The Yakima herald. [volume] (North Yakima, W.T. [Wash.]) 1889-1914, 1891-03-12
FAMOUS FAIRS FHE WORLD
The First Was the Only One to Pay Its
Own Expenses.
The Rest UnPFOaltabIe I'm . Pecunl'
aPy SenSe.-OuF CentenniaI's
Books Nearly hlaIaneed.

All the world knows, or should know,
that the first worlds fair had its origin
in the idea Of Prince Albert, the husband
Of Queen Victoria, but only q very few
comparatively are aware that It stands
alone as the only enterprise Of the kind
which paid It's expenses. For It was
erected the Crystal Palace, which had
twenty-three acres Of ground under cover.
The fair was opened on the LIST day Of May,
1851, and the closing day was October
llth Of the same year. The total num-
Der Of visitors was 6,l70, 900, an enormous
total for that period when London had .
vastly smaller resident population than
Il has now, and was not the universal
house Of call for all the nations which It
is at present.
The total expense Of the enterprise, In
cluding that wonderful structure, the
Crystal Palace, covering twenty-three
acres, was 81 ,464, 900, and the receipts
were q, ,l2I ,6l2, which left net profit Of
S657, ,2l2. The people Of New York City,
melted to action by the great success at
London, hastily got up an imimatiOn ex-
hibition, which was opened July l4th,
1858, and was closed on the 10th Of the
next November. 1t was a trifiing affair,
having only Ave and three.fourths acres
under roof, but the president Of the
United States, Franklin Pierce, and the
members Of bis cabinet were enticed into
taking part in the opening ceremonies.
The cost Of the undertaking was re-
parted to be t5OO, 200, but no account Of
the receipts seem TO have been given by
anybody to anybody; possibly some
alderman Of the period put them in bis
pocket and walked away with them, not
withstanding the fact that after the clos
ing on November 10th, 1853, 1t was re-
ported that the number Of visitors had
been 100000. II every one Of that num-
Der had paid for admission there would
have been q large deficit, but IS no re-
celpts ct all appear in the statistics Of
".o..,.,uSS ..,s ~ " "' -' ''' "''-
'''>~'
THE siAST fAAis EXPOSITION
Alter the New York failure came the
first Of the Paris expositions, which had
thirty acres under cover, and having been
opened May 18th, 1855, closed on the 18th
Of November In the same year. Louis
Napoleon was then In the height Of his
poweri Paris was enjoying its most pros
porous days and its gayest since the earlier
years Of its great emperor, the first Ma
poleon, yet the exposition was Q most dis
NAL financial failure, the cost being ~
600 900, the receipts only t64O, ,695, although
the number Of visitors is stated to have
been 4,6SS, ,464. Napoleon lie Petit must
have had an unlimited supply Of dead
head" tickets and have given them out
to all comers to make such showing as
that possible. The deficit which was
left for French meditation when the show
had become thing Of the past was S.
359, Jos.
Seven years after the Paris iasco Lon
don again entered the field with the
worlds fair Of 1862, which opened May
lst and closed November 18th. In the
amount Of floor space It was almost an
exact reproduction Of the former exposi.
ton at London, the space under cover
then being twenty-three acres, and In this
second instance twenty-four acres, The
fair had 6,2ll ,lOS visitors; the cost was
q, 800, 900, and the receipts were S2,042,.
652, leaving deficit Of s257 ,34s, q mere
trifie compared with the void which the
Frenchmen found after they had settled
the accounts Of 1856.
But the French, in no wise dismayed
by the former disaster, and moved to
emulation by the comparative success Of
the British capital, again came forward
with a universal exposition in 1867 which
was opened April lst and closed October
Slst following. Il was the largest In area
used for any Of these affairs up to that
time. having fortv and one-half acres
under cover. The exhibition was more
complete than any Of its predecessors, but
Il resulted, although the visitors num-
bered ESQ.,, 900, in financial disaster,
for the cost being N,696, ,76S, while the
receipts were s2,lO6,e76, there was an
enormous deficit Of y, 400, ,0sS to cause an