762 



WORLD'S COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION. 



the rendering of the grand march by Jean In- 

 gebors von Bronsart. of Weimar, Germany ; then 

 followed a prayer by Miss Ida Hullin. Miss 

 Frances Elliott, of London, gave a dramatic 

 overture, after which Mrs. Potter Palmer made 

 the formal address of the occasion. A jubilate, 

 by Mrs. H. H. A. Beach, of Boston, was the next 

 feature of the programme. Addresses were then 



THE GENIUS OF THE LOCOMOTIVE GROUP. 



delivered by the following representatives of 

 foreign nations : Spain, Duchess de Veragua ; 

 Italy, Countess di Brazza; England, Mrs. Bed- 

 ford Penwick ; Scotland-Ireland, Duchess of Ab- 

 erdeen; Russia, Princess Schachoffsky. The 

 hymn "America" and a benediction brought 

 these exercises to a close. The golden nail 

 which marked the completion of the Woman's 

 Building at the exposition was of gold, silver, 

 and copper, with a Montana sapphire set in the 



upper portion of the shield which is attached to 

 the nail near the head. Mrs. Potter Palmer, 

 President of the Board of Lady Managers, drove 

 the nail of gold home with a silver hammer. An 

 attendance of 128,965 was registered. 



The Great Day. During the fair many days 

 were set aside and honored with special cere- 

 monies. Various national organizations gath- 

 ered at times specified for 

 their coming. Foreign 

 nations sent their repre- 

 sentatives on certain days, 

 which were celebrated 

 with appropriate exercises. 

 The States of the Union 

 had their days. Supreme 

 above these was Chicago's 

 day. Oct. 9, the twenty- 

 second anniversary of the 

 great fire thai devastated 

 that city, was appropri- 

 ately chosen as the time 

 to show the world how the 

 effects of that event had 

 become only a memory. 

 A new and more beautiful 

 city had taken the place 

 of that which had pre- 

 viously existed. 



Early in the morning 

 the railway trains from 

 Van Buren Street began 

 running with three min- 

 utes' headway and with 

 added facilities of cable, 

 elevated, and horse cars. 

 When the gates opened to 

 the exposition grounds 

 15,000 persons were wait- 

 ing for admission. As 

 the morning gave way to 

 noon-time, and the after- 

 noon passed into evening, 

 the crowd increased, until 

 at the closing of the gates, 

 when the returns were 

 made up, it was found 

 that 716,881 persons paid 

 their way into the grounds. 

 By way' of comparison it 

 may be noted that at 

 Philadelphia in 1876 217,- 

 526 was the greatest at- 

 tendance on any one day, 

 and at Paris in 1889 the 

 greatest day brought only 

 397,150 visitors. The day 

 was celebrated with appro- 

 priate exercises. 



The first event arranged 

 by the World's Fair Com- 

 mittee of the Chicago Common Council took 

 place at 9 o'clock, and was in commemoration of 

 Chicago's birth and early history. The old Pot- 

 tawattamie chief, Simon Pokaron, whose father, 

 Leopold, deeded the land upon which Chicago 

 is built, had been induced to come from his 

 home in Hartford, Mich., for Chicago day. He 

 stood beside the Columbian bell with uncovered 

 head in the dress of the white man. and received 

 the homage of thousands. He was born sixty- 



