158 EEPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 188!). 



the Smithsonian Institution appointed Dr. G. Brown Goode the Assist- 

 ant Secretary in charge of the U. S. National Museum, as its represent- 

 ative. 



The item of $50,000, appropriated for the Smithsonian Institution in the 

 bill, included the U. S. Fish Commission, and, by an agreement with the 

 Commissioner of Fisheries, $10,000 was set apart lor the use of said Com- 

 mission, leaving $40,000 to be expended under the direction of the Insti- 

 tution. As little more than a month remained before the exposition was 

 to open, it was impossible for the Smithsonian, or, in fact, for any of the 

 Departments to prepare suitable exhibits, ship them to Cincinnati, and 

 have them properly installed by the opening day. However, as no time 

 was to be lost, a meeting of the representatives of the various Depart- 

 ments was called with a view to the organization of a board, and the set- 

 tlement of questions relating to the amount and location of the space 

 to be assigned to each Department. At the first conference it was found 

 that at leastl00,000 square feet of floor space would be required to accom- 

 modate the exhibits which the several representatives proposed send- 

 ing, but upon inquiry it was learned that the exposition officials, owing 

 to the delay in the passage of the bill, and to the uncertainty as to the 

 final action upon it, as well as to their lack of information concerning 

 the amount of space required by the Government, had reserved only 

 one short wing of the park building, aggregating about 13,000 square 

 feet, for its use, the remainder having already been assigned to private 

 exhibitors. As this amount was wholly inadequate, they at once con- 

 sented to erect additional buildings in the park adjacent to, and com- 

 municating with, the wing already reserved. But as the unoccupied 

 space in the park was limited, it was impossible, notwithstanding their 

 very generous disposition, to find room for new buildings of sufficient 

 size to furnish the additional accommodations desired. It was finally 

 decided to erect two annexes, one on either side of the Government 

 wing of the main building, and in this way 29,000 feet additional were 

 secured making a total of about 42,000 square feet available for the use 

 of the Government. 



This space was divided approximately as follows : Fcet 



War Department 4,000 



Navy Department 4, 750 



State Department 750 



Treasury Department 4, 250 



Interior Department 6, 000 



Agricultural Department 4, 000 



Post-Office Department 2,500 



Department of Justice 750 



Smithsonian Institution 12, 000 



Commission of Fish and Fisheries 3, 000 



Total 42,000 • 



It will thus be seen that the space occupied by each Department 

 was very much less than that desired, in some cases only a little 

 more than one-third of the amount asked beiug assigned. 



