EXPOSITION, INTERNATIONAL COTTON. 



263 



ous conventions and societies which met during 

 the exposition. There were several other lesser 

 and tastefully constructed buildings in differ- 

 ent parts of the grounds, the principal of which 

 were the "Florida Building," erected by the 

 State of Florida for the display of the va- 

 ried products of the "Land of Flowers"; the 

 " Department of Public Comfort," containing 

 offices for the telegraph, telephone, messengers, 

 cigars, newspapers, etc.; and a restaurant, 100 

 by 53 feet (two stories), containing dining- 

 saloons, parlors, etc. The buildings, covering 

 twenty-one acres of floor-space, were all of 

 wood, the main structure being of sufficiently 

 heavy timber to tit it to be used for manufact- 

 uring purposes. The work of construction 

 commenced on May 1st, and on September 1, 

 1881, the principal buildings were completed. 



The cost of the buildings was $140,000. The 

 steam-pipes (six miles in length), water-supply, 

 etc., cost $20,000, making the total $160,000. 



The architects were Mr. W. H. H. Whiting, 

 of Boston, Massachusetts, Messrs. Norman & 

 Weed, and Messrs. Fay and Eichberg, of At- 

 lanta. Mr. D. A. Lockwood, of Providence, 

 Rhode Island, was the consulting engineer. 



Immediately outside the inclosed grounds 

 were a number of plots planted in cotton at 

 different dates and with every variety of seed, 

 wherein the public could see the cotton-plant 

 in every stage of culture, and could judge of 

 the relative value of the various modes and sys- 

 tems of tillage. 



In order to insure the accommodation and 

 comfort of visitors, and supplement the ca- 

 pacity of the city hotels and boarding-houses, 

 the managers built an hotel 330 by 200 feet, 

 close to the park, capable of entertaining com- 

 fortably one thousand guests. Besides this, the 

 best citizens of Atlanta made arrangements in 

 their private residences to entertain visitors. 

 Thus, it was computed, ample accommodation 

 was provided for thirty thousand daily visitors. 



Classification of Exhibits. The exhibits 

 were divided into nine departments, which 

 were subdivided into several groups, as fol- 

 lows: 



I. Mineral and metallurgical products, di- 

 vided into five groups: 1. General and State 

 collections; 2. Ores, combustibles, building 

 and refractory stones ; 3. Mines, wells, and 

 mining surveys ; 4. Metallurgy ; 5. Fertilizers. 

 II. Tools, implements, and machinery, di- 

 vided into nine groups, viz. : 1. Preparing cot- 

 ton and cotton-seeds ; 2. Textile manufacturing; 

 3. Tilling, planting, and harvesting; 4. Motors 

 and means of transmitting power ; 5. Printing 

 and telegraphy ; 6. Breaking and dressing 

 stone, working wood and metal ; 7. Furnaces, 

 blowers, and pumps ; 8. Preparing agricultural 

 products other than textile ; 9. Transportation. 

 III. Manufactures, general, divided into seven 

 groups, viz. : 1. Collective exhibits; 2. Chem- 

 ical and pharmaceutical products, soaps, and 

 perfumery ; 3. Bricks, tiles, terra-cotta, chem- 

 ical clay, and glass-ware ; 4. Fire-arms, military 



accoutrements, and saddlery ; 5. Medicinal prep- 

 arations and surgical instruments ; 6. Railway 

 supplies, builders' mill and metal work; 7. 

 Safes, clocks, and ornamental metal-work. 

 IV. Manufactures, textile, divided into five 

 groups, viz. : 1. Cotton yarn, cloth, and prints; 

 other vegetable fabrics ; 2. Woolen, mohair, 

 and mixed goods, woven and felted; 3. Silk 

 and silk-mixed goods ; 4. Clothing and milli- 

 nery ; 5. Paper and blank-books. V. Home, 

 and social improvement, divided into five 

 groups, viz. : 1. Furniture and musical instru- 

 ments ; 2. Mirrors and table ware ; 3. Heating, 

 cooking, and lighting; water-supply; 4. Edu- 

 cation and natural science ; 5. Fine arts. VI. 

 Forest and agricultural products, divided into 

 ten groups, viz. : 1. Forestry and general agri- 

 culture ; 2. Cotton ; 3. Fibers other than cot- 

 ton; 4. Cereals, forage, and root-crops, sugar 

 and tobacco ; 5. Farinaceous and kindred 

 foods, oils, nnd spices; 6. Animal products 

 other than fiber ; 7. Agricultural engineering ; 

 8. Fruits, wines, flowers, and ornamental 

 plants; 9. Cattle, mules, sheep, swine, dogs, 

 and poultry ; 10. Dairy products. 



The system of awards adopted by the Cen- 

 tennial Exposition was followed substantially 

 by the International Cotton Exposition. Com- 

 petent and disinterested judges 112 in all 

 were appointed for the examination of the ex- 

 hibits in the several departments which were 

 entered for competition, who, after a careful 

 and minute inspection of them, and with a 

 specific statement of an expert before them as 

 to the peculiar merits of each exhibit, awarded 

 the prizes to the successful exhibitors. The 

 " certificate of merit " was considered the 

 highest testimonial of award ; but with a view 

 to encourage the collection of minerals, woods, 

 agricultural products, and machinery for the 

 preparation and manufacture of cotton, cash 

 premiums, amounting in the aggregate to $10,- 

 000, were offered to accompany the certificate 

 of merit. In cases where a cash premium of 

 $100 or upward was awarded, the exhibitor 

 was entitled to receive instead of the money a 

 gold medal of equal value. 



The exhibits made exceeded slightly eighteen 

 hundred, embracing apparently every article in 

 the range of American industry from a Corliss 

 engine to a potato-peeler; and yet, though it 

 surpassed in size and importance the most san- 

 guine expectations of its promoters, the expo- 

 sition did not fully justify its name. It was 

 not "international " in the full meaning of the 

 word. The goods, wares, and merchandise 

 exhibited were exclusively American, with the 

 exception of one roller-gin made in Oldham, 

 England ; of some combing machinery of for- 

 eign make, included in the large and attractive 

 exhibit of the Willimantic Thread Company ; 

 of a valuable collection of foreign cotton fibers 

 collected by Mr. S. M. Inman ; and a highly 

 interesting collection of hand-made native 

 fabrics from China and Japan, contributed by 

 Messrs. Russell, of Shanghai, and exhibited by 



