Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1875-11-18
Arrangements for the Centennial.

The Act Of Congress which pro-
vided for celebrating the one hun
dredth Anniversary of American In
dependence, by holding an lnterna-
tional Exhibition of Arts, Manufac-
lures, and Products of the Soil and
Nine" authorized the creation of the
! United States Centennial Commits
sion, and entrusted to it the manage
ment of the Exhibition. This body
IS composed of two Commissioners
from each State and Territory, nom
mated by the respective Governors,
and commissioned by the President
of the United States. The enter
prise, therefore, is distinctly nation
al one, and not, as has sometimes
been stated, the work of a private
corporation.
The Exhibition will be opened on
May 10th, 1876, and remain open
every day, except Sunday, until No
vember 10th. There will be fixed
price of so cents for admission to all
the buildings and grounds.
The Centennial grounds are stu
ated on the western bank of the
SchuyIkill River, and within Fair
mount Park, the largest public park
in proximity to great city in the
world, and one of the most beauti-
full in the country. The Park CON
tains 3160 acres, $50 of which have
been enclosed for the Exhibition.
Besides this tract, there will be.Iarge
yards near by for the Exhibition of
stock, and farm Of ~ acres has al
ready been suitably planted for the
tests Of ploughs, mowers, reapers,
and other agricultural machinery.
The Exhibition buildings are ap-
preached by eight lines Of street
cars, which connect with all the 9TH
er lines in the city, and by the Penn
sylvania and Reading railroads, over
the tracks of which trains will also
run from the North Pennsylvania
and Philadelphia, Wilmington, and
Baltimore railroads. Thus the Ex-
hibltion Is in immediate connection
with the entire railroad system Of
the country, and any one within 90
miles of Philadelphia can visit.it at
no greater cost than that Of carriage
hire at the Paris or Vienna Exhibi-
ton.
The articles to be exhibited have
been classified in seven departments,
which, for the most part, will be lo
Gated in appropriate buildings, whose
several areas are as follows:
DEPARTMENT.. BUILDINGS. ACRES COVERED.
!. Mining and Metallurgy
E1HattS5pG1s EdHeation and Science Main Building ~
4 Art, Art Gallery. is
s. Machinery, Machinery Building IA,
g. Agriculture, Agricultural : 10.
T. Horticulture, Horticultural " is
Total. 4847
This provides nearly ten more
acres for exhibiting space than there
were at Vienna, the largest Interna
tional Exhibition yet held. Yet the
applications of exhibitors have been
so numerous as to exhaust the space,
and many important classes of OBJ
jects must be provided for in special
buildings.
An important special exhibition
will be made by the United States
Government, and is being prepared
under the supervision Of a Board of
}! Officers representing the several Ex-
ecutive Departments of the Govern
ment. A fine building Of 4 ] acres
is provided for the purpose, space in
which will be occupied by the War,
Treasury, Navy, Interior, Post Office,
and Agricultural Departments and
the Smithsonian Institute.
The Women's Centennial Execu-
tive Committee, have raised $4,000
for the erection of a pavilion in
which to exhibit every kind of wo-
mems work. To this collection,
women of all nations are expected
to contribute.
The list of special buildings is
constantly increasing, and present
indications are that their total num-
Der will be from 200 to $50 Most
of the important foreign nations
; England, Germany, Austria, France,
Sweden, Egypt, Japan, and others
are putting up one or more struct-
ures each, for exhibiting purposes, or
i for the use of the commissioners, ex-
hibitors and visitors. Offices and
. headquarters of this kind, usually of
considerable architectural beauty,
are provided by the States of Penn
sylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois,
Michigan, New Jersey, New York,
Connecticut, Massachusetts,, New
Hampshire, Missouri, Kansas, Vir-
ginia, West Virginia, Nevada, Wis
consin, Iowa, and Delaware; and it
is likely that others will follow the
example.
A number of Trade and Industrial
Associations, which require large