EXHIBITION, CENTENNIAL. 



would have made a difference in the character 

 of the articles exhibited. In the American de- 

 partment the exhibition was unexpectedly full 

 and rich, although many novel manufacturing 

 processes remained unexhibited, owing to tin 

 jealousy of tin- proprietors lest their methods 

 inL'iit In- copied. The European colonies and 

 distant nation* were, in the main, better rep- 

 resented than in any of the former expositions ; 

 and it is one of the best results of international 

 fairs that countries far removed from the usual 

 tracks of commerce have greeted them as a 

 means of opening up intercourse with the com- 

 mercial world. The British colonies and the 

 South American nations, with the pardonable 

 vanity and ambition which are common to new 

 countries, sent most extensive and interesting 

 collections of their products. In judging of 

 the different displays it should be borne in 



mind that the exhibitors were actuated mainly 

 by commercial motives, and that it was an 

 American market which they sought to gain in 

 exposing their manufactures at the 1'hiladel- 

 phiti Kxliibition. Those industries in which 

 the Americans are weakest and those which 

 are not practised in this country would natu- 

 rally be the best represented in the foreign ex- 

 hibitions, while those in which American man- 

 ufacturers, under the protection of import 

 duties, have driven foreign producers out of 

 the home market, could not be exhibited with 

 any advantage by foreigners. 



The Main Building, designed for the exhi- 

 bition of the manufactured products, and prod- 

 ucts of the mines and metallurgy, as well as 

 the condition of science and education, in all 

 nations, covered an area of twenty acres, with 

 a length of 1,880 feet, east and west, and 8 



MAIN EXHIBITION BVILDl.Nti. 



breadth of 464 feet, and having projecting 

 win^s in the centres of the sides, 416 feet in 

 length, and in the centres of the ends, 216 feet 

 in length. The exhibition-space was on one 

 floor. The roof of the main part was 70 feet 

 high. In the centre of the main portion 

 was an elevated square, with 184 feet sides, 

 having towers 120 feet high and 48 feet square 

 at the corners. At the four corners of the 

 building were towers 75 feet high ; and the 

 projecting wings, through which led the main 

 entrances, were fronted with facades 90 feet 

 in height. The building was constructed 

 with wrought-iron roof-trusses supported by 

 wr< night-iron columns, 672 in number, and 

 sided mainly with glazed sash, with a substruct- 

 ure of brick 7 feet high, upon a foundation of 

 massive masonry. There was a tier of res- 

 taurants and withdrawing-rooms at the sides 

 of the huilding, and above them, in an upper 

 story, a gallery of chambers occupied by the 

 Centennial authorities, and by the educational 

 exhibits of several of the States. The space 

 was apportioned for the collective displays of 

 the different nations a< follows, in square feet: 

 Argentine Republic, 2,861 ; Austro-IInngary, 

 24,727; Belgium, 15.598; Brazil, 6,899 ; Cana- 

 da, 24,118; Chili, 8,424; China, 6,628; Den- 

 mark, 2,562 ; Egypt, 5,026 ; France, 45,460 ; 

 Germany, 29,625; Great Britain and Ireland, 

 54,155; India and British colonies, 24,198; 



Hawaiian Islands, 1,575; Italy, 8.943; Japan, 

 17,831; Luxemburg, 247; Mexico, 6.507; Neth- 

 erlands, 15,948; Norway, 6,959 ; Orange Free 

 State, 1,058; Peru, 1,462 ; Portugal, 5,988; 

 Russia, 11,141; Spain and colonies, 11,253; 

 Sweden, 17,799; Switzerland, 6,693; Tunis, 

 2,015 ; Turkey, 3,847. The space reserved for 

 the United States' exhibits was 136,684 square 

 feet. The total exhibition-space of the build- 

 ing was 363,102 square feet. The space was 

 distributed in parallelograms between the main 

 longitudinal aisle, 120 feet broad and 1,832 feet 

 long, and two side-aisles 100 feet broad, and 

 the numerous cross-aisles. Connecting the two 

 side-entrances was a transept of the same width 

 as the central nave. 



Two remarkably large organs, one built by 

 Roosevelt, of New'York, with two other organs 

 which were played by electric connections 

 with the large one, and the other set up by 

 Hook & Hastings, of Boston, occupied portions 

 of the galleries, and were playing almost con- 

 stantly. The Maine cotton-mills made a collec- 

 tive exhibit. Nearly all the large New Eng- 

 land cotton and cloth factories participated in 

 an extensive exhibit of American textiles. The 

 collection of American carpets was very large. 

 The new floor-cloth called linoleum was also 

 exhibited. The cutlers and hardware manufact- 

 urers also made a fine exhibit. A new kind of 

 veneering for interiors was sent from Boston. 



