Final Report of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Commission Part 53

NORTH CAROLINA.

_Members of North Carolina commission_.--H.H. Brimley, commissioner-general; T.K. Bruner and J.A. Holmes, resident commissioners.

In March, 1903, the legislature of North Carolina appropriated $10,000 for the partic.i.p.ation of the State at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition.

Ten thousand dollars was also raised by subscriptions among citizens and manufacturers of North Carolina, making a total of $20,000. The cost of transportation, installation, and maintenance, and general expenses of the State exhibit practically used up the total amount.

North Carolina had no State building.

The State had exhibits in the Departments of Mines and Metallurgy, Agriculture, Horticulture, Forestry, Fish and Game. The total cost of the State's partic.i.p.ation in the exposition was about as follows:

Value of loan exhibits in the different departments ....... $9,000 Cost of new specimens and cases ........................... 8,000 Value of specimens and cases already on hand and withdrawn from the State museum ................................... 30,000 Installation and expenses ................................. 12,000 ------ Total .............................................. 59,000

In mines and metallurgy the exhibit covered a floor s.p.a.ce of about 2,200 square feet. It consisted of a full, systematic collection of the minerals of the State, a representation of the ores of gold, copper, silver, iron, nickel, and tin that are native to North Carolina, and a very full exhibit of the economic minerals. Wherever possible, there were shown specimens of the finished product alongside of the raw material, and this feature added considerable value to the display. A very beautiful and very comprehensive collection of cut gems and crude gem material was perhaps the most attractive feature of the exhibit. The collection of building and ornamental stones included a large variety of granites, marbles, and sandstones, many of them of a very superior quality.

In agriculture the chief features of the exhibit were the special tobacco display and the collection of grains and seeds in the main s.p.a.ce. A good line of commercial cotton samples and of the best varieties of cotton seed were shown and some cotton-oil and cotton-mill machinery in connection therewith. The late date at which any money became available prevented any show of sheaf grains or gra.s.ses and cut short the exhibit in many ways.

In the Department of Horticulture the show was a small one, owing both to the very poor fruit year and also, again, to the late date at which the collecting had to be started. The s.p.a.ce occupied was about 500 square feet in size, while in the four different s.p.a.ces in the Agricultural Building the total floor area occupied was nearly 4,000 square feet.

The combined forestry and fish and game exhibits were among the most complete of any of the State exhibits. The total floor s.p.a.ce occupied by these was 2,400 square feet. The display of native timber specimens was most complete and systematic, and the specimens were shown in a way to impart the most information in a condensed form. The main collection consisted of planks cut the full length and width of the trees, 4 feet long by 4 inches thick, with the bark left attached. One-half of each was dressed and sandpapered, but not varnished; the other half filled and varnished and given an oil-rub finish to bring out the beauties of the grain and to show the best finish the different kinds of wood would take. Wherever possible, two sections were shown in the form of disks cut across the log. These brought out the character of the end grain and the annual growth rings, as well as the size of the trees from which each specimen came. A variety of finished wood products and a collection of forest seeds and of medicinal plants completed the exhibit.

In the Department of Fish and Game the State showed collections of mounted food and game fishes, of oysters and clams, and of tools and appliances used in their capture, including some very fine models of the more typical of the fis.h.i.+ng craft used in North Carolina waters. Fairly complete collections of the game birds, wild fowl, and sh.o.r.e birds were shown, as well as most of the prey-catching and fish-eating birds found in the State. The game animals and those valuable for their furs were also exhibited, and a very fine lot of furs, both raw and dressed, occupied a case contiguous to that containing the fur-bearing animals.

Guns, traps, etc., were shown as well to ill.u.s.trate the means used in the capture of the different kinds. Collections of marine invertebrates, of reptiles and batrachians, casts of fishes and cetaceans, an old whaling outfit, and a lot of miscellaneous material completed the exhibit.

Considering the amount of money used, the exhibits were large, varied, full, and of good quality all through, and in some cases unlimited funds could hardly have bettered them.

NORTH DAKOTA.

North Dakota had no State building on the grounds. The exhibits, which comprised every variety of grain and species of gra.s.s grown in the State, gathered from the very best samples obtained from the crop of 1903, were shown princ.i.p.ally in the Agricultural Building, although there was a very excellent exhibit in the Palace of Mines and Metallurgy, showing the mineral resources of the State, and including coal, clays, cement, building stones, etc.

The State legislature, on March 17, 1903, pa.s.sed an act authorizing the partic.i.p.ation of the State at the World's Fair to be held in St. Louis in 1904, and at the Lewis and Clark Centennial and Pacific Exposition and Oriental Fair to be held at Portland, Oreg., in 1905, and creating a commission composed of the governor, the State auditor, the lieutenant-governor, the commissioner of agriculture, and Warren N.

Steele, of Rolette County. The governor was made the president of the commission and the commissioner of agriculture the secretary.

This act appropriated the sum of $50,000 for the exhibits to be made at the two expositions therein named.

The commissioners appointed by the legislature were as follows:

Governor Frank White, president; Commissioner of Agriculture R.J.

Turner, secretary; Lieut. Governor David Bartlett, executive commissioner; Hon. H.L. Holmes, and Hon. Warren N. Steele.

There was absolutely no private contribution or subscription. The cost of the installation, including transportation and freight charges, etc., was in the neighborhood of $25,000.

OHIO.

In an act of the general a.s.sembly of the State of Ohio a bill was pa.s.sed May 12, 1902, creating a commission to the Louisiana Purchase Exposition and appropriating $75,000 for the erecting and maintaining of a State building. The act provided as follows:

For the appointment of a commission to erect a building on the grounds of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition and to take charge of the building and exhibits that might be placed therein, the governor was authorized to appoint within thirty days after the pa.s.sage of the act, a commission of seven residents of the State of Ohio and one executive commissioner, who should be ex officio a member of the commission. No more than four of the commission were to be of the same political party. It was the duty of the commission to decide upon plans and specifications for an Ohio Building to cost not exceeding $35,000. Members of the commission were not ent.i.tled to receive any compensation for their services except their actual expenses for transportation and for subsistence for the time they were necessarily engaged on the business of the commission.

The salary of the executive commissioner was $2,500 per annum, and in addition to this salary he was allowed his actual and necessary expenses. That there should be appropriated the sum of $50,000, $25,000 to be available on and after the 15th day of February, 1903, for the erection and equipment of the building and for other expenses provided for in the act.

An extra appropriation of $12,500 for the completion of the State building was provided for in an act pa.s.sed March 25, 1904, making an appropriation for an Ohio Building on the grounds of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis, Mo.

The following commissioners were appointed:

William F. Burdell, president; L.E. Holden, vice-president; Stacey B.

Rankin, executive commissioner; D.H. Moore, Edwin Hagenbuch, M.K. Gantz, Newell K. Kennon, and David Friedman.

As soon as the bill had been pa.s.sed and the commissioners had been appointed a meeting of the commission was held for the purpose of deciding upon the plans for the State building. The building was erected on the southeastern end of the fair grounds, on that part known as the Terrace of States, at a cost of $35,000. The structure was designed solely for the comfort and convenience of the people of the State, and no effort was made to exhibit therein any of the resources of the State.

In an act of the general a.s.sembly of the State an additional bill was pa.s.sed March 24, 1904, appropriating $12,500 for completing and furnis.h.i.+ng the State building on the grounds of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition. In this connection it may be of interest to mention that President Francis especially complimented the commission for its promptness in having the building erected, for on the opening day of the exposition the Ohio Building was ready for occupancy and the president himself was the first to register his name. At the close of the exposition the commission advertised for the sale of the building and disposed of it to the highest bidder.

While Ohio as a State maintained only one exhibit in the Mines and Metallurgy Building, consisting chiefly of clay and its products, over 150 private individuals and corporations throughout the State added to the prominence and magnitude of the exposition by installing costly exhibits, which were maintained by them at very great expense. These miscellaneous exhibits showed to very good advantage the natural resources of the State and its diversified products. In the Palaces of Electricity, Machinery, and Transportation the State was represented remarkably well by these private exhibitors, and much credit is due to them for their attractive and interesting display. In the Liberal Arts Building it may be correctly intimated that the Ohio exhibitors were predominant. In the Department of Anthropology, also, Ohio took the grand prize over all compet.i.tors. The display consisted princ.i.p.ally of relics taken from the historical mounds of the State, which in themselves were very interesting. Not only was the grand prize awarded for the display, but a special gold medal was presented to Prof. W.C.

Mills, librarian and curator of the Ohio Archaeological and Historical Society, for his untiring efforts in revealing to the public of to-day the mode of livelihood and the characteristics of the oldest and most historical race of this continent.

OKLAHOMA.

The Oklahoma World's Fair commission was appointed on April 19, 1901, and organized ready for active work on May 1, 1901. Two days after it was decided to hold the World's Fair in Forest Park, the Oklahoma commission notified Secretary Stevens that Oklahoma was ready to select her site for a building.

Oklahoma was among the very first to select a site on the World's Fair grounds, was first to lay a corner stone for the Territorial building, and the first to accept her building complete from the contractor and dedicate the same.

By an act of the legislature of the Territory of Oklahoma, dated March 1, 1901, the sum of $20,000 was appropriated for the partic.i.p.ation of the Territory at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition. Subsequently, on March 14, 1903, the legislature of the Territory enacted a bill appropriating $40,000 additional for the erection and equipment of the building on the grounds of the exposition, and for the transportation and installation of the exhibits of the Territory. The following were appointed by the legislature as a commission in charge of Oklahoma exhibits:

Joseph Meibergen, chairman; Otto A. Shuttee, treasurer; Edgar B.

Marchant, secretary.

The Oklahoma Building was of semi-Moorish architecture, size 71 by 72, with balconies above, below, and in front, the full width of the building. It contained reception halls, parlors, toilet rooms, and commissioner's office, 14 rooms in all. The building was two stories high, with bas.e.m.e.nt, provided with rugs and carpets of Wilton velvet.

The total cost of the building, exclusive of furniture, including gas and electric light fixtures, was approximately $15,500.

All the plaster, inside and out, used in the construction of the building was manufactured from Oklahoma gypsum.

The educational exhibit was shown in the Palace of Education and occupied 488 square feet. It contained representative work from the kindergarten to the University of Oklahoma. All the seven colleges and preparatory schools supported by the Territory were represented, and many of the ten inst.i.tutions of higher learning supported by denominational and private enterprises. Work from the majority of the 2,192 district schools was shown in leaf cabinets, framed pictures, and in other ways. Taxidermical work and modeling in Oklahoma plaster were shown, together with specimens of the handiwork of the students in the Agricultural and Mechanical College. There were more than 4,000 exhibits contained in the collection, which was shown in cabinets and cases. The total cost of collection, installation, and maintenance was $1,825.95.

The agricultural exhibit was shown in section 42 of the Palace of Agriculture, and covered 3,600 square feet of floor s.p.a.ce.

Specimens of all the agricultural products of the Territory were shown in the exhibit and consisted of the following:

Exhibits.

Thrashed grain: Wheat ................................... 160 Oats .................................... 65 Rye ..................................... 5 Barley .................................. 11 Corn, sh.e.l.led ............................. 19 Miscellaneous, consisting of alfalfa seed, timothy, speltz, castor beans, etc ...... 31 Corn in the ear: 1903 .................................... 159 1904 .................................... 300 Potatoes: Irish ......................... plates .. 150 Sweet ........................... do .... 57 Broom corn ................................ 20

The foregoing const.i.tuted the main body of the exhibit, which was supplemented by corn in the stalk, wheat, oats, barley, and other grains in exhibit bundles, native and tame gra.s.ses in profusion, water-melons, the largest of which weighed 117 pounds; various field and garden vegetables, cotton and cotton-seed products, flax, tobacco, etc. A special feature was a loaf of bread baked from flour ground from wheat of the 1904 crop. The total cost of collection, installation, and maintenance was $4,072.80.

In the Horticultural Department the exhibit covered 1,100 square feet of floor s.p.a.ce. The exhibit consisted of 250 jars of preserved fruits of the various kinds produced in Oklahoma, 200 bottles of Oklahoma grape wine, and about 400 plates of fresh fruits of the various kinds in their season. Four hundred and fifty bushels of the choicest apples were placed in cold storage in the fall of 1903 to keep the exhibit fresh. On the 15th of November the exhibit had 1,800 specimens of apples from the crops of 1904. The total cost of collection, installation, and maintenance was $4,892.48.

The mineral exhibit occupied 1,020 square feet in the Palace of Mines and Metallurgy. Here were shown 186 exhibits of sandstone, limestone, and other building stone, magnet.i.te, brick (both burned and green), transparent selenite, and various others from Oklahoma. It also contained salt, oil, and gla.s.s sand testing 96 per cent pure. The plaster resources of Oklahoma were shown from the raw material in a solid block weighing 3,600 pounds, through the various evolutions of plaster manufacture to the finished product in dainty statuettes. A prominent feature of this exhibit was the relief map of the Territory, made from Oklahoma plaster by Doctor Finney, of the University of Oklahoma. The map weighed 1,600 pounds and showed every elevation and depression, with the rivers, streams, lakes, gypsum deposits, and salt reserves. The total cost of collection, installation, and maintenance was $3,263.50.

OREGON.