CALIFORNIA. 



of 50 was named by the Mayor of San Francisco, 

 who chose from its members an executive com- 

 mittee thai organi/ed on July 28 as follow: 

 M. 1 1. il- Foung, President ;nnl Director-General; 

 Irwin <'. Stump, Vice-President ; P. N. Lilien- 

 thul. Treasurer ; and Alexander Badlarn, Secre- 

 tary; to whom were added later the following 

 represent at ivrs from the interior of California: 

 Fulton G. Berry. Fresno; Eugene J. Gregory, 

 niento; Jacob II. Neff, Colfax; and J. E. 

 Slausoii. Los Angeles. Two important problems 

 demanded immediate solution that of the in- 

 stallation of the fair, and that of financial ways 

 and mean-. A second committee of 50 was 

 named by Mayor Ellert, of San Francisco, with 

 \V. II. ].'. Barnes as i-hairman, to consider the 

 raising of funds. At first Herman Schainwald 

 was financial manager, and later Louis Sloss, Jr., 

 and Frank Johnson succeeded him. An active 

 canvass was made, and soon more than $400,000 

 was obtained. An act of Congress was procured 

 making the exposition international in charac- 

 ter, and securing to foreign exhibitors the same 

 privileges that they enjoyed in Chicago. On 

 Aug. 24, in the presence of the largest gathering 

 witnessed in San Francisco, ground was 

 broken for the fair. Meanwhile the director- 

 g.-ne.ral, aided by his assistant, Rene Comely, 

 was busy in Chicago, where he secured the most 

 desirable exhibits for the Midwinter Fair. 



Site. "There is not a place more pictur- 

 esquely beautiful in or about any American 

 city " than Golden Gate Park. It is back of the 

 hills that surround the Bay of San Francisco, 

 and extends to the ocean. It has a beauty of 

 landscape in hill and valley, with broad, smooth 

 road-, majestic trees, and semitropical plants 

 and flowers in profusion, with a great green 

 carpet of grass in the dead of winter. Such was 

 the site chosen for the Midwinter Fair. A place 

 of .shifting sands, with here and there a tree 

 known as Concert valley, and reserved as the 

 permanent music area was assigned to the ex- 

 position authorities. It included 160 acres, and 

 when selected had not yet been beautified. 



H ii ild ings. Great and small, there were 

 more than 300 structures contained within the 

 grounds of the Midwinter Fair, although not 

 more than 70 were of special importance. The 

 chief buildings were constructed of plaster and 

 and were highly ornamented. They in- 

 cluded the Manufactures and Liberal Arts Pal- 

 ace, de-igned by A. Page Brown. This was 402 

 feet long and 225 feet wide. Its annex was 370 

 feet long and (>0 fee.t wide, and together with 

 gallerie. afforded an area of 177,000 square feet. 

 Tii.- ocri was $120,000. The Mechanics' Art 

 Pah i_rncil by Edward |{. Swain. It 



''.'M feet Ion- and 1 GO feet wide. Its annex 

 was 24!> feet long and 45 feet, wide, and together 

 with galleries afforded an area of :', 7,041 square 

 feet. The oost was $72,000. The Horticultural 

 and Agricultural Palace was designed by Samuel 

 Newsoin, and was of the, old Spanish mission 

 Stvle. It was |IK) feet, long . in ,l !<)() f r( .|, w j,l ( . 

 The total ar.-.-i of the building, including hall 

 UMTS, was J7,297 ^uare feet. It cost $63.300. 

 The Administration Building was designed by 

 A. Pau r e Brown, and was O f a mixed Indian and 

 Siamese style. It wa qiiare, and had a 



total floor area of 16,800 square feet. It cost 



$30,000. The building for Fine Arts, designed 

 by C. C. McDougal, was of brick and staif. It 

 was in style a modern adaptation of Egyptian 

 architecture, and in coloring more subdued than 

 many of the other structures. It contained 

 2,000 running feet of space for exhibits of 

 paintings. The cost was $30,000. These five 

 principal buildings were grouped around a 

 parallelogram called the Grand Court, in the 

 center of which stood the Bonet Steel Tower, 272 

 feet high, a number of artistically ornamented 

 fountains, and many beautiful features of at- 

 tractive landscape gardening. Beyond this 

 court were the various national, State, and 

 county buildings; while to the east was the 

 Festival Hall, designed by A. Page Brown, in 

 the Spanish- Mexican style of architecture. It 

 was 141 feet long and 133 feet wide. The cost 

 was $20,000. The total expense of the buildings 

 is said to have been $1,500,000. 



Concessions. Many of the spectacular side 

 shows of the Midway Plaisance were transferred 

 to the Midwinter Fair at the close of the exhibi- 

 tion in Chicago, notably the Oriental Village 

 with its Turkish theater, Street in Cairo, Cafe 

 Chantant, and scores of Turkish and Syrian 

 booths. Then there were several Moorish res- 

 taurants and the Moorish Mirror Maze. The 

 '49 Mining Camp included 29 buildings, among 

 which was the identical cabin occupied by Sena- 

 tor George C. Perkins in 1849. The ethnological 

 concessions included an Arizona Indian village, 

 a Sioux Indian village, an Eskimo village, a Da- 

 homey village, a Chinese village, a Japanese tea 

 village, and a Hawaiian village, containing the 

 cyclorama of the volcano of Kilauea. There was 

 a reproduction of Heidelberg Castle, with a Ger- 

 man village at its base, a part of the Public 

 Prater in Vienna, and a bit of old Paris, as well 

 as a Swiss chalet, in all of which were attend- 

 ants in their particular national costumes. An 

 Arizona museum, a St. Bernard dog show, Col. 

 Boone's arena of wild animals, a scenic railway, 

 an electric theater, as well as many restaurants 

 and kiosks, were scattered around 'the grounds 

 to cater to the various wants and interests of 

 the visitors. Finally, the Haunted Swing and 

 Dante's Inferno deserve mention. 



Opening Day. Notwithstanding the short 

 time that elapsed between the day when the 

 project was announced and Jan. 1, wonderful 

 progress was made toward the completion of 

 the buildings and the installation of the ex- 

 hibits. As the enterprise developed, apathy 

 became enthusiasm, and additions in the way 

 of annexes to the larger buildings became neces- 

 sary, and hence the exposition was not ready 

 for opening on the first of the year. The day- 

 was therefore set for Jan. ,27, which day was 

 made a legal holiday by the State authorities. 

 The morning dawned brightly, and the cere- 

 monies began with a procession, of which Gen. 

 John II. Dickinson was grand marshal. It 

 started exactly at 10 o'clock from the junction 

 of Van Ness and Golden Gate Avenues. The 

 officials of the fair, the Governor of the State, 

 the Protestant Episcopal Bishop of California, 

 the foreign commissioners, and others rode in 

 carriages, and were followed by special features, 

 including the '49 Mining Camp, with its old 

 stagecoach, cowboys, and miners, and at the end 



