The Book of the Fair - Chapter 22



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Chapter the Twenty-Second:
State Exhibits

In the preceding chapters I have traced the history of fairs, beginning 
with the days of Solomon, when the fair had already become a prominent 
factor in the commerce of the east; then turning to the subject proper of 
my work, I have presented in outline the origin, site, construction, and 
general aspect of the Columbian Exposition, followed by a detailed 
description of each of its principal divisions. But yet there remain to be 
described its accessory departments, its state and foreign exhibits, its 
Midway plaisance, its congresses, incidents, and results, all subjects 
full of interest, and to many the most attractive features in the entire 
display. 

To 39 states and territories and to 19 foreign powers, with due regard to 
geographic grouping, a liberal space was allotted, skirting on both sides 
the north lagoon and the palace of Fine Arts, and thence extending toward 
the northern limit of Jackson park. By home an foreign participants was 
appropriated, as we have seen, more than $10,000,000 in all, and of this a 
liberal proportion was devoted to the erection of separate buildings for 
the display of certain classes of exhibits, and also for use as official 
headquarters, as club-houses and resting places where visitors from each 
state and country could meet their friends and neighbors, for whom 
otherwise they might search in vain among the millions who made the 
pilgrimage of the Fair. In the larger buildings are assembly halls and in 
each one appliances for personal comfort and convenience. Here registers 
are kept, mails delivered, information afforded, and as convenient 
rendezvous for men and women are reception rooms, some of them decorated 
in the highest style of modern art and furnished in antique or colonial 
fashion. 

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In many instances the history of the state is represented, as in the 
building itself, in relics and symbolic statuary, and in the portraits of 
eminent men. Thus Florida's edifice is a reproduction of Fort Marion and 
Virginia's of Washington's Mount Vernon home, while, as I have said, 
California's structure recalls the mission days of her pastoral era. 
Others again represent the special industries of the state, with a view to 
climatic conditions, or embody its prevailing style of architecture, its 
local taste in decorative scheme. While some of the smaller buildings were 
intended chiefly for official and social purposes, not a few contain 
elaborate exhibits, especially of raw material; for, under the rules of 
classification, manufactures and their processes were excluded, nor could 
such exhibits compete for prizes or awards. Thus they are partially a 
reduplication or in the nature of a supplement to the state collections in 
the Agricultural and other main departments of the Fair, illustrative of 
primary resources and industries, together with historic and archaeologic 
features. 

In describing the state exhibits and buildings they will here be presented 
in sections, and rather with a view to geographical position than in 
relation to quality and size. But it is not my purpose to describe in 
elaborate detail all these two-score structures and their contents, the 
former varying from a classic temple to a frontier block-house, and the 
latter from a pot of honey or a jar of pickles to a masterpiece of art. To 
the general exhibits of the Fair each state and territory contributed of 
its best, and of their several collections sufficient mention has been 
made. But in its own home each one also gave expression to certain 
features which, if displayed in the larger edifices, would have been out 
of place, and these together with such as relate to special industries and 
resources, I propose to pass in review. 

Commencing then with the middle states, let us place ourselves in front of 
the New York building, whose palatial design, resembling that of an 
Italian villa of the renaissance, appears to excellent advantage in a 
choice location facing the palace of Fine Arts. It is a three-story, 
rectangular structure, and though coated with staff, is solidly built and 
well adapted to its purpose, covering, apart from porticos and terrace, an 
area of 14,500 square feet. The principal entrance is approached by a 
spacious flight of stairs, in imitation marble and walled with granite, on 
which are casts of the Barberini lions and pedestal lamps, the former 
taken at Rome and the latter reproductions from the museum at Naples. In 
niches on either side of the doorway are 

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busts of the first and present governors of the empire state, above which 
are displayed in similar recesses, in the facade of the second story, 
heroic figures of Columbus and Henry Hudson. Over the arch of the portal 
is the great seal of New York, illuminated at night by hundreds of 
miniature lamps. 

Entering the hall, with its mural paintings from Pompeiian designs, the 
visitor finds on the western side the women's reception and other 
apartments, their walls adorned with silken tapestries and their floors of 
polished oak covered with Indian rugs. On the opposite side is a suite of 
rooms for men, and elsewhere are smaller chambers used for various 
purposes, while at either end is a colonnade, with open basins and 
fountains. An elevator runs from the basement beneath the main floor to 
the top of the building, on the roof of which is a garden with palms and 
flowering shrubs, arbors and awnings, resembling somewhat the roof gardens 
of the Casino and Madison square. 

But to the second floor the usual method of approach is by the grand 
stairway, with its four flights each of some forty steps, and with 
decorations in Pompeiian red and gold. Thence, through large, double 
doorways there is access to the main reception or banqueting hall, 84 feet 
long by 46 in width and 45 in height. This is the main apartment of the 
New York mansion, and here was largely concentrated its decorative scheme. 
The principal colors used are white and gold, and as to architecture the 
dominant note is the Corinthian, its roof supported by pillars with 
Corinthian caps, entwined with wreaths and festoons of fruit and flowers, 
above them panel pictures, and elsewhere an allegorical painting by 
Millet. On one side is a balcony with speakers' and orchestral stand, 
adjoining which are boxes for invited guests. To the west of the hall is 
the boardroom of the lady managers, and on the east the office of the 
general manager, with a museum of relics and documents pertaining to the 
history of state and nation. 

Of the exhibits of the empire state in the main divisions of the Fair, 
frequent mention has been made in the preceding chapters of this work. 
They include, as we have seen, elaborate collections in the departments of 
Manufactures and Liberal Arts. In the Agricultural, Horticultural, 
Forestry, and Dairy buildings, and in the Live-stock pavilion, New York 
appeared to excellent advantage, especially in her display of flowers and 
fruits, of cattle and farm products. In the mining section was an 
exhaustive collection of her mineral and geological specimens. To the 
Ethnological bureau she contributed much that was of interest, and in the 
palace of Fine Arts no portion of the union was so largely represented. 
Excellent work was accomplished by the state board of women managers, 
especially in the organization of its creche and training schools for 
nurses, its model kitchen and cooking school, and its contributions to the 
woman's library, furnished and decorated by the board. This, it may here 
be said, is the only state board in which the colored races were 
recognized, one of the members collecting valuable data as to the work of 
colored women. 

But we are now concerned with the exhibits contained in the home of New 
York at Jackson park, one of the most elegant, and in proportion to size 
the most costly of all the Exposition structures. Apart from the building 
itself, with its handsome furniture and its rich and tasteful decorative 
features, the principal attraction is in the museum chamber, where is a 
valuable collection from an historic point of view, relating largely to 
the 

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Knickerbocker period, but with other points of interest. One one side of 
the room is the Dutch cannon which Bayard Van Rensselaer brought to New 
Amsterdam more than two centuries ago, and used only to announce the birth 
or death of members of his family. It is a most antiquated piece of 
ordnance, some five feet long, with wheels of solid wood, and mounted on a 
low, squat, wooden carriage. On a mantelpiece near by is a brown, flat 
demijohn, on one side of which a painting represents a game at cards in 
progress. Above is a life size portrait of Deborah Glen, one of the 
survivors of the Schenectady massacre. The damsel is attired in a gown of 
flowered silk, with laced bodice and pink satin slippers, holding in one 
hand a rose and in the other a wreath of flowers. On the opposite wall a 
picture, blurred with age, portrays the destruction of this frontier 
trading-post, founded in 1620, exterminated in 1691, and now a thriving 
industrial centre. 

The original deed is shown to the Bayard property in New Amsterdam, 
bearing date 1656, its seal and writing still clearly defined, though the 
former is somewhat broken. Beneath it is a cabinet of Dutch and Colonial 
relics, including a pulpit bible used in a Reformed Dutch church on Long 
Island 250 years ago. On the shelf above is a heavy silver tankard, by the 
side of which are dinner plates with scenes of Knickerbocker days 
depictured on their surface. Hung over a red clay tile from the roof of 
the first building erected in New Utrecht is the "freedom suit" of brown 
linen presented by his master to Jonathan Sheldon, as was the custom in 
revolutionary times on the manumission of an apprentice. In other cases 
are Dutch dresses, spinning wheels, candlesticks, tankards, and standing 
clocks, with garments and fans that belonged to the women and snuff-boxes 
used by men of the colonial era. Elsewhere is the warming-pan which the 
captain of the good ship Katrina brought ashore with 

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him to Staten Island in 1664. There is a clumsy looking sled of Holland 
made, nearly two centuries old, and there is a small piano made by George 
Astor while his brother Jacob was gathering furs in the far northwest. 

To a later period belong the two great silver vases which New York 
merchants presented to Governor De Witt Clinton on the 26th of October, 
1825, on which day the governor witnessed the completion of his long 
cherished project for connecting Lake Erie with tide-water. Both vases are 
elaborately ornamented in relief, and with medallions containing views of 
the Erie canal. Here also, in a box of maple, the wood forming part of the 
first cargo that passed down the canal from Buffalo, is a silver medal 
presented to one of the promoters of the enterprise. In a frame are 
several of Robert Fulton's letters and sketches, one of the former showing 
a cross-section of a boat fitted with torpedo tubes, while a drawing 
explains how such a boat could be brought and its torpedoes used alongside 
a sea-going vessel. 

Indian relics and curiosities are plentiful, among them a portion of the 
famous Hiawatha wampum, fashioned in token of the confederation of the 
five nations. Whether there lived such a man as Hiawatha is a matter of 
dispute; but there is no mistake as to the wampum, which probably belongs 
to the sixteenth century, and is one of the finest specimens of Indian 
workmanship. It is fashioned of pieces of mussel shells, thousands of 
which are strung together by deer sinews, forming the warp and woof, with 
figures in white wrought into a ground work of purple. The central figure 
is in the shape of a heart, and represents the Onondaga nation, with the 
Cayugas and Senecas on the right, and on the left the Oneidas and Mohawks. 
For the care of this symbol a custodian has always been appointed, and it 
was a part of the covenant that it should forever remain in charge of the 
Onondagas; but by means that need not here be related, it came into 
possession of John Boyd Thacher, chairman of the executive committee on 
awards. On another piece from the same contributor is sketched the Long 
house, near Albany, where was signed the treaty of 1784, with figures on 
either side, thirteen in number, and supposed to represent the original 
states. A third, though little more than a fragment, is believed to be 
symbolic of the first intercourse between the white man and the 
confederated nations. 

A prominent feature in the Ethnological display was the Onondaga Indian 
from whom Thacher procured the first of his wampum specimens. To him a 
wondrous spectacle was the pageant of Manhattan day, the 21st of October, 
on which day, as certain of the chroniclers have it, just 285 years ago, 
Hudson cast 

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anchor off Sandy hook, baffled in his third attempt to find a northwest or 
northeastern passage to China. As a fact the date was probably the 3rd of 
September, 1609, and certain it is that on the 4th of October his vessel 
set sail homeward from the river which bears his name. Bu this is a matter 
of little importance; nor is it the only anachronism connected with the 
story of the Fair. 

By nearly all the state and foreign participants a special day was 
selected on which their citizens gathered in force to do honor to the 
Columbian Exposition, and to celebrate, each in his fashion, some eventful 
epoch or incident in the land of their nativity or adoption. Of these 
brief mention will be made; for they formed a most pleasing, and to the 
management a most profitable feature, largely increasing the attendance 
for several days in the week throughout the term of the Fair. On Manhattan 
day the number of paid admissions was 298,928, this being exceeded only on 
four occasions, and that it was not larger was due to the lateness of the 
season; for winter and the closing of the gates were at hand, and visitors 
by tens of thousands were setting their faces homeward. 

On the day before the celebration, and for several preceding days, the 
railroads were taxed to their utmost capacity, all of them running special 
trains, and each one crowded with visitors, of whom at least 100,000 were 
from New York. All came and were received in friendly mood, and the more 
so on account of persistent representations that the empire state was 
jealous of Chicago, and had been somewhat lukewarm in its support of the 
Fair. To this the exhibits of the former should have been a sufficient 
answer and if further disapproval were needed, it was furnished in the 
demonstration that was to follow. "Manhattan day," remarked Governor 
Flower, "will be a great occasion, and will do much to remove from the 
minds of the Chicago people the idea they seem to have that New York feels 
bitter toward them." And to the committee of celebration said Charles H. 
Schwab, representing the council of administration, "What is it you wish, 
gentlemen? You can have anything you want." Thus the most important 
feature in the ceremonies was the renewal or rather the cementing of good 
fellowship between the eastern and the midcontinent metropolis. 

Festival hall was the building selected for the occasion, and never did it 
wear a more brilliant appearance than when the New York delegation stepped 
forth upon its platform. Dome, galleries, and pillars were festooned with 
the national colors; from the cornices depended the flags of all nations; 
encircling the balconies were the standards of states and territories, 
while in front of the platform was a mass of flowers and banners arranged 
in artistic groupings. Every inch of space was occupied, even to aisles 
and doorways, from which thousands were turned away, finding neither seats 
nor standing room. On the stage were the leading citizens of the imperial 
city, men foremost in official, commercial, professional, and social 
circles. Behind them were 

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stationed the Thirteenth regiment band and the Columbian chorus of 800 
voices, their music and singing alternating with the addresses and 
responses. 

First on the programme was the overture to William Tell, after which came 
the invocation by a prominent divine, followed by brief addresses from the 
mayors of Chicago and New York, the latter acting as master of the 
remaining ceremonies. Next on the list of speakers was General Horace 
Porter, statesman, soldier, and orator, whose eulogistic and well rounded 
periods were interrupted by frequent applause. In conclusion he said: "Our 
cities were contestants for the Exposition. Chicago won the prize. Today 
the people of New York come to greet you, not only through their 
representatives, but they come themselves with hearts untouched by 
jealousy, with souls unmoved by rivalry, to cry out to you with the 
acclaim, 'God bless Chicago. God speed the great Fair.'" 

After "The Star Spangled Banner," rendered by the Columbian chorus, the 
audience joining in the refrain, an ode was read, composed by a New York 
editor and entitled, "New York to Chicago." Then spoke the president of 
the state board, Chauncey M. Depew, who was greeted with the applause 
which his orations never fail to elicit. After a few humorous remarks and 
anecdotes he lapsed into more serious mood, contrasting this peaceful 
gathering of states and nations with the affairs of Europe, whose 
monarchies are ever imposing additional burdens on their overburdened 
communities, converting the land into an armed camp, and strengthening 
armies and navies for the work of mutual extermination. Then touching 
briefly on the history and condition of the republic, he interlarded his 
discourse with a few adroit and well turned compliments, especially as to 
the celebration of Chicago day, when more than 700,000 visitors were 
admitted within the Exposition gates. The singing of the American hymn by 
the Columbian chorus was followed by an address from John R. Fellows, of 
New York, and the battle hymn of the republic by a speech from the 
president of Columbia college, after which came the benediction, and 
slowly the audience dispersed. 

Meanwhile the state building, its lawn and the grounds adjacent had been 
thronged from the hour of opening the gates, the crowd increasing rather 
than diminishing as darkness approached. The structure was tastefully 
decorated, its archways and pillars wreathed in green and its handsome 
interior festooned with garlands, while at dusk its graceful contour was 
outlined in tracery of light. Presently came the civic and military 
procession, including the old guard of New York with its drum corps, the 
Chicago hussars, and the sons of New York, 600 strong, all wearing the 
Manhattan badge. This was followed by a procession of floats, illuminated 
by colored lamps, for now the night had fallen. A banquet was next in 
order, with more 

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addresses; then came fireworks, with thousands of bombs and rockets 
setting the sky ablaze, and the celebration concluded with dancing in the 
reception hall. 

To Pennsylvania an excellent location was allotted, near one of the 
principal entrances to Jackson park and fronting the palace of Fine Arts. 
Apart from its decorative scheme the building is of the colonial style of 
architecture, reproducing some of the features of Independence hall and 
especially its historic clock tower. The artificers came from the keystone 
state, as also did most of the material, the pressed brick for the outer 
walls, the tin which covers the roof, the wood and marble for wainscoting, 
panelling, floors, and staircases, the timber used being the finest that 
grows in Pennsylvanian forests. Above the main entrance is the coat of 
arms, flanked by statues of Benjamin Franklin and William Penn, on either 
side of which are groups symbolic of industries, science, and art. Around 
the edifice is a broad piazza; on the second story doors and windows open 
upon spacious balconies, whence outer stairways lead to a roof garden, 
from which is a striking coup d'oeil of grounds and waterways. 

The interior was specially planned with a view to the accommodation of 
visitors from Pennsylvania, as a place where they might find relief from 
sight-seeing in social intercourse, surrounded with many historic and 
other attractions of national as well as local interest. At one end is a 
general reception room extending across the entire width of the building, 
its walls hung with rare documents and portraits of distinguished men. On 
either side are separate parlors for men and women; and there are smoking, 
writing, and press correspondents' rooms; a reading room in which are 
files of all the newspapers published throughout the state; a bureau of 
information in charge of a competent official, and a register on which are 
entered the names of visitors, with their place of residence and probable 
length of sojourn. To all Pennsylvanians a cordial invitation was 
extended, "regardless of race, color, or nationality, to make the building 
their headquarters and resting place while at the Exposition, and to avail 
themselves of the facilities that were provided. Here they would find a 
home and the warmest of welcome." 

The women's parlors were furnished and decorated by the art committee of 
Philadelphia, under the direction of its chairman, Emily Sartain, who is 
also one of the jurors of awards in the Woman's department. In the salon 
or reception rooms are several mural paintings, all of them executed by 
prominent artists. A panel by Mrs. Bush-Brown shows a group of young girls 
dancing on the sward beneath the boughs of an apple tree, covered with the 
delicate blossoms of spring. On another panel Mrs. Clements depictures the 
mellow fruit, with peasants about to gather the fruitage of the year. In 
one of the two panels by Jane Rongier, poetic or intellectual life is 
symbolized in the form of a young girl wandering, book in hand, adown a 
forest path, her features reflecting the thoughts suggested by some 
inspiring passage. On the other panel, entitled, "Serious or Family Life," 
a young mother stands at the threshold of her cottage, spinning from the 
distaff, her eyes fixed lovingly on the cradle in which her babe is 
sleeping. A fifth panel by Sarah P. Dodson represents a number of female 
peasants resting in the harvest field toward set of sun, and grouped 
around an aged woman, to whose words they listen eagerly. The furniture of 
the main salon is in white mahogany, and of colonial pattern, with carpet 
of olive green and windows draped in satin of delicate tint. 

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In the smaller room and the corridors is a large display of etchings, 
selected by Blanch Dillaye, and including several of her own compositions; 
but as these are more than seventy in number they cannot here be described 
in detail. Among the best of them is "Welcome News," by Emily Sartain, its 
life-like figures and environment portrayed with masterly touch. In 
stained-glass windows is shown what the women of Philadelphia can do in 
this direction, and from the Ceramic club comes a large contribution of 
hand-painted chinaware for tea-table and cabinet service. These, however, 
are but a few of the contributions from the women of the keystone state; 
for in the Woman's building, and in the hall of Manufactures and Liberal 
Arts, they are strongly represented. 

As to the relics contained in the state building there is first of all, in 
the rotunda of the main entrance, the historic liberty bell. Of William 
Penn the memorial exhibits include his treaty with the Indians, his chair 
and clock, his portrait and that of his wife. There is also the clock 
which Franklin used, his lightning rod, and his electrical machine. There 
is a portrait of Washington as commander-in-chief of the continental army, 
with the punch-bowl which he used in common with others during the 
revolutionary war. There is the sword of Anthony Wayne; the sword and desk 
of John Hancock, with a prayer in his own manuscript, the first one 
offered in congress. There are the watch and some of the raiment which 
Charles Carroll wore when he signed the declaration of independence; a 
hymn-book printed at Germantown in 1772; a model of the ship Constitution, 
with other records of the colonial and early republican periods. 

The 7th of September was selected as Pennsylvania day, in commemoration of 
an event with which all the world is familiar. The attendance was larger 
than on any of the previous state days, with the single exception of 
Illinois, and of more than 200,000 persons who paid for admission at the 
gates, it is estimated that at least 40,000 were Pennsylvanians. Many 
there were among them who had come to compare the Columbian Exposition 
with that which, seventeen years ago, was held at their very doors, and 
especially to compare their home exhibits with such as were presented at 
the Centennial Fair. The programme was an attractive one, and none the 
less so that is was not over elaborate, and was carried out at the 
appointed time. At ten o'clock the procession entered Jackson park, at its 
head detachments of the Columbian guards 

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and of the city troop of Philadelphia, the latter in regimental costume of 
black, white, and gold, and bearing in front the blue standard of 
Pennsylvania. Then came the naval battalion, followed by governors 
Pattison, Flower and Altgeld, in carriages with uniformed outriders, other 
carriages containing the Pennsylvania commissioners, state and national. 

A halt was called at the Pennsylvania building, profusely decorated with 
flags and flowers, the liberty bell in the hallway wreathed with jasmine, 
and in front a platform for speakers and invited guests. For the audience 
seats were placed in the roadway; but these sufficed not for one tenth of 
the throng which crowded around the stand. The opening address was by A. 
B. Farquahar, state executive commissioner. Then spoke governors Altgeld 
and Pattison, the latter, as president of the state board, touching on the 
industrial and commercial interests of Pennsylvania, not in boastful mood, 
but with the worthy pride of one at the head of a community larger than 
was, at the dawn of the century, the entire population of the United 
States. After an address by George B. Massey of Delaware was one from 
James M. Beck of Philadelphia, who delivered the oration of the day; but 
perhaps the most telling speech was from Daniel H. Hastings, who spoke in 
humorous vein. John W. Woodside, a member of the National Commission, 
closed the formal exercises, which were varied with music and singing. 
Then came a public reception with the usual handshaking, and a display of 
fireworks brought to a close the celebration of the keystone state. 

New Jersey's domicile at the Fair is a reproduction of the building which 
served as Washington's headquarters at Morristown during the winter of 
1779-80. Connected with it are many historic associations; for here it was 
that Alexander Hamilton wooed and won the daughter of General Schuyler; 
and here have been entertained more men of note than elsewhere in America 
were ever gathered under a single roof, among them Kosciusko, Lafayette, 
Steuben, Schuyler, Greene, Israel Putnam, and "Mad Anthony" Wayne. The 
structure is still almost intact, and under the care of the Washington 
association of New Jersey, will be preserved with all its treasures for 
generations yet to come, as a landmark sacred as the Mount Vernon home of 
the old dominion. 

Another wing and more piazzas were added to the original design; but the 
headquarters were in the main reproduced. The double front door, the 
diminutive window-panes, the primitive style of weather boarding, outside 
chimneys, and shingle roof, are exterior features which give to the 
edifice its quaint, old-fashioned appearance. The main hall, or rotunda, 
is covered with a rag carpet of the olden time, one entire side being 
occupied by a fireplace, with the fire-board of Washington's day above it. 
On this story is also a reception room, and above are parlors, a dining-
room, and bedrooms for the accommodation of the commission, the last with 
antique furniture, the old massive four-post bedsteads and huge feather 
mattresses, so far 

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above ground that chairs are required to mount them. It may here be 
remarked that this furniture, which so aptly reproduces the early colonial 
pattern, was supplied by a Chicago firm, while the brick, tiling, and 
wallpaper are gifts from New Jersey factories. 

No pictures are hung on the walls, and in this respect only the semblance 
differs from the original at Morristown; for as commissioner Hoffman 
remarked, there was not room on the sides of this little white cottage for 
the ancient paintings, maps, and genealogical trees that would have more 
than covered their entire surface, had all who were so disposed been 
allowed to display their family heirlooms. Nor is there any attempt at 
exhibits, except for the building itself, its simple decorations, and on a 
table in the centre of the hall, a few New Jersey relics, with the usual 
register for the recording of visitors' names. It is a homelike structure, 
furnished in homely style, a spot where the visitor from New Jersey would 
always receive a hearty welcome and find himself among friends. 

On the opening day of the Fair the New Jersey building was one of the very 
few that were complete and in perfect order. On the following day, the 2nd 
of May, it was dedicated with brief and simple exercises. A short address 
was delivered by Stephen J. Meeker, president of the state board of 
commissioners. To this Governor Wertz responded in a few impressive words; 
the keys were handed to the Exposition authorities, and music by the 
Tomaso mandolin orchestra concluded the programme. No formal reception was 
held, the governor standing at the foot of the stairway and receiving the 
guests, among whom were the commissioners for other states and the 
representatives of several foreign powers. Later there was a social 
reunion, with refreshments served by waiters in colonial uniforms. 

Among the first consignments of material forwarded to Jackson park were 
the native woods of which Delaware's home is constructed. It is a plain, 
unpretentious structure; but not without elements of the picturesque; and 
though surrounded with stretches of lawn, is somewhat dwarfed by its close 
proximity to the palatial edifice of the empire state. The style of 
architecture is mainly of the southern colonial, the piazza which 
surrounds the lower story supported by a colonnade of Grecian pillars, and 
in front a handsome portico, with fluted columns reaching to the cornice. 
Its cheerful parlors, with antique furniture and decorations, are the most 
attractive features of the interior, and among the exhibits are articles 
of virtu and models of historic buildings, some of revolutionary fame and 
others erected far back in the seventeenth century. 

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Among the New England mansions, the Connecticut building, though intended 
merely as a pleasant rendezvous, is a handsome specimen of colonial 
architecture, with unique interior furnishing and decoration, such as 
prevailed in early times. It is a thoroughly homelike structure, and with 
its broad verandas and fluted pillars, its wide cornices and dormer 
windows, was so inviting of aspect that, even before being thrown open to 
the public, it was purchased by a citizen of Chicago for his future 
residence. Tiled floors, oaken cupboards, Dutch mantels, dainty 
tapestries, and carpenters' hardware, fashioned in special designs, are 
among the features which attract the attention of the visitor, the 
hardware representing and industry in which Connecticut is specially 
prominent. The walls, though seemingly covered with the most delicate 
paper, are in reality stencilled. On the first floor are the parlors and 
reception hall, a light well reaching to the roof. The stairway in rear of 
the hall leads to the story above, in which are apartments occupied by the 
executive manager, J. H. Vaill, and his family. Opening from the opposite 
gallery are three chambers daintily and yet substantially furnished, with 
antique bedsteads, and curtains and tapestries loaned by prominent 
families of the state. These are known as the Charter Oak, Washington, and 
Windsor rooms. 

Among the special articles in the reception rooms is the furniture loaned 
by Mrs. Monson, of New Haven, most of it at least a century old. A fine 
octave spinet of the eighteenth century is displayed by Steinert, the well-
known collector of musical instruments, and the white pine mantel and 
large gilt mirror, with low cushioned seats in the recesses on either 
side, represent a somewhat later period. In the main hall is Israel 
Putnam's flint-lock gun, the one with which he killed the historic wolf, 
and a leather-covered chair brought from England nearly two centuries ago, 
and occupied by presidents of the United States from Andrew Jackson to 
Ulysses S. Grant. In this chair also sat Chief-justice Taney, when the 
supreme court rendered its decision in the Dred-Scott case. In the 
diningroom is a spacious fireplace of the olden time; upon the mantel, on 
shelves on the walls, and in corner cupboards are collections of quaint, 
old-fashioned crockery and other tableware, contributed by New England 
families. There are punch-bowls and plates of delicate blue, some of them 
decorated with figures such as were used for wallpapers not more than a 
quarter of a century ago. Huge sugar-bowls and tureens are covered with 
borders of flowers, and with landscapes enlivened by brute and human 
figures. There is a quaint settee, with rounded seat and back, and a chest 
of ebony and walnut, with handsome carved panels, which belonged to a 
bride of three centuries ago. Parson Newell's chair is here, rush-
bottomed, capacious, and comfortable, with other antique chairs of 
mahogany and walnut, showing quaint combinations of light backing and 
seating with heavy carved framework. Finally, there are ancient mirrors of 
antique design, one of them with horns of plenty in gold and black. 

Page 780

In the general departments of the Fair, Connecticut is well represented, 
and especially in the Woman's building, in the Educational division, and 
in the Agricultural and Horticultural sections. Connecticut tobacco, known 
as Havana seed-leaf, is largely advertised in Agricultural hall, while the 
rustic pavilion and the display of native woods in the Forestry building 
are somewhat of a surprise to those unacquainted with the state's 
resources in merchantable timber. Her silks and dress-goods are a feature 
of the Manufactures department, while in the Transportation building the 
Old Colony section of the New Haven railroad system furnishes one of the 
most interesting features in this connection. 

Adjacent to the Connecticut building is a small structure of Grecian 
design, with a semi-circular porch in front extending to the height of the 
two stories, and other porches across the entire width, supported by Ionic 
columns and entablatures, with decorated mouldings and medallions. The 
roof is surrounded by a balustrade, wide French windows opening upon all 
the verandas, floors being of hardwood and the interior finish of cypress. 
Here is the home of Rhode Island. 

The main hall is open to the roof and contains a number of historical 
relics, among them an old marble mantel said to have belonged to the 
residence of a wealthy colonist where, on the night of June 9, 1772, a 
plan was arranged by the men of Providence for the capture of the British 
schooner, Gaspee. Before daylight nine long boats, filled with determined 
men, were bearing down upon the British vessel which lay stranded upon a 
sand-bar. In the combat that ensued the English commander was wounded, and 
the Gaspee was set on fire after the crew had been landed. Here, it is 
claimed, was shed the first blood in revolutionary days. 

The hall and the mantel which it contains were the centres of interest to 
all classes of visitors, and especially to those from Rhode Island. The 
women's parlor, on the same floor, and the room set apart for the state 
executive on the second story were also attractively furnished, and in the 
atmosphere of the building and of the people who frequented it was 
suggested the watchword of the commonwealth. On Rhode Island day, the 5th 
of October, the blue standard of the state which Roger Williams founded 
was unfurled at the flagstaff of the 

Page 782

dome, on its ground a golden anchor surrounded with thirteen stars and 
above it the motto, "Hope." The celebration was held in the music hall, E. 
B. Andrews, president of the Brown University and of the board of 
commissioners, introducing Governor Brown, who spoke words of welcome to 
the audience and touched briefly on the history and growth of the state. 
The orator of the day was Alonzo Williams, of Providence, a lineal 
descendant of the man by whom the original settlement was founded in 1636. 
A Newport detachment of artillery was reviewed by the governor and his 
staff, and a reception in the Rhode Island domicile concluded the 
programme. 

Massachusetts erected as her home an edifice resembling closely the 
residence of Governor Hancock, which, standing as it did near the state 
capitol on Beacon Hill, was long a familiar landmark of the New England 
metropolis. Set well back from the roadway, the building as reproduced at 
Jackson Park is surrounded by a raised terrace, with flower beds and 
shrubbery, and inclosed within a low wall, surmounted by a balustrade. At 
the entrance the visitor passes through a covered porch into a spacious 
hall, extending across the main structure, and thence an old-fashioned 
staircase, lighted with a bull's eye window, leads to the floor above. On 
either side of the hall are rooms constructed and furnished with all the 
solidity and simplicity of the New Englander of early times, while opening 
into them are mahogany doorways, plain but massive and polished as in the 
days of old. In all are antique mantels and fireplaces, with ponderous 
andirons, pokers, and tongs. 

The first apartment on the right is named the Dutch kitchen, with 
wainscoting of blue Dutch tiles, the quaintest of chairs and lockers, and 
on the walls portraits of the early governors of Massachusetts. On the 
opposite side of the hall is reproduced a suite of parlors from the 
Hancock residence, with furniture of the colonial pattern and cases of 
china and silverware from the Essex institute at Salem. Here the tables, 
sideboards, bookcases, and bureaus show how homes were furnished more than 
a century ago. Old manuscripts are plentiful, and in scores of portraits 
are represented men famous in the annals of colony and state. The smaller 
of the two parlors is used as a reading room, with files of newspapers, a 
grand piano presented by a Boston firm, and in the centre a large round 
table of polished mahogany. 

On the first landing of the stairway is an old-fashioned clock with moon-
shaped face and on the walls of the second flight are portraits of other 
celebrities, among them that of William Lloyd Garrison, with his signature 
appended, above which are inscribed in his own handwriting the words, 
"Liberty for each, for all, and forever." Here also are Daniel Webster, 
Wendell Phillips, John Lothrop Motley, and James Russell Lowell, while in 
the hall above, with its antique furniture and tapestry, the latter 
fashioned by Massachusetts dames, are still other portraits, including a 
large oil painting of Charles Sumner. To the left of the hall is a chamber 
filled with relics, including the correspondence of John Hancock during 
his presidency of the continental congress. Washington's autograph appears 
in many an aged document, and there are tomes and manuscripts of historic 
interest, with colored prints by Paul Revere, one of them representing a 
platoon of British grenadiers firing on the men of Boston. To this chamber 
is given the name of the ladies' reception room, and among its contents 
are cases filled with costly brocades and laces, the finest of linens, the 
tiniest of slippers, and the hugest of balloon-shaped bonnets, these 
contributed from the heirlooms of the oldest of bay state families. 

Crossing the hall the library is entered, adjoining which is a 
reproduction of John Hancock's bedroom, with its roomy four-post bedstead. 
On the walls of the former are the portraits and autographs of famous New 
England authors, with the signatures and brief extracts from the works of 
others prominent in contemporaneous literature. Nathaniel Hawthorne and 
Howells are here; Lowell, Bryant, and Holmes; Aldrich, Browning, Whittier, 
and Sir Edwin Arnold; Jean Ingelow and Harriet Beecher Stowe. There is the 
original manuscript of the national anthem which S. F. Smith wrote in 
1832, and there are contributions from many others who have given to the 
world what the world will not readily forget. In one corner of the 
apartment is "the pilgrim bureau" which John Drew brought with him in 
1660, and among the furniture is a writing desk 

Page 783

which Washington used, brass handled and with ivory border, these and 
countless other relics here and elsewhere in the building contributing to 
a unique and interesting display. 

The anniversary of the battle of Bunker hill was selected for the 
celebration; for this is a day which the citizens of the bay state and 
especially those of Boston hold in religious veneration. The building was 
simply and tastefully decorated with banners, crests, and coats of arms, 
its spacious halls and chambers as cool and bright as those of the mansion 
which it represents. The attendance was one of the largest thus far 
gathered on the grounds, and never before had so many distinguished 
citizens been assembled in Jackson park. Among them were ex-President 
Harrison, Vice-president Stevenson, the president of the senate, the 
speaker of the house, and special committees of senators and 
representatives, with the national and state commissioners for 
Massachusetts, among the latter Francis A. Walker, chairman of the board. 

The ceremonies were of the simplest and without formality. At the 
appointed hour Governor Russell and his staff arrived at the grounds, was 
welcomed by members of the state commission, and conducted to the 
reception room, where he shook hands and exchanged kindly greetings with 
the sons and daughters of Massachusetts, of whom thousands were residents 
of Chicago and other thousands were making the pilgrimage of the Fair. 
Then followed luncheon, and at night an elaborate display of fireworks was 
added to the general illumination, one of the pieces containing 1,000 
rockets and filling the heavens with fire of every hue. At the music hall 
patriotic addresses were delivered, and later a decorous New England feast 
ended the commemoration of a day which all Americans hold near at heart; 
for Bunker hill created the republic, as Yorktown made sure and solid its 
foundations. 

Although one of the smallest structures of the Fair, the building erected 
by Vermont is among the most tasteful in design. It is of purely classic 
architecture, with wings or corridors encompassing an open court of 
Pompeiian aspect; in the centre of which is a marble fountain. The floors 
are constructed of materials from the quarries of Rutland, and the tiling 
at the entrance-way is from the factories of Swanton. The furniture in the 
semicircular hall and reception rooms is also largely the product of home 
factories, the walls having little in the way of decoration, except for a 
large portrait of Senator Morrill, one of the oldest and most respected 
members of the national senate. 

In the home of Vermont are no exhibits, either of a material or historic 
nature; for it is intended merely as a pleasant meeting place for visitors 
attending the Fair and 

Page 785

as headquarters for the commissioners representing the commonwealth. But 
while containing no formal display, it shows to the best advantage the 
products of the Vermont marble quarries, and especially those of Rutland 
county. The marbles found in this vicinity are acknowledged even by 
foreigners as excellent material for sculptural purposes, and here, as 
well as further north along the shores of Lake Champlain, are obtained the 
most beautifully colored and variegated stone. From 2,000,000 to 3,000,000 
cubic feet are annually produced, while in a strip of territory between 
Canada and Bennington are kaolin and bright colored clays of superior 
quality for the manufacture of tiling. All this and other mineral wealth 
is illustrated in the little temple of the green mountain state, 
overshadowed by the more imposing edifices of Maine and Massachusetts. 

Not only was the Vermont building a pleasant club-house for her sons and 
daughters, but twice at least during the progress of the Fair it became 
the centre of attraction. On the 10th of May it was dedicated in the 
presence of Governor Levi K. Fuller, ex-Governor William P. Dillingham, 
and an audience composed chiefly of natives of the state. Speeches were 
delivered by the two governors and also by James L. Martin, for many years 
speaker of the local house of representatives, while prayer and music were 
portions of the programme allotted to Chicago. The building was accepted 
from the state board by the chief of the Anthropological department on 
behalf of the director-general. By this board, with Bradley B. Smalley as 
president and Governor Fuller as president ex-officio, the building was 
erected and the exhibits organized which brought Vermont into prominence, 
especially in the Mining, Agricultural, and Live-stock departments. On the 
15th of September these and other triumphs at the Fair were celebrated, 
several thousand participants gathering around the maple-sugar booth near 
the south pond and the state building in the northern portion of the 
grounds. Sickness prevented the governor's attendance; but there was an 
informal programme of speech-making, W. W. Henry, of Burlington, acting as 
master of ceremonies. 

Facing Lake Michigan, from whose waters it is separated only by a few rods 
of beach and boulevard, New Hampshire, "the Switzerland of America," 
erected as here club-house and official headquarters a Swiss chalet built 
of Georgia pine, with spacious balconies on each of its two stories and 
broad overhanging roofs, its base of granite of the light gray variety for 
which the state is famous. The design of the building is essentially 
Swiss, and the dark tones of the interior coloring, such as are seen in 
the cottages of the peasantry, further maintain the architectural 
parallel. The entire structure was planned rather with a view to comfort 
than for architectural effect, as a haven of rest for wearied sight-seers, 
a rendezvous for families and friends, and a place for social gatherings. 

Entering the building from an avenue on the lake shore, the visitor finds 
himself in a reception hall, with broad fireplaces of pressed brick on 
either side. Parlors for men and women and chambers for the meetings of 
the state board occupy a considerable portion of the space, the ladies' 
reception room being neatly furnished and containing a piano supplied by a 
Concord firm. In one of the apartments is a collection of portraits and 
landscape views from the state house, the walls of all the public rooms 
being covered with pictures of New Hampshire scenery, while on the upper 
story is a collection of relics and curiosities. 

Page 786

In the annex is a more elaborate display of art relating chiefly to the 
scenic glories of the state, with a number of transparencies in the 
darkened lower room, displayed under a strong electric light. Among them 
is a cycloramic painting of Livermore falls, above which variegated lights 
are so arranged that by the pressure of buttons the effect is produced of 
sunrise, noontide, sunset, and moonlight. In the room above is a grotto 
with dim cavernous recesses, and with stalagmites and stalactites clasping 
hands between floor and roof. On the outer walls are more transparencies, 
sunlit and as nature paints, still of New Hampshire scenery and especially 
of the White hills. In a large horizontal relief map is shown the entire 
mountain system of the state, the visitor looking down upon it as he would 
from some lofty pinnacle far up in a cloudless sky. 

The dedication ceremonies on the 27th of June were largely attended, and 
among the participants were many distinguished citizens. In the absence of 
Charles H. Amsden, president of the board, Vice-president Page read his 
address and presented the keys of the building to Governor John B. Smith, 
whose escort consisted of the Iowa state band and two companies of 
Amoskeag veterans. The latter were attired in the uniform of the 
continentals, and formed a picturesque element in the audience, which 
listened attentively to the speeches, especially that of the governor. 
Then came the informal portion of the programme. By John W. Hutchinson, 
whose family of singers all New England remembers, was rendered the "Old 
Granite State," in a voice which still retained much of its old-time 
vigor. His song was followed by a speech from Fred Douglass, and before he 
had concluded, the famous colored champion was greeted by Isabella Beecher 
Hooker, sister of Harriet Beecher Stowe. Thus were accidentally brought 
together three well-known characters of the days preceding the civil war. 

The site allotted to the state of Main is at the eastern extremity of the 
grounds and of irregular shape, running to a point at one of the corners, 
and commanding an unobstructed view of the lake. As best adapted to its 
location, and also to display to good advantage the materials donated for 
its construction, a polygonal structure was erected, its walls of granite 
from a dozen quarries and its turreted roof of Monson slate. In general 
design it resembles the mediaeval buildings of southern Germany, but with 
traces of the Scandinavian school of architecture. As to dimensions it is 
65 feet in diameter, about the same distance from the floor to the base of 
the central tower, and 90 feet to the summit of the lantern which 
surmounts the roof. On the second story are balconies separated by 
projecting bays, and over the principal entrance projects the bow of a 
boat, suggesting the importance of the ship-building industries of Maine. 

From a handsome portico, with arcade of granite columns, the vestibule 
leads directly to a rotunda, over which is a skylight of colored glass. 
Practically, all the finished woodwork, including doors, windows, and 
screens, is the product of home manufactures and workmen. Parlors for men 
and women and offices for the use of the state commissioners open from the 
ground floor of the rotunda, one of its sides being occupied by a large 
fireplace, above which hangs a painting of the Poland springs and 
vicinity. Opposite is the main staircase leading to a balcony from which 
is access to the more secluded apartments. On the second floor are also 
the exhibition rooms, in which are curios and historical relics, with 
paintings descriptive of the romantic scenery of the pine-tree state. 

Page 787

On dedication day, the 23rd day of May, the building was tastefully 
decorated with bunting and floral designs, the approaches flanked with 
flowering plants, the balcony draped with the national colors, below which 
were pendants of pine-tree cones, while above the doors and windows were 
the standards of many nations resting on American shields. Among the 
thousands of participants were many natives of Maine who had settled and 
prospered in Chicago, the society styled "The Sons of Maine" attending en 
masse in honor of the occasion. In an apt and telling speech, Hall C. 
Burleigh, as head of the board of commissioners, introduced to the 
audience Governor H. B. Cleaves, who referred to the industries of the 
state, and especially her ship-building industries. On behalf of the sons 
and daughters of Maine spoke John J. Jewett, a resident of Chicago, and 
after some musical selections was read by the actress, Georgia Cayvan, the 
wooing scene between King Hal and Catherine in Henry V. Then stepped 
forward Madame Nordica, and in a neat and piquant speech excused herself 
from singing, as this was forbidden by her contract with the bureau of 
music. The exercises concluded with a reception, and in the evening a 
concert was given in the state building. 

Turning to the southern states may first be described Virginia's home amid 
the city of the Fair, in which, though with scores of more costly and 
elaborate structures, there are few that attract more attention. When the 
members of the Virginia board, with their president A. S. Buford, were 
called upon to determine what manner of fabric they would erect at Jackson 
park, they were confronted with a somewhat difficult problem; for the 
entire appropriation for all purposes was but $25,000, and how with this 
could they build and furnish an edifice that would do credit to "the 
mother of states and statesmen?" But the women of Virginia were called 
into council, and soon the problem was solved. "Why not reproduce the 
Mount Vernon residence of General Washington?" they said; for here was a 
plain and room building with little of ornamentation, one that could be 
reproduced at small expense, and as the home of the father of his country 
would be to American visitors as the Mecca of their pilgrimage, and to 
foreigners an object of surpassing interest. 

But even for such an edifice the funds were all insufficient; nor could 
they be readily supplemented in this war worn state with its heavy incubus 
of debt. Again did the women of the old dominion come to the rescue, 
accepting as a labor of love the task of raising money for constructing 
and furnishing their Exposition home. This they accomplished; and as the 
result is presented in facsimile the house which, in 1743, Lawrence 
Washington built and named after his friend, Admiral Vernon, its timbers 
and framework still intact, and its spacious piazza still overlooking the 
peaceful landscape and the stately river around which swept, as with the 
fury of a tornado, the storm of civil war. 

The life-long residence of General Washington is a two-story structure, 
with twenty-five rooms in all, more than half of them contained in wings 
or dependencies as they were called, added by Washington himself. The 
largest of these rooms and those most worthy of note are the entrance and 
banquet halls, the library, the chamber in which Washington died, and that 
in which his wife passed the days of her widowhood, as the only one which 
did not look out upon his tomb. Not only is the edifice at Jackson park an 
exact reproduction of the original, but many of its contents are also 
reproduced in facsimile, and while the priceless relics in keeping of the 
Mount Vernon association could not be obtained, there are many from other 
sources, not a few of them heirlooms belonging to the oldest of Virginia 
families. The furniture is of antique, colonial pattern, as are the 
mantels, the carvings, mouldings, and trimmings; and in a word there is 
little that is modern about this building, except for the people who 
frequent it. 

Through the vestibule, the visitor passes between rows of pictures dating 
far back into the eighteenth century, and beneath bronze lions above the 
inner doorway, the latter once occupying a similar place at Mount Vernon, 
and recently discovered in the possession of an antiquarian. Thence he 
enters on the right the 

Page 788

banqueting hall, which is also used as a reception room, extending across 
the entire width of the building. Here will first be observed a life size 
portrait by Peale, a loan from Shirley, Virginia, one of the three that 
remain from the brush of this painter who, beginning life as a blacksmith, 
was appointed colonel of militia, and later betook himself to art. Of the 
remaining copies one is in Madrid and the third in Philadelphia, all of 
them depicting the well-known features of Washington as he appears in 
countless text-books. Another canvas represents General Lewis leading on 
his men at the battle of Stony point, and in frames are autograph letters 
from Washington to Landon Carter of Sabine hall. A feature in this 
apartment is a facsimile of a carved mantel-piece of Carrara marble, with 
Sienna marble columns. The original was presented to Washington by one of 
his English admirers; but was captured on passage by French privateers, 
who observing for whom it was intended, sent the gift uninjured to its 
destination. Another curiosity is the counterpart of a mahogany sideboard 
used in the family dining-room at Mount Vernon. The latter fell into the 
hands of Robert E. Lee, and by his wife was restored to its former 
position. But the counterpart has also a history of its own; for a century 
ago it stood in the residence of Thomas Jefferson at Monticello, and later 
did duty as a hen roost, near the old Stone church among the mountains of 
West Virginia. From this degradation it was rescued by its present owner, 
and after being repaired and polished was forwarded to the Columbian 
Exposition. 

In the library is a large collection of books by Virginian authors, or 
such as relate to Virginia, with an abundance of portraits, views and 
relics pertaining to the colonial and early republican periods. The books, 
which are displayed in handsome cases of native woods, are several hundred 
in number, touching on a wide range of subjects, and nearly all of them 
donated, except for rare and valuable works. At the close of the Fair they 
were to be presented to the state library at Richmond, there to be 
preserved as a memento of the Exposition. To this library would also be 
transferred, as specimens of Virginia journalism in 1893, all the 
newspapers and magazines published in January of that year, and placed 
during the term of the Exposition in the reading-room of the state 
building. 

On the second floor the rooms are also built and furnished as in the 
original structure, their windows with small square panes of glass, and 
the sashes held by a wooden button. In all are the old-fashioned four-post 
bedsteads, the one in Washington's chamber, formerly belonging to Governor 
Preston of Virginia, being an exact reproduction of that on which he died, 
and above it a linen counterpane of identical pattern with its coverlet. 
In the Lafayette and other rooms are many objects of interest, among them 
a chest of drawers which belonged to Martha Washington, a little inlaid 
box which served as her tea-caddy, a mahogany bureau which the surgeon of 
Cornwallis used as a medicine chest, and the favorite chair of Cornwallis 
himself. There is a model of the harpsichord which Washington presented to 
his adopted daughter, and the original instrument touched by the fingers 
of Dolly Madison, an old dominion beauty. Of Thomas Jefferson there are 
several things to remind us, and first of all a photograph of "The Pines," 
a building in which he attended school and where he was married. Then 
there is his prayerbook with his autograph on the fly-leaf, the open-faced 
silver watch which he carried some ninety years ago, and the telescope 
with which he watched the progress of the Tarleton raid in Albermarle 
county. There is a broken mirror which belonged to Randolph of Roanoke, 
and a china pitcher in 1781 the property of Governor Nilson; there are 
china decanters of rare and singular pattern, and vases with brands of 
gold and heavy dragon-shaped handles. Finally there is a set of silver 
spoons fashioned for Landon Carter, who ordered them made of that metal 
only in case the stamp act was repealed; otherwise they were to be made of 
horn, an inscription on the handles announcing the repeal and accounting 
for the existence of the spoons. 

In one of the wings in rear of the building is a collection of waters from 
the mineral springs of Virginia, 

Page 789

some of them of world-wide repute. In the other is a display of forestry, 
with certain non-competitive exhibits that need not here be specified. 
Before taking leave of this time-honored mansion may also be mentioned a 
marble group of statuary contained in what would be the parlor or 
reception room of the original. It is by a Richmond artist and represents 
the Homeric legend of Andromache and Astyanax, the them suggested by the 
following lines from the Iliad:

But now returning home thy works attend - 
The loom and distaff, and direct thy maids
In household duties; while the war shall be
Of men the care; of all indeed but most
The care of me, of all in Ilion born. 

The words are spoken, of course, by Hector, and Andromache is seated with 
distaff in her lap, her head slightly bowed and turned aside, with facial 
expression as though foreboding evil; for the fates have decreed that Troy 
shall fall; her husband slain, and herself led captive to the Greek. The 
right hand hangs listlessly downward, and with the left she clasps 
Astyanax, in whose face is admirably portrayed his childish affection and 
wonderment. 

Such is the new Mount Vernon of the Fair, the home of Washington as here 
represented facing one of the principal avenues of the park, in front a 
grassy lawn on which are trees of natural growth, and near by the waters 
of an inland Mediterranean suggesting the broad reaches of the Potomac. 
Not only to the state board of managers but to the men and women of the 
state in all its counties each of the counties with members of an 
auxiliary board, was due this perfect reproduction of the historic mansion 
in which for centuries to come will be stored its relics of colonial and 
revolutionary days. When the original could not be obtained, each article 
was sketched with the utmost 

Page 790

care, and the result was a perfect mirror of the times, even to the aged 
negroes appointed for domestic service. In none of the state exhibits is 
there more of interest, and not least among the attractions of this old 
Virginia home is the charm of its perfect simplicity. 

For Virginia's celebration was selected the 9th of August, on which day of 
the year 1619 assembled at James city, a few miles inland from Jamestown, 
the first legislative body that met on New World shores. The exercises 
were held in the music hall and began with selections from popular airs, 
rendered by the Iowa band. Then briefly spoke Colonel Buford, with apt 
allusion to the first house of burgesses, stating that among the purposes 
of the celebration was to interpret to the people of today the buried 
monuments of the past. Fitz-Hugh Lee followed with an address of welcome 
full of eloquent periods. A patriotic ode was read by Beverly D. Tucker, 
after which John W. Daniel delivered the oration of the day, dwelling on 
the history of Virginia, her influence in shaping American institutions, 
and concluding in part as follows; "A day shall dawn when the United 
States of America shall embrace the North American continent from Alaska's 
fields of ice to the land of the Montezumas. Another day shall come when 
bonds of union shall bind together the greater America and the greater 
Britain, and they shall rule the land and the waves with the voices of the 
latest language that man has learned to utter. And then, beyond, yet 
another day shall come when the United States of the world shall assemble 
their representatives in session. Who can doubt that they will write their 
records in the tongue first spoken on this continent by the adventurers at 
Jamestown?" 

West Virginia and Delaware stood side by side in Exposition affairs, 
celebrating together the opening of their buildings and uniting later in 
the season, in a day of public commemoration. The date selected for the 
dedication ceremonies was the 19th of June, the thirtieth anniversary of 
the admission of the former among the sisterhood of states. As West 
Virginia, while a portion of the old dominion, played a prominent part in 
the civil war, many of the articles displayed in her buildings relate to 
the history of those troubled times. Upon a small secretary stands a plain 
inkstand, both of which, it is claimed, were used by Colonel Alexander, of 
the staff of General Lee, when he drew up the articles of surrender at his 
chieftain's dictation. A rosewood chintz-covered sofa comes from the 
McLean 

Page 791

residence in which was held the historical interview between Lee and 
Grant, the two commanders, Lee in full-dress uniform and Grant in the 
fatigue dress of the private, exchanging reminiscences of their West Point 
career and talking of anything rather than the matter they had met to 
discuss. Of both there are steel engravings, and there are many paintings 
representing incidents of an earlier period, one of them telling the story 
of Betty Zane, daughter of the commanding officer at Fort Wheeling, who 
braved the fire of the British troops to obtain a supply of powder for its 
defenders. There are other pictures, purely artistic in design, as those 
by Irene Jackson, one of the lady managers, showing a picturesque view on 
Blennerhassett's island and a spirited hunting scene. 

With its pitched roof and semi-circular verandas on either side, its 
hardwood finish and ceilings of ornamental iron work, the West Virginia 
building is typical of the culture and hospitality of her people. From the 
main entrance, over which is the coat of arms in bas-relief, the visitor 
passes into a vestibule and thence into the rooms reserved for members of 
the state board. Parlors for men and women and a large reception hall 
occupy the main portion of the ground floor, and above is another hall of 
generous proportions, around which are several committee rooms. Four wide 
fireplaces, two on either floor, with wooden mantels carved in antique 
style, add to the homelike appearance of the interior. 

In the general departments of the Fair West Virginia has a most creditable 
display, and especially in mining, forestry, and agriculture, her exhibit 
of coal being one of the features of its class. The state board, of which 
W. N. Chancellor is president, has every reason to be satisfied with its 
work, not only in the construction of its official edifice, but in the 
representation of progress and development in things material, moral, and 
intellectual. 

In accord with the general plan appointing certain days for each of the 
states, West Virginia and Delaware united, as I have said, in a joint 
celebration, the first event of the kind recorded in the history of the 
Fair. The exercises were held in Festival hall, W. A. McCorkle, governor 
of the former state, and R. J. Reynolds, of the latter, representing their 
respective commonwealths. McCorkle referred to West Virginia's position as 
a source of the coal supply of the south and west, and as a centre of the 
iron and oil industries, while Reynolds remarked that although Delaware 
was not as large as her sister state she was nevertheless a state to be 
proud of, that she was the first to adopt the constitution, and that her 
patriotism was a part of American history. In accepting the building at 
the hands of the board, General St. Clair referred to the resources of 
West Virginia and the excellent use to which they were put. More than one-
third of her brief existence as a separate commonwealth had been spent in 
adjusting the troubles connected with her birth; and yet she had more than 
doubled her population and aggregate wealth. Delaware was also the subject 
of rhetorical encomium, and before and after the formal exercises there 
were separate gatherings in the homes of each of the states. 

It was originally intended that the Maryland building should be a 
reproduction of the state edifice at Annapolis; but the design finally 
adopted was that of a manor house of generous proportions, such as might 
have stood on the shores of Chesapeake bay during the colonial period. The 
structure is two stories in height, with flat deck roof from which is an 
excellent view of the Exposition and its grounds. From the principal 
entrance there is access to the main hall, in the middle of which is a 
relief map of the state, covering more than 120 square feet, fashioned 
under the direction of the United States geological survey, and showing 
its diversified land and water surface. Here also, as mounted specimens, 
are the birds and animals indigenous to Maryland, with exhibits explaining 
the work of the Johns Hopkins university and the McDonogh school. The 
display of the former institution consists of a series of maps and charts 
of the work of its various departments, with a number of handsome volumes 
and scientific periodicals. 

Page 792

To the right of the main entrance are the ladies' reception and exhibition 
rooms, furnished by women, with windows curtained in silk, light sofas and 
chairs, walls hung with paintings, and a grand piano finished in white and 
gold. For the tasteful equipment of these apartments credit is due to the 
Woman's Industrial exchange of Baltimore and to the individual exertions 
of Mrs. William Reed. On the other side of the vestibule is a room in 
which native products are grouped, the most unique exhibit representing 
the oyster industry, in which the several branches of planting, dredging, 
and packing give employment to more than 50,000 people and $10,000,000 of 
capital. Around the Chesapeake peninsula are some of the largest oyster-
beds in the world, and here their reproduction in miniature, together with 
photographic illustrations, was one of the features or the display. There 
are also models of oyster dredges and of the schooners which carry the 
products to market. Of interest to many visitors are the vessels 
constructed of timbers steeped for months in oil and tar, staunch enough 
to outride the roughest storm and with no superiors in speed and 
durability. Elsewhere in this chamber are samples of Maryland tobacco, 
cereals, slate, building stone, glass, sand, coal, and other minerals. 
There is also shown the infusorial earth of Calvert county, used for 
various purposes and pronounced by chemists and geologists to be the 
finest in the world. In a separate collection are the medicinal herbs 
indigenous to the state. 

On the second floor are parlors for men and women, smoking, reading, and 
writing rooms, some of them containing antique furniture, and on their 
walls the portraits of historic characters. There is a large photograph of 
the stately tree in the campus of St. John's college, Annapolis, under 
which gathered the Indian tribes whose home was in the forests of 
Maryland. Here in the seventeenth century the chiefs of the 
Susquehannoughs smoked the calumet, and more than a hundred years later 
the white men first met in state convention. The historic tree is from 
eight to nine feet in diameter and probably more than five centuries old. 
The modern aspect of Maryland is depicted in a series of views of 
prominent buildings and monuments in its towns and cities, and especially 
the water system of Baltimore, with its reservoirs, pump-houses and 
distribution of pipes. 

Maryland held her celebration on the 12th of September, thus commemorating 
the bombardment of Fort McHenry by the British, and the defense of 
Baltimore against a combined attack by land and sea, just seventy-nine 
years before. "The Star Spangled Banner" was born of this period of 
tumult, and Francis Scott Key and his national anthem were honored during 
the exercises held in the music hall. Cardinal Gibbons, attired in scarlet 
robe, was present, Governor Frank Brown, president of the state board, and 
John V. L. Findlay taking a prominent part. In the evening there was an 
elaborate display of fireworks; but, on account of threatening weather, 
the promised imitation of the bombardment of Fort McHenry was postponed. 

Of Kentucky's part in the Columbian Exposition frequent mention has been 
made in the chapters devoted to the main divisions of the Fair. That 
Kentucky would appear to good advantage in the agricultural and live-
stock, the mining and manufacturing divisions, was of course expected; but 
in other directions also her exhibits were somewhat of a surprise. Here 
were fully represented the resources and industries of a state which 
raises more than 50 bushels of cereals and more than 100 pounds of tobacco 
a year to each of her 2,000,000 inhabitants, producing of the latter some 
40 percent of the total crop of the United States. Of all agricultural 
products the annual value is probably not short of $100,000,000, and her 
live-stock is worth at least as much, with a steady increase in the number 
and value of horses and horned cattle. Of coal the output rose from less 
than 500,000 tons in 1874 to 1,555,000 tons for 1884, and will exceed 2,
000,000 tons for 1894. Her iron ores are widely distributed and in 
abundant quantity, averaging, so far as worked, nearly 50 percent of 
metal. In manufactures Kentucky ranks first among the southern states, her 
products valued for 1892 at more than $108,000,000. 

For representation at the Fair $100,000 was appropriated by the 
legislature, and of this amount about one third was devoted to the state 
building, its equipment and ministration. As an architectural composition 
it is typical of the style prevailing in the colonial era of the south, 
reproducing in part an old Kentucky 

Page 793

homestead of the better class, and intended rather as a club-house and a 
place for social intercourse than for the display of exhibits. In front is 
a spacious portico, the entrance-way leading into a central rotunda, where 
is a statue of Henry Clay, and among other portraits that of Henry 
Watterson. Thence there is access to the parlors and reception rooms, the 
post-office and other apartments intended for the accommodation of 
visitors. At the further end of the court is a cheerful and well lighted 
diningroom, communicating with the kitchen and store-room, all as in the 
old-fashioned Kentucky home. Over the door of the dining-room a platform 
is erected, with galleries around the second story, for public gatherings 
and speech-makings. In front of the second story are three exhibition 
rooms which can be thrown into one, their contents consisting of the raw 
products of the state and a number of historical relics, among the most 
valuable of which are those from the Filson club. Elsewhere on this floor 
are the committee rooms, the commissioners' headquarters, and smaller 
chambers used for various purposes. The decorative scheme of the building 
is simple and tasteful, the exterior painted a rich cream color and the 
interior finished in white and gold, the hard woods and most of the other 
materials used being donated by the citizen of Kentucky. 

The 1st of June was selected for the dedication ceremonies; and of the 
thousands assembled to do honor to the occasion nearly all were 
Kentuckians, among them not a few whose ancestral record was inscribed in 
the annals of the state. The members of the state board of managers were 
present, and at the time appointed their president, W. H. Dulaney, 
followed the opening prayer with a brief address, and then introduced to 
the audience Governor John Young Brown, whose speech was in the nature of 
a panegyric on the results achieved by the commissioners and on the state 
of which he was the chief executive. The orator of the day was William O. 
Bradley, who after a spirited encomium on the grandeur and the great 
future of the republic, spoke of the part which Kentucky had borne as a 
factor in its history. On the conclusion of his address an adjournment was 
made to the grounds on the northern side of the building, where was 
unveiled a plaster statue of Daniel Boone, presently to be cast in bronze 
and placed in the rooms of the Filson club at Louisville. 

Though not the largest of the state buildings, Missouri's mansion is one 
of the most elaborate, its general plan being that of a square, with a 
large semi-circular space at its southeastern corner, where the main 
entrance faces two converging avenues. In style of architecture it is of 
the French renaissance, resembling somewhat the chateaus in which dwelt 
not a few of the founders of Missouri, when from the lower portion of 

Page 794

the Louisiana colony they migrated to St. Genevieve and other points on 
the Missouri river. The large elliptical dome, with richly moulded cap 
piece and ornamented roof, flanked by mosque-shaped towers, forming 
together the key-note of the design, is suggestive of oriental treatment. 
A tinge of sky-blue appears at the apex of the dome, with a few stars 
sprinkled around it, these bright colors relieved by a border of terra 
cotta. Yellow is the prevailing tint of the exterior, the semi-circular 
indenture being finished in cut stone of a rich brown. Over the main 
portal is the state coat-of-arms, with the figure of a bear on either 
side. Wings constructed of wood and staff extend from the central dome, 
its flanking towers and the principal entrance-ways. In front of the 
building is a spacious balcony with floor of Florentine mosaic, itself a 
work of art. 

Within the main entrance is a large rotunda, paved with handsome tiling, 
from which opens the apartments of western Missouri and Kansas City, 
eastern Missouri and St. Louis, with one set apart for the press. Here 
also are the reading-room and library, the bureau of information, the 
offices of the executive commissioner, and postal and telegraph 
accommodation. Near the press room is that of St. Louis, with tinted 
walls, antique wood-work of oak, the richest of furniture and the most 
delicate of tapestries. The Kansas City chamber is finished in quarter-
sawed oak, with frescoed ceiling and hardwood floor covered with costly 
rugs. Adjoining it is the Jasper county room, in the decoration of which 
were used several tons of lead, zinc, and barytes, with designs worked in 
pulverized forms of these minerals, in shades of yellow, red, and blue, 
and with pieces of ore cemented upon the walls as background. When lighted 
by electricity, the effect is of surpassing beauty. 

Two broad oaken stairways lead to the floor above, the feature of which is 
the room prepared for the governor of the state, its walls and ceiling 
with rich decorations of hammered gold, and golden background, on which 
are designs in silver and green, with wood-work painted in lilac bordered 
with gold, together forming an harmonious blending of colors. The large 
double window with cathedral top, shaded by silken curtains of gold and 
cream, with carpet of soft moquette, are donations from the women of 
Missouri. By the women of Jefferson City the public reception room was 
finished in dark mahogany, with mural panels of silk and paintings in 
water colors. For the commercial travellers of Missouri a room was 
furnished by their Protective society, in connection with the citizens of 
Greene County. On the ceiling is the monogram of the travellers within a 
wreath of sycamore leaves in blue, white, and gold, the colors of the 
association. In all there are more than thirty apartments, including a 
large auditorium, with reading-room and adjoining parlors for men and 
women. 

Some ninety feet square and erected at a cost of $45,000 Missouri's 
edifice is one of the most sightly of the minor structures of the Fair. 
The furniture and draperies are largely of home material and make, the 
wood from native forests and the fabrics from local factories. Mining 
industries are well represented in the room decorated by Jasper county, 
which, together with Newton county adjacent, furnishes at least one half 
of the pig 

Page 795

lead produced in this state, as well as a considerable portion of that 
which is extracted from galena ores. Among other localities where this 
metal is found is a series of caves in Washington county, where more than 
2,000 tons of pure lead were found adhering to the walls and roofs. In the 
mines of Jasper, Newton, and elsewhere in the southwestern sections are 
deposits of zinc in conjunction with lead, and often in such masses as to 
interfere with the working of the latter. Missouri also ranks high as a 
producer of copper and iron, the so-called Iron mountain being pronounced 
by experts to be the richest body of ore that is known to exist. Shepherd 
mountain, Pilot knob, Scotia Iron banks, and Iron ridge are other 
localities which yield abundantly of this metal. Scattered throughout the 
state are the clays of which was made the tiling for many of the floors, 
sandstone, limestone, and marble being used for the main entrance and the 
fountains of the rotunda. 

But of Missouri's exhibits only a small portion is displayed in her 
building and its contents. In the main departments of the Fair the state 
appears to excellent advantage, and especially in the Agricultural 
division, where the fertility of her soil is exemplified in many specimens 
of corn, wheat, oats, and tobacco, with brands of flour exported to many 
foreign countries. In the Mining, Live-stock, Dairy, and Horticultural 
sections, Missouri is also prominent, and for these and other collections 
ample provision was made from the liberal sum set apart by the state for 
representation at the Fair. 

On the opening day of the Exposition the building was dedicated by the 
members of the National Travellers' Protective association. What was known 
as Missouri day fell on the 30th of August, and began with a parade of 
live-stock, witnessed by many prominent citizens. Among the speakers were 
Governor Stone, ex-Governor Francis, and Pope Yeaman, the work of the 
commission being reviewed by the manager of the board, J. K. Gwynn, who 
accorded due honors to N. H. Gentry, its president and Nathan Frank, its 
vice-president. 

Arkansas and Texas owe their representation at the Fair largely to the 
efforts of women. Although the legislature of the former voted against an 
appropriation of public funds, at the invitation of James P. Eagle, ex-
governor of the state, delegates from the several counties assembled at 
Little Rock and formed an association authorized to issue Exposition 
stock. It was also determined to organize a board of directors and an 
auxiliary board of women, including four national commissioners, among 
them the wife of the governor. Funds were readily obtained, and ground was 
broken for the erection of a building according to the plans submitted by 
Miss Jean Loughborough, whose design was preferred to those of 
professional architects. The structure is of the renaissance style, and 
suggests the French traditions connected with the early history of 
Arkansas. Its dimensions are 60 by 85 feet, with a central court 30 feet 
square, surmounted by a glass cupola. In the middle of the court is a 
fountain constructed from the crystals found at Hot Springs and in the so-
called valley of vapors. This is a contribution from the women of that 
locality, Mrs. Ellsworth furnishing the design, in which the main feature 
is a cherub holding aloft, as the emblem of the state, a large passion 
flower, its petals studded with minute crystals, and the entire structure 
resting upon a bed of beautiful specimens. 

Page 796

Around the court are grouped the reception and exhibition rooms, specially 
connected with the women's department and furnished by Columbian clubs 
organized throughout the state. By legislative enactment the personnel of 
the board of directors was changed, none of the first members being 
retained, excepting Colonel James Mitchell, its president, and Fanny Scott 
its lady manager. Largely through the efforts of the latter was imparted 
to the reception rooms of the Arkansas building an air of true southern 
hospitality, while credit is also due to Mrs. Margaret Ratcliffe, 
president of the Little Rock club, to whom was intrusted their furnishing. 
The Helena room contains a handsomely carved talbe, and by the artists of 
Little Rock their headquarters were adorned with pictures, among which 
"The Scene in a Cotton Field" attracted much attention, as also did a 
painting executed on chamois skin and designed for a piano cover. 
Elsewhere are designs in thread lace, a piece of sculpture by Vinnie Ream 
Hoxie, a former resident of the state, and busts in bronze and marble of 
distinguished men. A literary and art memorial was prepared in the shape 
of a large illustrated work, filled with contributions from female writers 
and artists of the day. The children of the public schools also 
contributed specimens of their work to a souvenir volume, whose 
preparation was under the special charge of J. H. Shinn, superintendent of 
public instruction. 

The interior of the building, which is entered from a large circular 
portico, is tinted with tasteful blending of colors, its ornamental work 
being wrought in gold. A broad hallway leads to the rotunda, and thence 
extends to the assembly hall at the rear, one of the features in which is 
a massive mantel of native white onyx, with columns and vases of the same 
material elsewhere in the building. On the second floor are parlors for 
men and women, and rooms for the use of the state board, to all of which 
there is access from a broad open gallery. 

Marshalled by Mrs. B. B. Tobin, the women of Texas brought their state 
into line, as was thus explained by the superintendent of schools, 
Alexander Hogg: "Texas is not here as a state, sustained and backed by the 
strong and efficient aid of her treasury. She is here through the 
generosity, the pride, and the patriotism of her women and school 
children, and through the substantial assistance afforded by three of her 
railroads. Texas is greatest territorially, is first in the production of 
cotton, is first in the production of cereals, first in the number of 
cattle raised, first in the number of sheep raised, first in the number of 
mules and horses, and first in the amount of money and lands set apart for 
her public schools." To this he might have added that the number of cattle 
in Texas is larger than in all the New England, middle and southern states 
combined, amounting in 1891 to more than 7,000,000 head, valued at about 
$62,500,000. Of cotton the yield is not far short of 1,000,000,000 pounds 
a year, and of corn the crop for 1888 was 92,400,000 bushels, though her 
yield of the latter is exceeded as a rule by several of the western 
states. 

The subscription of $30,000, which enabled the state to erect a home 

Page 797

of its own, was raised through an association of women of which Mrs. Tobin 
was president, Miss Hallie Holbert being one of the most active workers. 
The school children contributed their pennies, and the corporations their 
dollars, church sociables and fairs, private theatricals, and a score of 
other devices being kept in motion to collect the fund. 

The building is in the style of the Spanish renaissance, with square 
towers at the front corners, connected by two-story loggias. The main 
structure and its towers are roofed with Spanish tiles, the windows and 
the spandrels of the arches elaborately carved. The latter are of Moorish 
architecture and the former patterned after the old catholic missions of 
San Antonio. The principal entrance is from a wing, whence the visitor 
passes through a richly carved doorway into a square court or hall, from 
which open rooms and offices for social and business purposes. These 
include not only administration quarters, but accommodation for the state 
press association, the ante-rooms being chiefly furnished with articles 
made of the native woods of Texas. In the skylight of the hall is the lone 
star fashioned in mosaic work, and a statue of Sam Houston is also a 
feature of the central court. 

Quietly but heartily the visitors from Texas and many others held friendly 
celebration, the day selected being the 16th of September, when every 
corner of the building was crowded with participants, while thousands 
could find no place within its doors. There was music by the Iowa band and 
by Kutzenberger's Columbian chorus, with solo singing by his wife. After 
an address of welcome by Mrs. Tobin, ex-Governor Hubbard delivered the 
oration of the day, selecting as his theme the women of Texas, and 
referring also to the products and resources of the state. Then by the 
Women's association were presented medals and floral tributes to those who 
had rendered good service in the erection of the building. To Charles s. 
Morse and W. H. Harley gold medals were handed, and to John T. Dickinson 
and Ida L. Turner, a star and heart of roses. A recitation and a song 
ended the formal exercises, and in the evening a ball concluded the 
celebration. 

By the Florida, as by the Texas legislature, no public funds were voted 
for representation at the Fair, the exhibits and buildings of both being 
furnished through private enterprise. In the Mining department the former 
has a large collection of phosphates, taken from surface deposits and from 
the beds of rivers, the peninsula state being now one of the chief sources 
of supply for the valuable fertilizer. In the Horticultural and 
Agricultural divisions Florida presents an attractive display of 
semitropical vegetation, and elsewhere expression is given to various 
industries and arts. 

Florida's home at Jackson Park is a reproduction, on a scale one fifth the 
size of the original, of old Fort Marion at St. Augustine, the oldest 
structure erected by the Spaniards in what is now the United States, 

Page 798

and many years the centre of Spanish power on the Atlantic seaboard. 
Founded in 1620 and not entirely completed until nearly a century later, 
the fort and its vicinity were the scene of many a blood conflict between 
the Spaniards and the French. It was built at the extremity of a massive 
sea-wall and covered, as is its model, with coquina shells. The original 
covers about four acres, with bastioned wall 20 feet in height, and is a 
fine specimen of mediaeval architecture. It is encompassed by a deep moat, 
now overgrown with weeds and thistles, and contains in all 24 rooms, with 
an interior court 105 feet square. In its reproduction at the Fair, the 
miniature court is planted with palms, flowers, and other typical forms of 
Florida vegetation. The cocoa-nut, sago, date, and cabbage-palm are also 
displayed on the plat around the main entrance, representing the principal 
gate of Fort Marion, on one side of which is a pyramid of phosphate rock. 

Instead of the casements of old Fort Marion, some of which served as 
dungeons, there is a series of small connected apartments, surrounding the 
court and furnishing accommodation for the executive officers, while used 
also for the display of fancy articles, of mosses, ferns, shells, fruits, 
minerals, and photographs, not to mention infant alligators and 
chameleons. Here also are sea-island cotton, sponges, and cabinets 
containing more than 200 samples of native woods. Of fruits there are many 
specimens, with practical illustrations of the methods of canning, whereby 
the most delicate and luscious varieties are made to retain their flavor 
and natural appearance. Elsewhere are sponges in different stages of 
growth, and turpentine in process of being extracted and refined. The 
display is varied and unique in character, as are the exhibits in all the 
principal divisions. During the term of the Fair, two-score employees, 
under the direction of Arthur C. Jackson, were stationed within and around 
the building, the revenue derived from the sale of articles forming the 
basis of the fund with which the state collections were installed in the 
main department of the Fair. 

Although represented in the Agricultural, Forestry, and other departments, 
Louisiana's strength is mainly concentrated in her state edifice, built of 
native woods and a typical mansion of old creole days. Its broad roof, 
with dormer windows, overhanging the piazzas which partially encompass the 
building, are familiar even to modern travellers in the furthest south. 
The floor of the upper balcony forms the single row of pillars, the 
windows of the lower story reaching to the ground. 

But the exhibits within, the paintings, curios, ceramics, manuscripts, and 
furnishings are more representative of the annals and industries of the 
state than is the structure itself. Eight of the rooms are devoted to 
these collections, and there is a kitchen in which are served dishes of 
creole origin, rice figuring largely therein, with specimens of the 
different forms in which it is prepared and the processes by which it is 
raised. The cooking and the sewing are performed by Acadian women, who, in 
a chamber specially reserved for the purpose, also give practical 
illustrations with ancient spinning-wheels and looms of an industry of 
olden days. 

The so-called curio room is panelled in native woods, its walls hung with 
flags associated with the history of the state and covering all the 
periods of foreign and domestic rule, while as relics of the Franco-
Spanish days are antique sabres depending from the cornices. Most of the 
treasures here displayed are from the Creole gallery of art in New 
Orlenas, and formerly belonged to the oldest and most aristocratic 
families of Louisiana. Among them are paintings once the property of 
Napoleon Bonaparte and Louis Phillippe, with those which Joseph Bonaparte 
brought to the United States in 1815, and there is the slipper worn by 

Page 799

Pauline Bonaparte, of the Naples branch of the family. Elsewhere is an old 
silken flag made by the women of Massachusetts, carried through many a 
campaign of the revolutionary war, and now the property of a descendant of 
Colonel Burgess, aid-de-camp to General Greene, the hero of the Carolinas. 
Here are the old camp kettle of the latter, the Mexican hat and gripsack 
of Zachary Taylor, various mess utensils used in the campaigns of 
Napoleon, Frederick the great, Andrew Jackson, and Washington. Among the 
Washington relics is his account with the government written in a well-
worn ledger by the father of the republic, and among the rare manuscripts 
are letters from the royalty of France, the presidents of the United 
States, its prominent governors and generals. Of the fight at New Orleans 
there is much to remind us, including the swords of General Jackson and 
several of his officers, with a draft of the original plan of the battle. 
There is a portrait of Jefferson Davis, from a photograph taken a few days 
after his release from Fortress Monroe; and one of Philip Noland, the hero 
of Everett Hale's story, A Man Without a Country. 

The china and silver-ware are much admired, both for their beauty and for 
the associations connected with them. Among the former is the plate once 
owned by Rouget de Lisle, the composer of the Marseillaise, fashioned at 
Stoke-on-Trent some ninety years ago, and adonred with a wreath of roses 
on which are inscribed the chorus notes of the national anthem. The 
Lowestoft plates, oval in shape, soft blue in color, and with sketches of 
ancient castles and landscapes upon their faces, are beautiful specimens 
of ceramic art. Hammered silverware of the sixteenth and seventeenth 
centuries, showing the royalist coat-of-arms; a watch presented by 
Napoleon to Marshal Ney, with tableware used in the palace of the emperor 
and by king Louis Philippe, during his stay in New Orleans, are other 
articles here displayed. From the museum of the capitol came two sofas of 
antique pattern, curiously carved, their brass panels surmounting massive 
globular feet. A quaint sideboard, pillared at the back, and a table of 
artistic design, its legs surmounted by a globe, upon which rests a 
central shaft supporting the top, are further mementos of Spanish rule. 
There are also many miscellaneous articles, as carved and decorated ivory, 
prayer beads of old amber, a medallion painted with religious scenes, a 
rosary once belonging to a daughter of Louis XVI, a picture of St. Louis 
cathedral executed in 1792, and one of the Madonna, found amid the ruins 
of the great conflagration which, in 1792, almost obliterated the city of 
New Orleans. 

The reception rooms are tastefully furnished with articles supplied by 
home manufacturers. Finally, woman's influence, especially the feminine 
taste of the south, as represented in the women of Louisiana, are 
everywhere apparent, from the galleries and cases of curios, to the 
kitchen were creole cooks and waiters minister to the physical wants of 
visitors. 

World's Fair Miscellany

At the Centennial Exposition several of the states erected buildings for 
the special use of their citizens; but these were scattered almost at 
random throughout the grounds; for the idea was a new one, and there was 
no such cooperation between state and Exposition authorities as at the 
Columbian Fair. To this was largely due the excellence of the state 
displays collectively and individually. Each of the state boards felt 
itself responsible for the good name of the community, stimulating rivalry 
among intending exhibitors, and often suggesting, arranging, and taking 
charge of their exhibits. Until the opening of the Fair they acted as a 
medium of communication between the individual and the general management, 
and to both were almost indispensable, knowing, as they did, the 
requirements of state and individual, and how best to afford them adequate 
representation. 

Among other articles in the Massachusetts building, not mentioned in the 
text, is a table used during the witchcraft persecutions in 1892, and 
still belonging to a family whose ancestors took part in the movement. On 
the upper shelf of a ponderous cupboard are two punch bowls in which 
liquor was brewed about the year 1700. There is the rush-bottomed chair in 
which Deacon Phinney sat, more than a century ago, in the old 
congregational church at Barnstable, and near it is the mahogany cradle in 
which the children of President Adams' family to the fifth generation were 
rocked to sleep. A considerable space is devoted to the exhibit of Mount 
Holyoke college. There are also many curiosities, as pine-tree shillings, 
one of them bearing the date of 1652, a pair of gold-dust scales, a 
collection of snuff-boxes, and a huge brass door-lock, ponderous enough 
for a mediaeval fortress. There are the long-skirted coat, the small 
clothes and knee buckles used by a citizen of pre-revolutionary days, a 
pair of leather shoes with roses stamped on the toes, worn by some 
colonial gallant, and the wooden clogs which Massachusetts grandams wore. 
A tiny cream jug belonging to Susannah Ingersoll was made in 1680, and 
among dresses is one of brown satin in which Mrs. John Quincy Adams sat 
for her portrait in London, and that in which Mrs. Roger Sherman was 
attired for a dinner given to Washington at Hancock house. 

Page 800

The Mount Vernon residence was in charge of Mrs. Lucy Preston Beale, 
granddaughter of James Preston, one of the late governors of Virginia. 
Mrs. Beale rendered valuable service to the state board of managers, of 
which she was appointed assistant, preparing, for instance, a stirring 
address to the women of Virginia, in which she appealed for contributions 
in the way of exhibits and funds. "At Chicago," she said, "we must measure 
not only with the women of other states, but of the whole world, in the 
achievements of industry and originality in both the physical and moral 
domain. Remember that accordingly our status will be decided, and that 
henceforth we shall wear the badge of pride or of shame." By Mrs. Beale 
was discovered in the attic of her father's house the counterpart of 
Washington's bedstead, mentioned in the text, and from one of the family 
was obtained the counterpane which covers it. 

On the day before the dedication of Kentucky's home, the members of her 
Press association met in the central court to elect their officers for the 
ensuing year, with the result that Samuel Roberts, of the Lexington 
Leader, was chosen president, I. B. Nall, vice-president, and R. E. 
Morningstar, secretary and treasurer. All were present at the ceremonies 
of the following afternoon, and meanwhile made the tour of the Fair, and 
especially its Mining, Agricultural, and Horticultural departments, of the 
last of which, its chief, J. M. Samuels, is a native of Kentucky. 

In connection with Delaware's participation in the Fair, it may here be 
mentioned that a liberal state appropriation was made for a display of 
woman's work in the Woman's building. Especially in this department the 
state was creditably represented, largely through the efforts of Mrs. J. 
F. Ball, a member of the national board of lady managers. So also with 
Texas, whose exhibits in this relation were largely organized by Mrs. 
Rosine Ryan, a member of the executive committee of the board. 

In the Louisiana state exhibit, in addition to those already mentioned, 
are many contributions from the Creole art gallery at New Orleans, whose 
collections, gathered during 40 years from the home of her former 
grandees, include valuable paintings, manuscripts, and relics, with 
Limoges and Sevres vases, silver and chinaware, and numerous articles of 
virtu. There are the epaulets of Winfield Scott, and the swords of Andrew 
Jackson, of Nichols, Planche, and Galvez, of Vigne who held rank in the 
old guard of Napoleon, and commanded a regiment at the battle of New 
Orleans, and of Commodore Rosseau, one of the heroes of the revolutionary 
war. Here also is the snuff-box of General Dongelo, a present from Marat; 
for the two were schoolmates, and this was handed to him as a token 
wherewith he might pass the guards at the bastile, and thus escape the 
guillotine.