Chapter XXVI: Appendix: 4 (1)
REPORTS OF STATES, TERRITORIES, AND DISTRICTS.
ALABAMA.
Committee on Birmingham district exhibit: Fred M. Jackson, president; J. B. Gibson, secretary; J.A. MacKnight, special representative; Rufus N. Rhodes, Culpepper Exum, F.H. Dixon, George H. Clark.
The legislature of Alabama failed to provide any funds for an exhibit of the resources of that State. A commission which had been appointed by the governor to attend to the business for the State was powerless to act and gave up the undertaking. In consequence of this failure the Commercial Club of Birmingham decided, when it was almost too late to arrange for any kind of an exhibit, to make a display of the State's mineral resources by means of a fund raised by popular subscription. The actual amount of money raised was approximately $20,000.
After considerable discussion the Commercial Club decided, upon a suggestion made by J.A. Mac Knight, to build a colossal statue of Vulcan, god of fire and metals, in iron. F.M. Jackson, president of the club, and J.B. Gibson, secretary, took a deep interest in the matter, and as a result the work was commenced in October, 1903. Great difficulty was met with in securing the services of a competent sculptor who was willing to build the model for such a statue, which was to be of a height of at least 50 feet. Mr. Mac Knight was appointed special representative of the club to promote this work and finally secured the services of Mr. G. Moretti, a sculptor residing in New York, who undertook to perform the task and to complete it in time for the exposition.
The model of this colossal statue of Vulcan was first built in clay at Passaic, N.J., where Mr. Moretti carried on the work under adverse circumstances and through the zero weather of the winter of 1903-4. It was then cast in plaster of Paris in sections, which were braced and stayed with scantling on the inside of the shell, to be used as patterns in the foundry. The entire model was shipped to Birmingham, Ala., on seven flat cars, its bulk rendering it impossible to put it in box cars. As soon as it reached Birmingham the work of casting the figure in iron was begun in the foundry of the Birmingham Steel and Iron Company.
Mr. Moretti went to Birmingham to keep the patterns in condition during the process of casting, and it was well that he did so, because the extreme cold had frozen the plaster casts before they were dry, rendering them so brittle that many of them were broken in handling, and the head itself was crumbled into a hundred pieces and had to be entirely remodeled.
Iron manufacturers from all parts of the world have said in regard to this statue that it was the most remarkable piece of iron casting they had ever seen. An agent of the Japanese Government was present at Passaic to watch the building of the model, and followed the work to Birmingham to make notes on the methods of casting it in iron. He also went to St. Louis and remained during its erection in the Mines Palace, and made an extended report to his Government on the subject.
The statue was successfully completed and set up in the exposition within three weeks after the day of opening. At the close of the exposition it was taken down and removed to Birmingham, where it is to be set up in a public park. Its height is 56 feet, and its weight a little more than 60 tons. The head was cast in one piece and weighed over 17,000 pounds. There were 20 casts in all, including the anvil and anvil block. The statue, which was intended to show forth the colossal iron deposits of Alabama, representing primitive man at the time he discovered the method of hardening iron into steel. Vulcan held aloft in his right hand the finished spearhead as a result of his knowledge and handicraft. It is the largest cast statue in the world, and it could not be duplicated for less than $40,000.
The space occupied by the exhibit collected and installed by the Commercial Club was 62 by 32 feet on the south side of the Mines Building, and contained approximately 2,000 square feet. The statue of Vulcan stood in the center of one side of the space facing the center of the Mines Palace. It was placed on a platform built upon nine heavy piles, which were driven to bedrock. The figure was perfectly poised when set up, but as an additional safeguard anchor bars were run down through the legs and through a heavy timber, which was bolted to the piles. These passed through plates on the inside of the timber and were screwed up tight. The rest of the space was occupied by a complete exhibit of raw mineral products from all parts of Alabama and especially iron and coal from the Birmingham district. The raw materials embraced the following: Brown hematite iron ore, soft red ore, hard red ore, bituminous coals, building stone, gray iron, limestone, dolomite, kaolin, clays, cement rocks, gold ores, copper ore, lignite, and glass sand, and a long list of other minerals which have not been developed. The products of coal and iron were coke and pig iron. The finished products were as follows: Open-hearth steel rails, bar and angle iron, car wheels, bar steel, steel plate, sewer pipe, and vitrified brick. This entire exhibit was displayed in an attractive manner and was the object of a great deal of comment by visitors to the exposition and by newspapers throughout the country and Europe.
A display of Alabama marble was made in the form of a head of Christ, which was carved by Moretti, while he was at work on the Vulcan statue at Birmingham. This marble is of exceedingly fineness and whiteness. Moretti gave it as his opinion that this marble is equal to the best Carara or Parian marbles, and it is believed that the making of this exhibit will lead to the development of the marble deposits of Alabama, which are believed to be very extensive and of superior quality. The raw materials displayed offer to capital and enterprise a number of splendid opportunities. The glass sands are probably destined to place Alabama in the front rank in glass making in the future, while the following resources were displayed in such abundance and were of such excellent quality as to offer the greatest inducements to capital and skill:
An exhibit of porcelain clays and kaolins, which should lead to the establishment of the manufacture of all kinds of crockery and pottery ware near these deposits.
The cement rocks, which formed a principal part of the exhibit, have already attracted capital, and Portland cement of the highest quality is now being manufactured to a limited extent. Large industries in this line are to be located near these deposits, which are among the finest in the world and in inexhaustible quantity.
The beds of lignite, of which samples were on exhibition, are said to be of very superior quality. No artificial binder is required to make this material up into briquettes for fuel. It is understood that very profitable enterprises in this line are to be built up near these deposits.
The marble deposits, gold and copper ores, and other mineral deposits were sufficiently exhibited to warrant the assertion that they were worthy of the fullest investigation. The large deposits of low-grade gold ore in the eastern part of Alabama, according to exhibitors, will undoubtedly prove immensely profitable to anyone who may establish a system to extract the gold economically.
Owing to the failure of the State to make an exhibit, the authorities of the exposition recognized the Birmingham committee as the State commission of Alabama and extended to them the courtesies due to a State commissioner. The exhibit was maintained through the period of the exposition, and many thousands of souvenirs of the great statue of Vulcan were sold at the exhibit. An electric picture machine was installed, which gave a large series of moving pictures representing the scenery and life of the Birmingham district. The business of the exhibit was under the direction of J.A. MacKnight, of Birmingham, throughout the exposition, and he had his office at the exhibit.
ALASKA.
Members of the Alaska commission.--Thomas Ryan, First Assistant Secretary of the Interior, chairman; Governor John F. Brady executive commissioner; Joseph B. Marvin, resident representative; Mrs. Mary E. Hart, hostess. Honorary commissioners: M.E. Martin, mayor of Ketchikan; Peter Jensen, mayor of Wrangell; O.H. Adsit, mayor of Juneau; Frank Bach, mayor of Douglas; John Goodell, mayor of Valdez; L.S. Keller, mayor of Skagway; D.B. Miller, mayor of Eagle City; W.H. Bard, ex-mayor of Nome; Anthony Tubbs, mayor of Treadwell; H.P. King, mayor of Nome.
The district of Alaska appeared at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition as an exhibitor in a national exposition for the first time. The conception of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition and its plans were presented for the consideration of the Congress of the United States at a time when the reports of the committees of Congress sent to Alaska to investigate its resources and needs had aroused the Congress to the duty of enacting legislation for the development of this great region. In appropriating the large sum of $50,000 for an Alaska Building and an Alaska exhibit at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition it was the purpose of Congress to afford an object lesson as a means of education to the millions of people who should attend the exposition as to the extent and resources of this country or territory. The sequel showed that the money was wisely expended, as the Alaska exhibit had the distinction of being regarded by the thousand of its visitors as forming one of the most interesting, instructive, an surprising exhibits shown at the great World's Fair.
When the United States, thirty-seven years ago, paid to Russia the sum of $7,200,000 for the almost unknown territory of Alaska, the purchase was not generally approved; and even members of Congress denounced it, regarding the acquisition as a region of icebergs and glaciers. Later, when gold was discovered in Alaska, the region was regarded as being one of ice and almost inaccessible gold, and few had the hardihood to venture within its precincts, even with the possibility of finding gold as an inducement for the venture.
Still later, after the reports of the Revenue-Cutter Service and the recognizances of army officers and naval commanders, the United States Geological Survey sent men into Alaska to investigate its resources. The Department of Agriculture tested its capacity for agriculture, the Bureau of Education established schools and introduced reindeer from Siberia, the Signal Service began to build telegraph lines and to inspect the country as to the availability of its rivers and harbors for navigation, and it became known by the Government that Alaska was richer in resources by far than had been supposed. This knowledge was not common to the public, and emigration to that region was tardy.
The United States could hardly have done more for the furtherance of the development of the great rich district of Alaska, with its untold wealth in minerals and its great possibilities in agriculture, than it did by securing to the people of Alaska an opportunity to display their resources and products to the inspection of the millions who have visited the Louisiana Purchase Exposition. The exhibits shown by them excited the utmost wonder and surprise in the minds of many witnessing them, who had been in ignorance of the resources of their country. Thousands have been led to investigate and seek further information. The effect of the Alaska exhibit will undoubtedly be far-reaching and permanent; nor can it be doubted that Congress will supplement this contribution to Alaska's welfare in the near future by legislation which shall secure the one great need of Alaska--inland transportation.
An appropriation of $50,000 for the Alaskan exhibit at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition was made by act of Congress March 3, 1903, as follows:
To enable the inhabitants of the district of Alaska to provide
and maintain an appropriate and creditable exhibit of the
products and resources of that district at the Louisiana
Purchase Exposition in the city of St. Louis, Missouri, in
nineteen hundred and four, and to erect and maintain on the site
of said exposition a suitable building to be used for the
purposes of exhibiting the products and resources of said
district, the sum of fifty thousand dollars, to be subject to
the order of the Secretary of the Interior, who is hereby
authorized to expend the same in such manner as in his judgment
will best promote the objects for which said sum is appropriated
in accordance with the rules and regulations to be prescribed by
him.
After the passage of the act of Congress which made appropriation for the Alaska exhibit, providing that the sum appropriated should be expended by the Secretary of the Interior in such manner as in his judgment would promote the objects for which the sum was appropriated, in accordance with rules and regulations prescribed by him, one of his first acts was the appointment of Hon. Thomas Ryan, First Assistant Secretary of the Interior, chairman of the Alaska commission, to have immediate charge at the Department of the elaboration of the exhibit. Later Governor John G. Brady was appointed executive commissioner, and entered upon the task of gathering together and forwarding to the exposition such collections of exhibits as would best represent and illustrate the products and resources of Alaska.
Still later Mr. Joseph B. Marvin was appointed special agent of the Alaska exhibit and was sent to St. Louis in December, 1903, to superintend the construction of the Alaska Building, to attend to all accounts with the Department, and to arrange for the installation of the exhibits as they arrive.
Mrs. Mary E. Hart was employed January 1, 1904, to assist in the securing of the exhibits in Alaska, especially in the Department of Education, and upon the opening of the exposition Mrs. Hart was directed to proceed to St. Louis, where she was designated as hostess and placed in charge of the bureau of information in the Alaska Building. At the same time attendants were selected, whose duty it was to explain the exhibits to visitors.
The executive commissioner, the honorary commissioners, the hostess, all of the attendants, and those employed in collecting exhibits in Alaska were all Alaskans, the attendants being especially selected because of their acquaintance with Alaska and its products.
It was the desire of the executive commissioner that the utmost hospitality should be shown to all visitors at the Alaska Building, and the commodious and homelike parlors on the second floor of the building were free to the public, maids being employed for special attention to the wants of ladies and children.
The principal exhibits in the Alaska Building related naturally to the mining interest of the country.
One of the most impressive and significant exhibits was a gilded cube, about 3 feet in diameter, representing the size of a block of gold worth $7,200,000, which was the amount paid by the United States to Russia for Alaska, and beside it, inclosed in a brass railing, a gilded pyramid of blocks representing the amount of gold taken each year since 1882 from the Treadwell mine in Alaska, aggregating $21,800,000, a sum which is three times the amount paid for Alaska taken from one mine.
The ore exhibit, especially of gold and copper ores, was very large, filling a glass case 75 feet long and 5 feet high. These ores were collected by an expert mineralogist employed by the Alaska commission, and included specimens from nearly all the mines in Alaska.
Following is a list of exhibits, showing the principal industries the country, as displayed throughout the building: Marble, canned goods, furs, coal, oils, guano, vegetables and fruit, Indian basketry and curios, and mounted specimens of game and fish.
An interesting exhibit of Alaskan ethnology was made, twenty totem poles and two native houses and one war canoe being located about the building. The totem poles came from different places on Prince of Wales Island and from two different tribes. At an old village called Tuxekan four were obtained. These represented the totem or heraldic sign of each family, and the back part of the totem was excavated to receive the charred bones of friends and ancestors of the man who raised it. The Thlingits were in the habit of burning their dead, but carefully preserved all the charred embers from the funeral pile. These totem poles were always erected on great occasions, and the bones were usually carefully wrapped in a new blanket and incased in the back part of the totem.
The Commission was fortunate in securing for the exhibit a fine collection of samples of grains raised at the experiment stations at Alaska, consisting of the grains in the straw and thrashed grains, including wheat, rye, barley, and oats. These samples were handsomely displayed, some of the grains and straw being tastefully arranged on the walls, covering a space 10 by 40 feet, and the balance in a pyramid some 10 feet high and 8 feet in diameter. The thrashed grains were displayed in glass jars. The grasses were shown in bales of hay. The display of cereals and grasses was one of the most important, instructive, and surprising to visitors of any display in the Alaska Building, for it demonstrated the fact that agriculture is possible in Alaska, and seekers of the treasures of the mines may always feel sure of subsistence.
ARIZONA.
Arizona commission.--A.J. Doran, chairman; B.F. Packard, treasurer; H.B. St. Claire, secretary; Mrs. J.A. Black, commissioner; R.N. Leatherwood, superintendent of exhibits.
The Arizona Building stood near the southeast entrance of the grounds. Its architecture was Spanish, belonging to the sixteenth century. It contained seven rooms, elegantly furnished and decorated. The cost of the building was approximately $5,000. During the exposition period a large amount of literature descriptive of the Territory and its various resources was distributed.
The exhibits in the Arizona State Building other than those placed therein by the board of managers were a prehistoric collection loaned by Mrs. M. Aguria, of Tucson, Ariz., valued at $5,000; an oil painting of a mountain scene in southern Arizona, loaned by Mr. A.J. Scofield and valued at $4,000; a collection of Indian baskets, rugs, and blankets (Navaho), valued at $600; an exhibit of cactus picture frames, loaned by F.E. White, of Florence, Ariz., valued at $250.
The Territory made exhibits in the departments of Mines and Metallurgy, Education, Agriculture and Horticulture. The exhibit in the Palace of Mines and Metallurgy occupied a space of 80 feet frontage by 20 feet in depth. In all, nearly 300 mines were represented by characteristic ores showing actual values rather than specimens, including in nearly every exhibit the inclosing and country rocks in which the vein matter occurred. These exhibits were arranged in two tiers, running the full length of the space, each mine having its distinctive ore placed on wooden mounts, appropriately labeled, giving the county, district, owner, name and character of ore, and its value per ton in gold, silver, copper, or lead. The exhibit also showed free gold, native silver, native copper, copper bars, lead-silver bars, copper ingots, onyx (rough and polished), marble (rough and polished) building stone of various kinds, lithographic stone, petrified wood in rough and polish, meteoric iron, etc.; also photographic views of many of the mines, mills, reduction works, and localities from which the exhibits were taken. The value of the exhibit was approximately $20,000 and the cost of installation $1,900.
The educational exhibit in the Education and Social Economy Building represented the school work of the Territory from the kindergarten to the academic grade, showing the educational system and the progress made in Arizona. The value of the exhibit was approximately $2,500 and the cost of installation $750.
The agricultural exhibit in the Agricultural Building showed the various products of the soil of the Territory. Wheat, oats, barley, corn, Kaffir corn, sorghum, millet, alfalfa seed, alfalfa, hay, vegetables, olives, olive oil, preserved fruits, dates, etc., were displayed The exhibit cost approximately $875. The cost of installation was $1,500.
In the Horticultural Building there were maintained throughout the fair from 130 to 160 plates on the table, which held the following: Valencia late oranges, Washington navel oranges, Mediterranean sweets, lemons, limes, grape fruit, citronella, tangarines, grapes, plums, quinces, apricots, plum grabites, pears, cantaloupes, melons, olives, olive oil, pickled olives, etc. The value of the exhibit was approximately $2,500 and the cost of installation $950.
The amount appropriated by the legislative act for the participation of Arizona was $30,000 in bonds, which were sold for 7 per cent. premium, thus making available from that source $32,000. No other funds from any source came into the hands of the board of managers.
ARKANSAS.
_Members of Arkansas commission_.--George R. Belding, president; J.C. Rembert, secretary; Thomas W. Milan, manager; George T. Lake; John P. Logan, superintendent horticultural department; A.H. Purdue, superintendent mines; H.T. Bradford, agriculture department; Miss Lizzie Cage, assistant lady manager.
In May, 1901, the legislature of the State of Arkansas enacted a bill appropriating the sum of $30,000 for the erection and maintenance of a State building at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, and for the installation and maintenance of the exhibits of the State. Subsequently, in 1903, the State legislature appropriated a further sum of $50,000 for the purpose of the State exhibit. There were no private subscriptions, the entire cost of the State building and maintenance thereof being borne by the State appropriation.
The cost of the installation and transportation of the different exhibits made by the commission was $18,102, besides the cost of returning the exhibits.
The Arkansas Pavilion at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition was a fine specimen of Georgian architecture, of the type so much used throughout the South in antebellum times. The adaptation of the colonial features to the purpose for which the building was used was most admirable. The location, with its foreground of grass and forest trees, produced an effect suggesting age and permanency that few buildings on the ground possessed. In fact, on coming upon the building unexpectedly, one would presume that it had occupied its site for two generations at least. The building was arranged for the entertainment of the Arkansans visiting the fair, and served the purpose of a clubhouse and general headquarters for thousands of people.
The principal feature of the plan of the building was the large reception hall in the center, connecting through wide openings two reception rooms, one on either side, and an exhibit room in the rear. On this floor there were also four smaller rooms used as commissioners' headquarters, manager's office, post-office, and lady manager's headquarters; also wide hallways at right angles to the principal axis of the building.
The second story of the building contained the library, auditorium, headquarters of the State Bankers' Association, and ladies' parlor, four sleeping rooms, together with the general toilet rooms.
The three exterior porticos were connected with wide terraces, affording over 3,000 square feet of floor space. The building was constructed entirely of Arkansas timber, and was designed by Frank W. Gibb, A.I.A. A., architect, Little Rock, Ark., and constructed at a cost of $19,944.05.
At the conclusion of the fair the building was sold to a citizen of Arkansas, where it is to be reerected as a residence.
In the building were exhibited many handsome pieces of art and fancywork, burnt-wood plaques and panels, china work, a large silk map of the United States, showing States, rivers, railroads, principal towns, etc.; oil paintings, pictures, and portraits, and miscellaneous exhibits.
In the main exhibit hall of the building was a composite exhibit made by the land department of the Iron Mountain Railroad, consisting of a collection of minerals found in the State, samples of the various woods of the State, a wooden library of seventy-five volumes, each book being made of a different kind of Arkansas wood, paintings and pictures of Arkansas scenes, and a historic clock made in Germany in 1763 for the Duke of Saxony, and samples of mineral waters of Montgomery County.
The Arkansas State commission maintained five exhibits in the exhibition palaces, viz, Agriculture, approximate value, $7,500; Horticulture, approximate value, $9,300; Forestry, approximate value, $3,500; Mines and Metallurgy, approximate value, $6,500; Education, approximate value, $3,600. In addition to these State exhibits, the city of Hot Springs maintained in the Government Building a unique exhibit in the nature of a cave or grotto made of quartz, crystals.
CALIFORNIA.
_Members of California commission_.--Frank Wiggins; J. A Filcher; George A. Dennison, secretary; Lewis E. Auburg, chief department of mining; George C. Roeding, chief department of horticulture; W.H. Mills, chief department of forestry; Robert Furlong, chief department of education.
On March 25, 1903, the legislature of the State of California passed a bill appropriating the sum of $130,000 for the purpose of adequately exploiting California's resources and progress at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, and providing for two commissioners--one to have had one year's residence in the southern half of the State; both to have had experience in installing and managing exhibits at former, expositions. In addition to this appropriation, there was about $120,000 raised by the various counties of the State for exclusive county displays to be installed in the Agricultural Building. These displays were intended to set forth the possibilities of California in an agricultural and horticultural way. The cost of installation of said features was about $40,000. The transportation of all the exhibits, including those of the counties, which were paid by the State, amounted to, approximately, $15,000.
The California State Building was located on "The Trail" in the vicinity of the buildings erected by Georgia and other Southern States, and was always an object of interest to sightseers at the fair. The pavilion was built after the Mission style of architecture, modeled after the houses in which the old Spanish settlers in California used to live. The front of the building was an exact copy in reduced proportions of the Mission at Santa Barbara, which was erected by the Franciscan monks in 1786. The pavilion contained no special exhibits, but its furnishings and decorations were entirely of Californian material, manufactured by Californian labor. The cost of the building complete was about $17,000, the balance of the appropriation by the State being consumed in the collection of the exhibit, its maintenance, and in general demonstration.
In the Forestry Pavilion California showed altogether 73 varieties of commercial and cabinet woods. A separate exhibit in the same place displayed an exhibit of the fish and game of the State. Just outside of the building there was an exhibit of forestry containing five logs, or timbers, which were too heavy to be placed on the Exhibition Building floor.
In the Agricultural Building the State made a distinctive feature of wine, dried fruits, canned fruit, processed vegetables, honey, hay, hops, canned fish, seeds and cereals, grasses and vegetable fibers, etc. A façade was erected in this department and decorated most artistically. The counties made separate displays. Altogether 23,300 feet of space was occupied by the State in agriculture, exclusive of aisles.
In the Horticultural Building the State occupied 9,000 square feet of space and made a strong showing of processed fruits, fresh fruits, nuts, and a panoramic scene illustrating methods of orchard irrigation. There was also shown a cabinet containing the insects that prey on California orchards, and their parasites.
An operating mill and concentrators were displayed in the Mining Gulch, and in the Palace of Mines the State occupied 5,200 feet of floor space with an exhibit showing all the commercial minerals of California. Altogether there were forty-odd varieties.
In education a strong showing of the university work was made in one of the alcoves, 40 by 40 feet, and 2,000 feet of floor space was occupied for the general artistic exhibit of school work from the kindergarten to the high school. This was inclosed within a characteristic façade of California redwood, finished in natural color.
A handsome display was a butter feature in the refrigeration department of agriculture with a beautiful modeled goddess of California, draped in fruits. Incubators were shown in the proper department, and on the grounds and in the conservatory were exhibited about 600 rare plants and shrubs and some tropical fruit trees.
COLORADO.
The Colorado legislature of 1901 appropriated $50,000 for the purpose of making a display of Colorado products and resources at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition and provided for the appointment by the governor of the State of a board of five commissioners, of which the governor should be a member and ex officio president. In 1903 an additional $100,000 was appropriated and the board was increased from five to seven members.
The following-named persons composed the Colorado commission:
Governor James H. Peabody, president; T.J. O'Donnell, vice-president; Paul Wilson, commissioner in chief; I.N. Stevens, secretary; Harry Cassady, treasurer; Mrs. Lionel Rose Anthony; William F. Sperry; John A. Wayne, assistant to commissioner in chief; Maria W. Stewart, assistant treasurer.
The appropriation by the legislature of 1903 unfortunately was placed in the fifth-class appropriation, and not all of the sum was available for the use of the board; but by arrangement of other departments of the State government and with the State institutions of Colorado $80,000 of the $100,000 was made available for the State's participation in the exposition.
The work of the board was divided into six departments, all under the direction of Commissioner in Chief Paul Wilson, as follows:
Mining Department, Mr. I.N. Stevens, chairman; Horticultural Department, Mr. Paul Wilson, chairman; Agricultural Department, Mr. Harry Cassady, chairman; Educational Department, Mrs. I.R. Anthony, chairman; Forestry, Fish, and Game Department, Mr. T.J. O'Donnell, chairman; Fine Arts Department, Mr. W.F. Sperry chairman.
The exhibits of the resources of the State were collected from every portion of the State in these various departments.
The value of the mining exhibit placed by the State of Colorado on exhibition in St. Louis was $500,000; the value of the agricultural exhibit, $10,000; horticultural exhibit, $8,000; educational exhibit, $15,000; forestry, fish, and game exhibit, $7,500.
The approximate cost of installing and caring for these exhibits was as follows:
Mining Department ........................ $25,000 Horticultural Department ................. 10,000 Agricultural Department .................. 15,000 Educational Department ................... 12,000 Forestry, Fish, and Game Department ...... 10,000
CONNECTICUT.
The legislature of Connecticut appropriated $100,000 for the participation of that State at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition. The following commissioners were appointed by the governor of Connecticut, according to an act of the legislature passed April 2, 1903:
Frank L. Wilcox, president: Charles Phelps, vice-president; J.A. Vail, secretary-treasurer; Edgar J. Dolittle, Isaac W. Birdseye, Phelps Montgomery, Mrs. Louis R. Cheney, Mrs. George H. Knight, Miss Anne H. Chappell. National commissioners: Frederick Betts, Mrs. John M. Holcombe. Resident commissioner, Hobart Brinsmade.
The Connecticut State Building was intended to represent colonial design. In its main exterior features it was a replica of the Sigourney mansion in Hartford, built about 1820 by Charles Sigourney, whose wife Lydia Huntley Sigourney, was highly regarded as a poet in her time. In later years it was the home of Lieut. Governor Julius Catlin. The architect of the Connecticut building was Edward T. Hapgood, of Hartford. The interior plan was designed to combine colonial ideas with modern requirements, which were carried out to such extent as to make it one of the most attractive and homelike structures on the exposition grounds. It was erected by The H. Wales Lines Company, of Meriden, Conn., at a cost of about $31,000, and official inspectors pronounced it the best-built edifice at the exposition. The walls of the rooms on the first floor and the upper hall were hung with five different designs of exquisite silk tapestry, the gift of the Cheney Brothers, of South Manchester. These added a "finishing touch" that found no comparison elsewhere on the grounds. The furnishing of the building was in excellent harmony with its colonial design. Highboys and lowboys, Chippendale, Hepplewhite and Windsor chairs, Sheraton and thousand-legged tables, flax wheels and warming pans were associated with canopied high-post bedsteads, while corner cupboards revealed rare copper-luster china of almost untold value. As a colonial exhibit it was unique, and had it been entered in competition for reward would most surely have been given the grand prize. The souvenir catalogue issued by the Connecticut commission contains a list of 514 articles, most of them loaned from various Connecticut homesteads. The catalogue also contains a list of oil paintings and water colors, all by Connecticut artists, which embellished the walls of the building, the selection being made by Charles Noel Flagg, of Hartford, chosen by the commission for that service.
The collective exhibits of Connecticut were in the following-named departments: Education, farm products, tobacco, dairy, horticulture (including pomology), herbarium, public parks and residential grounds (photographs), and shellfish. The grounds surrounding the Connecticut Building form part of the State horticultural exhibit.
On account of the limited appropriation it was necessary to abandon the live exhibit of Connecticut in the Fish and Game Building. With the limited amount of stock which the oystermen had, owing to the lack of "set" for a number of years, they considered it a detriment to advertise, and it was only through a regard for the commission that any of the larger cultivators would contribute to the exhibit.
The exhibit was advantageously placed in the center of the Forest, Fish, and Game Building and attracted a great deal of attention from visitors and will undoubtedly prove of material advantage to an immense State industry.
On one side of the booth the strictly State exhibit was placed, showing in the cases the oysters of all ages, their enemies, and various curiosities in growth and development. Over the cases were maps of the oyster grounds, with photographs showing the oyster houses, docks, and steamers. On the opposite side were individual displays of several of the larger cultivators.
Connecticut made a good display. Fifty-eight different specimens of nuts attracted much attention, many of the varieties shown now growing in the West and South, and being seen for the first time by many of the visitors.
Much interest was manifested in flint (Yankee) corn, as it was called by people of the West and South, and many samples were given to people from all parts of the United States and to some from foreign countries.
Samples of grass taken from a field yielding 121 tons to the acre far surpassed any yield of alfalfa claimed from the rich soil of California or any other Western State.
Exhibit of tobacco leaf and the continuous and frequent favorable comment demonstrated clearly that its reputation as a State growing fine quality of wrapper leaf is confined to no small area.
Connecticut has the credit of being the only New England State which made any dairy exhibit, and in this exposition Connecticut did what she has never before attempted. An entry was made for the permanent exhibit as well as for the butter sent for scoring. The lower part of this space was filled with packages of butter, both tubs and prints, handsomely arranged so as to make an artistic display.
This was surmounted with a form like a large open book, on one page of which was the coat of arms, and the other the Charter Oak, both made from the butter from Connecticut and from true models.
The coat of arms and the Charter Oak were exact reproductions.
These spaces were kept at low temperature by refrigeration, and the exhibit lasted until the end of the fair.
Connecticut was the first State to have her exhibit completed.
About 775 square feet was assigned to Connecticut in Horticultural Building, and some time before the opening of the exposition, this space was fitted with tables and other needed appliances. The space assigned came within the section where only low installation was allowed. As a result, those in charge were enabled to install the exhibit at much less expense than anticipated, which accounts for much of the unexpended portion of the appropriation set apart for this display. The location was very desirable, being open, airy, and very accessible from all parts of the hall.
The exhibit was opened the first day of the fair and was one of the very few that had the tables fully occupied the opening day of the exposition. The display, mostly of apples, but including pears and cranberries, was kept up from stock in storage, using from 5 to 10 barrels per week until about July 15, when the first apples of 1904 and some small fruits were available. Soon after that regular supplies were sent forward, but not until September 15 was the storage stock fully disposed of and the tables wholly filled with fruit of 1904 and kept in that condition until the close of the exposition, making the exhibit of great credit to the State, and the only one from New England.
During the season all cultivated fruits grown in the State, except blackberries and raspberries, were shown, even the so-called tender or perishable fruits being sent in large lots, and usually arriving in very satisfactory condition. It was expected, at first, that apples and pears would constitute the exhibit, but a trial shipment convinced the committee that it was perfectly feasible to send the finer fruits, and this was continued as long as they were to be obtained.
In horticulture, Connecticut, after careful consideration, decided to make only so much of the exhibit of living plants as was needed for the decoration of the grounds around the Connecticut Building. This was done apparently to the satisfaction of those interested in the fair and to the pleasure of people who visited the exposition, for uniformly it was spoken of as being one of the best planted and decorated grounds around any State building.
The collection of the herbarium was most successful. The botanists of the State gave a great deal of gratuitous labor that it might be completed. It was exhibited on revolving screens, the first attempt ever made to so exhibit the flora of a State. It was so arranged that every specimen was readily available for examination and study. This exhibit, after the close of the fair, was presented to Trinity College, Hartford, at the request of the college authorities, they paying all expenses of its return and agreeing to give it suitable location for exhibition in their Natural Science Building, where it can be seen and studied by all interested.
The parks and public grounds of the State were well represented by photographs, as were also the private grounds. These photographs have been returned to Hartford and are now stored in the capitol, awaiting final disposition.
In school-garden work Connecticut was a leader, having one of the best equipped school gardens in the country. Believing that a knowledge of what this State has done in this work should be known and recognized at the fair, a committee was created to arrange for a school garden and conduct the same during the World's Fair, and their work was most excellent.
GEORGIA.
_Members of Georgia commission_.--Governor J.M. Terrell, ex officio chairman; O.B. Stevens, commissioner of agriculture; Col. Dudley M. Hughes, commissioner-general; Glascock Barrett, assistant commissioner-general; Hugh V. Washington, vice-commissioner-general; F. B. Gordon, commissioner; H.H. Tift, commissioner. Advisory board: John M. Egan, Col. P.A. Stovall, E.L. Rainey, I.P. Cocke, Dr. L.H. Chappell, Harry Fisher, Oliver Porter, Dr. J.H. Turner, W.J. Kinkaid, A.H. Shaver, W.J. Neal, Dr. T.H. Baker, McAlpine Thornton, James M. Smith, Dr. J.F. Erwin, H.M. Franklin, E.B. Hook, Col. J.F. De Lacy, W.S. Humphries, John A. Cobb, R.C. McIntosh, James B. Gaston.
Situated on one of the main avenues of the exposition, known as "The Trail," and immediately north of Virginia and opposite Tennessee and Ohio, was a replica of the home of the late Gen. John B. Gordon at Kirkwood, near Atlanta, erected by the Georgia State commission as the official headquarters of Georgia. The building was paid for by a fund raised by public subscription, at an approximate cost of $16,000. The house was furnished entirely with Georgian manufactures. The cost of furnishing the building was approximately $3,000.
Although the appropriation made by the State of Georgia was only $30,000, the amount was largely increased by popular subscription from counties and cities. The $30,000 appropriated by the legislature was designated as a basis for increasing the State's museum.
Owing to the lateness of the date that the work of preparing for the exposition was begun--October, 1903--Georgia did not make so complete and comprehensive an exhibit of her natural, educational, and manufacturing advantages as she would otherwise have made.
In the Forestry, Fish, and Game, Georgia contributed a very fine exhibit, at a cost of $3,500, of which much the larger part was composed of Georgia pine. In this department there was a complete exhibit of naval stores, beginning at the pine tree, showing in detail the different methods of boxing, gathering the crude products, tools used, distillation, turpentine, different grades of resin, and its different by-products. This was donated by the Board of Trade of Savannah, Ga., at an approximate cost of $2,000.
In the Agricultural Building, one of the most interesting exhibits contributed by Georgia was that of the manufacture of the celebrated Georgia cane sirup, which was demonstrated by two negro women serving waffles and sirup from a miniature log cabin. Sirup and cabin and expenses were donated by the Georgia Sirup Growers' Association, and cost approximately $1,700. There was also a complete display of sea-island cotton in bales and types, together with threads and the various cloths manufactured from same, the cost of installation and maintenance being $2,400.
Possibly the most interesting and complete exhibit made by Georgia at the fair was the display of its cotton industry. This consisted of a pyramid containing cotton-seed hulls, meal linters, crude oil, surrounded by commercial packages of meal and hulls, refined oils and lard compounds manufactured from cotton seed. The material and maintenance cost $12,000. An exhibit of cotton products showing in detail cotton seed, cotton on the stalk and in bales, cotton-seed oils, crude and refined, and oil products, lard compounds, food cooked with cotton-seed oils, and cotton-seed hulls and meals for cattle feeding showed some of the many uses to which the cotton plant can be put. The most interesting display in this connection was that of a fountain flowing cotton-seed oil and surrounded by illuminated columns containing manufactured products of oils, such as soaps, etc. This display cost $10,000.
Georgia being to a certain extent a tobacco State, samples of the "weed" indigenous to the State and said to be equal to the very best Cuba and Sumatra tobaccos were shown in the raw leaf and in cases. The exhibit cost approximately $2,900.
In the block immediately adjoining the cotton exhibit were displayed 86 commercial packages of forage grasses donated by farmers throughout the State, valued at $500; an exhibit of the silk industry, valued at $400; wheat, oats, field peas of seventy-odd varieties, rye, rice, barley, flour, bran, peanuts, pecan nuts, corn meal, and all of the varied agricultural exhibits. These were donated by farmers of Georgia. The freight, installation, and care of them was provided by public subscription. The cost of installation, freights, and care, including the proper show cases and glass containers, which belonged to the State museum, was estimated, in addition to the amounts enumerated above, at $12,000. Besides the above items, nearly every city of importance made appropriations to cover expenses of having prepared for distribution books and pamphlets calling the attention of the public to the many advantages of their several localities, at an estimated cost of $10,000.
Subsequently the Georgia commission to the Louisiana Purchase Exposition donated the entire furnishings of the State building to the Georgia Industrial Home at Macon, Ga., the only nonsectarian orphanage in the State.
The resolution creating the appropriation for the installation and exhibit of Georgia products, which was approved August 17, 1903, provided--
That the sum of thirty thousand dollars should be appropriated,
to be expended in collecting and permanently preserving
specimens of minerals, granite, clays, kaolin, marble, iron, and
such other minerals and precious stones as may abound in or are
found within the State; to further collect specimens of the
field and forest, mills and mines, orchards and vineyards of
this State, and such other matters and things pertaining to the
character and the productiveness of the soils of Georgia; that
when the specimens aforesaid were collected they should be
deposited in the State museum, there to be safely kept and
displayed; and that the exhibit thus collected should be
displayed at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition at St. Louis,
Missouri.
IDAHO.
_Members of Idaho commission_.--Gov. J.T. Morrison; James E. Steele, president; R.W. McBride, vice-president; Mrs. W.H. Mansfield, secretary; Martin J. Wessels, Idaho section Forestry Building; Dr. Harold J. Read; Clarence B. Hurtt, executive commissioner; Miss Anne Sonna; Miss Genevieve Vollmer.
Idaho was represented by a State building and by exhibits in four of the great exhibit palaces of the exposition. The building was situated upon the elevated ground east of the Palace of Agriculture, and the surroundings made it one of the most attractive spots of the exposition. The Idaho Building was not big or imposing, but there were few State buildings on the World's Fair grounds that excited more interest or inquiry. The building was a bungalow with an open court, in which were grass and bright flowers. The structure, which was 60 feet square, was but 1 story high and contained ten rooms. The roof was of red tile and the exterior of cream-colored staff. The interior finish served to show the utility of Idaho woods for this particular use. Transparencies and mounted photographs illustrated the vast forest resources of the State. Around the court a row of heavy columns supported the overhanging roof, and a wide cloister behind the columns, paved with brick, afforded a charming resting place. At the close of the exposition the building was sold to a citizen of Texas, who is to have it reerected on his ranch, and it will still bear the name of "Idaho."
The exhibits of the State were shown in the departments of Education, Mining, Agriculture, and Horticulture. The State appropriation for the World's Fair was $25,000.
While not boasting a large acreage under cultivation, Idaho was a competitor at the World's Fair with the best of her sisters in the quality of her field products. The exhibit in the Palace of Agriculture was impartially chosen and fairly represented all parts of the State where agricultural interests have a foothold. In the exhibit were 47 varieties of wheat, 41 varieties of oats, 32 varieties of flax--the only specimen of white flaxseed known to exist, from the farm of Alonzo McWillis, of Rosetta, who received a gold medal for his exhibit. Wheat was shown weighing 62 to 64 pounds to the bushel in comparison with the standard of 60 pounds. Idaho barley weighs 53 to 54 pounds to the bushel, while the standard is but 48. A bunch of alfalfa of the second cutting was received early in October and was more than 6 feet high. Displays of beans of many varieties, peas, corn, alfalfa, and clover seed all indicated the resourcefulness of Idaho soil.
It was not practicable to show Idaho melons, strawberries, and small fruits in fresh condition, but a display with a showy array of canned fruits and dried fruits of favorite sorts attracted attention. Idaho potatoes of the 5-pound class were a part of the exhibit, along with turnips, carrots, parsnips, onions, and other vegetables. There was a small showing also of popcorn, sweet corn, and the field varieties.
The effort to make a complete fruit exhibit on behalf of Idaho had its justification in the wide advertising its fruit and agricultural lands would receive from an effective presentation of the products of the many fine orchards of the State. The exhibit contained many surprises, such as the soft-shell almonds. Idaho's grape display was a surprise to many of the States. In the exhibit were about a dozen varieties that are new in this country, the vines of which were brought from Persia and other eastern Mediterranean countries. Among these were the Hunisa, a dark grape which is regarded as a distinct gain to the Pacific slope grape-growing interests because of its fine flavor and sweetness and good keeping qualities.
The educational exhibit was collected by Miss May Scott, State superintendent of public instruction, installed at State expense, but maintained at the personal expense of Mrs. S.M. Harris, of Silver City, and Mrs. C.J. Johnson, of Pocatello. The Boise exhibit showed the work of all grades, elementary, secondary, and high school pupils doing themselves and the State credit in comparison with other States. Lessons, drawings, photographs, and maps were displayed in 37 bound volumes, besides 5 volumes of district school work and 33 card mounts of lessons, embracing the 8 grades of the primary schools. Silver City exhibited graded work from the first to eighth grades, inclusive, very attractively mounted on cards. Credit is due the Weiser schools, also, for all-around good work. The schools contributed to the general display a fine collection of mounted cards in elementary work, and the Industrial School sent a good display of the work in manual training, including needlework and photographs of buildings. Moscow made a good general display of school work, and particularly in composition and writing. Every community was shown to be alive to the importance of having good schools. A part of the space in the exhibit was devoted to photographs of the University of Idaho, about which a great many questions were asked. The work of the Mountainhouse School was handsomely bound in a burnt-leather cover.
The Pocatello public school work was delayed and reached the exhibit so late that it could not be judged. The display consisted of photographs of the children and schoolhouses and the work of the schools from the kindergarten to the high school. The Shoshone County exhibit was displayed in 79 volumes, embracing the work from the first grade to the high school work. A number of mounted cards of kindergarten work were also shown. The Wallace schools were commended for several excellent examples of map drawing contributed. Kendrick made a good display in 11 bound books. Coeur d'Alene sent a dozen volumes of bound work. Bonners Ferry and Sandpoint contributed good work in a number of bound books and photographs. Idaho County made a good display of raffia work and Indian pictures, besides the school-work exhibit. The Albion State Normal School made a large display of photographs showing the institution and its equipment. Oro Fino sent a collection of drawings, and Council and Harrison both made good displays of what their schools are doing to keep up with the times. The work of the Lewiston schools, which would have formed a conspicuous and very creditable part of the Idaho educational display, was lost in transit.
The mineral exhibit of the State at the World's Fair at St. Louis embraced specimens from every county and mining district. Hundreds of mines contributed specimens of ore and they were all labeled and displayed to the best advantage possible in the Idaho booth. The largest specimens were huge nuggets of lead ore weighing several tons each, almost pure lead, which occupied a central place in the exhibit and served to draw attention to the vast collection of other mineral specimens. Boise, the seat of government, was represented by specimens of gold-bearing rhyolite from the granite slopes north of the city, as well as by samples of fire clay of high quality; found partly within the city limits. From the Black Hornet and Curlew Creek districts came quartz specimens containing gold and silver. From Bear Creek were cuttings from the dike formation of low-grade ores that may mean much to Boise if they be profitably handled.
There were specimens of lead ores from Halley and Wood Rivet district, where lead to the value of $20,000,000 has been taken out. These ores run high in silver, and the revival of interest in the workings there is a matter of comment. These specimens included some of the Minnie Moore deposits, the most famous mine in Idaho's history, whose best ores show 70 per cent lead and 110 ounces of silver to the ton. A few specimens of gold-bearing quartz from the Boise basin were shown, although these deposits are but partly developed, more interest attaching to the placer mining, which has produced a hundred million dollars' worth of gold in the history of this region. The Pearl district contributed good specimens of oxidized quartz and granite gangue, iron and arsenical pyrites with zinc blend, and a showing of galena and copper sulphides. Monaxite, a heavy yellow sand, the ore of thorium, is found here, and is in considerable demand on account of the new discoveries in the radio activity of certain minerals.
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Final Report of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition CommissionChapter XXVI: Appendix: 4 (1)
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