274 



EXHIBITION, CENTENNIAL. 



admitting to the ports of the country free of 

 duty all articles intended for the exhibition, 

 unless such article should also be intended for 

 sale in this country. 



The Centennial Commission, consisting of 

 one delegate and one alternate from each State 

 and Territory, was duly appointed, and organiz- 

 ed in the city of Philadelphia by the election of 

 General Joseph R. Hawley, of Connecticut, for 

 president ; Orestes Cleveland, John D. Creigh, 

 Robert Lowry, Thomas H. Coldwell, John 

 McNeil, and William Gurney, for vice-presi- 

 dents; Alfred T. Goshorn, director-general; 

 John L. Campbell, secretary ; and John L. Shoe- 

 maker, counselor and solicitor. An executive 

 committee of thirteen was appointed, with 

 Myer Asch as its secretary, and several bureaus 

 of administration were constituted under the 

 following chiefs : foreign, A. T. Goshorn, Myer 

 Asch; installation, Henry Pettit ; transportation, 

 Dolphus Torrey ; machinery, John S. Albert ; 

 agriculture, Burnet Landreth ; horticulture, 

 Charles H. Miller; fine arts, John Sartain. 

 The corporators of the Board of Finance 

 consisted of two from each congressional dis- 

 trict, and four from each State and Territory 

 at. large. This body was organized with John 

 Welsh as president ; William Sellers and John 

 S. Barbour, vice-presidents ; Frederick Fraley, 

 secretary and treasurer ; William Bigler, finan- 

 cial agent; Henry Pettit, Joseph M. Wilson, 

 and H. J. Schwarzmann, engineers and archi- 

 tects; and a Board of Directors of twenty- 

 two members. 



The site chosen for the exhibition was the 

 most eligible portion of Fairmount Park, in 

 the city of Philadelphia, and it was decided 

 that it should open on the 10th of May, and 

 close on the 10th of November, 1876. The 

 funds have been raised by subscription to the 

 stock issued by the Board of Finance, by pub- 

 lic appropriations, private efforts, etc. Con- 

 gress appropriated $500,000 in 1875, and $1,- 

 500,000 more were granted at the session of 

 1875-'76 ; the city of Philadelphia appropriated 

 $1,500,000, the State of Pennsylvania $1,000- 

 000, and other States and cities various amounts. 

 The women of the country through their efforts 

 have raised over $100,000. In most of the 

 States and Territories local managers and 

 agents have been appointed to awaken inter- 

 est, furnish information, and aid generally in 

 securing a creditable representation. All the 

 foreign countries to which invitations were sent 

 have appointed commissioners and will take 

 a more or less prominent part in the exhibi- 

 tion. These countries with the chiefs of their 

 commissions are as follows : Argentine Confed- 

 eration, Ernesto Oldendorff; Austria, Rudolf 

 Isbary; Africa Orange Free State Charles 

 W. Riley ; Belgium, Baron Gustave de Woel- 

 mont; Brazil, Gaston d'Orleans, Conde d'Eu ; 

 China, Edward B. Drew; Denmark, Jacob 

 Holmblad; Ecuador, Edward Shippen; Egypt, 

 Prince Mohammed Tefwink Pasha; France, 

 M. M. Ozenne; German Empire, Dr. Jacobi; 



Great Britain and Colonies, the Duke of Rich- 

 mond ; Canada, Senator Luc Letellier de St. 

 Just; New South Wales, Sir James Martin 

 Knight ; Victoria, Sir Redmond Barry ; South 

 Australia, A. Musgrave, Esq., 0. M. G. ; Hon- 

 duras, Governor Don Francisco Bardales ; Jap- 

 anese Empire, Okubo Toshimichi ; Liberia, J. 

 S. Payne ; Mexico, Romero Rubio ; Nether- 

 lands, Dr. E. H. von Baumhauer ; Norway, 

 Herman Baars ; Peru, Colonel Manuel Freyre ; 

 Russia, Privy-Councilor Boutovsky ; Sandwich 

 Islands, S. G. Wilder ; Siam, J. H. Chandler ; 

 Spain, the Director-General of Agriculture, 

 Industry, and Commerce ; Sweden, A. Berg- 

 strom ; Switzerland, Colonel H. Rieter ; Tunis, 

 Sidi Houssein ; Turkey, G. d'Aristrarchi ; Ve- 

 nezuela, Leon de la Cova. 



Fairmount Park consists of 2,740 acres, with 

 a variegated and picturesque surface. The ex- 

 hibition grounds are at the lower end, and have 

 been inclosed with thirteen entrances from the 

 boundary drive, named from the thirteen ori- 

 ginal States. Street-railways, from all parts 

 of the city, terminate in the immediate vicin- 

 ity, and branches from the principal steam 

 railways have established stations near by. 

 The principal buildings provided by the Com- 

 mission were substantially completed at the 

 opening of the year 1876, and the dates were 

 fixed for the reception of articles in the various 

 departments. The main exhibition building 

 is in the form of a parallelogram extending 

 east and west, 1,880 feet in length, and 464 feet 

 in width. Most of the structure is one story 

 high, the main cornice on the outside being 45 

 feet from the ground, and the interior height 

 being 70 feet. At the centre of the longer 

 sides are projections 416 feet in length, and in 

 the centre of the shorter sides projections 216 

 feet in length. In these projections are the 

 main entrances, provided with arcades on the 

 ground-floor, and with central facades rising to 

 a height of 90 feet. Upon the corners are four 

 towers 75 feet high. The roof, for 189 feet 

 over, the central part, is raised above the rest, 

 and has at each corner a tower 48 feet square 

 and 120 feet high. The area of the ground- 

 floor is 20 acres ; that of the upper floors in 

 projections, 37,344 square feet; in towers, 

 26,344 square feet ; so that the whole structure 

 overs about 21 acres. There is a central 

 avenue or nave through the length of the 

 building, 1,832 feet long and 120 feet wide ; on 

 either side of this is a side-avenue 1,832 feet 

 long, and 100 feet wide. Between the nave 

 and side avenues are aisles 48 feet wide, and 

 on the outer sides smaller aisles 24 feet wide. 

 Running crosswise is a central transept 416 

 feet long, and 120 feet wide ; on either side of 

 this a side-transept, 416 feet long and 100 feet 

 wide, with aisles running between, 48 feet 

 wide. The main promenades through the 

 nave and central transept are 30 feet wide; 

 those through the side avenues and transepts, 

 15 feet wide; and the other promenades, 10 

 feet wide all leading to exit doors at either 



