480 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[May 25, l89b. 



Forest and Stream in the World's Fair. 



As Seen by Our Staff Correspondents. 



m. 



Billy Hofer's Illumination. 



May irt.— Tlie ot-lier Monday night was the first "illu- 

 mination night" at tlie Fail*. All the modern wizardry in 

 electricity was brought in use to weave spells, to deceive, 

 to chaxm, and to enchant the eye. The Court of Honor 

 waw glorified in roseate light. Little stars danced on the 

 water, melting and tremulous. The forms of the sea 

 horses and of tlie goddess rowers of the great fountain 

 boat became ideahzed. until they seemed a marvelous 

 dream. The columns of the peristyle floated and faded 

 back, and the figures of the quadriga .started up at the 

 compelling beckoning of the golden statue of the Ee- 

 public. There was a spell upon the place as, one by one, 

 row by row, thousands by thousands, there beamed out 

 upon tlie dome of the building which made the centi-al 

 motive of the magic scheme, the wondi'ous lights which 

 flooded out the present, which lit up the past for you, and 

 almost taught you of the future. Then the high coronal 

 of starry light took radiance, and the dream was fuU, it 

 was complete. 



It was an inspiring yet a softening scheme. You felt 

 the trumpets sounding, yet beneath the summoning blare 

 there ran the sound of lapping waters. You thought of 

 adventure, of war, of the stern import of high deeds; but 

 under that was the sweet laughter of children. Your 

 heart felt the tingle of lofty music, tlie rhythm of noble 

 poiitry, but then came tempering breaths from sweet- 

 smelling flowers and happy fields. Unquestionjibly there 

 was a spell. Do not say the days of magic and of speUs 

 are gone. They are not. It is only our own fault if we 

 do not hear and see. 



From the C'oiu-t of Honor to the Hunters' Cabin on the 

 island you could kill an antelope. In the cabin there are 

 antelope skins and skins of deer and elk. There are sad- 

 dles and "chops," lash ropes and quirts, blankets and 

 pack-cinches. Moreover, there is a great fireplace, 

 whei'oin upon that evening there blazed a most happy 

 and seductive fire. Billy Hofer pulled out some boxes 

 and spread over them some skins, trailing them out in 

 front toward the fire. On those improvised "Indian 

 seats" we lay down. We could look easily into the fire. 

 "You can see all sorts of things in a fire," said Billy. And 

 so we did. 



"Wait," said Billy, at length, "we are forgetting some- 

 thing. This is illumination night, and we don't wa,nt 

 folks to think the Hunters' Cabin isn't up to the times. I 

 suppose we ought to have at least one candle, besides the 

 fire, and seeing it is n special occasion, I don't know but 

 we can afford two. We will make it two. There, how's 

 that? It shall not be said that the cabin is behind the 

 other buildings to-night when it comes to illumination." 



So we sat down, and while a million candle power of 

 electric light was blazing in the Court of Honor, two can- 

 dles on a piece of board lit up the window of the cabin, 

 and the fii'e made ii'regular and dancing shadows on the 

 wall. 



"Could you think the Fair was outside, so near?" said 

 BiUy. 



No one could. The illusion was complete. A more 

 dramatic contrast Jiever was on earth. Here was the very 

 center of energy of the whole country, alive and ablaze, 

 while next door to it was the quiet of a mountain home. 

 Here was a battle of the search liglit and the candle. 



"I like it pi'etty well here," said BiUy Hofer, "but I 

 shall not bo sorry when I can go back to the Eockies. If 

 it wasn't for this cabin I wouldn't stay here a minute. I 

 feel just as it 1 was at home in here. There's too many 

 gods and angels 'round here for me. They're stuck ail 

 over the buildings. I'd ratlier see a few more ti-ees." 



"This is a good enough cabin," he continued, "but if 

 i^ou want perfect comfort you want to have a regular 

 Indian lodge. I haven't got our lodge up yet, but will 

 have after a while. 



"Many a time I have been out alone in the mountains 

 days at a time. I don't mind being alone, there is always 

 so much to look at. A dog is great company, or a horse 

 even. A fellow's watch is a big comfort, too; you can 

 always hear it talking. Sometimes, if my watch gets 

 out of order when I am out alone in the mountains, I 

 feel awfully broken up and lonesome. But then at night, 

 if you have a good lodge up, you just crawl in and make 

 your little fire in the middle of the lodge and stick up 

 a candle near your head, and lie down on your blankets, 

 or maybe propped up a little on yoiu- Indian-back, the 

 way we've got it here, and then you take your book and 

 go to reading. You don't need any one to lielp you i-cad. 

 There you are, as comfortable as any one on earth. That's 

 what I call happiness. 



"Have you ever noticed what a way the water has of 

 talking? You can heai- all sorts of voices in the running 

 water. You can listen to it for houi's. Now, suppose 

 you're down on a stream getting water, and your partner 

 is up on the hillside above, calling for you. You can hear 

 him but he can't hear yoti if yoii answer, or he won't be 

 able to locate you," 



"Were you* ever scared, Mr. Hofer, so that your hair 

 stood up?" asked a compfmion. 



"Yes, I have been," said Billy, "scared so bad my hair 

 rose up straight." 



"A t a bear?" 



^ "Oh, no. There's no use getting scared at any animal. 

 Some beare will fight and some won't. They're like men 

 that way. What sc;u-ed me, and what will scare me any 

 time now, was a snow slide. 1 was caught in one once, 

 and carried down the side of the raouulain I don't know 

 how far. Another man was in with me. but we both got 

 out, somehow, before the sUde took us over into the 

 caiion. I wasn't scared then, and didn't feel hiu-t, but 

 that night in my cabin \ found that my side was all black 

 and blue, 1 happened to go to the door, that night, for 

 something or other, and as I looked out 1 heard a sound like 

 the creep of a slide. Then I got scared. T sat down bv 

 the fire and just shivered and shook all over, I was so 

 scared. My scalp crept. Since then a slide alwavs scares 

 me, I can't bear to hear any one sing that song about 

 'Slide, KeUy, slide.'" 



Mr. Hofer was bewailing the appearance in one of the 

 city papers of an interview wherein he was not correctly 

 reported. "They make me say there are 'thousands of 

 caribou in the Yellowstone Park,' said he, while of course 

 I never said anything of the kind." 



"When you are out catching young wild animals, don t 

 you ever get attached to the little fellows as pets? " we 

 asked him. 



"Yes, of course I do, and to some much more than 

 others. I don't much care for elk. They are awkward, 

 clumsy things, with no great intelligence or afl:ection 

 about them. An antelope is the thing that you love, 

 though. I don't know what there is so fascinating about 

 a young antelope, but there is no other animal to which 

 you get so strongly attached, 



"I had a bear cub once that I thought a great deal of. 

 Some bears are nice and some aren't. I liked this one. 

 I think one of the funniest sights on earth was to see this 

 little fellow sit up with a can of condensed milk in one 

 paw trying to get the other paw down into it to feed him- 

 self. I often thought that if I could get a good photo- 

 graph of that scene, showing the expression on the bear's 

 face, I could sell it for almost anything to that condensed 

 milk company." 



And so we talked and talked until 9, 10 and 11 o'clock 

 came and the candles of our illumination needed trim- 

 ming. The wizard lights over in the Court of Honor 

 flared to their zenith, paled and died out one by one. 



The great search light which floods the sea-fountain 



ANGLEKS' PAVILION, FISHERIES BUILDING. 



with curled rainbows can cast up into the heavens a shaft 

 of hght visible at a distance of eighty miles. But I won- 

 der if it can carry our eyes any further toward tlie heart 

 of nature, or toward the secret of content than Billy 

 Hofer's illumination, made of two candles and an open 

 fire? 



The U. S. Exinibit. 



The collection of fresh water fishes shown by the U. S. 

 Fish Commission in the East Annex of the Fisheries is the 

 finest ever gotten together upon an occasion. An equally 

 fine display of salt water fishes is jiromised for a later 

 day. The fish iu the U. S. aquaria are much troubled 

 with fungus and are unsightly, but Dr. Bean explains 

 that in a week this Avill almost entirely have disappeared. 

 This collection of fishes has been macle under many diffi- 

 culties, but when all is done it will be the most typi- 

 cal and representative aggregation of American fishes 

 ever known. 



The personnel of the U. S. Commission as represented 

 here is as follows: Dr. Tarleton H. Bean, representative 

 of the U. S. Commission; Mr. W. De C. Eavenel, chief 

 special agent in charge of fishculture. Mr. W. H. Abbott, 

 of the i^sheries Division; Mr. C. H, Townsend, of the 

 Scientific Inquuy Division; Prof, S. A. Forbes, director 

 of aquaria; Dr. S'. P, Bartlett (also secretary of the Illi- 

 nois State Commission), field agent and receiver at 

 Quinc3\ 111, These certainly make up a fine body of in- 

 telligent aird earnest scientific workers, and under their 

 hands one of the most interesting features of the entire 

 Fair has been perfected. The preparations and the work 

 of installation are much more coriq>lete in the Govern- 

 ment Building than in any other of the public buildings; 

 indeed, nearly everything is in place and in order. 



A model fish hatchery is shown in the Government 

 Biulding, a very cm-ious thing to many. There are 20 

 jars now running, showing 100,000 eggs of perch, pike- 

 perch and ti-out in various stages of development. In 

 one tank a number of trout fry are also shown. 



Near by the hatchery are displayed some large tables of 

 statistics of the U, S" Commission, to which I heartily 

 commend the wise Illinois governor. John P, Altgeld. By 

 these tables it appears that the Commission during the 

 years 1872-1883 distributed of tlie voung of food fishes, 

 341,696,977. During 1882 -1892 the output was 2,391,389,410. 

 This latter, or the former, or a much less number, is much 

 bigger than the lUiuois governor can think. Of whitefish 

 alone over 1,000,000,000, or about one-third of the total, 

 have been distributed. Of adidt black bass there have 

 been distributed 133,666. This latter represents only one 

 year's work, and that the beginning one. The statistics 

 do not run into 1893. Certainly these figures are of in- 

 terest. 



Not All Dry Facts. 



A great many think that the work of the T7. S. Com- 

 mission is aU dry, scientific or statistical, and rhat it has 

 no interest for the average man, so that the U. S. exhibit 

 can well be passed or hiuri-ied through. Never was mistake 



more serious than this. To miss the U. S. exhibit is to 

 miss one of the most entertaining features of the Fair, 

 one that is not only instructive, but interesting and fasci- 

 nating. Thus one may see depicted the Life and customs 

 of the Indians of the Northwest coast and Alaska, their , 

 weapons, their implements, their manner of taking fish 

 and their methods of life. The seal fisheries, the rook- , 

 eries, the beasts, birds and peoples of that unkind country , 

 are shown to the life, as well as the dress, the ornaments , 

 and the odd belongings of those savage but ingenious folk 

 who dwell so close to the wild nature here so graphically 

 shown in evidence. Hours could be spent in the Indian 

 quarters alone, looking at the models of the Alaskan vil- 

 lages, the salmon weu-s, the rude nets, the crude but 

 effective harpoons, spears, gigs and arrows, so uncouth in 

 some ways, and yet so finely and intricately ornamented j 

 in detail. 1 

 Private Exhibits in the U. S. Building. 

 Still again, it is not only to matters historical, scientific 

 or anthropological that the U. S. Fish Commission is con- 

 fined. Some of the finest private exhibits of the Exposi- J 

 tion are in this department, including the displays of 

 many noted makers of fine tackle. Most of the cases are I 

 now completely furnished, especially so far as the rods ; 

 are concerned. The Montague City Eod Co. shows in a 

 row of fine cases a collection of 87 rods in aU, ranging 

 from low-priced tools to high-grade spUt-bamboo, and 

 including many very workmanlike wood rods. The reels 

 to be shown by the TJ. S. Commission will come from the 

 Andrew B. Hendryx Co. , of New York, but they are not 

 yet in place. 



A Jubilee Rod. 



Mr. G. C. Hemenway, representing the weU known I 

 house of Abbey & Imbrie, was the other afternoon look- | 

 ing with interest at the work of installing the Abbey & 

 Imbrie display of fine rods, the queen bee of which is a 

 magnificent production known as the "Jubilee rod." 

 This rod is one of five made by Abbey & Imbrie for dis- ! 

 play in the Queen's jubilee exposition in London. The , 

 other four were sold in England at $3,000 each, and! 

 brought the American house $75,000 of trade besides. ' 

 This rod now in Chicago is the equal of the others in all 

 respects. It is a perfectly-made spUt-bamboo, faultless 

 and ornamental to an unsurpassable degree. Even the' 

 ferrule plugs are exquisitely engraved. The precious 

 metals only are used in the trimmings and fittings, the 

 grip being of pure gold, richly and deeply chased. The 

 butt of the rod contains a cut topaz the size of a pigeon 

 egg and worth alone $1,200. This is de Ixvoce, fin-de-siMe, 

 fin-du-monde, anything you like. Add to this the full 

 display of the Abbey & Imbrie flies and you may picture 

 a very striking case. 



An Amateur Display. 



One of the prettiest things ahout the whole fish exhibit 

 is a handsome case, only about 3ft, square, which Dr.i 

 Bean has received in charge for Mr, D. W. C, Farrington, 

 of Lowell, Mass., a gentleman 70 years of age, who has 

 kept young by outdoor pleasure trips. Mr. Farrington. 

 shows a tidy card of trout flies, all of his own tying,.' 

 which axe as beautiful and faultless as any made by aj 

 a professional. Below the fhes is the moimt of a fine 

 brook trout, one of the most artistic things of the kmd I 

 ever saw, and yet showing an effect accomplished by the 

 simplest methods. The skin is not stuffed at all, but is 

 simply a half skin stretched in profile over an oblong 

 block of polished beech wood, whose curve is just that 

 shown by the full figure of the trout. The skin is 

 attached by fish glue, and is laid on without a wrinkle. 

 Every spot and line of color and tracery are there. The: 

 glass eye is the only artificiality, and the whole is artistic 

 and very fetching. Mr. Farrington must have an artist's 

 eye and hand. 



IVIrs. IVIarbury's Flies. 



But if we are to speak of art, and tasteful ness and 

 beauty, we must after all pass further on and yield the 

 palm eventually to a woman. There is no display in the 

 Fine Arts Building more exquisite, more delicate, oi 

 more beautiful than the collection of the Chas. F. Orvie, 

 flies, as arranged by Mary Orvis Marbury. There are 

 78 plates of actual flies, of all sizes and colors, from gi-ay- 

 midge to Jock-Scott salmon, tied perfectly — and nothing 

 on earth is more beautiful than an artificial fly. The 

 plates, or screens, are hinged at the back and swingj 

 freely for easy inspection. Each screen is something 

 like 3ft. square and each screen carries a photograph, oi 

 several photographs, of fllustrative motive, many of them 

 typical or directly fllusti-ative of the country, or the 

 methods of fishing in that counti-y, where the fly woulo 

 naturally find its uae. There are photographs show; 

 ing fly-fishing and fly-fishing waters for trout, sal- 

 mon and bass, from Pennsylvania and Montana, fron: 

 Maine and Michigan, from Colorado and California,! 

 from the Adirondacks, from Canada, from Eastern States 

 and Rocky Moimtaiu country. North, South and every- 

 where. Indeed, the photographs tliemselves woiUd b^ 

 artistically interesting in the highest degree even withou'< 

 the brilliant offset of the feathery poems by their side 

 The artist faculty here, liowever, is too subtle to be tiec 

 down to narrow lines. It would be natural for anpthej 

 to put by a given fly only a picture showing that fly ic 

 use. Not so with Mrs. Marbury. You may find only i 

 general and artistically germane handling of such topics 

 and as you turn the leaves of this fairy book you ma; 

 fall upon the photographic copy of some noted painting 

 showing a phase of angling sport, or you may see, per 

 haps, a grouiJ of the factory girls who tie the flies, or yoi 

 may see the picture of a wood, a countiy road, a bridg, 

 over a brook; to find next, in contrast of motive, the stu 

 pendens scenery, the heavy rush of waters of the colossai 

 West. Let those grumble who wish, there is one thinj 

 at the Fair which no man is fit to criticise and which m 

 woman wiU criticise, and that is the collection of artifl 

 cial flies arranged by Mary Orvis Marbury. 



Near the above is a display of the 33 colored plates fa mi 

 liar to the readers of "Favorite Flies and Their Histories.' 

 On the whole, Mi\ Orvis may feel delighted with th« 

 showing his sterling products have received. 



The Gun Exhibits Later. 

 Owing to the unfinished condition of installation affair^ 

 in the great Manufactures Building, it wiU be best tt 

 defer mention of the gun exhibits imtil later. Whei. 

 such firms as the Winchesters, the Smith & Wessons 

 etc. . have not their goods yet in order, it is best to wait ; 

 bit. E. Hough. 



909 SEcufuiTf Building, Chicago. 



