CHAPTER XIV.

DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICITY AND ITS BUILDING.

Wonders of Electricity — The Building Devoted to this Science — Undreamed of Revelations and Effects
— Franklin and His Kite — The Man Who First Harnessed Lightning— Temple of the Western
Electric Company — The Grandeur and Brilliancy of the Exhibit— Thousands of Concealed Incan-
descents— Mingling of Rainbow Tones — Prismatic Colors that Awe the Spectator— An Electric
Theatre— Cascades of Fantastic Lights— Magnificent Exhibit of Thomas A. Edison, the Wizard of
Menlo Park— Startling and Beautiful Effects — Obelisks of Light and Color— Spirals of Radiance
and Fountains of Incandescents — Corinthian Columns Ablaze With Imitation Sunbeams— Five
Thousand Witching Lamps Glitter in Pillars of Glass — Eighteen Thousand Lights in the Edison
Tower, Chief Barrett.

O single science challenges such general attention and ad-
miration as the mysteries and wonders and the bene-
fits and capabilities of electricity; and there is no place
where the crowds go so early and so often and linger so
long as at the palace devoted to the dissemination of
knowledge upon this subject. Upon approaching the
Electricity Building from the south the visitor beholds
£ on a pedestal in the hemicycle the towering statue of
*j, Benjamin Franklin, the first one to attempt to harness'

lightning to thought. There he stands, and there is
no mistaking him, in his long-tailed coat and old Knickerbocker
habiliments throughout. Nor is there any mistaking of the ex-
act moment of the philosopher's life, for the artist has so conscientiously and dra-
matically reproduced these that nothing is wanting in the conception. The up-
lifted face and eyes, the half-outstretched hands, the look of eager anticipation are
all faithfully delineated. Every American school child that gazes upon it knows
that it is old Ben Franklin and his kite, and that he has wrested from the clouds
the secret of their lightnings — that he has discovered electricity. This statue is by
Carl Rohl Smith, and it has a place of honor, deservedly.

The first structure put up in the Electricity Building was for the display of
the Western Electric Company. It is a rectangular Egyptian temple, with sloping
sides and scalloped cornice. Without losing its thoroughly Egyptian character the
temple is sufficiently conventionalized to meet the requirements of an exhibit-room.
The four sides bear friezes and panels filled with the peculiar flat and angular fig-
ures of fellahin at work. The figures are exactly similar to those on obelisks and
temple walls in the country of the Nile. Their occupations, however, are not plow-
ing with a bent stick or making mud houses. They are manufacturing electrical

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HISTORY OF THE WORLD'S FAIR. 357

machines and appliances. The conception of the designer is a bold one and serves
to contrast most strongly nineteenth century results of discovery with ancient crudity
of scientific investigation — the latter, however, more by implication than portrayal.
The whole is done in staff.

No pen can adequately describe the grandeur and brilliancy of this temple
when flooded with light from 2,000 concealed incandescents. The main display-
room is ornamented with six massive columns, composed of prismatic glass. In the
center of each column is placed a revolving chandelier of electric lights. The
general effect is to cause a rare vibration and mingling of rainbow tones through-
out the room, which thrills the novice with a sort of indescribable awe. It is a$
though the surrounding air quivered with a surcharge of electrical fluid which
seems to communicate its mystic motion to the spectator.

From the main room to the passage connecting with the two lesser rooms the
transition is to a soothing, soft glow which drops from the ceiling. The space is
roofed with ground glass and the light originates from several hundred lights be-
tween the ceiling and the floor above. In the smaller display rooms the prismatic
columns are repeated.

The exhibits consist of annunciators, telephone and telegraph apparatus,
multiple drill presses, wire-insulating machines, cable-laying devices and every
other article of electrical manufacture. Over the cases containing displays the walls
are in purple and red stones, relieved by gold.

A short distance from the temple the same company have built and daily
operate a theatre — not a grand, stupendous assembly room like that of the Audi-
torium— just a sweet little place, modeled after the most pretentious, though, and
seated and upholstered in the most approved way. Upon the stage of this theater
a skilful manager presents a series of set scenes and a few puppets. It is no child's
show or Punch and Judy again, though the children are greatly delighted with it.
The practical purpose of this theater is to illustrate some of the things that may be
done by an ingenious electrician when he is given an unlimited treasury and full
control of the stage. The lighting of the theater by tiny incandescent drops is
arranged so as to give the best decorative effect, but it is on the stage that the
ingenuity of the electrician displays ilself. There more tints and shades than the
serpentine dancer has yet dreamed of, moonlight effects to please the most roman-
tic stage lovers, lightning to which the darkest deeds and direst disasters that the
melo-dramatist has yet conceived may fitly be played, and cascades of light for the
most fantastic ballets.

A conspicuous attraction is Elisha Gray's " Telautogram " or long distance
writing telegraph machine. This is one of the latest and most wonderful pieces of
mechanism connected with electricity. Simply a San Francisco man may write to
his friend in New York by telegraph and the communication is whirled over the
wires instead of by the fast mail.

Up in the gallery and upon the main floor may be seen thousands of new
devices of electrical use. There are light houses, ship and house lights, and more
styles of buttons than a man could touch in a week. There are revolving, running,

358

HISTORY OF THE WORLD'S FAIR.

COMBINATION SWITCH BOARD.

made the incandescent lamp a life study. From
this graceful luminous shaft extends into the groined
tion of the nave and transept, displaying over eighty
methods of construction have re-
sulted in showing a perfect whole,
as if from base to top the entire
shaft was hewn from one solid
mass of light. The colors are
arranged by mechanical methods
capable of being flashed in har-
mony with the strains of music.
The column is crowned with a
well proportioned replica of an
Edison incandescentlamp formed
from a multitude of pieces of
prismatic crystals. Upward of
30,000 of these beautiful jewels
are strung on a frame and are
all lighted from the interior by
a large number of incandescent
lamps. The effect produced is
marvelous and can be appre-

jumping, shooting and rico-
cheting lights and cascades
of fantastic incandescents.
There are Corinthian col-
umns ablaze with imitation
sunbeams, obelisks of light
and color, spirals of radiance,
fountains of brilliant shades,
and thousands of witching
lamps that glitter in pillars of
crystals. There are also hun-
dreds of phonographs that
re-sing the music of the
world. The formal opening
of the Electricity Building
did not take place until the
completion and unveiling of
Edison's Tower of Light.
This tower is located in the
center of the building and
represents the achievements
of the electricians who have
the center of the building
arch formed by the intersec-
feet of solid brilliancy. The

MODEL OF FARMERS RAILWAY MOTOR.

SCENIC THEATER IN ELECTRICITY BUILDING.

THE RHEOSTATS IN SCENIC THEATER, ELECTRICITY BUILDING.

360 HISTORY OF THE WORLD'S FAIR.

ciated only when seen. The colonnade around the base is the exhibit of the
Phcenix glass works of Pittsburg and the distribution of the electric conductors to
attain the various effects and changes necessitates careful study, and the combina-
tion of kaleidoscopic beauties are almost infinite.

Upon the opening night alluded to the chief of the electrical department
walked to the railing and gazed down the long vista of the building. On all sides,
above and below,' electric lamps were burning. Some with the soft glow of opals,
some with the fierceness of welding heat. Whirling wheels of rainbow hues spun
with ever-changing colors, and mysterious pens wrote inscriptions on the wall in
letters of fire.

In the center of all this brilliant scene rose a gigantic shrouded figure, lifting
its impressive height almost to the beams above. Around it was massed a throng
of expectant people. Suddenly the shroud fell, and a beautiful Corinthian pillar,
starting from a graceful colonnaded pavilion, stood revealed. Fora second it stood
in all its cold beauty, and then came a burst of electric light from the search lights
in the gallery. The radiating shafts focused on the tower, making it shimmer and
sparkle with their radiance. Above the capital was poised a huge lamp, built up
of 30,000 pieces of crystal. When the white rays glanced on its thousands of facets
myriad lances of sparkle glinted all around.

Then the soft sweet melody of Strauss' familiar " Blue Danube " came from
Souza's orchestra and Electra sought music for a partner in the dance. The crystal
bulb suddenly burst into a million diamonds. High in the air the jewels flashed as
if imbued with life, and the open-eyed thousands below sought relief in long-drawn
sigh of wonder which achieved the volume of a strong wind's voice.

The waltz grew merrier and to the dancing measures lines of purple light
shot the length of the pillar. As daintily as a maiden the incandescent fire tripped
up and down, flashing first on one side then another. When the purple dancers
had made the circuit, golden-hued lights took their places, and then suddenly, as if
the figure of the dance were finished, all the purple lights shot out and the column
was fluted with lustrous bulbs. The wizard wand moved and the gold appeared.
Another wave and every one of the 5,000 purple, white and gold lamps sprung into
being, and the tower of light became an indescribably beautiful specimen of pyro-
technical still life.

It was the glorification of Edison. Some man called the name aloud, another
took it up, and a thousand voices shouted in honor of the man whose brain wrought
out the marvels sparkling before them. The tower of light was a pillar of fire, and
cheer succeeded cheer as the glorious spectacle illuminated the space.

In the pavilion beautiful electroliers were suspended, transforming the classic
dome into a crystal cave with stalactites of pearl, amber, rubies and sapphires.

All this was in the center of the building. Up in the north end revolving
lighthouse lenses sent their strong rays into the eyes of the people, while above
them the twinkling notes of electric pianos fought against the united blares of
Souza's horns.

CHARLES C. BONNEY,
President of the World's Congress Auxiliary

362

HISTORY OF THE WORLD'S FAIR.

The Electricity Building carries out the Spanish renaissance idea, modified
by a Corinthian treatment. It is 345 feet wide and 700 feet long. The general
scheme of the plan is based upon a longitudinal nave 115 feet wide and 114 feet
high, crossed in the middle by a transept of the same width and height. The ex-
terior walls are composed of a continuous Corinthian order of pilasters, 3 feet 6
inches wide and 42 feet high, supporting a full entablature and resting upon a
stylobate 8 feet 6 inches. The total height of the walls from the grade outside
is 68 feet 6 inches. At each of the four corners of the building is a pavilion,
above which rises an open tower 150 feet high. The building has an open portico
along the whole of the south facade, the lower or Ionic order forming an open
screen in front of it. The various subordinate pavilions are treated with windows
and balconies. The details of the exterior orders are richly decorated, and the
pediments, friezes, panels and spandrels have received a decoration of figures in
relief, with architectural motifs, the general tendency of which is to illustrate the

purposes of the building. In the hemicycle

IP*" ; — — ~»j| on the south front stands the fine statue of

Franklin, by Rohl-Smith. The appearance of
the exterior is that of marble, but the walls
of the hemicycle and of the various porticoes
and loggias are highly enriched with color, the
pilasters in these places being decorated with
scagliola, and the capitals with metallic effects
in bronze. The building with its large window
spaces and high central and corner towers is
especially designed for electrical illumination
by night, and considered as part of this display
are the beautiful electric fountains which show
their magic splendors at the head of the basin
to the south of the building.

Chief John P. Barrett was born in Auburn,
N. Y., in 1837, and went to sea at n years of
age, which pursuit he followed until he was
injured at the age of 22. He then came to
Chicago and was appointed a watchman in the

Fire Department and was at once assigned to duty in the telegraphic branch of
that department, and advanced so rapidly that in 1876 he was appointed city elec-
trician, which position he still holds. In February, 1891, the Director-General
appointed Mr. Barrett Chief of Electricity of the World's Fair. He is one of the
most approachable and one of the most unostentatious officers at Jackson Park,
and his department is one of the most superb and brilliant in every way.

CHIEF BARRETT

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HISTORY OF THE WORLD'S FAIR.

365