Four hundred years had now passed since Columbus discovered America,
and it was decided to celebrate the occasion by holding a great
World's Fair at Chicago. It was not possible, however, to get
everything ready in time to hold the celebration in 1892, which was
the actual anniversary, so the exhibition was opened the following
year instead.
There had been other exhibitions in America of the same kind, but
none so splendid as the Columbian Fair. It was fitting that it
should be splendid, as it commemorated the first act in the life of
a great nation. In these four hundred years what wonders had been
performed! Since Columbus first showed the way across the Sea of
Darkness millions had followed in his track, and the vast wilderness
of the unknown continent had been people from shore to shore.
Millions of people from all over the world came to visit the White
city as it came to be called; and men of every nation wandered
through its stately halls, and among its fair lawns and gardens
where things of art and beauty were gathered from every clime.
But most interesting of all were the exhibits which showed the
progress that had been made in these four hundred years.
There one might see copies of the frail little vessels in which
Columbus braved the unknown horrors of the Sea of Darkness, as well
as models of the ocean going leviathans of to-day.
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