220 



FARMERS' NATIONAL CONGRESS. 



470 honorable mentions. Mexico followed with 

 7S gold medals, 151 silver, and 139 bronze; Chile, 

 01 gold medals, 98 silver, and 110 bronze; Cuba, 38 

 gold medals, 55 silver, and 57 bronze; Argentina, 

 19 gold medals, 21 silver, and 25 bronze; Ecuador, 

 22 gold medals, 39 silver, and 55 bronze; Canada, 

 13 gold medals, 23 silver, and 17 bronze; Hon- 

 duras, 11 gold medals, 9 silver, and 11 bronze; and 

 Porto Rico. 11 gold medals, 14 silver, and 45 bronze. 

 Closing Exercises. The formal closing exer- 

 cises began in the Temple of Music on Nov. 2, at 

 11 o'clock P.M. At the close of the concert by 

 the Herbert Orchestra, the organ played Auld 

 Lang Syne, followed by the familiar strains of 

 America*, at the beginning of which the audience 

 rose in a body and sang the well-known words. 

 President Milbnrn then made a brief address, in 

 which lie said: "There will be, but a few hours 

 hence, only a memory of this exposition. We 

 started out to cement together all the countries of 

 America and to end the nineteenth century and 

 begin the twentieth century by a binding of the 

 relations of the free peoples of North, Central, and 

 South America, and I feel that this exposition 

 goes down in history as the greatest social and 

 political triumph by having brought those people 

 closer together and having made them better 

 known to each other." When he had finished 

 speaking the visitors gathered in the Court of 

 Fountains, and the arrival of the exposition offi- 

 cials was announced by a trumpet, which sounded 

 far down the court. " Attention " was blown by 

 eight strong-lunged trumpeters, stationed on the 

 top of the Electric Tower, at 11.59. Exactly at 

 midnight, " taps " were sounded to the waiting 

 throng. As the last note died away, the lights 

 gleamed with their accustomed brilliance, and 

 then gradually they melted into faint tiny points 

 of fire. For the last time the spark outlines of 

 the buildings wavered for a moment, and then 

 went out. The big search-light was turned down 

 on the scene for an instant, and then it passed 

 into darkness. The switch by means of which 

 the electric lights were operated was turned off, 

 the cable that supplied the power to the lighting 



system from Niagara Falls was cut, and the Pan- 

 American Exposition came to an end. 



Attendance. The total attendance at the ex- 

 position was 8,120,048, which included passes. 

 The unfavorable weather immediately prior to the 

 beginning of the exposition naturally resulted in 

 a diminution of attendance, and, together with it& 

 uncompleted condition, prevented the anticipated 

 influx of visitors. And again, subsequent to the 

 assassination of President McKinley the attend- 

 ance dwindled sadly. 



Auditor's Report. The total receipts from ad- 

 missions were $2,467,066.88, and the receipts from 

 concessions were $3,011,522.76. The auditor's re- 

 port on the financial transactions of the exposi- 

 tion to, and the condition at the close of business, 

 Nov. 2, 1901, shows that the payments made for 

 construction buildings, grounds, streets, sewers, 

 piping, wiring, fountains, etc. real estate, and 

 office furniture and fixtures, amounted to $5,215,- 

 259; and that the payments made for operating 

 expenses amounted to $2,171,836; total payments, 

 $7,387,095. There were outstanding unpaid con- 

 struction expenses amounting to $389,311, unpaid 

 operating expenses amounting to $113,685, and 

 unpaid miscellaneous expenses amounting to $49,- 

 525. The first-mortgage bonds unpaid were $174,- 

 979, and unpaid second-mortgage bonds $500,000. 

 The contractors who put up the buildings will 

 lose a large amount, as the company has no assets 

 with which to pay their claims. 



Literature. This exposition, more than any 

 of its predecessors, advertised its existence by 

 means of a series of exceedingly beautiful pam- 

 phlets. The railroads likewise issued folders filled 

 with attractive illustrations that described the 

 routes to Buffalo, as well as the most interesting 

 features of the grounds. An official catalogue and 

 guide, and a Pan-American Art Handbook, could 

 be purchased on the grounds. The monthly maga- 

 zines devoted much space to the history of the ex- 

 position, and the World's Work for August and 

 the Cosmopolitan for September devoted their 

 entire issues to the various phases of the exposi- 

 tion, with descriptions by specialists. 



F 



FARMERS' NATIONAL CONGRESS. The 



twenty-first annual meeting of the Farmers' Na- 

 tional Congress opened in the Auditorium, Sioux 

 Falls, S. Dak., Oct. 1, 1901. Addresses of welcome 

 were made by Lieut.-Gov. Snow in behalf of South 

 Dakota, and H. H. Keith in behalf of Sioux Falls, 

 and responses were made by Hon. J. Sterling Mor- 

 ton, of Nebraska, the Hon. William D. Hoard, of 

 Wisconsin, and Col. Benjamin F. Clayton, of Iowa. 

 In his address Mr. Morton said: "On the farm 

 nothing can ever arise to threaten American insti- 

 tutions. It is in the cities, where many men are 

 homeless, that riots and anarchy are found. On 

 the farms the people love their homes, and there 

 can never be a riot where the people love the 

 home, which is a part of the nation. Loving the 

 part, they love all." 



In the opening session the band played a medley 

 of airs, and when it began the national air the 

 audience arose to its fret, cheering. This mani- 

 festation foretold the patriotic spirit and high 

 motives that characterized the meeting through- 

 out. 



At the conclusion of the responses to the ad- 

 dresses of welcome, the president of the congress, 

 Mr. R. G. F. Candage, of Massachusetts, read his 

 annual address. He sketched the development of 



agriculture, and called attention to the fact that 

 " this vast area of our country, w T ith its nearly 

 80,000,000 of stirring and active people, produces 

 more than enough for the needs of that mighty 

 host from its cultivated acres, and had a surplus, 

 of the products of the farm, factory, forest, shop, 

 and mine, in 1900, valued at nearly $1,500,000,- 

 000." The congress later took the action sug- 

 gested by the need of foreign markets for our 

 products. 



A committee on resolutions was appointed. 



Prof. John Hamilton, of the Board of Agricul,.- 

 ture of Pennsylvania, read a paper on The State 

 Department of Agriculture: Its Mission and Or- 

 ganization. He recommended the general plan 

 followed by the national Department of Agricul- 

 ture as one that offers the most advantages. The 

 work should be divided into sections, and he rec- 

 ommended these divisions: Farmers' institutes, 

 live stock, horticulture, forestry, pure food, dairy- 

 ing and dairy-products, entomology, public roads, 

 market and flower gardening, fertilizers and cat- 

 tle-foods inspection, chemistry, meteorology, pub- 

 lications, statistics, and markets. 



At the evening session Francis B. Thurber, of 

 New York, read a paper on What shall we do 

 with Our Surplus Products? This contained a 



