The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, April 17, 1898, Page 20

THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, APRIL 17, 1898. =om T T 2 T is not too soon to sne-ulate upon just w part the United States will play in the coming Exposition of 1900. The Call is enabled to give a forecast of the in so far as they been perfected by the special commi sioner, the late Moses P. H bodied in an advance copy ident’s m 2 to Cong From th ocument it i the prospects for an adequate Ameri exhibit are verv bright, cons dela ngements. The prapriation th this the in the initial recommenc In deali say “In view ortance agnitude : »aching standing , 1 g Majo dy to your consideration ar that a liberal appropria 3 made. Moreover, the magnif exhibit of French Gover ment , on which $1,000,- hould be e a strong incentive to re ty on the part of tk the United our well 1ling iprocal liber- : Government S and the the Exhibition an exhibit on a'par with that of the Government and people as at a priety insta of Paris of France at Chicago, and in keep- ing with the ope and extent of the preparatio which are being made arly nations of th posed exhibit Major Handy all the important earth for their pro. in that exposition.” s report is full of meat. ribes in detail the eventually ful struggle for appropriate and how the space will be al- He gi ymparisons based st expositions, and throws out luable hints to prospective ex- The space originally reserved Jnited States was little more than that awarded in 1889. The following table shows the total allotment of space: Total Allot- fectrici nd fc y vod 1 nd mining. ctures ... lonizati ‘my and [ Ar 47,403 * Allotment not yet made. To form a fair judgment as equity of this allotment it is e: to recall the sup i several universal been held in Pa position of that ye ac that of 1878, 187 and that of 1889, 240 acres, while the space at present available for that of 1900 is about acres. The full extent of the allotment of the United States is not fully set forth in the above table, there being no allotment, it will be observed, in the departments of {ine arts, norticulture, forestry, ch: and fisheries, social economy and hygiene. colonization and army and navy. The vexed quest®n of classification has been profoundly studied in all its aspects by M. Picard, the commissary general,, and by the superior. commis- sion. The difficulties, in fact the utter to the impossibility, of devising a scheme of | classification absolutely logical and en- tirely free from practical disadvantages were fully recognized. The commission examined with great cares.the classifi- cations of all the international expo- sitions of the past, both in France and other countries, and considered fully the various criticisms to which they have been subjected in the light of the actual results achieved. For the classification at the approach- ing exposition, that of 1889 is taken as a point of departure, and such modifi- cations have been made as were sug- gested by the legitimate criticisms of which it was the object, and by the lessons taught by foreign expositions. The post of honor is occupied by edu- cation, “the channel by which man en- ters into life, the source of all pro- gress.” Next come the works of art, and the third place is assigned to the I&agrmpmcesse& of ; %‘: ‘?;" “c p o AT dering the | |'letters, science and arts. “the great fac’ duction, the mo: industrial achievemen powerful agents o ;'—the material | the nineteenth century aterls | and general processes of me(hdmtis: | electricit civil engineering, methods of tra rtation. Next follow the e \ducts, superficial 1 ploitation and the T e or subterranean, of the earth—agr yrticulture, forestry, the cha placer mining, fnnd_ stuff: and metallurgy. Vext in order are decorations and furnishing of pub- lic buildings and habitations, threads, issues, textile fabrics, wearing industrie various | | apparel, che | manufactures. | which have been T ments worthy of it ally the vari | tie, agricultural and industrial tion.” It will embrace also hygie public or organized charity. The int by Americans s In his report, Ma plications informally ma ual hibitors show bona f for 1 3 juare feet, ed requirements of a tion, ar nd mines to the extent of re feet. In other words, nical ms to be ver r Hands de by individ- ide demands des : ju: two opening of the magd for more -xposition there is a de- 3 e than was ever in any | occuipied by the United Stat ) | international exposition on foreign soil. These demands emphasize the nece: sity of co-operating with the author ties of the exposition in their earne determination to make it one of selec- tion. “France sets a good example in re- quiring that all applications for space shall be passed upon by two juries of selections, ¢ boards of examiners. Germany, hi v seconding France's intentions, proposes also to thoroughly sift all applications and serd to Paris only those articles which survive the most careful expert scrutiny. ‘Only products of the first class will be ac- | cepted,” vs Mr. Richter, the German Commissioner - General. I strongly recommend that we follow the same policy, and would suggest that no article be shipped to Paris for exhibi- committees of their appointment. “My idea would be to have commit- tees for this purpose sit in New York | and Chicago, and perhaps in other | cities, whose duty it shall be not only to sift exhibits thoroughly, rejecting all that are commonplace, trivial or in any respect unworthy, but also to scale down the space to reasonable dimen- sions in every case. It cannot be too thoroughly understood that in the coming international exposition the | difficulty will not be to get exhibitors, but to moderate the demands of exhib- itors and to. meet in any degree the requirements. of such exhibits as will be a credit and honor to this country The propriety of having a special de- partment- for the display of woman's | work, to be installed and managed by women, has been urged upon the ad- | ministrative council of the exposition, but so far without perceptible effect. The Midway Plaisance of the World's Columbian = Exposition will have its counterpart, and the authorities are | busying themselves devising plans or | passing upon those of individuals, for | the amusement of the crowds that will throng the grounds in 1900. Quaint and queer customs of the little known na- | tions are to be shown, making it possi- ble for one to see the ends of the earth without journeying that distance. ‘Work upon the grounds and buildings is proceeding rapidly, although with great care, and there is no doubt that the exhibits will have been installed by April 15, 1900, the date set for the opening of the exposition. The site will be practically the same as was occu- pied by the exposition of 1889, the total space being 336 acres—9 more than was available for the last exposition. The compared with that of the World’'s Columbian Exposition of 1893, which occupied all of Jackson Park and the Midway Plaisance—T740 acres in all —shows the limitations with which the officials have to contend. A larger space might have been had in the suburbs, but the Municipal Council of Paris and the Council-General of the Seine De- partment strongly opposed all propo- sals tolocate any part of the exposition outside of the city. The industrial progress of the United States and the evolution of its material resources during the hundred years which the exposition is to crown have been unequaled by that of any other nation. It is not too much to say that Then come yrs of contemporary pNE t at the end of in the exposition shown | great. \rs before tae date fixed for the | as IT WILL LOOK | the United States now stands the greatest nation of the worla in all the | great lines of industry. sk +'MAKING MOBELS FOR THE EXHIBITION BUILDINGS. | | SRS | OT the least interesting part of the Paris Exposition of 1900 will | be the exhibit in exact miniature on the same general scale and in their proper relative positions of all the various buildings which are { comprised in the undertaking, most of which are already well under way. The construction of the two ne palaces of fine arts, “Le Petit Palai | and the “Grand Palais,” which are to | be left standing for permanent use, is | now being pushed with feverish activ- ity, as the time allowed for their com- | pletion will admit,of no delay. These two buildings face each other from opposite sides of the new avenue |leading from the new Pont d'Alexan- | | dre III to the Avenue des Champs | es, just west of the Palajs de la | Concorde, where is placed the princi- pal entrance to the exposition grounds. The Petit Palais, after serving its pur- | | pose ‘at the exposition, will be devoted to such permanent and special uses as are justified by its location and size, | while the “Grand Palais,” standing as | it does on the site of the old “Palais de I'Industrie,” will take the place of that well known and often crowded struct- | ure, receiviag each year the crowds | which throng to the horse show, to| the salon and all the fetes, celebra- tions and exhibitions that industry and | art and even politics seek to shelter in | busy Paris. Any curtailed description of this| building would fail to con.ey a proper | idea of its magnificence. The fine and | delicate taste displayed by its author, | M. Deglanne, will justly place his name among the first architects of the age, and leave to future generations a fine specimen of French art at the end of | the nineteenth century. His work hasi been a lengthy one, as was that of the other architects. The plans evolved after long study in the offices being submitted to Mr. Pi- card, the director-general of the expo- sition, were considered closely and at length in their detail and entirely by | a commission of experts, and then re- | turned for such changes and modifica- tions as seemed desirable, again and again until a satisfactory result was reached. The general design for ‘the Grand Palais was the work of M. Deglanne, but the execution thereof was too much for one man. He has four architects in chief and forty subordinates, be- sides clerks and draughtsmen, under | him, devoted and loyal fellow workers | toward the common end. These in- | stalled in the central part of the old Palace of Industry are giving their en- tire time and attention to the erection of the two new palaces. ; For this work, on such a considera- ble scale and of such permanent and durable character, the architects have invoked the aid of every kindred art and means of assisting them in the fullest study and development of their designs and bringing out the appear- ance ‘and effect that the completed work would have, and so working up to the highest degree of excellence, be- fore entering upon the final execution. As is well known, plans and draw- ings made' by geometrical rules on a plane surface, must suffer much distor- tion when put in- perspective; much of the structural grandeur and beauty is lost and the symmetrical relation of one part to‘another cannot be fairly estimated, even when brought out to the best advantage by the most skilled hand. It persidtently refuses to reveal the true conception of the master mind, and so far as it fafls short of the ideal he has conceived, so far must the pro- duct of the constructor’s skill be lack- ing. Among other things the French arch- itects have in this instance had re- course to the constructicn of “ma- quettes” or models, veritable little pal- aces, in plaster, which skilled sculptors Leonstruct undex, their Immediate BIRDSEYE VIEW OF THE GREAT PARIS EXPOSITION OF 1900 | sity, { franc WHEN COMPLETED. | DRAWN FROM THE ARCHITETCT'S DESIGNS. tion. This work is tedious and delicate, requiring special artists, and of neces- therefore, quite expensive. The model of the “Grand Palais des Beaux Arts” on a-scale of 0.01L meters has oc- cupied a number of sculptors more than a year, and cost more than 30,000 For the construction of these models the architects give to the sculptors ex act designs of the ground plans and fa- cades which they are to reproduce. On a bench especially designed for this urpose the sculptor establishes a true e surface which serves as a base the whole construction. On this surfa he traces with much care the plan of the edifice, without regard to the interior details, as the model is only intended to show what can be seen from the exterior. The principal parts are made sepa- rately, then mounted and joined to- gether with a .liquid plaster paste to form a whole. Each part is given to a special workman. The profiles are cut in sheets of zinc, and take the name of “gabarits.” These, guided by a straight edge, are drawn over a layer of fresh | plaster, reproducing all the sinuosities of the profile. All the cornices and the straight and curved moldings generally are made in this manner. LADY YARDE-BULLER'S EVENTFUL LIFE. UST where is the dividing line be- tween mere harmless eccentricity and that which the doctors con- sider insanity, and how soon will Lady Yarde Buller reach and cross it? This is the question which is just now being seriously considered by all those who are, from either friendly or mercenary motives, interested in the | present welfare and ultimate fate of the woman whose erratic conduct for several years past has estranged her from many of those who should be near and dear to her, and placed her to a great degree under the ban of public opinion. The story of the life of brave General Kirkham's eldest child reads almost liké a purely imaginary and not over pleasing romance. Little did the gallant soldierfather think, when he, for thefirst time, cradled his first born in his strong arms and looked down at the innocent little face, fair and sweet as the petal of an apvle-blossom, resting against the breast of his dark blue uniform, that that pretty babe would make her- self a theme for the ill-natured gos- sip of two continents; that she would render her loving mather’'s last days most unhappy through an unseemly legal wrangle over wealth which fate had in store for him, but of which he then did not even dream; and that she would find herself, in her later years, practically deserted by all the friends of her youth, at war with her sisters, accused of vulgar drunkenness, arrest- ed and driven through the streets of Oakland In.&pa_trpl wagon, and forced to endure examination as to her mental condition before she was al- lowed to regain her freedom. All these things have, however, hap- pened to Mary Leilah Kirkham al- ready. As to her future, since she has lost none of the spirit which in the past has led her slender feet through many devious and thorny paths, it seems more than probable’ that it will be no more peaceful and conventional than her adveriturous and stormy past has been. Leilah was won by David Boyd Blair, a handsome and very agreeable man, of whom shg was both fond and proud in those days before she had begun to think .of titles and Landon society triumphs. and made her home in a com- fortable but unpretentious house not far from the family mansion. Julia married an army man—Major Murry Davis of the Eighth United States Cav- alry—and died twenty years since. The third da)lght%% became Mrs. James D. Safford, and ‘the yggggés‘t was wedded | to Dr. F. L. Wheeler of Oakland. Of the four not one save Leilah' ever gave evidence of being in any way spe- | cially different from the well-appear- | ing, well-educated, among whom they found their friends and acquaintances; and even she, dur- well-bred people |1n spite of her vagaries she still clings | | | | | | ing the brief vears of her first mar- riage, found her happiness with her husband, her home and her pets, and later with the two baby boys, to whom with an unswerving devotion, which proves that whatever her outward faults may have been, and however much she has become prejudiced against others of her own blood, a true woman'’s heart beats in her bosom. There are some who knew “beautiful Mrs. Blair,” as she was lled in those happy days, who declare that from the loss of her husband dates the begin- ning of those small peculiarities of thought and speech and conduct which have since given her unpleasant prom- inence before that portion of the world who love to criticize, comment and condemn. Be that as it may, after a time she fancied that she could once again find happiness, and in 1886 be- came the wife of a young Englishman of fine family and presumably large re- sources — Walter Yarde Buller, a " THE BIG PARIS EXPOSITION OF 1900 WILL LOOK. | younger brother of Lord Churnton | (Baron Thurston)—and for several signing “married belles” of London so- ciety. For a' time her second marriage seemed a happy one, but soon dissen- sions arose between husband. She was high-spirited and in- dependent—a typical American girl in this regard surely, though she makes a great point now of being made by her marriage an English woman—inclined to be a trifle more free in speech and act than her staider English assoclates, and she possessed a fine capacity for spending money, which capacity was not equaled by the amount which Mr. | Yarde-Buller thought sufficient for her | needs. It can readily be seen that under these conditions there was a fine field for domestic difficulties. And as it was not in her nature to endure reproof or admonition with even simulated pa- tience the family life of the Yarde-Bul- lers was for some time a most unhappy one. The death of her father complicated matters for the unhappy wife, for it was found that his property, the value of which was estimated to be at least 000,000, really amounted to only a lit- s after that event was one of the | herself and her | tle over $570,000, and even that was left in trust to Mrs. Kirkham instead of be- l‘ng divided between her and Ler daugh- ers. Mentally tortured with her domestic differences and greatly in need of money to settle outstanding obligations Mrs.—or Lady, as she prefers to ba called—Yarde-Buller came to this coun- | try and tried to make a financial set- tlement with her family, but failing to convince her mother and sisters of the desirability of her plan quarreled with | them so seriously that the breach has never heen healed. The death of Mrs. Kirkham partly settled the difficulty over the property, but as Mrs. Yarde-Buller has not as yet come into possession of her share shs | has had much difficulty with imps creditors, and has been forced *o ‘iv very quietly. Her two sons, who seem | to have inherited not a little of the | brave Kirkham spirit which won their grandfather deserved renown, are both loyal to her. One of them is a lieu- tenant in the British army, but the | other is with her in this country, and |in all her difficulties, whether she be right or wrong, she is sure of their sym- pathy and unswerving affection. The worst faults cf this much talked- about woman seem to be an almost un+ limited capacity for getting into legal wrangles with her fellow creatureg, not. regulating her expenditures by her tangible income, and taking no pains whatever to avoid “the speech of peo~ ple.” INCE George F. Tilton shipped to the Arctic in March of last year as third mate of the whaler Belvedere' he has had an experience that few men would have the courage to voluntarily undergo, that of walking thousands of miles in the desolate Alaska territory, to carry news of the icebound ships and save his. comardes: from starvation. Success in reaching civilization meant life to hundreds of helpless men. Fail- ure meant death, through hunger, for all of them. “The most trying and difficult por- tion of the journey,” said Mr. Tilton, in relating his adventures, ‘“was that which I encountered between Cape Lis- bon and Point Hope. I found myself imprisoned on an ice floe. After work- ing my way down the mountain to reach ice—traveling on the ice being the preferable mode in that country—I came to the water’s edge. Turning back I found water again. ‘The ice had sep- arated, leaving me on a floating island with cliffs so high on either side that to reach shore was impossible. | “Arctic ice becomes shelved by con- stant pressure. The only means of es- cape lay in dislodging a cake or layer of the vast mass upon which I was drifting and utilizing it as a boat. By chopping with an ax, using also an’ice pick, shovel-and snow knife, and pry- ing with tent poles, I succeeded after eight hours of the hardest work of my life in detaching my improvised boat. Upon this I paddled a distance of half a mile or so, reaching ice which I could travel over for about six miles. I then made a landing, and for the rest of the day-and the next night did not break camp, so exhausted had the trip made me. “Yes, I encountered a number of wild animals. In the far north, in what is called the Point ‘Barrow district, the ice is very jagged and in crossing:it one is apt at any turn to come directly upon a polar bear. If cornered, or en- countered too quickly for them to es. cape, they are desperate fighters, and a man traveling in that district should keep his rifle in constant readiness to shoot. I was obliged to Kkill two .in whalers. being or see one, they are as anxious as he is to avoid the encounter. “Wolves are easily kept away if dogs are around, the barking of dogs suffic- ing to alarm them. Otherwise blank cartridges should be thrown around the outside of the tent, as the smell of powder will always drive them away. “Travel in Alaska is unutterably dreary. - As far as the eye can reach there is an apparently endless expanse of snow and ice. Sometimes in the distance one will see a cape or head- land and hope for vegetation or human habitation beyond, but when the poin: is reached it only reveals what one has looked upon for days, perhaps weeks and months—a monotonous, barren world of ice and snow. The earth never seemed so vast a place as dur- ing that trip on its surface. I thought that the higgest part of the world lay within the Arctic circle. “It was my first experience with a dog team and I am told I have made the greatest number of miles—3380, from Point Barrow to Katmai—so far traveled by one man with dog sleds. Some of my shipmates had advised me to take my dogs into the tent at night in order to get acquainted with them, that they might not be so willing to desert me. Well, I tried it to my satis- faction. = Crowd eight dogs into a tens scarcely large enough for three per- sons and have them jump over you in a fight-to-the-finish contest all nigh:, during which you lose a fingernail or two, and what few clothes you have, and you will come to the conclusion that you would rather part with a dog once in a while than get thoroughly acquainted’ with him. No matter how many miles an Alaska dog has travelea or how tired he is at night, he is al- ways in prime condition for a fight. “I lost about fifty dogs altogether. Some T was obliged to shoot, some went crazy and some ran away. I secured more from the natives as I went along, and from the whites who had trading posts. When the flesh on their feet wore through from travel on the snow it froze again, and I would have to shoot them to end their suffering. In order to keep dogs in good condition they should never be fed on cooked fish. = Dry or frozen fish should be their diet, with seal oil to keep them warm. = They should not be driven more than three days without an in- termission of one day's rest. I only used mine four days when it was ab- solutely necessary, in order to make a IMPRISONED ON AN ICE FLOE Stirring adventure of Third Mate Tilton, the volunteer, who came out of the Arctic Circle to bring news of the starving | Several of my dogs I brought clean through with me from Point Barrow. “Once I hired ‘a native guide who got lost. Then my seafaring knowl- edge came to our rescue. Taking my chart, parallel rule and compass L shaped my course across the plains ex- actly as though I were at sea and we came out all right. I would rather take ten thousand journeys by water than repeat that Arctic journey on land. “But my trip was not altogether de= { void of humorous incident. When trav< eling between the Buckland River and Norton Bay, on the Kouack River, I had walked all day, intending to makes Norton Bay by dark, but failing to do so pitched camp. I had just finished a.supper of hard tack and canned meats when I heard a mournful noise outgide the tent. I called out, asking what was the matter. “The reply came that it was an In- dian father, searching for his son, who he feared was lost, he having gone to his hunting traps fully twenty-four hours before and had not returned. “T invited the man in to eat. He sat down Turk fashion and proceeded to devour a tin of baked beans, three large, partly frozen biscuit, three cups of coffee and some canned meat. : > asked him if he would not have some more, when he rose to go. “‘No,” he replied, sadly, ‘I eannot eat until I have found my son. I have no appetite when he is perhaps in danger.” “Not being overstocked with pro- visions I was very glad I had not been obliged to appease the old man’s hun- ger when he had his normal appetite with him. “The missionaries were invariably most kind to me. At Point Hope I objected to taking a native woman with me, but her husband would not go thout her. I believe that I owe my successful trip from Point Hope to hep faithful care, and advise all travelers to secure, if possible, the services of a native woman. She repaired my boots and clothing daily, carried my deer- skin stockings in her packer and even slept on them in order to dry them. Her knowledge of what was necessary to preserve the health proved of no small value to me.” —_———— In New South Wales alone as many as 25,280,000 rabbits have been killed in one year, and their skins paid for. The rabbit pest in New Zealand began with the introduction cf seven rabbits my jourqey, If they. scent a human | station, Where they could recuperate. | info the country about 1560,