AMERICAN INDUSTRIAL EXPOSITIONS. 239 



luxury can devise. If the visitor is not content with land locomotion, 

 more than likely he can find an exhibit in which transportation on 

 water is possible, as by means of a naphtha or steam launch. 



Machinery is the active means by which the immediate transposi- 

 tion of the crude material into the finished article is accomplished. 

 And in a building where the ceaseless belt moves with the rapidly re- 

 volving pulley may be seen the many forms of machinery which the 

 active brain of the ingenious mechanic has devised to cheapen labor 

 and increase production. The change of the cotton fiber into cloth, 

 or the passage of the silken thread into the finished handkerchief; 

 the revolving cylinder on which the virgin sheet of white paper be- 

 comes the printed purveyor of news; or the many and varied appli- 

 ances by which the piece of leather is fashioned into a covering for 

 the foot; or again the means by which the strip of steel is made into 

 a pin or needle, are among the interesting things that may be seen in 

 Machinery Hall. 



Conspicuous among the many interesting wonders of science that 

 were shown at the Centennial, in 1876, were the few, insignificant, 

 blue, flickering, and unstable lights that ushered into existence a new 

 era in the history of electricity. In Atlanta, in Nashville, and in 

 Omaha a building was necessary to hold the appliances and products 

 of the latest of our sciences. Telephones no longer impress us by 

 their newness, and the appliances of electricity to heating and lighting 

 are now household necessities. To those who treasured the memory 

 of the beauty of the lighted Court of Honor at the White City in 

 Chicago there was given a greater joy when the entire grounds of the 

 beautiful Centennial City in Nashville were illuminated with more 

 than seventeen thousand incandescent lamps. Daylight had faded 

 into darkness only to emerge into an electric day of brilliancy unsur- 

 passed. Thus was told the story of the progress of the science which 

 as a result of the studies of Franklin, Henry, Morse, and Graham Bell 

 may well be regarded as the American science. 



A parting word must be given to the amusement features. How 

 the Streets of Cairo, now so hackneyed, linger in one's memory ! The 

 Enchanted Swing was one of the novel features of the Midwinter 

 Fair in San Francisco, and of weird interest was the Night and Morn- 

 ing in Nashville. The Mexican and Japanese villages were excel- 

 lent features in Atlanta, and so was the Chinese village in Nashville, 

 although the " Old Plantation " was more popular. Panoramas such 

 as that of the Battle of Gettysburg, or pyrotechnic spectacular shows 

 such as The Storming of Wei-Hai-Wei, are of value. The musical 

 features must not be forgotten, even if popular fancy leans toward 

 Dixie, for the occasional " Gems from the Operas " help to leaven the 

 mass. At Nashville the military drills by the national and State 



