Page 77 – THE EAST LAGOON BY MOONLIGHT
THE EAST LAGOON BY MOONLIGHT.— The night scenes at the Fair were undoubtedly the most beautiful for those who liked dreamy pictures, or half darkness contrasted with a blaze of glorious lights, better than unvarying white beauty. The fireworks, the illumination about the Court of Honor, the colored effects upon the Wooded Island were all charming and, in addition to these, was the fascinating scene produced when the moonlight fell anywhere upon the magnificently framed water-surfaces. Such a scene is presented in the accompanying illustration. The view is south, or rather, southwest, along the west lagoon and from a point on the water nearly in front of the Horticulture Building. In the distance, at the left, the Mines Building shows dimly, while the Transportation Building appears with equal vagueness on the right. In the foreground, the Wooded Island on one side and the Horticulture front on the other are outlined more definitely. It was the constant presentation of such scenes as this which won for the White City the title- of ” The Western Venice,” and, certainly, the appellation was not undeserved. It may be that a moonlight scene in the Court of Honor and about the Grand Basin, where no wooded aspect appeared, was even more Venetian in its air than the view here given, but either was charming enough for any term of admiration. The immense throngs which came at night, even when the great buildings were closed and many attractions of the day were lacking, testified to the estimation in which the beauties of the semi-darkness were held.
