treated historii cally. ■'■ Without missing'' one step in the I march of progress, you pass from the donkey with its laden panniers 'to; the | steam-engine, the electric car, and the automobile; from the .-> bark canoe (to - the > gigantic Atlantic ; liner. Experiments , in ' switching and what hot are proceeding 'in this building : nearly every-hour of the day. There is a modern trans-American passenger train, with draw-ing-room, library, bathroom, kitchen, din-ing-room, T barber's; shop, observation ;,;car,:' and Pullman sleeper. " Trains so equipped ran daily across the United States and Canada.

In the Palace of Education the enthusiast may spend days examining ; and comparing the text-hooka in use in the various public schools systems of the world. A cursory glance revealed to- me the efforts now being put forth to make learning interesting. , History books were collections of stories orirejytmen (and great events". ! I was attracted by the prominence of that word, "story." Geography had laid aside its dry bones, was the"! story of t the ( world's : formation of the ( clouds, water, mountains, travel, and! commerce. Natural science ,■ **as "Leaves from Nature's Story Book." The entrance to the building was graced wlth.signi-' Scant precision? by that ( nights-destroying illuminant; we call electricity. M Indeed, She statuary on the tops of the "palaces is more conspicuous by night than; by day. -Each figure seems to stand on a ball of white fire. To walk the ! miles of streets of ( the ivory city ; to gaze at the cascades brilliantly illumined by rows of electric globes, now, green, now crimson, now white, now yellow—fixed beneath every step over which the tumbling water.; falls; to see the gondolas flitting hither and thither; to walk and walk and yet never get away from the strains of music of one ';■ of the many bands simultaneously playing in different quarters; is to trans-; 5 port one's thoughts into fairyland 'The World's Fair at night is an enchanted city which' c the extravagance of romance alone befits. SCRAP'S FROM THE Vim. The theme for the ecomiunis of every visimost tires of hearing "what a (wonderful people the little Japs are ;; they beat &11 foreign nations at the Exposition, whilst they are whipping Russia in the East!" And the statement requires little qualification: to be strictly true. Japan is a strong competitor of Germany for first place among the countries at St. Loui3. : ( The; most unfriendly would have exclamation? of Admiration jerked out of him as he rah up against exhibit after exhibit labelled "Japan." She has a tremendous war on hand, yet she is spending more money at this exhibition of the arts of peace than any ■ .'other' country, (excepting America and Germany. She places Britain under a complete eclipse. Naturally ' a comparison is invited with Russia. That mighty country evidently requires every ounce'of its energy for the war. So fur she has installed; no exhibit, and has only a reservation of a!: few square feet—smaller, I believe, than that of New Zealand. The reservations of Japan »r»i as follows:—Japanese palace and garden, 175.000 square feet; varied industries, building, ; 50,328; manufactures, 29.988 • transportation, 14,904; agriculture, 7452 ( fine arts, 6012 : mines and metallurgy, 4968; • education, 2988: electricity, 1155; forestry, fish, and game, 4969. • Whilst the eyes of the (world are bent on the struggle, in? the East, the - Jap undertakes to tell the world: everything about his . country and its resources. * With keen sagacity he sees and grasps the unique (opportunity. The reputation for the arte of war,, shall , subserve a reputation for the arts of industry. His mind has( shot down to the deep fact, that the end of a successful war must be the beginning of a far-reaching commerce, if Japan is to run in the vanguard of nations. Hence his activity and superb show at St. Louis. The symppr.hy of almost the whole world is with?; him in his conflict with (the empire; built by Peter the Great,

and with admirable adroitness he is convert- : ing that sympathy into capital fOl the promo tic of his foreign trade.' His exhibit omits no detail relative to the geography, industries, and resources of his islands. Eta displays a complete system of maps, showing the character and position of the ports ;'; the \ location of manufacturing centres and mines; land cultivated and cultivable » geological survey; and so on. Everything that Japan produces is here, her ores,' ; . grains, , fabrics, basketware, "fish oils, bronze [and; ivory work. Progress in manufacturing and mining are shown by diagrams. Since 1898' her' mineral products have incrisased; 100 per cent. ,1 saw cottons, silks, aliens, hard- ■ ware,;' strangely European zk in appearance. " How 1 do you make these?" I inquired of the voluble and courteous Jap. ' ".With modem British and American machinery," he implied. ' "';■*'■' • ; ■.■:..; ■':':-'.-''J'- . Everything the Jap exhibits is conspicuously marked with the , selling 1 price. Already every booth and stall is dotted with the placard " sold." Japanese screens,- vases,: and ornaments are going like wildfire. They" have become quite the " rage." The audacity of the little yellow man knows no bounds. By bis display of baseball bats and; tennis rackets ho announces his willingness to wipply the United States with the instruments of her national games. The ticketed price is abo far below that ruling in the States. , 'nv, '-Britain's. show is disappointing, Iter national pavilion, a replica of :the Orangery ; ! of Kensington Palace, surrounded by an English country seat , garden, is ; about the coldest, severest, I most uninviting j place jin the Aground? of the fair. It is more like » barn than part of a palace. ,To be sure, Britain does not pretend to make a big display. ' The - most attractive exhibit is Queen Victoria's jubilee presents. The transportation building, .however, furnished one thing which sent me into transports of joy. .It was a section of a huge steel tunnel, which in to join the mainland,of America, with Manhattan Island, on which New ,York stands This tunnel will run under the nuu6on River. Wheaton, Pearson,'and _Son, London, a British firm, secured the contract for , this gigantic undertaking, the competition of ail America* engineers. V « Uncle Sam' wants something durable he still goes to John Bull. - * The Boer camp overflows with interest t> a'NewZealahder for. many reasons, lathe first place I found a number of New Zeal*** coutinizenters-there—men who after the »di remained in South Africa. , In the second place, the Americans sympathise with the Boers. In the third place, it is confidently and persistently stated that entertainments, derogatory • and insulting to British honour, aw to be given. There are about 200 Boers LTeamp, and about 100 British, including i colonials. All are men who fought in the war. Conje' himself. is there. The men were brought direct from the Transvaal, and are under engagement to remain at bt Louis for the term of the fair. It is difficult to believe the management of the Exposition will" allow the British flag to be dishonoured. The story goes, ; however, that; the • Bntisft soldiers, in capturing a; Boer ; ; convoy, are to fire deliberately upon the women ana children. I spoke to a New 'Zealand trooper on the -matter.- He said the story was generally believed is the camp. " But, said he, "we know what we shall do if they try that game. » We shall ride straight up to the { bandstand., and declare the truth-Mat , W» : British never did such a thing. Depend upon.it; we are not .'going, to disgrace :ocx ! country." [Since the foregoing was written the exhibition proposed to -be given by the Boers has been prohibited .by the United States Government at the request of the British authorities.] v-..«:-'£l» Australia has no national exhibit,, but an enterprising Australian has installed a small grain-booth at his own expense. m • The Agricultural Building is a tcoiß-of delight. It is the fertility of. the earth in blossom and fruit. The infinite varieties ol grain and fruit have been 'worked into designs of surpassing excellence. No pates or expense have been .pared. There are lofty arches of dri®d prunes and steeples of figs. There are temples,corn and a statue of Lincoln in Seeds. ';: The-.. Most;- sweating feature, is the huge, fiord * clock;- just outside a main entrance of the buddittg; ; The dial is a flower-garden 100 fcwfc in'diameter.The numerals are IS : feet: loh|r,';bcing; raised flower-beds. • Attached, to the mechanism of the clock is a 50001b belli, whose tones can be heard throughout the grounds. 10 illuminate the clock at night y. 1000 lamps are used. • What can I say about the million; other points of interest? There is the renowned Bousa'R band; the. biggest organ; in _ the world; a model city without a publichouse; ; French ■ costumes* for. ladies,•: par-, chasable' at not less' than ? £2500; ;a . repro- : duct of the Pekin resident of the Chinese Emperor— wild orgy of colour and ■gaud:-; ness. There are diagrams si lowing the Jesuits of the terrible conflicts between labour , and capital in America. In'one year strikes. inflicted a loss upon employer:: of £3,500,000,,' land upon employees of £7,SO:),000 ft wages.