Leaves hung in the stillness like hands of the newly dead.
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That is from "The Devil in The White City" by Erik Larson. He can really turn a phrase. The book is about everything that went into the design and creation of the 1893 Chicago World's Fair. They built an entire city on the Chicago lakefront that was unlike anything that had been seen in the world before. The buildings were all painted white, which made an impressive site. The first Ferris wheel was built with 36 cars holding 60 people each. Buffalo Bill Cody had his Wild, West Show with Annie Oakley and a cast of hundreds. The White City was the first time that electric lighting was used which made the city light up at night. Clean water was pumped in from another county. A lot of new ideas were tried out like cracker jack, shredded wheat, and Aunt Jemima pancakes. The landscaping was meticulously done with thousands of plants and flowers brought in from around the world. Ironically, the fair was almost free of crime, because interspersed with the story of the fair is the tale of Dr. Holmes who was a serial killer during the time. He had a building constructed which he used as a hotel and a place to kill and dispose of his victims. People of the time often disappeared and the police were unable to track them down. He represents the Black City of the time which was crime-ridden, filled with the black smoke of pollution, lack of jobs, and unsanitary conditions; not to mention the smell from the stockyards where livestock was slaughtered. Kind of like Dicken's Tale of Two Cities where it was the best of times, it was the worst of times. "The Devil and The White City" is great if you like historical books.
Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction.
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By the way, do not be fooled by the Ferris Wheel that is seen in pictures of the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair. It was transported to St. Louis after being used in the 1893 Chicago World's Fair. The Ferris Wheel was built in 1893 to upstage the Eiffel Tower. It's hard to say which is more impressive. Although, I think more people have been on Ferris Wheels than have been in the Eiffel Tower. The original Ferris Wheel could carry over 2,000 people at a time. It must have dwarfed most of the wheels seen today.