ch unprecedented
size that its ground area was more than thirty acres, and its gallery
space forty-four acres. Its roof structure surpassed any ever made, and
it was the largest building in the world. So vast indeed was it that it
is worth our while to impress it upon our minds by several comparisons.
Any church in Chicago, which contains numerous large ones, can be placed
in the vestibule of St. Peter's at Rome, but the latter is only
one-third of the size of the Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building. The
Coliseum of ancient Rome would seat 80,000 persons, but in the central
hall of the Chicago building, which is a single room without a
supporting column, 75,000 people could be comfortably seated, while the
building itself would seat 300,000 persons. The iron and steel in the
roof would build two Brooklyn bridges, and it required eleven acres of
glass to provide for the skylights. In its construction 17,000,000 feet
of lumber, 13,000,000 pounds of steel, and 2,000,000 pounds of iron were
used, with a total cost of $1,700,000. The ground plan was twice the
size of the pyramid of Cheops.

[Illustration]

We have recorded enough, however, to give some idea of the wealth of
treasures exhibited at Chicago in 1893, and which drew visitors from all
parts of the world. It is not worth while to refer at length to the
display of the foreign countries, for those who had the pleasure of
looking upon them will always carry their pleasant memory, while those
who were deprived of the privilege can gain no adequate idea from the
most extended description. The Midway Plaisance was a unique feature,
with its Hungarian Orpheum, Lapland Village, Dahomey Village, the
captive balloon, Chinese Village, Austrian Village, Cyclorama of the
volcano of Kilauea, the Algerian and Tunisian Village, the Ferris Wheel,
the never-to-be-forgotten street in Cairo, the numerous natives, and
other scenes that were not always on the highest plane of morality.

[Illustration]

THE GRAND WORK BY THE STATES.

We as Americans are prone to forget some of the important events in our
history. The memory of them fades too soon. A hundred, years must pass
before our country will look upon another Columbian Exposition. That, in
the nature of things, will surpass the one in 1893, as far as that
surpassed the ordinary country fairs of our grandparents. When that
great year--1992--comes around, none of us will be here to look upon its
wonders. It seems proper, t