"My country, 'tis of thee!": Or, the United States of America; past, present and future. A philosophic view of American history and of our present status, to be seen in the Columbian exhibition.Johnson, Willis Fletcher
History
"My country, 'tis of thee!": Or, the United States of America; past, present and future. A philosophic view of American history and of our present status, to be seen in the Columbian exhibition.
Johnson, Willis Fletcher
United States -- Description and travel; United States -- History
The Transportation exhibit is one of the most interesting of the whole
display and is housed in a huge Romanesque building, standing between
the Horticultural and Mining Buildings. It faces the east and commands a
fine view of the lagoon and great island. Its area measures 960 by 250
feet, besides a vast annex covering 9 acres more. The principal entrance
to the building is through a huge arch, very richly decorated. Within
the building is treated after the manner of a Roman Basilica, with broad
nave and aisles. At the centre is a cupola rising 165 feet above the
ground, and reached by eight elevators. The exhibits in this building
and its annex will comprise everything pertaining to transportation,
including all manner of railroad engines and cars, steamboats and other
vessels, coaches, cabs and carriage balloons and carrier pigeons,
bicycles and baby carriages, cash conveyors for stores, pneumatic tubes,
passenger and freight elevators, etc.
The United States Government Building stands near the lake shore, south
of the main lagoon. Its architecture is classic, resembling the National
Museum and other Government Buildings at Washington. It is made of iron,
brick, and glass and measures 350 by 420 feet. At the centre is an
octagonal dome, 120 feet in diameter and 150 feet high. The south half
of the building is devoted to exhibits of the Post Office, Treasury,
War, and Agricultural Departments. The north half is given up to the
Interior Department, the Smithsonian Institute, and the Fisheries
Commission. The State Department exhibit is between the rotunda and the
east, and the Department of Justice between the rotunda and the west
end. The rotunda itself will be kept clear of all exhibits.
The gem of all the buildings is that occupied by the Administration of
the Exhibition. It stands at the west end of the great court, looking
eastward, just in front of the railroad stations. It covers an area 260
feet square and consists of four pavilions, each 84 feet square,
connected by a vast central dome 120 feet in diameter and 220 feet high,
leaving at the centre of each façade a recess of 82 feet wide within
which are the grand entrance to the building. The general design is in
the style of the French renaissance. The first story is Doric, of heroic
proportions, and the second Ionic. The four great entrances are each 50
feet wide and 50 feet high, deeply recessed and covered by semicircular
arches. The great dome, which will be one of the most striking features
in the landscape of the Exhibition, is richly gilded externally. Within
it is decorated with a profusion of sculpture and paintings.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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