AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



745 



W. I. BUCIIAl^AI^. 



The interview of Dr. A. B. Mason 

 with Mr. Buchanan, the Chief of the 

 Agricultural Department of the World's 

 Columbian Exposition, was mentioned in 

 the Bee Jouenal of last week, on page 

 711. 



Knowing that our readers will be 

 pleased to learn what kind of a man the 

 Chief is, we herewith present an engrav- 

 ing and some account of his past life : 



William Insco Buchanan is a man of 

 excellent physique, with broad shoulders 

 and deep chest. He is very active, and 

 is full of vitality and business vim. He 



W. I. BUCHANAN. 



readily grasps details, formulates plans, 

 and has the nerve to carry them into 

 execution. 



As Chief of the Agricultural Depart- 

 ment of the World's Columbian Exposi- 

 tion, Mr. Buchanan has accomplished 

 wonders as an originator, organizer, 

 architect and conductor of the the multi- 

 farious factors entering into the compo- 

 sition of his vast department. In a 

 word, the outcome of all his labor 

 promises to be an unqualified success ;-a 

 result due the importance of the depart- 

 ment and well deserved by the man. 



The following biographical notes iyom 

 an exchange, and particulars as to the 

 work accomplished by Mr. Buchanan, 

 will be read with interest : 



W. I. Buchanan was born near Coving- 

 ton, O., September 10, 1853. He was 

 left an orphan when eight years old, and 

 spent his boyhood and early manhood on 

 his grandfather's farm, near his birth- 

 place. He was given a common school 

 education, to which was supplemented 

 an extensive course of reading. In lat- 

 ter years he learned the trade of an edge- 

 tool maker, which he followed for 

 several years. Later he entered mercan- 

 tile life, which he has followed ever 

 since. 



He removed to Sioux City, Iowa, in 

 1882, from Dayton, Ohio, and is one of 

 a large firm engaged in the jobbing- 

 trade there. He is widely known as an 

 amusement manager throughout the 

 country, and was one of the chief execu- 

 tive officers of the great Corn Palaces 

 that have become known throughout 

 this entire country, and have made 

 Sioux City famous. 



Upon the formation of the World's 

 Columbian Commission he was appointed 

 by Governor Boies a member of that 

 body from Iowa. In December, 1890, 

 he was appointed by Director-General 

 Davis to tl\e position of Chief of the 

 Department of Agriculture, and in Jan- 

 uary, 1891, had assigned to him tem- 

 porarily the Departments of Live Stock 

 and Forestry. 



The Agricultural Department was or- 

 ganized on December 12, 1890, but its 

 affairs were conducted from Sioux City, 

 Iowa, "the residence of the Chief, until 

 March 15, 1891, from which date the 

 work has been carried on from Exposi- 

 tion Headquarters at Chicago. 



An outline plan of the work to be 

 accomplished was formulated, and cor- 

 respondence begun with the officers of 

 the various farmers' organizations and 

 State Boards of Agriculture, and manu- 

 facturing industries represented in the 

 scope of the Department. 



The idea was to put the Department 

 as promptly as possible in touch and 

 sympathy with those most interested in 

 its success, and to obtain suggestions of 

 practical value from persons most com- 

 petent to make them. 



In order to accommodate fully the 

 exhibit of farming tools and implements, 

 Chief Buchanan asked for the construc- 

 tion of an annex, which was granted, 

 and will be erected south of the Agricul- 

 tural Building. It will be 300x500 



