66 REPORT OF NEW JERSEY STATE MUSEUM. 
The Exposition will open April 31st, 1904, and will con¬ 
tinue until December 1st, 1904, a period of a month longer 
than any other international exposition. 
The international feature of the Exposition have been the 
constant care of the Exposition authorities and of the United 
States government since the beginning of the enterprise. On 
August 20th, 1901, President McKinley issued his invitation 
to the nations of the world to participate iu the exhibition 
by sending such exhibits as would most fitly and fully illustrate 
their resources, their industries, and their progress in civiliza¬ 
tion. This invitation has been energetically supplemented by 
the efforts of President Roosevelt, Secretary Hay and the en¬ 
tire diplomatic service. At the present date twenty-three 
foreign nations have accepted the invitation. Among them 
are England, France, Germany, Belgium, Japan, China, India, 
Brazil and Argentina. 
From the beginning the Exposition officials in St. Louis, 
under the energetic direction of Hon. David R. Francis, ex- 
Governor of Missouri and ex-Secretary of the Interior, have 
insisted that the Exposition should be in its nature educa¬ 
tional rather than commercial. The sentiment behind the 
Exposition is the one hundredth anniversary of the purchase 
of the great Louisiana Territory from France, and it is the 
design of the Exposition builders to illustrate the methods and 
the spirit which has caused the tremendous growth and ad¬ 
vance in this territory, rather than to simply advertise its 
commercial and industrial features. 
The classification of the exhibits has been based upon this 
theory, and education made Group 1 and the foundation of 
the entire exhibit structure. In accordance with this view, 
also, education has been given one of the most beautiful 
palaces in the Exposition grounds and in almost the exact 
centre of the main architectural picture. 
MEMORANDA CONCERNING THE EDUCATION 
BUILDING. 
The palace of education is situated in the very centre of the 
exposition activities at the junction of the two main avenues. 
The building is the general shape of a keystone, with a northern 
