CHAPTER II.

GREAT BRITAIN'S VICTORIA HOUSE.

The More You See It the More You Like It— A Majestic but Not Gaudy Interior — Double Sweeps ot
Staircase— A Fine but Subdued Collection of Furniture— Carved Oak that Reminds One of the
Times of Good Queen Bess — Associations that are Halos — The East Indian Building — Tantalizing
Shawls and Carpets — Brocades from Madras and Benares — A Great Collection of Tapestries and
Embroideries.

REAT BRITAIN has put $125,000 into an insignificant-look-
ing structure, which is located on a little peninsula quite
isolated from the other "courts." The big guns of Uncle
Sam's war ship point directly towards John Bull's bandbox,
yet the Englishmen seem content with their headquarters.
The building is called Victoria House, and at a distance looks
inferior to the other foreign buildings. But as soon as one
enters and inspects it he finds that it is quite English in its
quiet but splendid elegance and comfort. From the outside
one would wonder where all those golden guineas were put;
and so he might from the inside, if he were a superficial
observer. But a careful inspection will easily account for the
expenditure of that liberal sum. Victoria House is said to be
sample of an ordinary half-timber country house in England of the
The entire interior, including woodwork, ceilings, wall-paper,
and carpets, was brought from England, and its different parts are copied after a
number of famous English country seats. The hall and staircase are from Haddon
Hall, the residence of Lord Hardwicke, in Cheshire; the ceilings are from Queen
Elizabeth's palace at Plas Mawe, in Wales; the reception-room is from Crewe Hall,
in Staffordshire; the library is from Eton Hall, near Chester; and the dining-room
is from Campden House, Kensington, the residence of the Duke of Argyll. It
would be useless to describe its grand fireplace and its $2,500 sideboard, for these
and all of its superb appointments must be seen to be appreciated.

Probably never was so perfect a collection of furniture inclosed within
four walls as forms the embellishment of Victoria House. Histories and associa-
tions float around the carvings like a halo. In almost every case the furniture is
a reproduction of the contents of a mansion with a tale to tell. The gargoylelike
heads that peer from the corners of tables, the friezes of carved oak leaf, the quaint,
fantastic figures with their wooden smiles and frowns recall each and all a bygone
time before men were too busy to find comfort in the art of their everyday life.

a good
Elizabethan period.

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HISTORY OF THE WORLDS FAIR.

The grand hall, with its double sweep of staircase, has almost reached its
maturity. Three centuries ago good Queen Bess, with her courtiers choked in their
ruffs and her dames in the stern discomfort of the Elizabethan corset, swept up just
such a staircase as that at Plas Mawe in north Wales. All around are chairs and
tables with a pedigree. In the center of the hall is a table to be venerated, for
Queen Victoria possesses just such an article of furniture in her castle of Windsor.
Her majesty, like one of her predecessors on the throne, has a penchant for round
tables. By a novel device the table is as expansive as a piece of chewing-gum.
Her majesty can entertain a few relatives at her traditional mutton and rice
pudding, or she can preside over a court banquet at the same table. And still it
will retain its sociable rotundity.

Everywhere through the building the monogram V. R. indicates the rever-
ence shown the monarch. Wherever Queen Bess is not recognized in the pattern
of the chairs, Queen Vic-
toria's monogram is writ-
ten large. On either side
of the hall V. R. is set
upon the two big fend-
ers. The mantels are
of dark oak elaborately
carved. Victoria House
is designed mainly for the
headquarters of Sir
Henry Trueman Wood,
the Secretary of the Royal
British Commission, and
Edmund H. Lloyd, its
Assistant Secretary and
General Superintendent.

But, incidentally, it dispenses hospitality to distinguished subjects of Queen Vic-
toria who visit the Exposition, though Mr. Lloyd is authority for the statement
that no dignitaries are expected.

The East Indian building is situated just north of the Fisheries building,
near Sweden's brick-front building and the Htiytian exhibit. While it is called the
Indian Court, it was really erected through the public spirit of a few wealthy tea
merchants of Calcutta, who were unwilling to see Hindoostan unrepresented this
way. It is a one story pavilion of staff, of generous dimensions, and in the character-
istic East Indian style of architecture, and is easily recognized by the gold-canopied
entrance and its quaint beauty. It will be observed that the buildings of Great
Britain and her colonies are appropriately placed near to and in line with one an-
other. The building is literally packed with beautiful exhibits, and every foot of
available space holds something rare and interesting. It is also claimed that every
exhibit there was made by hand. The exquisite wood and ivory carvings and ar-
tistic repousse brass and copper ware show in themseves that no machine had ever

EAST INDIA BUILDING.

HISTORY OF THE WORLD'S FAIR. 521

touched them, but it is difficult to believe that the heavy carpets, woven in the most
intricate designs, are from hand looms instead of Jacquards. An astonishing va.ri
ety of fabrics are shown in silk and cottons, as well as mixed silk and cotton, botK
printed and embroidered. Wax-printed cloths of Peshawur and Delsa, and tinsel
and glass decorated stuffs of Poona and Satara, are exhibited for the first time in
this country. The wax-printed cloths are made by applying a mixture of melted
lac and beeswax with a wooden stick. The designing is done free-hand, and after
the mixture has been applied, finely powdered mica is sifted over the design and
left to dry.

Many Cashmir shawls which are not embroidered, but made on the loom, are
piled in cases with silk sarees from Surat and Madras, with silk and brocade edg-
ings, worn by Hindoo women of the upper classes as dresses. Phulkaries or silk
embroideries made in the Punjab and on the Hazara frontier, Rampore chodders
or ring shawls, so fine and soft that one measuring two yards wide can be passed
through an ordinary finger ring, and brocades or kinkabs are other fabrics which
are heaped up as though they were job lots in a country store instead of the costly
productions of artists.

On the floor is a breech loading cannon which is 400 years old, and there is
leaning against the wall a matchlock fifteen feet long, made a couple of centuries
ago. Beside the general exhibits there are native state exhibits made at the per-
sonal request of the nizamof Hyderabad, the maharajah of Mysore, the maharajah
of Jeypore, the maharajah of Patiola, the maharajah of Kapurthala, the maharajah
of Karauli, the rajah of Jhina, the maharajah of Travancore, the Sawantwadi chief
and the rao of Kutch. It is not used as the headquarters of government officials,
but rather as an exhibit of teas and a sort of tea exchange.

The whole floor is filled with dainty little tea tables, with two or three chairs
around each. There any one who has a tired feeling can sit down and order a
cup of tea, with cream and loaf sugar to boot, without a cent to pay as has been
mentioned heretofore.

These tea men themselves are an attraction, as they are natives of India, of
the servant or lowest caste, and are dressed in brilliant scarlet robes, with gold em-
broidery. Still more interesting, however, are the bazaar assistants, who occupy
the upper floor of the building with a most wonderful exhibit of the art manufac-
tures of India. Beginning at the bottom, socially, one of these is a Hindoostanee,
of the servant class, who is a convert to Christianity and bears the Christian name
of Sam. One of them is a Mohammedan from Bombay. Then there is a hand-
some fellow, of the writing caste, from Benares, the Rome of India, whose name is
Rameshwar Dial.

Coming higher up there is a rajpoot of the warrior caste from Rajpootana,
who is wrapped from head to foot in variegated silks, and nurses all the while an
old rifle, ten feet long, that would probably burst the first time it was fired. Then
there are two others of the warrior cast called Kahatrees, from the Punjaub or
Five Rivers. Finally, there has been brought nothing less than a live Brahmin

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HISTORY OF THE WORLD'S FAIR.

and Pundit from Delhi, said to be the only Brahmin that ever came to America.
His name is Gobindpurshad Shookul.

The building was dedicated with the peculiar rites of the land of Brahma
and Buddha, performed by the turbaned natives, who came with silks, rugs, burn-
ing incense, carved woods and other marvelous things that are crowded in the
building, and with the hideous Hindoo Gods and grotesque images of minor deities
leering down upon them, the jovial crowd of Americans who participated in the
ceremonies experienced a new sensation.

INDUSTRY— BY PAULINE A. DOHN.
Reception Room Illinois Building.

HISTORY OF THE WORLD'S FAIR.

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