Night Illumination - Niche in the Court of Four Seasons

The Court of the Four Seasons - The Court of Flowers

Dear Cousins:

We love the Court of the Four Seasons, by Mr. Henry Bacon. It is so homey and lovely in there that we feel that we could be perfectly happy all day and every day in there. We like to hear the birds talking about their nests, and how many eggs there are now, and when the young ones are going to have their first flying lesson. We love also Ceres, the Goddess of Agriculture, who is standing on a pedestal on top of the lovely fountain. Mrs. Evelyn Longman is the lady who made it. The young ladies who dance around the base of the pedestal are so happy that you almost expect them to join hands and jump down and dance on the grass. Mr. Albert Jaegers' Feast of the Sacrifice is in this court also, but we did not care so much about the symbolism of that. The artist has made it seem so real that we are sorry for the poor animal, which we are sure does not wish to be sacrificed.

But when we are in this lovely court it is impossible not to be happy, so we enjoy the flowers, and the statuary without thinking too much of what the symbolism is. Father says that we can think of that later, when we are older.

The Fountain of the Earth is in this court, and we like to watch the play of the water over the dome of the fountain.

In front of the Court of Flowers stands "The American Pioneer," by Mr. Solon Borglum, which we like very much, because it looks like something out of our story books, which is not a very good reason, father says, because it is meant to show that these fine old men and women came first and made a way for us, and if they had not, we should have no beautiful Fair today.

This court is supposed to be the Court of Oriental Fairy Tales, but so far we have not met any one whom we know especially, except "Beauty and the Beast," by Edgar Walters, and they do not seem quite in the right place.

Mr. Calder's Flower Girls, with their garlands, make the place seem very gay and happy, but the real flowers were what we liked best, and we could sit for hours and hours in this beautiful spot, watching the big butterflies flitting over the pansy beds, and the bronze, ruby-throated humming-birds flashing like jewels escaped from the Tower.

This Fair makes us wonder why people do not make gardens prettier, and not live in houses as much as they now do.

We suppose it is because they cannot all live in California, where out-of-doors is nearly always nice. Your loving cousins,

Jane and Ellen.