The Octagonal Building
The Alhambra palace above mentioned, under direction of Senor Gilberto Crespo, a distinguished mining engineer from
Mexico, was filled with minerals of rare beauty and value. Large glass cases, admirably suited for the purpose of the
display, were ranged in two circles, the smaller one immediately surrounding the inner octagon and each mineral State of
Mexico was represented by their contents. The States having the finest displays were Sinaloa, Chihuahua, Zacatecas,
Guanajuato and Hidalgo, whose immense resources in iron, copper, zinc and lead, as well as in the more precious metals
of gold and silver, were excellently represented. Others of the cases contained specimens of Mexican skill in jewelry
filagree work, and as this peculiarly beautiful work actually originated in Mexico, though since largely transferred to
Italy and some other countries of the Old World, some veritable artistic treasures were seen. Precious stones were
shown, opals from Queretaro State predominating, and the abundant riches of Mexico were in every way admirable
represented. In the center of the mineral palace, immediately under the dome, was built up a small pyramid of precious
metals, and beneath the outer circle of cases were arrayed collections of beautiful shrubs from the tropics. The colored
windows of the building showed the great display to most excellent advantage.
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