Halcyon Days in the Dream City

by Mrs. D. C. Taylor

Continued from Part 7

Will ever human foot tread such a “way” again?

‘Twas as if one had “Aladdin’s Lamp” or the wonderful carpet that transported one to any clime with the celerity of thought. One bears the booming of the Dahomian skin drums, and sees the terrible naked Amazons in their hideous dance; sees the Laplander wrapped in his furs and leading his reindeers; sees the Esquimeaux, still more furry, and , if possible, more ugly and dirty; sees Turkish houris whirling in their glittering dance; sees Bedouins in fluttering white robes, rush by on trampling steeds, carrying sharp poised spears; sees the slow rocking camel bearing the bride followed by a fantastic procession of Orientals; sees the American savage, most hideous of all, in his war paint, dirt and feathers; sees the pretty little chattering Javanese and the suave, smiling, Japanese; sees the pigtailed, avaricious Chinaman seated at the “receipt of customs;” sees the blonde German, seated in a garden with his family, talking metaphysics and partaking of cheese and beer, while his baron’s tyrannical fortress glooms in the background; sees the Vienna street, with its ancient, time-worn houses and quaint wares; hears the savage roar of the lion and the scream and chatter of monkeys and tropical birds; sees fat, sleepy Turks in belted silken robes and scarlet fez, and lean and agile Arabs scantily clothed in blue cotton; sees the Irishman, “wearing of the green” and dancing a jig, while his helpmeet in the low stone cottage, toils patiently at her lace pillow.

One stands in awe among the Swiss alps and feels the spell of their grand solitudes; one climbs to the edge of the volcano’s red gulf, and goes down into the green depths of the sea with the diver; one soars in the air with the birds of heaven on the Ferris Wheel and grovels in the dust with the Hindoo, while the charmed serpents writhe and wave before him; one walks amid the dead of long ages past, and pats the dark cheek of a pagan babe born last night in this Christian land; one meets a slim, blue-coated guard trundling a light wheeled chair, and two perspiring Turks painfully lugging an unwieldy sedan chair.

Sees the domed mosque, with its towering minaret, and hears the Muezzin call the faithful to their prayers. Sees the New England log house, with its primitive furnishings and homely pureness of living, and the grand turreted Moorish palace, with its blue and red decorations and sensuous harems.

One hears the rattle of the tamborine and castanet, the melody of harp, violin and singing voice, and the clanging bell and tearing hoofs and wheels of the ambulance; see the jewel tinted Venice glass, melted and molded in fairy forms, and the rude pot and calabash grow into shape beneath clumsy savage fingers; sees the frank, smiling face of the American girl beneath her jaunty hat, and the sombre eyes of the oriental woman glancing from behind her prisoning veil; sees gliding nuns, pale faced and shrouded in formless black garments, and gay, laughing at their slender waists; see people of every nation under beautiful and homely, rich and poor, intellectual and ignorant, all brought to the same level, and crowding one another in this wonderful Midway.[2]

Continued in Part 9

NOTES

[1] In this passage, Mrs. Taylor mentions several Midway villages and attractions that she does not otherwise describe in her book, including: the Dahomey Village; the Lapland Village; the Esquimaux Village, which was just outside the Midway in the northwest corner of the main fairgrounds; the Bedouin Camp (also called the Wild East Show, Ottoman’s Arab Camp, and the Ottoman Hippodrome); the American Indian Village, the Japanese Bazaar; the German Village; the Austrian Village (often called Old Vienna); Hagenbeck’s Animal Arena (which went by many different names); either the Irish Village and Blarney Castle or the Irish Village and Donegal Castle; the Panorama of Bernese Alps cyclorama; the Volcano of Kilauea cyclorama; the U.S. Submarine Diving Company exhibit; the Hindoo Jugglers; the rolling chairs and the sedan chairs; the New England Old Times Log Cabin and Restaurant; the Moorish Palace; and the Venice Murano Company glass exhibit.

[2] While Mrs. Taylor seems to be basking in the splendid diversity of cultures cohabitating the “wonderful” Midway Plaisance, her characterizations of Africans as “hideous,” Native Americans as “ugly and dirty” and “savage,” Asians as “chattering,” and “avaricious,” and Middle Easterners as “fat, sleepy” sting the ears today.