EXHIBITION, CENTENNIAL. 



of Philadelphia. The President formally pro- 

 claimed tho Exhibition on the 8d of July, 1873, 

 and on the 5th of tho same month the rep- 

 reseiitatives <>i foreign governments were duly 

 ad\vrtisi'd. On June 5, 1874, an act was 

 passed declaring that the Exhibition would be 

 iieM miilcr i lie auspices of the Government, 

 and requesting the President to invite foreign 

 governments ; ' to be represented and take part 

 in the International Exhibition/' By a special 

 provision permission was granted to convey 

 artirles to the exhibition -grounds without pay- 

 ment of import duties, to be held there in 

 bond ; duty was to be collected only on articles 

 sold and delivered in this country, except upon 

 articles imported for sale during the Exhibition ; 

 the other class, comprising the exhibits proper, 

 must remain on exhibition until the day ap- 

 pointed for the close of the Exposition, which 

 was the 10th of November. 



The Centennial Commission was appointed 

 by the President from nominations made by 

 the Governors of the several States and Ter- 

 ritories. The officers chosen were the follow- 

 ing gentlemen : General Joseph R. Hawley, 

 of Connecticut, for president; Orestes Cleve- 

 land, John D. Creigh, Robert Lowry, Thomas 

 H. Coldwell, John McNeil, and William Gur- 

 ney, vice-presidents ; Alfred T. Goshorn, di- 

 rector-general ; John L. Campbell, secretary; 

 and John L. Shoemaker, counselor and solici- 

 tor. An executive committee of thirteen was 

 appointed, with Myer Asch as its secretary, 

 and several bureaus of administration were 

 constituted under the following chiefs: for- 

 eign, A. T. Goshorn, Myer Ash ; installation, 

 Henry Pettit; transportation, Dolphus Tor- 

 rey; machinery, John S. Albert; agriculture, 

 Burnet Landreth ; horticulture, Charles H. 

 Miller; fine arts, John Sartain. The corpo- 

 rators of the Board of Finance consisted of 

 two from each congressional district, and four 

 from each State and Territory at large. This 

 body was organized with John Welsh as presi- 

 dent; William Sellers and John S. Barbour, 

 us vice-presidents ; Frederick Fraley, secretary 

 and treasurer; William Bigler, financial agent; 

 Henry Pettit, Joseph M. Wilson, and II. J. 

 Schwarzmann, engineers and architects; and 

 a Board of Directors of twenty-two members. 



The city of Philadelphia was decided upon 

 as the place of the Exhibition, a beautiful site 

 in the spacious Fairmount Park being selected. 

 Besides the private subscriptions, appropria- 

 tions of $500,000 in 1875 and $1,500,000 in 

 the following session were made by Congress 

 as an advance loan, while the city of Phila- 

 delphia appropriated $1,500,000, the State of 

 Pennsylvania, $1,000,000, and other States and 

 Territories various lesser amounts. The States 

 made active preparations, appointing local 

 managers to aid and organize the efforts of 

 their citizens. The foreign nations also, to 

 which the invitation had been presented, ac- 

 cepted it promptly in most cases, and bespoke 

 space for their exhibits. The chief com- 



missioners appointed by the foreign govern- 

 ments were the following gentlemen: Argen- 

 tine Confederation, Carlos Carrariza; Austria, 

 Rudolph Isbary ; Belgium, Baron Gustavo de 

 Woelmont ; Brazil, the Conde d'Eu ; Chili, 

 Rafael Lorraiu ; China, Edward B. Drew ; 

 Denmark, Jacob Uolmblad ; Ecuador, Edward 

 Shippen; Egypt, Prince Mohammed Tawfic 

 Pasha ; France, M. M. Ozenne ; German Em- 

 pire, Dr. Jacobi ; Great Britain and colonies, 

 the Duke of Richmond ; Canada, Senator Luc 

 Letellier de St. Just; New South Wales, Sir 

 James Martin Knight ; Victoria, Sir Edmund 

 Barry ; South Australia, A. Musgrave ; Hon- 

 duras, Governor Don Francisco Bardales ; 

 Italy, Baron Blanc, minister to Washington ; 

 Japanese Empire, Okubo Toshimichi ; Liberia, 

 J. S. Payne; Mexico, Romero Rubio; Nether- 

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

 Herman Baars ; Orange Free State, Charles 

 W. Riley; Peru, J. C. Tracy; Russia, Privy- 

 Councilor Butovsky ; Sandwich Islands, S. G. 

 Wilder; Siam, J. H. Chandler; Spain, Colo- 

 nel Lopez Fabra ; Sweden, P. A. Bergstrom ; 

 Switzerland, Colonel H. Rieter; Tunis, Sidi 

 Houssein; Turkey, G. d'Aristrarchi, minister 

 to Washington ; Venezuela, Leon de la Cova. 



An area of 236 acres was inclosed for exhi- 

 bition purposes. By the beginning of the year 

 1876 the Exhibition Buildings were erected and 

 ready for the reception ot exhibits. The cost 

 of the five main structures was about $4,500,- 

 000. At the opening of the Exposition 190 

 buildings had been erected within the inclos- 

 ure, and before its close there were more 

 than 200. The city of Philadelphia went to a 

 great expense in improving the avenues lead- 

 ing to the grounds, and in building a handsome 

 iron truss-bridge over the Schuylkill, costing 

 over $1,000,000. The chief railroad-lines of 

 the country entered into special agreements to 

 convey visitors to the Centennial at special 

 reduced rates of fare. 



The applications for space exceeded the ex- 

 pectations of the commissioners. It was found 

 necessary to erect a large annex to the Art 

 Building, as the wall-space in Memorial Hall 

 was found far from sufficient to accommodate 

 the applicants. France began early to bestir 

 herself in preparing for the Exposition. Rus- 

 sia was backward in responding to the in- 

 vitation, questioning the official character of 

 the Exhibition, but at a late hour decided to 

 send a large representative display of her arts 

 and products, selected and managed under 

 governmental auspices, which formed when 

 opened, somewhat more tardily than the other 

 national exhibits, one of the most interesting 

 sections of the fair. Spain also was dilatory 

 in dispatching her exhibits, and also sent a 

 fine representation of her productions, under 

 patronage of the government. The British 

 exhibitors seemed to comprehend best the 

 spirit and requirements of the Exhibition, and 

 took a pride in sending samples of the best 

 art-work of their country, as well as of her 



