What We Saw At Madame World's Fair

This Fair makes us wonder why people do not make gardens prettier, and not live in houses as much as they now do.

We suppose it is because they cannot all live in California, where out-of-doors is nearly always nice.

Your loving cousins,JANE AND ELLEN.

MURAL PAINTINGS

DEAR COUSINS:

F ATHER said today that he was afraid we had not learned much about the murals, and we said that we would like to study them more, but they were so high up that we got a dreadfully achy neck every time we tried to do much with them.

He laughed a little at that, but said that it was an affliction which had to be borne, as he was anxious that we should study them. He wishes us to be able to read pictures as well as we do print, or music, because they always have some story to tell which helps in life.

We are glad now that he insisted, because otherwise we should have missed seeing Mr. Robert Reid’s pictures in the dome of the Palace of Fine Arts.

We liked very much the panels which symbolize the four golds of California, the poppies, the oranges, the gold, and the wheat. We have secured some photographs of all the murals in the Exposition, and shall study them when we are at home, and we shall send you some pictures with these letters.

We are of course not quite sure why we like some things better than others, but we do like very much the picture entitled “Victorious Spirit” in the Court of the Palms.

It has the most beautiful blue in it, and we love blue, though of course we know that that is not an adequate reason for liking a picture. There is something fine about being a Victorious Spirit, which we admire, especially if it is a good spirit, and this one seems to be.

In the Court of Abundance we saw Mr. Frank Brangwyn’s “Earth,” “Air,” “Water,” and “Fire.” The “Earth” picture shows in a harvesting scene all the things which the earth has given to us. In “Fire” we are shown how fire was first found, and how much more comfortable people were after that.

Next, men were learning how to use the fire, and when they had discovered that cooked food was better than the old way, they needed pots to cook their food in, and so had to make the pots.

In the “Water” picture, you will notice that the people are using the pots now for carrying the water to their homes, and the clouds show you by their heavy grayness that it will soon rain.

The “Air” picture shows that the storm has come, and the children are hurrying home to shelter. We did enjoy these pictures so much, and we wish that all pictures were as easy to read and as interesting as these. It is a bit hard to understand that there has ever been a time when people did not have fire and such things, but father says we should not say such things when we are in the Fifth Grade.

Your loving cousins,JANE AND ELLEN.

WHAT WE DID IN ITALY

DEAR COUSINS:

F ATHER said today that it was time to improve our minds by some foreign travel. So we stepped into our imaginary aeroplane and flew right over.

Italy’s palace is very stately with great high ceilings and elaborate entrances. It represents both Mediaeval and Renaissance styles of architecture.

A very nice Italian gentleman showed us over the palace and explained the things to us as well as he could without knowing our language, and of course we knew nothing of his. We shall study languages, and we like Italian. It sounds so polite!

If Christopher Columbus could come to the Fair, he would find himself on a pedestal in the throne room, along with his king and queen. Dante also is there, and stern-looking Garibaldi, and Alexander Volte, who discovered how to apply electric energy, and many other famous Italian persons.

In another part of the palace wonderful laces were displayed, and some carved corals which we know would have pleased mama.

In one case were some old velvet cloaks, which we have seen worn by pirates and buccaneers in our story books – those who wear big droopy hats with big plumes on them, – you remember?

There are copies of famous painters, among them several by Titian, who always painted red-haired people, and isn’t it funny how one thing you hear fits in with something you have heard! We know now why big sister is called Titian-haired.

Michael Angelo’s “Virgin” we shall always remember, the face was so pale and pure looking, and so young, though she has been made so long. There were some carved alabaster vases, real ones, though almost everything is copied, and some modern paintings which my nice gentleman did not care about. He liked the old masters, he said. There were some musical instruments which had been dug up from Pompeii, just green with age. Nobody knows what their names are.

Some copies of Lucca della Robbia were very beautiful, especially an altar piece of Virgin and Child.

The furniture is beautiful, and is all in keeping with the big rooms and high ceilings. They use fireplaces mostly in Italy, but have modern heating now. Our nice gentleman said that Italy is a good deal like California, “only little bit nicer.”

We enjoyed our Italian trip, and shall always remember it.

Your loving cousins,JANE AND ELLEN.

OUR VISIT IN TEHUAN-TEPEC

DEAR COUSINS:

M EXICO, who is our near neighbor – she lives just across the Rio Grande River from us, – has always before this time sent a good representation to Madame World’s fairs.

But this year she could not arrange to leave home, and some of her children were much disappointed, just as one would naturally expect, when they had their minds all made up to come. We can quite understand it.

So one little village said, “Oh, Mother Mexico, please let us go to our Cousin America’s party?”

Mothers always enjoy making their children happy, we are glad to have observed, so Senora Mexico told the little village if it would be good and keep its face and hands clean, and not ask for more than one helping of cake and ice-cream that it might go to the party. So it came, and one evening we went up to call. It lives on a very noisy street called “The Zone,” but after we were inside the gates we did not even hear the noise.

It is quite the quaintest little village we have ever been in. They have a dear little theatre, not a movie, but a real play theatre, which pleased us because we like regular plays much better than pictures. It seems more like really doing things, and we miss the voices so much in a movie.

They gave a play for us, in their own language, and it was very funny. We did not, of course, understand the words, but they laughed so much at it that we knew.

After the play we went to supper, which was cooked on a ’dobe stove, and served in a real kitchen in a real hacienda.

There is a real river of real water running through the village, and on it is a tiny barge full of green vegetables, showing how the gardener takes his produce to market. There were two big catfish in the river. We stood on the puente, which is Mexican for “bridge,” and watched the good ship Anita as it steamed into the harbor. We feared the catfish would capsize it.

Some of the people of the village have brought along their work, and we were much interested in the basket-making, and the weaving of the brilliant colored serapes, which the people wear instead of coats.

A Mexican grandmother gave us each a dear little vase of red pottery, and a feather picture of a blue jay. We hoped the picture was not made of a real blue jay’s feathers, because we are fond of him.

We found the village interesting. They bade us adios, and asked us to come again. Thank you, Mexico, we shall.

Your loving cousins,JANE AND ELLEN.

DEAR COUSINS:

OUR VISIT TO JAPAN

W E DO not know where we have been more beautifully entertained than we were in Japan. A lovely little Japanese maiden with an embroidered robe told us a good many interesting things. One of them was about “Boy Day.”

It seems that in Japan all the boys have one birthday, that is, May fifth is set aside for a universal boys’ birthday. They have then a celebration, all over the nation, and it is what with us would be a bank holiday like Thanksgiving, or Decoration Day.

The carp is chosen for the emblem, because he is the Samurai, or warrior fish, because he is so full of courage, and figures of him are made of crepe and floated from bamboo poles, along with their flag.

On that day the boys are instructed in the standards of manhood as they are expected to live, and shown their ancestors’ great deeds as recorded in the family records.

We think we should not exactly care about a wholesale birthday, but the maiden said that the girls also have one, which is March third. A doll made like the small girl child is presented to her, and she is supposed to keep it until she grows up, so that her children may have it. Japanese people care a very great deal about their ancestors, and we suppose they feel about them as we do about our great-grandfathers who fought with George Washington.

We had Ceremonial Tea, in a lovely tea-garden, which was very beautiful, but of course we are not allowed to drink tea, but the cakes were interesting, and father said that budding authoresses should always absorb local color.

We think that we did that because we studied the flowers and shrubs very intently, and while father talked with the artist who was making lovely postal cards by painting scenes from the gardens we went out and traced to its source the laughing brook which was rushing through the grounds. It did not spoil it a bit for us to discover that the brook came from a water pipe sunk in the ground, because we understand of course that the gardens did not grow there of their own accord.

The Japanese people love beauty and always create it wherever they may be living, and their gardens at the Fair are very wonderful. They have a dwarf evergreen tree which is said to be over one thousand years old. It is about as large as our Christmas tree is when we have a large one for both families.

In Japan, the silk culture occupies an important place. We saw some exhibits of it, and it seems to us that if we did not care so much about our native land that we might like to go and raise silkworms in Japan.

Your loving cousins,JANE AND ELLEN.

CANADA THE BEAUTIFUL

DEAR COUSINS:

C ANADA, who is our very nearest neighbor on the North, has built a mansion at the Fair, which seems to us the very most beautiful of all.

The pictures shown give one a perfectly correct idea of the country, and what it produces, and can produce in the future.

As we entered we were asked by a polite attendant to “keep to the left, please,” which rather surprised us until we remembered that in England and all colonies belonging to her all traffic passes from left to right, and not the opposite, as with us.

The pictures of the forests and the birds and animals which live in them kept us a long while, and we were never tired of looking at them. We were glad that father brought us, because we could look as long as we liked, instead of hurrying through as so many children are obliged to do.

The pictures are made by placing real animals or other objects in the foreground, and painting a back drop continuation of the scene, in the manner of a stage drop in a theatre.

One beautiful scene represents a farmhouse with cattle grazing in the distance, and green gardens and fruit trees around the house. It is meant to show what a farmer can do in five years of work on a new piece of ground.

Another picture shows the rolling prairies with fields of ripe, yellow wheat, with snow-capped mountains in the far distance, and still another takes one to the extreme north of Canada, and shows how the Aurora Borealis lights up the world during the time of the midnight sun.

There is also a wonderful apple-harvesting scene, where real apples are used in the foreground, and in the background men on ladders are gathering the apples from the trees.

Canada has also immense mines of iron, coal, gold and silver, as well as great quarries of marble, asbestos and copper, and many other minerals.

The decorations in the main building are made from seeds, and you would be surprised, we are sure, to see the pictures which can be produced with the natural seeds and grasses.

We liked Canada very much and brought away some new ideas.

Your loving cousins,JANE AND ELLEN.

OUR CHINESE VISIT

DEAR COUSINS:

W E WENT one day to the Chinese pavilions, and wandered around there to our hearts’ content. It was so fascinating that we could hardly come away. The embroideries are wonderful, especially the scenes and birds, and we had no ambition to try to do them. The carved teakwood furniture is lovely, especially that combined with porcelain. Unless one could travel to China they could never see such treasures as are here displayed.

A very polite little Chinese gentleman noticed that we were interested in an old coin collection, and explained to us that “these ancient cash were unearthed by a farmer while plowing near Canton.” The coins bear dates all the way from 618 B. C. to 1265 A. D. We decided that we would keep our “cash” in a different sort of bank.

The polite gentleman told us something about the dwarf trees which are used for decorative purposes, and showed us an elm tree which was over a hundred years old, and is only three feet in height, and is growing, or, as we said we thought, just living, in a flower-pot. The Chinese dragon on the flower-pot would have scared us so that we never could grow any more if we had to live with it, and perhaps that is what happened to the tree.

The gentleman was feeling very sad over the loss of some similar trees which had been ruined by the voyage from China, by the carelessness of some one who took care of them, in watering them with sea water. We took note of the fact that salt water will kill trees and plants.

There were some reproductions of ancient temples and shrines, and a queer picture made of postage stamps of all nations, and we had a lot of fun finding our own stamps. It has a picture of George Washington, and as far as we can remember it was the third one from the end, starting at the right.

After we had seen all the pictures in the pavilion, and all the other treasures, we went to the tea-house to have lunch.

Dear little almond-eyed Chinese girls waited on us, and surprised us by speaking excellent English. We were a little disappointed that they wore American-made shoes with their pretty native costumes, but father said, “Why not? They are going to be American girls now. That is why Madame World was anxious to have the Canal.”

We are glad we brought father, he always remembers what we do not want to forget.

Your loving cousins,JANE AND ELLEN.

MORE FOREIGN TRAVEL

DEAR COUSINS:

I F THERE is one place that we do adore it is Hawaii. We have been there so many times since we came to the Fair, that now when we stop to look at the gorgeous fishes they seem to show signs of recognition.

We spent a very pleasant hour in the motion picture theatre in Hawaii, and got a very good idea of the country. We have resolved that we shall go there the very first trip we take really abroad.

The day before our last at the Fair we stopped in Hawaii to get a glass of pineapple juice, and to listen to the singing. The choir sang “Aloha,” the Hawaiian song of farewell which ex-Queen Liliuokalani wrote, and it made us feel a sort of sad happiness.

So, to get cheered up we went over to Holland, and looked at the beautiful picture of the land of Queen Wilhelmina, whom every one loves.

Holland’s mansion is tastefully decorated in blue and brown, and looks very inviting. Java, one of Holland’s colonies, has some interesting colored prints called Battik cloth, which are made by covering the surface of the cotton with clay, or wax, and then cracking the covering so that the dye stuffs may penetrate to the cloth.

In Norway there was no one at home except some singers who were giving a concert, which we enjoyed. Their things had not yet been unpacked.

Australia was at home and showed us her treasures. We liked her birds and brilliant butterflies, but father was more interested in her articles of commerce, such as woods, wools and fruits.

It is hard to remember that these countries are really so far away from our own country, it is so easy to get to them in the Fair.

New Zealand showed us some motion pictures of interesting water sports, and how they catch the big kingfishes; we saw, also, some mounted specimens of the kiwi, the wingless bird of New Zealand. It has absolutely no wings, and is about the size of a guinea hen.

From there we went over to Siam for a few minutes, to see their lovely lacquered wood, and other treasures, and then went to Turkey to admire the rugs and Benares brasses. We are sorry that so many of the countries which we are anxious to see have not as yet arrived, but we must hope to come back to the Fair before it closes.

Your loving cousins,JANE AND ELLEN.

P. S. – Have you ever noticed how sad it is to do things for the last time?

OUR DAY IN SWEDEN

DEAR COUSINS:

W E HAVE always wanted to see how skis are really worn, and we were very glad to go to Sweden and see them. The Swedish mansion is directly across from the Canadian building, so our foreign travel is being made very easy for us.

We went into a blue room, after we had seen all the ships, and steel things, and the beet sugar cones, which made your mouth water just to look at them.

The walls of the blue room are covered with a cloth made from wool, and colored blue, the very bluest blue you could imagine. Then we saw the nice deep hand-painted chests which we thought would be perfectly fascinating to have in our attic, to put all our brocaded satin dresses in, so that our children could dress up in them as we do in our grandmother’s things. There are old-fashioned wool rugs made with a hook which pulls wool through a foundation. We have seen Tillie Nelson’s mater make them in Minnesota.

Their furniture is black oak, with wool tapestry for covering, and there are some beautiful bookcases, and hand-carved book-ends, and some beautiful book-bindings.

We looked a long time at the wonderful pictures of snowstorms painted by A. Schultzberg, 1914. We both like them better than any paintings we have ever seen. We almost expected to see little Mrs. Cottontail hop out from under the snow-laden spruce trees, or to hear a chickadee bird sing his winter song from one of the branches. We have resolved to study art. A beautiful statue, carved by Alice Nordin, entitled “The Goddess of Love,” is in that room, and seemed to us very beautiful.

There were some bronze chandeliers which we know would interest big brother, they were what he calls decorative, and some china which sister would rave over.

We came away feeling that Sweden is a very large and useful nation, and a homey and comfortable sort of people. We said so to father, but he said, “Yes, yes, children, I am glad you felt that, because they are that and more.”

We knew by his tone that he was thinking, so we were careful not to chatter and disturb him.

Your loving cousins,JANE AND ELLEN.

THE FIREWORKS AND ILLUMINATIONS

DEAR COUSINS:

F AIRY-LAND was never more beautiful than the Fair is when the lights are on in the evening, with all the big searchlights and the colored lights going at once. Then the Tower looks like the queen that it is, with its thousands of sparkling jewels. There is something majestic and silently mystical about it, as it stands with its head among the stars. There has never been anything like it, and there will never be anything like it, and while, like other great things, it may have faults, it will live forever in the hearts of the little children who have seen it.

Once in a while, as a special treat, Madame World has an evening of fireworks, in addition to the illuminations which she provides for her guests every evening. We went out late one afternoon, and stayed out for them.

Out on the Marina, or water-front, there is a big machine which controls the searchlights, and from there the whole Fair is illuminated.

When the lights are turned on, and stream far up in the sky, it looks as though the Goddess of Light and all her subjects were holding high carnival in the heavens. Sometimes the lights are all colors of the rainbow, and when they are turned on Golden Gate it looks as though all the color sprites from the coral caves were sailing in from tropical seas to dance at the carnival.

A most beautiful color effect was arrived at by puffing great white clouds of steam from engines, and turning on them the colored searchlights.

The fireworks were, however, the crowning surprise. First they were the ordinary Fourth of July kind, just skyrockets, which, bursting with a loud report, fling stars and bouquets of flowers in the air.

We liked them very much, as all children like fireworks, and were quite satisfied that we were having a lovely time, when Boom! a big rocket exploded, sending balls of fire high up in the air, and do you know, out flew Old Mother Hubbard and her dog Tray, Mary and her little lamb, Little Boy Blue and his flock of sheep, the old woman who went up in a basket, the pig which flew so high, and the cow which jumped over the moon, not to mention a ballet dancer, and whole flocks of geese, and strings of flags, all the old story-book folks, not little things which you would have to guess about, but real large-as-life characters whom you would at once recognize. Now if some one will explain to us how they could pack them all into a skyrocket, we shall be satisfied.

To complete the entertainment, the aviator then went up in his aeroplane and gave an imitation of a comet tearing through space.

Your loving cousins,JANE AND ELLEN.

THE PANAMA CANAL CONCESSION

DEAR COUSINS:

I N SPITE of the fact that it may be called advertising, which, father says, we are not being paid to do, we wish very much to tell you about the Panama Canal representation which we saw at the Fair.

It is far and away the most educational and interesting thing at the Fair, and helped us to understand really why Madame World was so anxious to have the Canal cut, and why there is so much rejoicing over it.

They have a moving platform with chairs upon which we were seated, and given a telephone, through which we heard the lecture, and as the platform moved around the circle, carrying us from the Pacific to the Atlantic, we were informed as to each step in the great work of making the Canal, and shown exactly how it is now operated.

Of course we had to keep constantly in mind that if we were really to travel over the country which we were being shown that we could by no means do it in the twenty-three minutes which are used in seeing the show. But it gives a really correct idea of the country, and the work which has been and is being done, how the locks are opened and closed, and how the ships go through the locks, the location of the lighthouses, and of the various rivers and mountains, also how the cities are placed, and what cities are now submerged.

We had always wondered how it was possible for a ship to go higher than the level of the ocean, and no amount of explanation which father could give us was able to make it clear to us. But the actual passing through of the tiny vessel showed us at once. Whenever a vessel has gone through the Canal the fact is communicated to the world by the wireless which is stationed at each Canal entrance.

We are very glad that we saw the real working, splendid Canal spread out before us, and only wish that you might also have seen it.

Your loving cousins,JANE AND ELLEN.

OUR DAY ON THE ZONE