The popularity of the Midway was something of a joke during the life of the Fair, but never questioned. It is since the close of the great Exposition that the people of this country have gradually awakened to the fact that as a congress of nations, this Plaisance was the most successful thing ever planned and executed. Everyone has pleasant memories of hours spent in strolling up and down, of queer sights witnessed, and, perhaps, singular adventures in connection with these people from the four quarters of the earth. In every prominent city of the land these memories have been kept alive by a series of entertainments, representing the Midway in the height of its glory; breezy items can be found in the papers, describing the wonders of the world’s highway, and many snatches of glowing rhetoric attest to the pleasure derived by the writer in the scenes on the Plaisance. In defense of Wycherley, who haunted these scenes until he loved them as a Parisian is devoted to his city, it may not be out of place to reproduce one of these items which appeared recently in a prominent Western paper: * * * * * “It was not until about July 1 that the denizens of the merry Midway got their houses and shops in order, and settled down to business. They easily made up for lost time, however, and during the four bright happy months that followed, the famous street was far and away the principal popular attraction of the Fair. Those who went to spend the whole day at the Exposition, equipped with lunch, camp chair, and guidebook, usually turned up in the Plaisance about every two hours. Others who made briefer visits to the park either began or ended them in the same attractive quarter. School teachers, who made out their programme for the educational features in the Liberal Arts building, generally landed in Cairo Street. Students of sculpture who went with the best intentions of studying the marble models in the Art Palace, ended by studying living models in the Moorish Palace. Ministers who hoped to prepare themselves for missionary work, were easily persuaded that they would be best equipped by looking over the Dahomeyans and South Sea Islanders. And as to young America--well, the day for him was not done till he had tossed off half a dozen or more bumpers of beer in Old Vienna.