I1D 



THE 



POPULAR SCIENCE 

 MONTHLY. 



OCTOBER, 1909 



THE HUDSON-FULTON' CELEBRATION OF 1909 



By Dr. GEORGE FREDERICK KUNZ 



SEW YORK CITY 



SINCE the London Exhibition of 1851, and the first Paris Exposi- 

 tion of 1855, there have been probably one hundred expositions 

 in various parts of the world. Generally they have been held in com- 

 memoration of some historic event or anniversary, and each one, large 

 or small, has usually had some special distinctive feature. The great 

 exposition at Chicago had its White City and its illuminations; the 

 Buffalo Exposition had its architecture, its illuminations and the added 

 advantage of its striking environment, and the various French exposi- 

 tions have each possessed peculiar points to mark their individuality. 

 All of them have been held for six months or more, but in a great many 

 cases from one third to one half of that time elapsed before all the 

 departments were completed and opened to the public. In this way 

 public interest was checked at the beginning, and when the exposition 

 was finally completed, a good part of the allotted time had passed, and 

 the enthusiasm always excited by these affairs had begun to flag. 



New York in itself is not only the greatest exposition, perhaps, in 

 the world, because of its geographic features and its wonderful resources, 

 but its various lines of transit — surface cars, elevated railways and sub- 

 ways — facilitate the handling of great crowds. In addition to this 

 New York lies between two rivers, and is as easily reached by boat as 

 by rail, to say nothing of the attractive physical advantages this location 

 gives it. 



The writer, in an article published in the North American Review 

 for September, 1902, and entitled " The Management and Uses of 

 Expositions," strongly urged the holding of an exposition to mark the 

 tercentenary of Henry Hudson's arrival at the mouth of the river which 

 bears his name. The forecast of the present advantages of our city 



VOL. LXXV. — 21. 



