16 



work in a very thorou^rh and substantial manner, which has necessarily 

 taken up much of hi's time, and yet he has made no charf^e beyond actual 

 expenses while thus euf^at^ed. 



COLISEUM BUILDING. 



It has been sujfprested that a toot bridge be constructed from a point near 

 the west door of the Exposition Building to the promenade above tlie seats 

 in the Coliseum, to relieve the pressure of the main entranco of the buildinff 

 in case of crowds, and I hope you will ^ive the matter due consideration, 

 from the utaudpoint of convenience, as well as lessening the danger to life 

 and limb in case of fire when the building is crowded, as is usually the case 

 when the fair is in progress. 



OKNAMKNTINO THE GROUNDS. 



We all know that most of the trees planted several years ago were de- 

 stroyed during the occupation of the grounds as a rendezvous for the mobili- 

 zation of the troops of this State during the war with Spain. This spring 

 would he a good time to replace them and to take up the work of generally 

 beautifying the grounds in tha line. Tree-planting is not expensive, and 

 the money cannot be expended for a better pururpose. However, this is 

 simply a suggestion, but I hope the proper committee will give it due con- 

 sideration. 



TRANSPORTATION. 



The city of Springfield is to be commended for its hospitality and enter- 

 tainment of visitors during the evenings of our fair week, but 1 do feel like 

 saying to these good people that while it is appreciated by our visitors, their 

 tempers are very much ruflled mornings by being jolted all over the city on 

 street cars before reaching our gates. The city owes it to these people who 

 annually attend our fair and pour large sums of money into the coffers of 

 her citizens, to remedy this evil and I am informed many of her best citizens, 

 including Mayor Phillips, are disposed and willing to do all in their power to 

 open u^;) a route as direct as possible from the court house square to the 

 grounds; and further, that the Consolidated Street Car Company stands 

 ready to build, equip and put such a line in operation without delay. If to 

 accomplish this it requires the opening of a street, or building of a subwav, 

 the city should not hesitate, for the reasons stated, to do its part, and to do 

 it at once. We have but one line of steam railwaj* at present leading lo the 

 grounds, which, with the present street car system, is totally inade<|uate to 

 properly handle the crowds. Springfield is progressive, is deeply interested 

 in our fair, and I am fully persuaded that a good, vigorous committee of this 

 board would soon work up an interest in this matter that would be crowned 

 with success. 



P08T0FFICE. 



I would further recommend the Covernnient be asked, through its repre- 

 Bentative here, to maintain a full-fledged United States postf flice, with money 

 order department, on the grounds during the season of our annual fairs. 

 This would prove a great convenience to our patrons, lessen our responsi- 

 bility, and at the same time give character to an important department. 



CONCLUSION. 



In conclusion I wish to say that in addition to his regular duties as secre- 

 tary, Mr. Garrard has managed to oversee all improvements made on the 

 ground-", and has attended to all minor details without extra cost to the 

 board. The result of his intelligent work is patent not only to our member- 

 ship, but to every visitor, whether in or out ot season. The superb appear- 



