The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, August 28, 1898, Page 22

22 U MAHA, Aug. 26.—Away down in a little hollow on the bluff tract stands a red building with a forest of slender smokestacks. An unobtrusive placard an- nounces that here dwells and tofls the captive genius that works the greatest magic of the century; but the placard merely says: ‘Power-house. Visitors are invited. Yet one may spend & wonderful half hour here amid the dynamos. The electrical display of the Trans-Missis- sippi Exposition is far beyond any ever given in this country, probably in any country. The electrical appliances in the electricity building are only a part of the wonder. The lighting of the grounds shows what electricity can do to turn night into day. It is more brilliant than the most brilliant boul- evard of Paris; but there is nothing of the harsh dazzle nor the inky shadows of the ordinary electric light- ing. At the World’s Fair there were no half tones, the exquisite graduation of sunlight, the softened olives and violets of moonlight were lost; one was bathed in light and suddenly one stepped into darkness. Here, the ten thousand incandescent lights preserve the transparency of the shadows, pro- ducing a thousand exquisite effects. To try to “do” the exposition in a day is a wearying mockery. One could easily spend a day in the Government, or the Liberal Arts, or the Electricity, or the Mines and Mining buildings. “Doing,” in this sense, usually means a tramp or ride_in a chair or jinricksha around the lagoon, across the bridge to the plaza, down past the painted gro- tesqueries of the Midway jo the State buildings, & little loitering in the wide lawns amid the splendid parterres and the riot of color in plant and flower which surrounds the beautiful Horti- cultural building, stateliest palace of them all; then a dip into the Midway on the other side, a return to the la- goon and an excursion into one or two buildings with eyes and brains equally dazed and satiated. The real way to have either pleasure or profit in an ex- position is to know what one wishes to see, and go to see it. The clamor- ing attractions on either side are not to be regarded. A leisurely morning spent in one building, a leisurely ride for an afternoon, resting on the settees which are placed at convenient dis- tances (at least in theory, in practice I found them too much like the police- man—always in evidence when not needed and apparently in another world when sorely wanted!), then a dinner on the roof garden near the plaza, whence floats the sound of mu- sic, and an evening amid the Incom- parable loveliness of the Western sum- mer night and the lagoon—this makes a day that does not greatly weary either mind or body, but it leaves its 0000HO000000000CO0000000000000000000000000000002C000000 ooooooooooooo‘ooooooooooooooocoooooooocooooooooooooooooooooo A NAME IN HISTORY. 0000000000O0OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO 00000000OO‘40OOOOOOOOOOQOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO»OOO IRISHMEN W OOOOODOOOgOOOOOD0000OOOOOOOOO00ODOO00O0OOOOO0OOOOODOOOOOOOOO‘OOOOOOOOOOOOOO 000000 00000000 O other nation of modern times has given of her best blood to | the upbuilding of other countries to the extent that has Ireland. For years her city, town and country population has been de- pleted by immigration. To whatever country they might emigrate Irishmen have always taken an active part in the affairs of state, and to-day noted | sons of Erin are in power the world over. The Irish fair in this city draws attention to this subject locally. In support of this I need but to men- tion the part played by Irishmen in the War of the Rebellion. The names of Irishmen who were prominent both in politics and in high office in the army are too well known to need repeating. However, there is one fact fading from memory, and that Is the important part played by Irishmen in the War of the Revolution. The country had to be prepared by tongue and pen before the first blow could be struck for the physical en- forcement of the new idea. Even when the fight for independence had been waged and won, laws and constitu- tions had to be framed to suit the new sityation. In all this preliminary and subsequent movement for independence Ireland furnished the most distin- guished leaders. Take the pulpit for instance. TAe great men of the church, fcularly Presbyterians, were early evolutionists. Dr. Rodgers of New York, Dr. McWhorter of Newark, Dr. Caldwell of Elizabeth, Dr. Duffield of Philadelphia, Dr. Allison of Baltimore and Dr. Waddell, the blind preacher UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT BUILDING FROM A D ineffaceable delight in the memory. Of all the State buildings, the log cabin of Minnesota is the most original ard typical. It is built of hewn logs, ve.y tastefully, and the receiving room has a great stone chimnpey wherein almost a_forest might blaze, a floor of ax-planed logs and tables, set- tees and easy chairs framed of tree limbs in an ingenious fashion, whic surpasses the rustic furniture of park The building is lighted with acetylene gas. I observed several farmers in- quiring concerning this gas of a ready-tongued young man who stood in a little room with the cylinders, otherwise, I suppose, “the plant.” Is acetylene the coming light for the of Virginia—all Trishmen—were Wash- ington’s most enthusiastic and power- ful supporters. All through the deliberations of the Continental Congress the Irish contin- gent was numerous and powerful and when the country seemed doomed to destruction for want of a well ordered Government and when the convention | was called to form a new constitution | Ireland furnished its wise and powerful | counselors. New Jersey sent her Gov- | ernor, Willlam Livingstone, a native of New York and a descendant of John | Livingstone, the noted Irish Presby- terian preacher. The same State sent William Patterson who was born at sea on the passage of his parents from Ireland. He was the author of the New Jersey plan in that convention, involv- Ing state rights. He was several times a member of Congress, United States Senator, Governor of New Jersey and Judge of the Supreme Court of the United States. Pennsylvania sent Thomas Fitzsimmons, the great finan- cier, who was born in Ireland and came here about the age of 25. He was an extensive shipping merchant, inpartner- ship with George Meade, the grand- father of General George G. Meade, who commanded the Union Army at Gettysburg. Meade and Fitzsimmons -were both Irishmen and Catholics. Delaware sent George Read, who was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. He was a native of Maryland. His father was a wealthy citizen of Dublin. Maryland sent James McHenry, a native of Ireland, who came to this country when about 18 years of age. He was Secretary of Wi l*‘v[,‘ il { R STANT PORTICO. country? Will the carbide saturated water freeze or will it defy a northern winter? Is there the safety from ex- plosion claimed? To all these questions the young man makes plausible answers, and there is a white radiance winking at you from ' the ceiling. It winks at two cents a night per burner, or some such sum. The art exhibit 1is considered the of the exposition. The building itself is one of the most beau- tiful and impressive. It is really two buildings connected by an open court. The order of architecture is Corinth- ian, but Corinthian of the renaissance, not of the classic type. Broad and high flights of steps lift the colv-ined por- “ . = 2. 3R T T Z e st I UDAARCs mmangovu e - SPLENDID SIGHTS At the TRANS-MISSISSIPPI EXPOSITION. character, may blind one to its real merit. The Omaha papers have very quietly done a good turn to. the art galleries and to the. people of the West. They have published steadily articles describing the different paintings and other objects of art. Do we, I wonder, quite apprehend how far our huge expositions at Phil- adelphia, at New Orleans, at Atlanta, at Nashville, at Chicago, at Omaha, lead the average citizen afleld in paths of pleasantness and ways of peace? how much of sweetness and light they glve? Largely because of their influ- ence an unknown ideal of art is shap- ing the dreams of every village build- er; and names which were unknown a quarter of' a century ago are the property of our common speech; and groping still, but plain to be seen, Is a new sense of beauty among every class. I heard a story the other dav which {llustrates this pervasiveness of better taste. A very charming Chicago woman was talking about certain en- gravings. They had been in the house before taste had passed through the fire. “I have been thinking, my dears,” sald the mistress to her chil- dren, “you know those old engravings in the back hall upstairs, you make two and the proportioned. with their richly ticos above the water great domes are nobly Above the porticos, sculptured entablatures, are winged figures. The central court has a foun- tain and thHé statues nowhere have a falrer background than against the velvet lawn and the innumerable vines that wreathe trees and colonnade. ‘Within are some 600 pictures, a very fair collection of the French schools, a rather inadequate exhibit of American art. There are a few statues. It is not a bad show; on the contrary, it is a very good collection. There are Corots and Rousseaus and Daubignys and I think an Ineres, and one or two or more Jules Bretons and Detailles and Monets and others of the later great French artlsts; there is a very good Carpenter—it is, in fact, most interest- ing. That the pictures, as a rule, are not the masters’ more important ex- amples makes for nothing; they all have distinction and charm. It is merely that comparing the collection —not with the superb riches of the Co- lumbian exposition, which would be unfair—but with those of a perma- nent nature in any of our great cities, the dearth of plan apparent and the unbalanced character of the collection, its lack of proportion and desultory AVE MAD Cabinets. Maryland also sent Daniel Carroll. North Carolina sent Richard Dobbs Spaight, who was afterward Governor of North Carolina, as was later his son. He was a native of Ireland. North Carolina sent also Hugh Williamson, whose father was an Irishman. South Carolina ‘sent John Rutledge. the illustrious orator and statesman, whom Washington afterward appoint- ed Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. The same State also gent Pierce Butler, He was born in Ireland, was the third son of Sir Richard Butler, fifth Baronet, and took a prominent part in .the proceedings and debates of the convention. The Butler family of Pennsylvania was a noted brotherhood of American heroes and patriots. Richard Butler, the oldest of the five brothers, was born in Ireland. He distinguished him- self at Saratoga and Stony Point. was killed in battle at St. Clair's de- feat. His brother Thomas received the thanks of Wayne on the field of Mon- mouth and of Washington at Brandy- wine. His other three brothers—Wil- liam, Percival and Edward—all distin- guished themselves on many a bloody field. . His nephew, William Orlando Butler of Kentucky, was chief in com- mand of our Mexican army at the close of the war with Mexico, succeeding ‘General Winfleld Scgtt, and was Demo- cratic candidate for Vice-President in 1848 on the ticket with Lewis Cass. ‘William Campbell was born of Irish parents in Virginia, commanding at Kings Mountain, the most important battle fought in the South, except per- haps the Cowpens, and that was fought ‘War in Washington’s and Adams’ | by another Irishman. He ( su«sv James Clinton and his brother George | known as “Washington’s Right Hand wrote their names aloft on the list of our revolutionary heroes. George was first Governor of the }Zepubllcm State of New York and Vice-President of the United States. De Witt Clinton was the scn of James, was Senator of the United States and Governor of the State of New York—one of the most il- lustrious names in American biography. The father of Governor George and General James was a native of the County of Longford, Ireland. Henry Knox was the son of a Boston Irishman. His father was one of the founders of the Boston Irish Charitable Society, the oldest Irish society in the United States. General Knox was perhaps the most illustrious soldier of the revolution next to Washington. He was the creator and commander of Washington artil- lery and fought in every battle under Washington. He fought at Bunker Hill and when our Government took shape was appointed by President Washington as his Secretary of War and of the Navy. It may be said that he created the American navy. He was the founder of the Soclety of the Cin- cinnati. He married the daughter of a prominent Boston loyalist named Flucker, and when he fled from Wash- ington his wife jolmed him at Wash- ington’s camp, carrying his sword be- neath her dress. General Graham, an Irishman, com- ‘manded in fifteen engagements before he was 23, and his youngest son, Will- jam A. Graham, was Secretary of the Navy in Taylor's administration and candidate for ‘' Vice-President on the ticket with Winfleld Scott. ' Adjutant General Edward Hand, BY OCTAVE THANET. the Liberal Arts is the appointed guar- dian for the main body of artificial chicken mothers. The Transportation building is interesting, but not (to the writer’s mind) so interesting as some of the other great buildings. In the Dairy building (which well repays a visit) there Is an ingeniously cooled car where a butter artist models busts of Dewey, Hobson and other popular heroes in that pliable but perishable medium. One of the striking exhibits of the splendid Studebaker collection of wagons and carriages” in the Trans- portation building is the aluminum farm wagon. It is a wagon fit for a prince and light enough for a fairy; but, alas! only a prince or a millionaire could afford to pay for its light strength, for it cost, I think, some $2500, this simple farm wagon! There are three exhibits which tower above all others at the Omaha Exposition; they are typicalof the trans-Mississippi - States, the agricultural, the electrical and the mining exhibit. I have spoken of the two first; the third, in its own way, is as stupendous. Beneath the square Greek towers and the grand dome of the Mining building is a wonderful display of metals and minerals and mining machinery. The great silver and gold mines of the far THE FINE ARTS BUILDING. West, the great coal mines of Jowa and Tilinois, the great stone quarries of the trans-Mississippi States, all have rep- réfsentatives in miniature of machinery and product. Thereis a mine in’ opera- tion-and a-histery of .mining-in object such fun of them, yet I hate to part with them. You know the—the new laundry. I think we might put ‘them in the drying room!" “Why not give them to Hull House?” said one daughter. " “Hull Housge!” exclaimed’the mother. “Mercy! they are not good enough for Hull House. I should never venture to send them there! They are so parti- cular!” Which tale has a number of morals if one be minded to séarch” for them. Yet does it not all point to an ever- widening and deepening culture among the plain people? The American has paused long enough in his fierce strug- gle for money to perceive that his daily life needs beauty. Prosperity, to him, begins to mean a more leisurely and beautiful ordering of life. 'He perceives the lack to-day, to-morrow he will be trying to fill it. And not even the maga- zines and the daily journals have done so much to bring him to this attitude of wholesome unrest and anticipation as the great expositions. Modestly at one corner are the Apiary and Dairy buildings, and facing them is the Transportation building. Why a stray incubator should have sought shelter in this part of the grounds I know not; any more than I know why 0000000000000 0000000000000000002000000000000000D000 Man,” was born in Kings County, Ire- land, and General Willlam Irvine, a trusted friend of Washington, was born near Enniskillen. Andrew Lewis, a native of Donegal County, with his four brothers took an active part in the Revolution, and at one time it looked as if this Irishman would become the commander in chief of the American troops and take the position in our history so_ admirably filled by Washington. Richard Mont- gomery was another Donegal boy, while Stephen Moylan, commander of Wash- ingten’s Dragoons, was a nattve of Cork and a brother of the Catholic Bishop of Cork, and Daniel Morgan, the renowned hero of Cowpens, was born at Ballina- screen, County Derry. Joseph Reed, private secretary to ‘Washington, and - who refused to .re- ceive Lord Howe's letter to Washington until it was properly addressed, was the grandson of an Irish immigrant. It was this same Joseph Reed to whom the British Commissioners offered $50,- 000 and the best office in his Majesty’'s . gift if he would desert Washington’s, then almost hopeless, cause. “I.am not worth _purchasing, - but the King of Great Britain is not rich enough to do it,” was his historic reply. > Columns might be written - of the Revolutionary doings of such men as General John' Hezlett, General John Stark, General John Sullivan, Governor James Sullivan, General Jeremiah O’'Brien, General Anthony Wayne, Col- onel Ephraim Blaine, James Caldwell, the fighting parson of New Jersey; John Dunlap, soldier and editor of the first daily paper published in America; the lessomns., And there is a predigious dis- play of minerals from alabaster to coal, from lime to sapphires and rubies. It is as typical of the wealth of the vast land beyond the river as the Agricul- tural building, with its many-hued and fantastically fancied display; and as typical of the devouring energy of its soul as the purring monsters in the Electricity building. Yet, when we come to the parting word, of all the beauty, all the marvel which man has wrought,that which will haunt the mind in memories of this latest of our great American exposi- tions, is it not the art? I do not mean the pictures which are hung on the gallery walls, or the statues in its por- tals; I mean the art embodied in the noble - architecture, in the splendid groups that are painted against the vast sunlit spaces of the blue Ne- braska dome, in the fair procession of nature’s velvet and jewels in lawn and terrace, in plant and flower and vine and the subtle blending of all these en- o0 coo Chambers family of Chambersburg, John Craighead, Governor Ewing, John Fitzgerald, John Gibson, William Grigg, Sergeant Jasper, John McClure, An- drew Pickins, George Reed, Griffith Rutherford and scores of others. These are all names of which Irishmen may speak with pride. Now that the Spanish war is practi- cally over the Anglo-American alliance is Iikely to take = precedence in the minds of the people. Its fate is in the hands of Irishmen, but be it understood that these men in high places will not decide as Irishmen, but as loyal subjects of their adopted country, and will exert their influence on either side of the scale as they think will best 'serve their ‘“stepmother” country. Some might resent the term Trishman” as applied to President Mc- Kinley, but there is no denying the fact that he is a descendant of Francis Mc- Kinley, the warm friend of Henry. Joy McCracken, leader of the Ulster rebel- i:;n:hottns% fl:}d _t!(;r the part he played at rebellion he was execu traitor at Coleraine. ‘ fefiomn By a strange coincidence the man to . Whom President McKinley—an Irish- | American—threw down the gauntlet of ‘war was the Duke of Tetuan, an Irish- Spaniard. What 1s stranger still is that the ancestors of these two men so late- ly arrayed against each other fought side by side in the rebéllion of Ulster and became “poor exiles of Ireland” through a common cause. The Duke of Tetuan, whose every-day common- ‘place nameé is Leopold O'Do is a lineal descendant of the tl'l:l:ulnls' Red” Hugh O'Donnell, Who fled when England conquered Ulster. The Duke chantments Into one harmonious, con« quering charm. It is our last night at the exposition. We have left painted savages leaping and yelling around flaming pyres in the dark #flelds beyond. Almost without warning we are back in the light and are walking by the basin in front of the Horticultural building, where the tropical lilles float their crinkled, un- canny leaves. All about us is the glory of tall cannas, yellow and scarlet, “mystic, wonderful.” Plants of other Jands have emerged from their green- houses and flaunt in the transient kind- ness of our fickle northern sun. They lend an air of fairy land to the unreal beauty of the scene. Bathed in this gentle radiance whatever mlg]’?t sug- gest hasty work, the unsubstantial ma« ferial or hint at soil or crudity, van- ishes as if it had never been; before us rise the sculptured walls, the graceful columns, richly carved plinth, entabla« ture and frieze, minarets and domes that seem in this hour as enduring asd e hills. > thWe are quite alone, the hour is late, We seem to have this wonderful world to ourselves, a charm to be counted. So, slowly, almost sadly, we pass from the tranquil flelds to the deserted plaza and across the viaduct to the silent las goon. TR L T TR It is a city penciled In fire; an®the long gem lines of the porticoes and cornices, the stars that point innumer- able slender columns fepcing the la- goon, the blazing- torch -that flames above the yast dome to the south, these are ‘multiplied and lengthened In the still waters of the lagoon. It is so light that every flower splashing the terrace, ° every vine masking the tree trunks or climbing the colonnades h-s its every® tint of color for the eye. 1t is so still that we hear the fountain’s drip on the flery lilies. Stainless and white the great battlements, with their colossal figures of conquest and peace and winged aspiration, are carved against an infinite, - unfathomable violet sky, plerced here and there by stars. And we are fain to say to the pass« ing moment, “Stay, thou art too fair!™ But railways cannot be wheedled like Mephistopheles and we have the inevit< able train in waiting of which Faust knew nothing; wherefore, we turn for one last, backward, wistful look and go. But the scene will remain. Whoeven has seen it cannot forget it any more than he can forget that other and greater city that we treasure in oun hearts. OCTAVE THANET. 0000000000000 000QC 000000000000 0C0O0OO0OQC a o ° o O o S Y» of Tetuan rose to be Prime Minister of Spain under Canovas. The secret, if not open sympathy, o Austria for Spain brings to Fighty'anf other Irishman likely to oppose the Anglo-American al'’ance. - It is none other than the Chamberlain and Privy Counsel to the Emperor of Austria, Count Taafe. He firures simultaneous- ly in the peerage of Ireland and Austria Hungary. ‘For, in addition to the titles he has woi. from his new master, the Emperor Francis Joseph, he is still the eleventh Viscounte Taafe of Ballymote, County Sligo. He migrated to Austria on account of religious convictions, and there is no question that this Irishman would throw his influence in favor of any combination between Austria and Spain. He is a personal friend to the Queen Regent, and in his position as Chamberlain and Privy Counselor to the Emperor can do much tollnflruence the mind of his master. n far-off Russia there is another powerful Irishman who will no doubt do all he can to oppose the English- American entente. There is no Irish- man more powerful anywhere than General O’Brutscheff. He is a member of the military hoysehold of the Czar, a general of infantry and ald de camp general, and, the highest of all, chief of -the general staff of the Russian army. O'Brutscheff is only O'Brien Russianized and the decorations be wears show what the Czar of all the Russias thinks of the services of that Irishman O’Brien, now, General O'Brut- scheff, if you please. THe tree called Willlam the Con- | queror’s oak, In ‘Windsor Park, London, is supposed to be 1200 years old.