Above the glow in which the palaces are bathed, a pageant of light and
color marches across the sky, a splendid aurora borealis, its bannered
troops now wheeling in ordered array, now breaking their formation in
wild riot, until out of the fantastic show huge beams of light separate
to pierce the heavens.

This unique system of illumination, devised by W. D'A. Ryan expressly
for the Panama-Pacific Exposition depends upon floods of light from
concealed sources. Around the walls of the palaces stand tall Venetian
masts, topped with shields or banners. Concealed behind the heraldic
emblems are powerful magnesite arc lamps. These spread their intense
glow on the walls, but are hardly recognized as sources of light by the
passer-by on the avenues. Batteries of searchlights and projectors
mounted on the tops of buildings light the towers, the domes, and the
statuary. Even the banners on the walls are held in the spotlights of
small projectors constantly trained on them. That there may be no
shadows, concealed incandescent bulbs light up every corner and angle of
the towers, the arches, and the cloisters.

The ghostly radiance of the Tower of Jewels comes from huge searchlights
aimed at it from a circle of hidden stations. The many-colored fan of
enormous rays, the Scintillator, which stands against the sky behind the
Exposition, is produced by a searchlight battery of thirty-six great
projectors mounted on the breakwater of the Yacht Harbor. It is manned
nightly by a company of marines, who manipulate the fan in precise
drills.

Concealed lights shine through the waters of the fountains. In the Court
of the Universe they are white, the colorless brilliance of the stars;
in the Court of Seasons they are green, the color of nature; in the