130 KANSAS ACADEMY OF SCIENCE, 



section of the Lyons rock-salt shaft. Photographs of the zinc smelt- 

 ers and mines, coal-mines, brick plants, oil- and gas-wells, etc., were 

 exhibited in neat frames, covered with glass made in Kansas factories. 

 The charts gave the production of oil, from the first year to 1904, the 

 number of wells, statistics of the different mineral products, purity of 

 Kansas gas compared with that from other states, which showed the 

 Kansas article equal and in a few cases superior to that of Eastern 

 states. 



Oklahoma on one side of our space having large fields of gypsum, 

 it seemed fitting to make the dividing wall of blocks of gypsum from 

 our own quarries. This wall was built thirty inches high in a 

 checker work of gypsum stone blocks two feet long, one foot wide, 

 and ten inches thick, the material coming from the Great Western 

 Plaster Company mines, at Blue Rapids. The Nebraska exhibit, on 

 the other side, was separated by a line of show-cases. 



GYPSUM INDUSTRY. 



Since Kansas held first rank for many years in the gypsum indus- 

 try and to-day has large developed fields of this important building 

 material, the prominent aisle front of the Kansas exhibit was made in 

 a gypsum facade, as shown in plates XXI and XXII. The plaster 

 came from Blue Rapids, and was modeled into an open balustrade, sur- 

 mounted at the corners with plaster urns. The central approach was 

 an arch eighteen feet high, supported by fluted columns and capped 

 by a large seal of state, with the word "Kansas" in raised gold letters 

 on the cornice. This brought prominently into view one of our 

 prominent industries and made an artistic and imposing approach to 

 the exhibits. The facade was broken by two other open doors four 

 feet wide. 



In order that there could be no trouble in identifying our exhibits, 

 we had the word "Kansas" prominent in all corners and places on 

 printed signs, and a large eight-foot sign suspended above was visible 

 from all parts of the building, showing the people that Kansas was 

 here. 



The gypsum products were also shown in the crude material and in 

 the finished products by the United States Gypsum Company, which 

 took the interest to build an attractive exhibit in one corner of our 

 space. They showed polished blocks of gypsum from their various 

 Kansas mines, the white and colored finishing plasters, small pyra- 

 mids covered with different kinds of plaster, and ornaments molded 

 out of plaster. Another very instructive exhibit was erected by the 

 J. B. Ehrsam Machine Company, of Enterprise, Kan. This consisted 

 of two gypsum calcining kettles for the manufacture of gypsum 

 plaster, made one twenty- fifth natural size and enclosed in brick- 



