ontrast with the gaudy and barbarous opening to the Paris
Exposition. From the gate the whole panorama spread out before the eye.
Down the long court with its fountains, gardens, and encircling
buildings, you saw the Electric Tower soaring heavenward, fit expression
of the mighty power from Niagara, which at night made it so glorious.
The central court bore the form of a cross. At either side of the gate
lay transverse courts, each adorned with a lake, fountains, and sunken
gardens, and ending in curved groups of buildings. On the east was the
Government Group; on the west that devoted to horticulture, mines, and
the graphic arts. The intersection of the two arms formed the Esplanade,
spacious enough for a quarter of a million people, and commanding a
superb view. Connected by pergolas with the building in the transverse
ends two structures, the Temple of Music and the Ethnology Building,
stood like sentinels at the entrance to the Court of Fountains. A group
of buildings enclosed this court, terminating in the Electric Tower at
the north. From the Electric Tower round to the Gateway again all the
buildings were joined by cool colonnades. Beyond the Tower was the
Plaza, a charming little court, its sunken garden and band-stand
surrounded by colonnades holding statuary.

[Illustration]
The Electric Tower and Fountains.

The broad and spacious gardens with their wealth of verdure, their
lakes, fountains, and statuary, formed a picture of indescribable charm.
Nothing here suggested exhibits. Instead, spectators yielded to the
spell of the beautiful scene. Chicago was serious and classic; Buffalo
romantic, picturesque, even frivolous. The thought seemed to have been
that, life in America being so intense, a rare holiday ought to bring
diversion and amusement. No style of architecture could have contributed
better to such gayety than the Spanish-Renaissance, light, ornate, and
infinitely varied, lending itself to endless decoration in color and
relief, and no more delicate compliment could have been paid our
southern neighbors than this choice of their graceful and attractive
designs. Each building was unique and original in plan. Domes,
pinnacles, colonnades, balconies, towers, and low-tiled roofs afforded
endless variety. The Electric Tower, designed by Mr. Howard, the central
point in the scheme of architecture, its background of columns and its
airy perforated walls and circular cupola with the Goddess of Light
abo