772 



WORLD'S COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION. 



A BIT OF OLD VIENNA. 



gresses, presided over by Mr. Bonney, was held 

 on Oct. 28. 



According to an official report of the secretary, 

 there were 210 working committees, a local mem- 

 bership of 1,600, and a nonresident membership 

 of 15,000. In preparation for these congresses 

 there were sent out over 1,000.000 circulars. 

 There were held 1,245 sessions, with 5,974 speak- 

 ers, and a total attendance of over 700,000. It 

 will require 50 volumes of 600 pages each to 

 contain the published proceedings, papers, and 

 addresses. 



The End. It was the intention of the officials 

 of the World's Fair to make the closing day an 

 event second in importance and interest to the 

 opening. With this end in view, elaborate prep- 

 arations had been undertaken, but at the last 

 moment all ceremonial exercises were abandoned, 

 and the fair closed quietly and in sadness. Two 

 days before the end the bullet of an insane 

 assassin killed Mayor Harrison, and in respect 

 to his memory the programme was canceled. 



The closing ceremony took place in Festival 

 Hall on Oct. 30 at 1 p. M., when President Palmer 

 said : 



It was intended that the speeches of to-day should 

 be of a joyous character ; that the closing ceremonies 

 of the World's Columbian Exposition of 1892 and 1893 

 should be attended with festivities, the firing of can- 

 nons, the music of bands, the making of speeches, 



and song. But a terrible tragedy has intervened to 

 bring sorrow to the city of the fair and to the world 

 as represented here. The mayor of that city which 

 has done so much for this exposition has been shot 

 down by an assassin in the portals of his home. His 

 every heartbeat pulsated with love for the city and 

 interest in the exposition. In view of this catastrophe, 

 it is deemed proper that the programme of festivities 

 should be omitted, and the exercises consist only of 

 prayer, the reading of resolutions of condolence, and 

 the benediction. 



A prayer by Dr. Barrow, of Chicago, followed, 

 after which, in a brief speech, President Higin- 

 botham offered resolutions expressing the- obliga- 

 tions of the fair to Hon. .Carter Harrison, Mayor 

 of Chicago and a director of the exposition, and 

 sorrow for his death. (See page 371 of this 

 volume.) 



A benediction followed, and the sharp sound 

 of the gavel of President Higinbotham brought 

 the World's Columbian Exposition to a close. 

 The funeral marches of Chopin and Beethoven 

 were played on the great organ as the crowd 

 dispersed. 



At sunset, 4.45 o'clock, the colors of all nations, 

 which had been flying at half mast since sunrise 

 on Sunday, were lowered together, and at the 

 word of command from artillery officers the guns 

 of a battery facing the water of the lake gave 

 the signal telling the world that with the sinking 

 of the sun the World's Fair had come to an end. 



