From October 11 until December 27 , 1900 the New York Observer ran a series of eight letters by a humanity named Augustus . He was reporting from the Paris Exposition of 1900 . The 2nd episode of the series , which run October 18th captures the curiosity of examine a metropolis engulfed in galvanic luminosity and the promise for harnessing that revolutionary exponent in the future tense .
When the five thousand lamps on the Chateau d’Eau are lighted , and the thousands of other incandescent light target in the aisles and corridor , flame out , and when on a gala night , hundreds of Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree are covered with electrical fruits , and the gardens filled with glowing electric heyday , while every lineation and arch and symbol on the towers and domed stadium and minaret , from the lofty Eiffel towboat to the cubicle on the lakes and the grotto and cave of the fish tank , glows with the electric fire , one recognize as never before , how great a mastery man has acquired over this foreign and powerful agentive role , and marvel what marvel and glories are appropriate for us , by its substance in the future .
To adopt a phrase from writers that would come much later , Augustus uses commas like other man use periods . Passages like the one above help those like me rightfully appreciate what it means to be in fear of engineering .

We often throw around word like “ rotation ” when describing new technology such as the iPhone or the Internet in worldwide , and there is no question that they have and will make a profound encroachment on company , but it is important to place them in the circumstance of what life was like before the world learn contrived , electrical light source on such a elevated scale .
The exposure of1900 Paris at Nightis from the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Collection .
See also : Moving pavement ( 1900)Moving Sidewalk Mechanics ( 1900 )

library of congressworld ’s middling
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