Thanks to a bibliophilic fellow preservationist, I own the somewhat comic shipping invoice. Under “Descrp. Laden Goods:” some shaky hand has written, “Spiders, large, South American, keeper was well-spoken & aware of poss. passnger discomfort. Paid first class fare for each cage. Kept crates draped excllnt. All steps taken.” Spiders arrived in steel containers described by one witness as “little metal safes with wire-mesh-covered breathing holes.” The insects’ trainer released them at night into Elkton Green’s water oaks and camellias and over its then-young box maze on the south lawn. Spiders soon spun gossamer at a rate almost unseemly, till now locally unknown. Two dawns later, they had overshot even Christo, wrapping Elkton Green entire. Silver webbing was said to cover every shrub and bracketed spindle. According to a newspaper account, “one wheelbarrow, a tall ladder left in the wrong place, and glassy results of the milkman’s visit soon needed freeing from sudden gauze.” Mounting even taller ladders, slaves now sprinkled real gold dust over all the webs. The whole place then got strung with 6,000, yes, white Chinese lanterns. For an evening wedding, the grounds were lit with “over 20,000 white tapers, of the finest.”

At 6 a.m. the Coker retainers began lighting the white lanterns. Now, to our jaded eyes, this light-show might seem a pleasing sight. But for Falls, of the period, where one oil lamp per kitchen table was considered a luxury, such display shone without parallel. It took 21 servants 12 hours to light and relight every wick, avoiding the still-busy spiders, by now themselves turned gold. Come sunset, two counties’ fire departments stood by, so stoked with rum toddies that their utility was undercut, but luckily never needed. It was reported how, by evening, the glow could be seen fully one and a half miles away.

A chronicle of the day inevitably mentions Midas. The Falls Herald Traveler called the nighttime sight of Elkton Green “locked within the powdered gold candleglow casts over finest webbing, a spectacle from pre-Christian myth, in its excess both offputting and yet wondrous as some children’s book’s occurrence. A strange idea, so perfectly implemented that it shall not be soon forgot by any of the over 1,000 uninvited guests allowed and even encouraged to stand outside Elkton Green’s cast-iron gates and stare. Each onlooker was provided a gilt packet of rice to shower upon the handsome escaping bridal couple. It must be noted that, while the bride appeared almost starkly beautiful, Elkton Green itself, a home easily accommodating the exceptional string orchestra of 60, plus unnumbered guests, glowed with a fond pride that seemed cordial, aware, and all but human in its joy. Many onlookers remarked the impression of a house come utterly, as it were, sentiently and watchfully alive.”