576 



NEW ORLEANS EXPOSITION. 



was an electric light of 100,000 candle-power, 

 and five others of 36,000 candle-power, on 

 towers 125 feet high, illuminating the grounds 

 at night. Fifty additional Jenny arc lamps 

 were distributed at various points. The Main 

 Building was lighted by the Louisiana Electric 

 Light Company with 800 arc lamps of 2,000 

 candle-power each. The Brush Electric Il- 

 luminating Company furnished the out-door 

 lights and the 300 arc lights in the Government 

 Building. The Edison Company furnished the 

 light for the Art Building, Music Hall, and the 

 offices and smaller spaces of all the buildings, 

 with 4,800 incandescent lamps. An interest- 

 ing feature of the ornamentation of the grounds 

 was a garden of semi-tropical plants near the 

 river-front to the south of the principal build- 

 ings. It included groves of orange, banana, 

 lemon, mesquit, and maguey, and spaces de- 

 voted to the flora of Louisiana, Florida, Cali- 

 fornia, Mexico, and Central America. In front 

 of the Mexican quarters was a separate garden 

 of plants characteristic of that country, in- 

 cluding many forms of the cactus, in the midst 

 of which was a large fountain. 



After the Exposition organization was formed 

 and the plans were laid, the liberal responses 

 from foreign governments, the several States, 

 and intending private exhibitors, caused a grad- 

 ual enlargement of many of the proposed feat- 

 ures of the Exhibition, and, as little more than 

 a year was allowed for making the actual prep- 

 arations, it was not ready for opening on the 

 day originally fixed. It was therefore post- 

 poned until December 16. Even then the ar- 

 rangements were far from complete, and a 

 considerable portion of the exhibits were not 

 in place. On the opening day the streets of 

 New Orleans were gayly decorated. A mili- 

 tary parade preceded the start of the official 

 party for the Exposition grounds, and some of 

 the companies attended it as an escort. This 

 party included the Governor of the State, the 

 mayor of the city, a number of representatives 

 of other States and countries, members of the 

 United States Cabinet, and those officially con- 

 nected with the Exposition. It proceeded to 

 the grounds by way of the river, and the cere- 

 monies took place in the Music Hall, in the 

 center of the Main Building. They consisted 

 of an opening prayer by the Rev. T. DeWitt 

 Talmage, of Brooklyn, N. Y. ; an address by 

 Director-General Burke, turning over the build- 

 ings to the Board of Management ; a response 

 by the President of the Board, Mr. Edmund 

 Richardson; a telegraphic communication to 

 the President of the United States, informing 

 him of the readiness of the Exposition ; his re- 

 ply, declaring it formally opened ; the starting 

 of the engines in the machinery section on this 

 announcement ; congratulatory addresses by 

 the mayor of New Orleans and the Governor 

 of Louisiana; a poem by Mrs. Mary Ashley 

 Townsend; music by the Mexican band and 

 Currier's band from Cincinnati; and the re- 

 ceipt of dispatches of congratulation from vari- 



ous quarters. The President othe United States 

 had been unable to accept the invitation to be 

 present and formally open the Exhibition, and, 

 on account of the shortness of the session then 

 begun, it was impracticable for Congress to be 

 represented. The Government was, however, 

 directly represented in the presence of Secre- 

 tary of the Interior H. M. Teller and Postmas- 

 ter-General Frank Hat ton, in addition to ita 

 official representatives on behalf of the Gov- 

 ernment's share in the Exhibition. It was 

 also arranged that the President should open 

 the Exposition by an electric communica- 

 tion. He awaited the signal in the East Room 

 of the White House at Washington, in the 

 midst of a distinguished company, including 

 committees of the two houses of Congress. 

 Each step in the proceedings at New Orleans 

 was announced by telegraph, and the address 

 of the President of the Board of Managers, pre- 

 senting the Exposition to the President of the 

 United States, was trasrnitted verbally. Mr. 

 Arthur read his response before the company, 

 and it was immediately transmitted to New 

 Orleans. The President then touched an elec- 

 tric key, which gave the signal for starting the 

 machinery in the Main Building. 



The Main Building was devoted to general 

 exhibits, foreign displays, and the machinery 

 department. The area covered by it was 

 1,656,030 square feet, and, including the gal- 

 leries, it had a floor-space of nearly 2,500,000 

 square feet. It compared with the area cov- 

 ered by other great exhibitions as follows : 



Feet. 



Crystal Palace, London (1S62) ... 1,400,000 



London Exposition (1851) 989,884 



Paris Exposition (1855) 545,934 



Paris Exposition (1867) 456,923 



Vienna Exposition (1873) 430,500 



Philadelphia Main Building (1876) 872,320 



Atlanta Exposition (1381) . . . 107,520 



Louisville Exposition (1883) 677,400 



New Orleans World's Exposition, Main Building 



alone 1,656,030 



The area was divided by aisles having an 

 aggregate length of over six miles, and illumi- 

 nated at night by 800 arc and 15,000 incan- 

 descent electric lights. The space was laid off 

 in rectangles designated by letters and num- 

 bers on the pillars marking their limits. Along 

 the main front of the building, on its eastern 

 side, in projections of the wall, were arranged 

 the various offices connected with the manage- 

 ment and administration of the enterprise. 

 Next to these, and separated from them by 

 the first longitudinal aisle, was a space 24 

 feet wide extending the whole length of the 

 building, devoted to raw and manufactured 

 products, ores, minerals, and woods. Inside, 

 and parallel to this, was a division 48 feet 

 wide for textile fabrics, clothing, etc. An- 

 other space of equal width was devoted to 

 alimentary products ; and next to this a space 

 24 feet wide contained educational and literary 

 exhibits. Across the southern end to the ma- 

 chinery section, the general exhibits of mer- 

 chandise and the products of industry and 



