REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 69 



After conference with Col. Wilson and acting in accordance with his 

 suggestions, the work of preparing the necessary plans and specifica- 

 tions was assigned to Mr. C. E. Gorhaiu, the engineer oflicer of the 

 Commission. 



During the winter of 1889-90, the plans and specifications were care- 

 fully studied and revised and were ready for transmission in April, 

 1890, but owing to various delays and the difficulty of finding a suitable 

 person to designate as inspector, were not transmitted until after the 

 close of the fiscal year covered by this report. 



WORLD'S COLUMBIAX EXPOSITION. 



Section IG of the act of Congress approved April 25, 1890, " To pro- 

 vide for celebrating the four hundredth anniversary of the discovery of 

 America by Christopher Columbus by holding an international exhibi- 

 tion of arts, industries, manufactures, and the products of the soil, 

 mines, and sea, in the city of Chicago, in the State of Illinois," directs — 



That there shall be exhibited at said Exposition by the Government of the 

 United States, from its executive departments, the Smithsonian Institution, the U. S. 

 Fish Commission, and the National Museum, such articles and materials as illusti'ato 

 the finiction and administrative faculty of the Government in time of peace and its 

 resources as a war power, tending to demonstrate the natiire of our institutions and 

 their adaptation to the wants of the i>eople; and to secure a complete and harmo- 

 nious arrangement of such a Government exhil)it, a board shall be created to bo 

 charged with the selection, preparation, arrangement, safe keeping, and exhibition 

 of such articles and materials as the heads of the several departments and the di- 

 rectors of the Smithsonian Institution and National Museum may respectively decide 

 shall be embraced in said Government exhibit. Tlie President may also designate 

 additional articles for exhibition. Such board shall be composed of one person to 

 be named by the head of each executive dejiartment, and one by the directors of the 

 Smithsonian Institution and National Museum, and one by the Fish Commission, 

 such selections to be approved by the President of the United States. (U. S. Stat. 26, 

 pp. 62 et scq.) 



In pursuance of law, the Commissioner named Mr. J. W. Collins, 

 assistant in charge of the Division of Fisheries, as the rei^resentative of 

 the Commission on the Government Board of Control and Management, 

 and his designation having been approved by the President, Mr. Collins 

 entered upon his duties in August, 1890. No active work was under- 

 taken until April, 1891, when certain of the personnel were appointed, 

 a building at 210 Tenth street, N. W., Washington, was leased and fitted 

 up for oflices and work shox)S, and the preparations commenced. 



In response to a communication from the Secretary of the Treasury 

 requesting an estimate of the money and space required for an adequate 

 exhibit of the fisheries and fishery resources of the United States at 

 the World's Columbian Exposition, the Commissioner of Fisheries re- 

 plied as follows : 



In comjiliance with your request, I liave the honor to transmit herewith estimates 

 of the cost of preparing, placing, caring for, and returning such an exhibit of the 



