EXPOSITION, PARIS UNIVERSAL. 



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suited : Explosives and their Composition, by Wol- 

 oott C. Foster (New York, 1888); A Dictionary 

 of Kxplosives, by J. P. Cundill (London, 1889); 

 \ Handbook on Modern Explosives, by Manuel 

 Kissler (London, 1890) ; Smokeless Powder and its 

 Influence on Gun Construction, by J. A. Long- 

 ridge (London, 1890) ; The Modern High Explo- 

 sives, by Manuel Eissler (New York, 1893) ; Index 

 to the Literature of Explosives (American period- 

 icals, by Charles E. Munroe, Baltimore, 1893) ; 

 The Manufacture of Explosives, by Oscar Gutt- 

 inann (2 vols., London, 1895) ; and Manual of Ex- 

 plosives, by Courtenay De Kalb (Toronto, 1900). 



EXPOSITION, PARIS UNIVERSAL. In- 

 ternational world's fairs may be said to have begun 

 with that held in London in 1851. This was fol- 

 lowed by those held in Dublin and New York in 

 1S5.S. in Paris in 1855, in London in 1862, in Paris 

 in 1807, in Vienna in 1873, in Philadelphia in 1876, 

 in Paris in 1878, in Paris in 1889, and in Chicago 

 in 1893. It had become an established custom to 

 hold expositions in Paris every eleven years, and 

 accordingly, before the close of the fair in Chicago 

 in 1893, preparations were begun for holding an 

 exposition in Paris in 1900. 



Origin. By a decree of July 13, 1892, President 

 Curnot charged the Minister of Commerce and 

 Industry with the preparation of a universal ex- 

 position of works of art and of industrial and agri- 

 cultural products, to be held in Paris during six 

 months of 1900. On Sept. 9, 1893, a second decree 

 was issued, placing the administration of the expo- 

 sition under the authority of the Minister of Com- 

 merce, Industry, and the Colonies, to be directed 

 by a commissioner general. It further established 

 the list of the departments. After other prelimi- 

 nary measures, on June 13, 1896, the Senate and 

 the Chamber of Deputies enacted the complete law 

 that provided for the exposition. In accordance 

 with this law, the state contributed 20,000.000 

 rancs toward the expenses of the exposition. The 

 ity of Paris agreed to raise a like amount, which 

 ,s to represent one fifth of the total expenses, 

 while the remainder of the amount required was 

 obtained through financial establishments by the 

 issue of 3,250,000 bonds, having a face value of 20 

 francs each and comprising 20 admission tickets 

 with numbers for various lottery drawings. Be- 

 sides this, 30,000,000 francs was advanced by the 

 Bank of France, and the sale of concessions and 

 materials provided an additional 5,000,000 francs, 

 making a total of 140,000,000 ($27,020,000) that 

 was raised for the exposition fund. 



Administration. The general supervision of 

 the exposition was under the direction of the Min- 

 ister of Commerce, Industry, Posts, and Telegraphs, 

 who was at first Paul Delombre and later M. 

 illerand. The immediate direction of the exposi- 

 on was intrusted by the-minister to the following 

 aff: Commissioner General of the Exposition, 

 fred Picard, President of the Council of State; 

 )irector General of Exploitation, Delaunay-Belle- 

 'lle, Honorary President of the Chamber of Com- 

 erce of Paris; Adjunct Director General of Ex- 

 oitation, Stephanie Derville, former President of 

 e Tribunal of Commerce of the Seine; Director 

 Architecture, Parks, and Gardens, M. Bouvard, 

 irector of the Department of Architecture and 

 ndscape Gardening of the City of Paris ; Director 

 Roads, M. Defrance, Administrative Director of 

 e Department of Public Ways, Waters, Sewers, 

 id Lighting of the City of Paris; Director of 

 inances, M. Grison; Secretary General, Henry 

 Chardon, Member of the Council of State; Chief 

 of Department of Bridges of the Seine, Jean Resal, 

 Engineer in Chief of Bridges and Roads; Chief of 

 Department of Law, Edmond Moreau, former 



President of the Company of Administrators before 

 the Tribunal of Commerce of the Seine; Delegate 

 to the Section of Fine Art, M. Roujon, Director 

 of Fine Arts; Delegate to the Section of Agricul- 

 ture, M. Vassilliere, Director of Agriculture; and 

 Delegate to the Section of Colonies and Countries 

 under Protectorate, M. Dislere, Councilor of State. 



Location. The site occupied by the exposition 

 was similar to that of previous expositions in 

 Paris. Beginning at the southwest angle of the 

 Place de la Concorde, the grounds of the exposition 

 extended along two narrow strips on the banks of 

 the Seine for a mile and a half to the Avenue 

 de Suffren, which forms the western boundary of 

 the Champ-de-Mars. The principal exhibition 

 spaces were four, arranged in pairs the park of 

 the Art Palaces and the Esplanade des Invalides 

 at the east, the Champ-de-Mars and the Trocadero 

 on the west. On the south side of the river the 

 Esplanade des Invalides was united with the 

 Champ-de-Mars by the Quai d'Orsay. On the 

 north side the park of the Art Palaces was con- 

 nected with the Trocadero by the Quai de la Con- 

 ference, the Cours-la-Reine, and the Quai Debilly. 

 The total surface of the four areas and the connect- 

 ing links along the Seine was 336 acres. In addition 

 to the space just mentioned, an area was secured 

 in the Bois de Vincennes on the eastern border 

 of the city as an annex, which was devoted to 

 transportation and sports. Convenient access was 

 had to the various parts of the exposition by means 

 of an electric railway and a moving sidewalk. 



Grounds and Buildings. The grounds, which 

 had long been park areas, were well provided with 

 trees and shrubs, which had been carefully nur- 

 tured, so that artificial gardening to any extent 

 was unnecessary to increase the beauty of the site. 

 The main entrance to the exposition was at the 

 southwest corner of the Place de la Concorde, 

 where stood the Port Monumentale, designed by 

 the architect Binet. This led to the new Avenue 

 Nicholas II, which extended from the Champs- 

 Elysees to the Pont Alexandre III. On the west 

 side of this avenue was the Grand Palace of Art, 

 while facing it on the east was the Petit Palais. 

 These two buildings were permanent structures, 

 and were erected to take the place of the old 

 Palais de 1'Industrie, which formed the principal 

 building of the exposition in 1855. The Grand 

 Palace had a facade 500 feet long, and in the per- 

 fection of its design and the profusion of its orna- 

 mentation was intended to be the noblest exponent 

 of contemporary French architecture and sculp- 

 ture. The exterior was elaborately decorated with 

 ornamental and sculptural designs, which added 

 greatly to its imposing appearance and massive 

 grandeur. A splendid colonnade of Corinthian 

 pillars was an attractive feature of the fagade. 

 Extending along the front were several groups of 

 statuary depicting art in different eras of the 

 world's history, while on the wings and colon- 

 nades were eight seated figures of similar repre- 

 sentative character. Along the main facade, under 

 the grand colonnade, was a frieze 240 feet long 

 by 10 high, divided into ten sections, five repre- 

 sentative of modern art and five of ancient. In 

 the building were exhibited examples of contem- 

 porary art, both French and foreign. The Petit 

 Palais was of similar character. A bas-relief above 

 the entrance represented the city of Paris protect- 

 ing art. On either side of the entrance were groups 

 of statuary, that on the right being emblematic 

 of the four seasons, while that on the left repre- 

 sented the Seine and its tributary rivers. On top, 

 to the right and left of the entrance, were groups 

 representing the genius of sculpture and the genius 

 of painting. The building contained the centennial 





