The most striking court, in its mysteriousness, is Mullgardt's Court of
Abundance, particularly so on a foggy night. Large volumes of vapor are
lazily rising from huge bowls and torches, below, and in the tower,
suggesting the early days of the cosmic All, cooling off from the
turbulent period of its creation. The fogs sweeping from the bay add
more mystery, and with the gorgeous perfume of the hyacinth carpet in
the garden spaces, the effect is almost narcotic. The whole court, under
these conditions, seems heavy with the atmosphere of abundance, of
physical well-being, of slumbering natural powers.

At the same time, it is truly religious in its effect of turning the
mind away from the ordinary world into the realm of the mystic and the
supernatural. I never realized what our San Francisco fogs could produce
in artistic effects until I visited Mullgardt's court on a foggy night.
The effect of the fog is absolutely ennobling.

So many things like these, possibly not originally thought of, have
added, together with the illumination, rare charm to the Exposition.
Great masses of pigeons, attracted by the light thrown upon the two
great groups of the Nations of the West and of the East, give an
unusually inspiring touch to the Exposition at night. The spectacle of
these graceful birds encircling rhythmically the great sculptural piles,
apparently enjoying the bath of light, will never be forgotten. These
pigeons seem to have decided to live in the Exposition; they are there
always, and apparently glad to play their part in the Exposition
ensemble.

The lesson of the Exposition will be far reaching in its many
demonstrations of the commercial value of artistic assets. The whole