The Great Round World and What Is Going On In It, Vol. 1, No. 28, May 20, 1897 A Weekly Magazine for Boys and Girls

Excerpt

On Saturday, May 1st, the Tennessee Centennial Exposition was formally opened.

The object of this Exposition is to celebrate the anniversary of the admission of the State of Tennessee into the Union, one hundred years ago.

Tennessee is the first State thus to celebrate its centennial.

The ceremonies at the opening of the Exposition were very simple; they had, however, one interesting feature.

After the Governor of the State and other important persons had spoken, Mr. Thomas, the President of the Exposition company, came forward and dictated the following telegram:

"To the President of the United States of America, Washington, D.C.

"The people of the State of Tennessee send greetings, and request that you now put in motion the machinery of the Tennessee Centennial Exposition."

There was a pause after the message was flashed over the wire. The people waited breathlessly, and then, amidst tremendous applause, the machinery began to move. President McKinley had received the message and answered it.

To make this great feat possible, wires had been laid, connecting the Exposition with Washington; and they had been so arranged that the pressure of the President's finger on an electric button would start the current and put the machinery in motion.

Like the World's Fair, the Tennessee Exposition was not quite completed when opened; but it appears to be a great success from an artistic standpoint.

The various buildings are modelled after the most celebrated specimens of Greek and Roman architecture. The grounds are beautifully laid out, and the spot selected for the Fair abounds in natural beauties which the gardeners have used to the very best advantage.

One of the wonders of the Fair is the great see-saw.

This is described as being an iron tower seventy-five feet high, across which a great beam of iron is balanced. To each end of this a large car is attached; and the beam see-saws, lifting the cars up and down. When one car is on the ground, the other is lifted ever so high up in the air.

Each car is made to hold fifty people.

The see-saw is not allowed to move quickly, for fear of frightening people, but is arranged so that it lifts the cars very slowly into the air, gives the passengers a good opportunity to look at the magnificent view of the surrounding country, and then carries them gently down to the ground again, with a motion so slight that it can hardly be felt.

The Leeward Isles have just been visited by a series of earthquakes, which have been felt throughout the entire chain of islands.

The Leeward Islands are a part of the group of islands which form the West Indies. They are in the Caribbean Sea, and lie to the southeast of Cuba.

The first shocks were felt on April 22d, and continued throughout the entire week. The most severe quakings were felt three days later, when great damage was done.

The people of Antigua were so badly frightened that all business was brought to a standstill. Special services were held in the churches; and when the shocks had passed over, a thanksgiving was offered to the Almighty.

So great was the terror throughout the islands that the people deserted the land, and went to sea in small boats....