1. The French Canadian - the trapper.
2. The Alaskan with her totem poles on her back.
3. The Latin-American on horseback.
4. The German.
5. The Italian.
6. The Anglo-American.
7. The Squaw with her papoose basket.
8. The American Indian on his horse.
In the center is the old Prairie Schooner drawn by the great oxen.
Atop, pushing out, is Enterprise leading these men westward, on either side a white boy and a colored boy, The Heroes of Tomorrow.
In front marches that stalwart Mother of Tomorrow. It has taken all these Occidentals to produce the work that is coming in the future - the achievements due to the completion of the Panama Ca.n.a.l - therefore, they conjointly express "The Mother of Tomorrow."
These nations are now marching into the Court of the Universe and are to meet in front of the Tower of Jewels, the symbol of the Panama Ca.n.a.l.
Read now on the Occidental Gateway the magnificent lines by Walt Whitman:
"Facing west from California"s sh.o.r.es, Inquiring, tireless, seeking what is yet unfound, I, a child, very old, over waves Toward the house of maternity, the land of migrations look afar, Look off the sh.o.r.es of my western sea, The circle almost circled."
Mr. Porter Garnett"s excellent explanation you may be glad to read:
"In these transcendent lines we have the poet speaking as the personification and representative of the Aryan race, the race, which, having its origin in the plains of Kashmir, has by virtue of the spirit of conquest, the desire to be seeking what is yet unfound, finally reached the western edge of the American Continent, whence it "faces west from California"s sh.o.r.es" and looks toward the House of Maternity, the Land of Migrations from which it originally sprang."
"It seems hardly possible to conceive of an inscription that embodies such a tremendous thought, and is, at the same time, so appropriate to the purpose for which it is suggested. It comes, moreover, from the poet who above all others represents the spirit of the American people and the ideals of democracy."
You now feel the import of the Occidentals who, with that Aryan spirit, have with mighty power, such as Hercules alone possessed (as Perham Nahl"s poster tells you) severed two continents and introduced the Panama Ca.n.a.l.
Next read the far-seeing words of Goethe in his letters to Eckermann (on the west side of The Arch of the Setting Sun):
"It is absolutely indispensable for the United States to effect a pa.s.sage from the Mexican Gulf to the Pacific Ocean, and I am certain that they will do it. Would that I could live to see it, but I shall not."
The Historical Side of the Court of the Universe
Begin with Mr. Edward Simmon"s murals on either side of the Gateway of the Rising Sun.
Facing east, the mural on the right represents The Nations That Have Crossed the Atlantic (Greece, Italy, Spain, England, France, etc.) and the special types are these:
1. The savage of the lost Atlantis.
2. The Graeco-Roman sharpening his blade.
3. Columbus, the type of adventurer.
4. Sir Walter Raleigh, the type of colonist.
5. The priest, representing the Jesuit missionaries.
6. The artist.
7. The workman.
8. The (veiled) Future listening to the Past.
The people of the old world, with all their traditions, cross the Atlantic, led by the "Spirit of Adventure" (with his bugle calling them to come).
The mural on the opposite side shows the aspirations, etc., of the group just examined.
Reading from left to right we find the men had hopes (and some false hopes - but bubbles), commerce, inspiration, truth, religion, wealth and family in their minds.
Cross to the Gateway of the Setting Sun looking at the mural on the right as you face west.
Time has moved on since those early colonists came to the Atlantic sh.o.r.es and now the Spirit of Abundance (with her overflowing golden cornucopia) is sounding the call for all to follow.
Many leave their homes to join the great throng that is moving westward.
The wagon is laden with the necessaries of life for the new home in the western country. You see the feather bed, the old grandfather"s clock that stood on the stairs, the scythe, the pitchfork and the rake for their agricultural interests, etc. On the right the young man who has said goodbye to his wife now turns to his aged parents. The mother, overcome with grief at parting, stands speechless, and the grey-haired father shakes his boy"s hands and wishes him "G.o.dspeed."
All types of men are taking the journey and you are reminded that not alone workmen and adventurers are leading the procession, but ministers, women with their refining influence, children with their school books, and college men with gown and mortar-board, with books under arms - all moving on the long journey westward.
Occupying the same position on the southern side of the arch the companion-piece, by Frank Vincent Du Mond, shows these men from the Atlantic arriving at the sh.o.r.es of the Pacific.
The people of the west with outstretched arms welcome the travelers. The children of the Pacific sh.o.r.es run with flowers and fruits to greet them. You will notice the different types arriving from the Atlantic sh.o.r.e - literary men (with pen and book), architects (with temple in hand), scientists (with book under arm), Franciscan friars (with crucifix and mission bells in hand), etc. These are followed by the Red Coats, indicating those who preserved order. These men are all led by the Spirit of Adventure. She is no longer in the foreground, but is ready to fall behind as soon as she has fulfilled her mission.
The agricultural interests of the western countries are suggested by the wheat and implements of the field. The heavily laden orange trees speak of the fruit industries. Does the tapir stand for South America? Surely, South America is coming into the foreground just now.
The people have now been brought to the sh.o.r.es of the Pacific.
The Panama region is the one next to be visited and you rehea.r.s.e its story, standing under the Tower of Jewels, "The Panama Ca.n.a.l."
These are the murals of Frank DeLeftwich Dodge:
1. The Panama Isthmus is discovered.
2. It is purchased by the United States.
3. You are reminded that the great waters - the Atlantic and the Pacific - play with t.i.tanic force on either side of the isthmus.
4. The Panama Ca.n.a.l is completed.
5. Labor is crowned.
6. The achievements which follow are shown: (The caduceus, the wand of Mercury, the symbol of commerce, is prominent.)
Pa.s.s thru this Tower of jewels noticing in the eastern and also the western arcades two fine fountains.
On the left is the Fountain of Youth by Mrs. Edith Woodman Burroughs of Flushing, Long Island.
The simple, beautiful, naive figure standing on the pedestal is Youth, the United States, the child that has come from old parents (Europe).