UNITED STATED 



-.;-, 



trade principles in many succeeding interna- 

 tional conventions. A second was held at Paris 

 in lvV>, in which there were 20,889 cxhi' 

 compared with i:i,n:>7 in London, where a third 

 exhibition took place in isd-j, which attracted 

 : exhibitors and C./JI l.lif:! \JMlors. Tliis 

 \\a- in turn surpassed by the I'uri-, Kxpositjnn of 

 1867, in which no/j-jc, exhibitors took part and 

 8,805,1()'. tickets were sold. At Vienna, in 1H?:{, 

 there \\ere about 50,000 exhibitors and 0,740,500 

 victors. The sixth world's fair was tin- Centen- 

 nial Inhibition at Philadelphia in 1870, which 

 d 00 acres and drew 30,804 exhibitors and 

 lo.li;i,4S!) visitors. When Paris again opened 

 ;iii i xlubition, covering about an equal extent 

 of ground, i\\ 1878, the number of exhibitors 

 wa- I0.:!i;i;. and the visitors during the one 

 hundred and ninety-four days that it was open 

 numbered 10,032,725. Tho international exhi- 

 bition at Sydney in 1879, and that at Mel- 

 bourne in isso, were naturally not of the same 

 universal character, and the Glasgow exhibi- 

 tion of isss wa> affected by similar limita- 

 tions. The next world's fair in the true sense 

 \\a^ held at Paris in 1889. It covered about 200 

 acres, and (hero were 55,000 exhibits, which 

 were viewed in the course of one hundred and 

 eighty-live days by 28,149,353 paying visitors. 

 The city of Paris gave $1,000,000 for the en- 

 terprise, private persons subscribed $3,000,000 

 of capital, and the French Government loaned 

 $3,400,000 on the security of the permanent 

 buildings, which became the property of the 

 Government when the fair was over. 



As a fitting mode of celebrating the four 

 hundredth anniversary of the landing of Colum- 

 bus on Oct. 12, 1492, it was proposed to have a 

 universal exhibition in the United States. Tho 

 idea was first taken up by citizens of New York, 

 where subscriptions to the amount of $5,000.000 

 were obtained from merchants and capitalists 

 before application was made for the sanction 

 and support, of the Federal Government. When 

 the matter came up in Congress the claims of 

 Chicago were considered superior, and a bill was 

 passed and approved on April 25, 1890, entitled 

 "An Act to provide for celebrating the four 

 hundredth anniversary of the discovery of Amer- 

 ica by Christopher Columbus, by holding an in- 

 ternational exhibition of arts, industries, manu- 

 factures, and the products of the soil, mine, and 

 sea in the city of Chicago, in the State of Illi- 

 nois." The act provided for the appointment of 

 commissioners wno should organi/e the exposi- 

 tion. The World's Columbian Commission was 

 constituted under the presidency of Thomas W. 

 Palmer, of Michigan, with Thomas M. Waller, 

 of Connecticut. M. II. de Young, of California, 

 Davidson B. Penn, of Louisiana. Gorton W. 

 Allen, of Xcw York, and Alexander M. Andrews 

 of North Carolina, as vice-presidents, and John 

 T. Dickinson, of Texas, as secretary. George 

 I!. Davis, of Illinois, was nominated dip 

 general of the exposition. An executive com- 

 mittee was appointed, as well as a board of ref- 

 erence and control, a Chicago local board, a 

 board of lady managers, and standing commit- 

 tees to deal with the following brain lies of the 

 work: Judiciary, rules, and by-laws; tariffs and 

 transportation: foreign affairs; fine art-: 

 ence, history, literature, and education: agri- 



culture; live t<M'k ; horticulture and fl. i 

 ure; finance; auditing; ceremonie* ; ela- 

 tion; manufacture*; commerce; miner, and 

 mining; fisheries and flh cull 

 and electrical and pneumatic appliance* ; f .n-try 

 and lumlM-r; machinery ; world'* 

 printing; grounds and" building'. V\ h. n ih<- 

 organization was completed and the Mipulntrd 

 financial Mij>|>ort from the citi/en* mid n. 

 pality of Chicago as.-ured. President II. 

 DM. '-'I. ISJHI, is-ued a proclamation inviting all 

 tin- nations of the earth to participate in tin- 

 World's Columbian Exposition. 



Since the time was tooshorttohavcthegr. 

 and buildings completed for themmmer : 

 as was originally intended, tl. <.| nmg of tin- 

 exposition was announced for May, 1898! V 

 the work was fairly begun it was ace elern: 

 many as 10,000 workmen being employed at one 

 time, in order to have the buildings ready to be 

 dedicated with imposing ceremonies on Oct. \1. 

 1892, in commemoration of the exact date of the 

 discovery of America. In these ceremonies the 

 President of the United States, the Governors 

 of the States, and the chiefs of the army and 

 civil departments are expected to take" part. 

 During the four days devoted to the celebration 

 a military-encampment of troops of the regular 

 army, under the command of Maj.-Gen. N 

 A. Miles, and about 10,000of the National Guard. 

 will be held. A grand review will take place on 

 Oct. 11. On the 12th a salvo of 48 volleys of ar- 

 tillery will be fired at daybreak. The troops will 

 salute the President on his entrance into the main 

 building with officials of the Government and 

 members of the diplomatic corps, repn s ( ntatives 

 of the thirteen original States, and of the P 

 the States in the order of their admission into 

 the Union ; he will be ceremoniously received. and 

 after musical exercises and the reading of the 

 director-general*! report the ceremony of dedi- 

 cation will take place, consisting in the formal 

 presentation of toe buildings by the Prt-sidmt 

 of the World's Columbian Exposition to the 

 President of the National Commission, and by 

 the latter to the President of the United > 

 followed by a dedicator}' oration and a salute of 

 the batteries, and in the evening by a reception 

 by the President. On Oct. 13 there will be an 

 industrial and civic procession, with historical 

 tableaux, and a ball in the evening, and i n <> t. 

 14 a sham battle in which all the military will 

 take part, and fireworks at night. When the 

 ceremonies are c< Deluded the buildings will ! 

 open for the installation of exhibits, for which 

 the exhibitors will have nearly six months. 



The site of the Columbian Exposition is Jack- 

 son Park, in the southeastern part of Chicn_ 

 the shore of Lake Michigan, and is reached 1 y a 

 steamer tri-,) of 10 miles on the lake. It includes 

 Midway Plaisance. and has an area of C6C> : 

 the park fronting on the Jake for a mile and a 

 half. There will be 12 great edifice?, two of 

 which will be twice as large as anv ever built 

 for former exhibitions. By the el. 

 the woman's building was 'already roofed over. 

 and several othe: .rly as far advanced. 



The most important and boral structnn 

 hall for manufactures and liberal arts, wl: 

 1,687 feet long ami 7S7 feet wide, and melon* 

 44 acres. The ridge of the roof, of glass and 



