Final Report of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Commission Part 51

The dairy interest of the State was represented in an exhibit in the Palace of Agriculture. In this exhibit samples of the b.u.t.ter and cheese products in Missouri were shown tastefully arranged.

The Kansas City Casino showed a munic.i.p.al exhibit attractively arranged in a commodious building erected for that purpose. The casino consisted of two wings, each 24 by 58 feet, and connected by an open court 62 by 67 feet, and located on the model street of the exposition. In the casino were a relief map showing Kansas City in detail, a map of the United States showing Kansas City's location with reference to the great productive region, railroad map, a.s.sembly room, rest rooms, and library.

MONTANA.

On May 20, 1903, the governor of Montana, Joseph Toole, appointed the following-named commissioners from the State of Montana at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition: Lee Mantle, b.u.t.te; Martin Maginnis, Helena; Paul McCormick, Billings; C.W. Hoffman, Bozeman; B.F. White, Dillon; William Scallon, b.u.t.te; F.A. Heinze, b.u.t.te; D. McDonald, b.u.t.te; Conrad Kohrs, Helena; J.H. Rice, Fort Benton; W.G. Conrad, Great Falls; T.L.

Greenough, Missoula; C.J. McNamara, Helena; D.R. Peeler, Kalispel; H.L.

Frank, b.u.t.te, and William C. Buskett, special representative.

The commission met and appointed the following officers:

Lee Mantle, president; Martin Maginnis, vice-president; Paul McCormick, secretary; C.W. Hoffman, treasurer.

The legislature of the State appropriated the sum of $50,000 on May, 1903, and at the same time made appropriations of $7,300 and $14,290.99, which could be utilized by the commissioners for the purpose of Montana's partic.i.p.ation in the exhibition at the World's Fair. Besides the amount appropriated by the State, the sum of $20,000 was contributed from private sources.

The State building was erected at a cost of $20,000, and was maintained throughout the period of the exposition at a cost of $6,000, $1,000 additional being spent for entertainments.

The Montana State Building was of fancy Doric design, and was universally admired by the exposition visitors. One of the prominent features in the interior of the building was the famous painting by Paxton of the Custer Ma.s.sacre. An onyx mantle from Montana was also greatly admired. The State s.h.i.+eld, in gold, copper, silver, and Montana sapphires, was one of the most interesting features of the interior decorations.

The commission appointed as hostess to look after the personal welfare of the visitors from the State of Montana Mrs. Addie McDowell, who was ably a.s.sisted by an auxiliary committee consisting of Mary A. Cruse, Mrs. W.W. Cheely, and Mrs. T.R. Carson. State officials and some of the most prominent residents of the State were entertained at various times in the building.

Montana was represented in the following departments: Mines and Metallurgy, Palace of Agriculture, Horticulture Pavilion, Forestry, Fish, and Game Building, and the Educational Palace.

In the Mines Building the grand prize was awarded to Montana. In the Agricultural Building the State received 209 medals, and the exhibits in all the other exhibit palaces were remarkably good.

NEBRASKA.

On April 8, 1903, the Nebraska State legislature voted for the appointment of a State board of commissioners by the governor and for the appropriation of $35,000.

The following-named commissioners were subsequently appointed by the governor:

Gurdon W. Wattles, president; Peter Jansen, vice-president; Matt Miller, treasurer; H.C. Shedd, secretary.

Although Nebraska had no State building on the grounds, it erected a very large and commodious pavilion on the main aisle of the Palace of Agriculture, where the State commissioners established their headquarters. In the pavilion were reception rooms, reading and writing tables, post-office, check room, lavatories, and all the articles and conveniences found in the more elaborate State buildings on the grounds.

The pavilion covered nearly 8,000 square feet of s.p.a.ce, and was handsomely decorated with grains, gra.s.ses, and corn arranged in most artistic form. In addition to the appropriation of $35,000 made by the legislature to cover the cost of the exhibit, private subscriptions, amounting in the aggregate to $25,000, contributed largely by exhibitors, increased the amount expended by Nebraska at the fair to $60,000.

The princ.i.p.al exhibit made by Nebraska was in the Agriculture Department. There sheaf grain, gra.s.ses, corn, vine products, and all agricultural products were shown, including all varieties of field, sweet, flint, and pop corn.

In connection with the agricultural exhibit in the pavilion, the commission maintained a small theater fitted up with opera chairs, stage, electric fans, and all accessories of the modern playhouse. In the theater a free stereopticon and moving-picture exhibition was given, ill.u.s.trating the resources and industries of the State. Another attractive feature of the agricultural exhibit was the mounted steer "Challenger," which won the first prize of the world at the international stock show at Chicago, December, 1903.

In the horticultural exhibit a display of Nebraska's choicest fruits attracted much attention.

The educational exhibit showed the work of the Nebraska schools from the kindergarten through the colleges and universities. It also made a fine display of the work of women's clubs in literary and musical lines.

Throughout the exhibit the fact that Nebraska ranked first in small percentage of illiteracy was constantly emphasized.

In the mineral exhibit samples of Nebraska's best building stones, bricks, cement, and similar products were displayed, and a complete collection of soils from different parts of the State was shown. Cases of fossils from the university museum, specimens from the geological department of the university, and typical photographs of Nebraska added attractiveness to the exhibit. There was also an exhibit showing Nebraska's dairy and creamery resources.

Opposite the Nebraska Pavilion the State made its main corn display.

Nebraska had a larger exhibit of corn than any State making an exhibition of cereals. There were more than 57 varieties, running from the little "Tom Thumb" ears of popcorn to mammoth ears of field corn.

One species of corn which attracted particular attention was the result of grafting experiments, whereby several varieties of corn of various colors and shades were made to grow on one cob. This variety was known as the "Evolution Species."

During the exposition live-stock shows the Nebraska commission transported free from Nebraska to St. Louis the prize-winning stock and poultry of the State fair at a cost of several thousand dollars. The choice and exhibition of this kind of stock and poultry were in charge of the Nebraska live-stock and poultry a.s.sociations.

NEW HAMPs.h.i.+RE.

The New Hamps.h.i.+re Building was a reproduction of the birthplace of Daniel Webster. The building was quaint and striking in appearance, with high-pitched roof and an absence of eaves, small-paned, old-fas.h.i.+oned windows, and weatherboarded sides, and an enormous chimney rising from the center of the roof, exactly like the original at Franklin, N.H. In every room was a wealth of old-fas.h.i.+oned furniture from New Hamps.h.i.+re homes, much of it a hundred years old or more, as well as Webster relics, davenports, ma.s.sive polished-top mahogany tables and sideboards, warming pans, antique sideboards, china closets, straight-backed armchairs, grandfather clocks, china and pewter ware. The greater part of the antique furnis.h.i.+ngs were from the very valuable collection of Gen. William E. Spalding, of Nashua. The State Building was provided with a lecture hall for stereopticon lectures, having a screen 16 feet square.

The State commission was composed of Gen. Charles S. Collins, president; Arthur C. Jackson, vice-president and executive commissioner; Omar A.

Towne, secretary; Augustine R. Ayers, treasurer; J. Adam Graf; Orton B.

Brown; Mrs. Arthur C. Jackson, hostess. Mr. Brown contributed a carload of lumber, and General Collins and Mr. Jackson individually bore all the expense of construction and maintenance.

The most elaborate of New Hamps.h.i.+re's exhibits was that of the largest cotton mills in the world, in the Manufactures Building, although the State was represented by individual exhibitors in the various exhibition palaces.

NEW JERSEY.

_Members of New Jersey commission_.--Foster M. Vorhees, chief commissioner; Elbert Rappleye, Edgar B. Ward, C.E. Breckenridge, Edward R. Weiss, J.T. MacMurray, Ira W. Wood, W.H. Wiley, Johnston Cornish, Harry Humphreys, R.W. Herbert; Lewis T. Bryant, secretary.

The object of the New Jersey commission for the Louisiana Purchase Exposition was to provide visitors from the State with suitable and homelike headquarters and to advertise the extensive resources of the Commonwealth. The growth of the manufacturing interests of the State has been so remarkable that from a purely agricultural center it has, within a comparatively few years, obtained an indisputable position in the forefront of the manufacturing States of the Union. The number and character of individual exhibits compared favorably with other States represented. They represented a variety of industries, and were among the finest exhibits at the exposition.

The State Pavilion was a practical reproduction of the old Ford Tavern at Morristown, N.J., which was used as Was.h.i.+ngton's headquarters during the winter of 1779-80. Alexander Hamilton made his home there that winter, and there met the daughter of General Schuyler, whom he afterwards married. Among other famous men who have been beneath its roof were Green, Knox, Lafayette, Steuben, Kosciusko, Schuyler, "Light Horse" Harry Lee, Old Israel Putman, "Mad Anthony" Wayne, and Benedict Arnold.

The location of the New Jersey Building was in the center of a grove of trees, with an extensive lawn, and had every convenience for the comfort of visitors. The furnis.h.i.+ngs were selected to harmonize in color as well as with a view to comfort.

Owing to the expense required to make s.h.i.+pments of fresh articles such a great distance, the commission found it would be impossible to make such agricultural and horticultural displays as would do justice to the State with the amount of the appropriation placed at their disposal.

The educational exhibit differed in some features from that of any other State. For the display of books and various lines of work not readily shown upon the walls or in the cabinets, drawers instead of shelves were placed under the cabinets. This enabled the work to be put in convenient form for inspection, and had the additional merit of keeping it clean.

Another feature entirely new and used for the first time at this exposition was the index key. The exhibit was divided into sections lettered from A to M, inclusive, and these were subdivided into units numbered from 1 to 68, inclusive. Each unit consisted of a leaf cabinet with six drawers directly underneath. The units from 15 to 21, inclusive, served as an index to the entire New Jersey educational exhibit. Unit No. 15 directed to first year's work. Unit No. 16 directed to second and fourth year's work. Unit No. 17 directed to third and fourth year's work, and so on.

To find work from a particular school, the card containing work from the county or city in which said school is located was first taken. That card directed to the section in which all work of the school, except that placed upon the walls, could be found. Different lines of school work were bound in different colored volumes, as shown by index cards.

Another unique feature of the exhibit was the manual-training work of each school shown in connection with its academic work.

A combined exhibit of music and art was exceptionally fine and attracted much attention. The work of a very large percentage of schools, both rural and urban, was represented, and the Garden State ably maintained the reputation won at former expositions.

In the section of social economy of the Educational Building the State was represented by comprehensive exhibits from the following: The State board of health, Trenton, N.J.; bureau of statistics of labor and industries, Trenton, N.J.; New Jersey School for Deaf Mutes; New Jersey State Inst.i.tution for Feeble-Minded Women, Vineland, N.J.; New Jersey Training School for Feeble-Minded Boys and Girls, Vineland, N.J.; New Jersey Children's Home Society, Trenton, N.J.; Woodbine Settlement, Woodbine, N.J.; State Custodial Asylum for Feeble-Minded Women, Newark, N.J., and the School for Nervous and Backward Children.

The exhibit of the geological survey in the Mines and Metallurgy Building was in many respects unique among the various exhibits in the Mines Building. Geological surveys have been carried out under State auspices for more than half a century, and, as a result, New Jersey was in a position to ill.u.s.trate to younger and less thoroughly studied States how science and industry go hand in hand.

New Jersey is the best-mapped portion in America. Therefore a salient feature of the exhibit was a large relief map of the State, models of typical sections of the State, and files of the position and elevation of every portion of the State. The building stones of the State formed a pyramid in the center of the exhibit, and alongside of it was a microscope, with 70 sections of New Jersey rocks, showing how they are studied to estimate their value for construction purposes.

The New Jersey geological survey had two superb terra-cotta columns made of New Jersey clay on enameled brick piers. Adjoining the entrance was the New Jersey clay exhibit proper. In it were shown samples of all the prominent clays, burned bricklets, which ill.u.s.trated the way clay acts when burned at various cones (temperatures), the air and fire shrinkage, and various other properties and a.n.a.lyses of clays, all facts of importance to the clay worker, as well as large photographs of the chief clay banks and various steps in utilizing clay.

A collection of New Jersey bricks was tested to determine the breaking and crus.h.i.+ng strength. The results of these tests were shown, together with samples of the bricks cla.s.sified according to the method of manufacture and geological occurrences of the clay. A model of a New Jersey clay refinery was shown, ill.u.s.trating the manner in which high-grade clays are prepared for potteries.

The natural advantages found on the coast and mountains of New Jersey have produced many fine and well-known resorts. In order to ill.u.s.trate some of the attractions there found, the exhibit in the Forestry, Fish, and Game Building was prepared. It showed beautiful mounted specimens of practically all the birds that frequent the State. In addition to the mounted fresh and salt-water fishes there was displayed, in the largest pool that has ever been constructed at an exposition, a number of the live salt-water fish found along the coast. The oyster industry was represented by an exhibit from the State bureau of sh.e.l.l fisheries. A gla.s.s tank filled with salt water showed an oyster bed containing the following variety of oysters, all of which are products of New Jersey: Shrewsburys, Raritan, Barnegat, Maurice River coves, Absecon salts, and the Cape May salts. The tank also contained a profusion of marine vegetation, and a number of the varieties of clams and fish common to the waters of the State. An interesting demonstration was made of each stage of the progression from the spat to the prime oyster.