REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 69 
After conference with Col. Wilson and acting in accordance with his 
i suggestions, the work of preparing the necessary plans and specifica- 
_ tions was assigned to Mr. C. E. Gorham, the engineer officer of the 
~ Commission. 
4 
During the winter of 1889-90, the plans and specifications were care- 
fully studied and revised and were ready for transmission in April, 
1590, but owing to various delays and the difficulty of finding a suitable 
person to designate as inspector, were not transmitted until after the 
close of the fiscal year covered by this report. 
WORLD’S COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION. 
Section 16 of the act of Congress approved April 25, 1890, ‘To pro- 
vide for celebrating the four hundredth anniversary of the discovery of 
America by Christopher Columbus by holding an international exhibi- 
tion of arts, industries, manufactures, and the products of the soil, 
mines, and sea, in the city of Chicago, in the State of Illinois,” directs— 
That there shall be exhibited at said Exposition by the Government of the 
United States, from its executive departments, the Smithsonian Institution, the U.S. 
Fish Commission, and the National Museum, such articles and materials as illustrate 
the function and administrative faculty of the Government in time of peace and its 
resources as a war power, tending to demonstrate the nature of our institutions and 
their adaptation to the wants of the people; and to secure a complete and harmo- 
nious arrangement of such a Government exhibit, a board shall be created to be 
charged with the selection, preparation, arrangement, safe keeping, and exhibition 
of such articles and materials as the heads of the several departments and the di- 
rectors of the Smithsonian Institution and National Museum way respectively decide 
shall be embraced in said Government exhibit. The President may also designate 
additional articles for exhibition. Such board shall be composed of one person to 
be named by the head of each executive department, and one by the directors of the 
Smithsonian Institution and National Museum, and one by the Fish Commission, 
such selections to be approved by the President of the United States. (U.S. Stat. 26, 
pp. 62 et seq.) 
In pursuance of law, the Commissioner named Mr. J. W. Collins, 
assistant in charge of the Division of Fisheries, as the representative of 
the Commission on the Government Board of Control and Management, 
and his designation having been approved by the President, Mr. Collins 
entered upon his duties in August, 1890. No active work was under- 
taken until April, 1891, when certain of the personnel were appointed, 
a building at 210 Tenth street, N. W., Washington, was leased and fitted 
up for offices and work shops, and the preparations commenced. 
In response to a communication from the Secretary of the Treasury 
requesting an estimate of the money and space required for an adequate 
exhibit of the fisheries and fishery resources of the United States at 
the World’s Columbian Exposition, the Commissioner of Fisheries re- 
plied as follows: 
In compliance with your request, I have the honor to transmit herewith estimates 
of the cost of preparing, placing, caring for, and returning such an exhibit of the 
