Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1893-06-15
FROM THE WORLDS FAIR.


Friends in Barton county occasion
ally send me copy of your paper, IN
which 1 find much to interest me. And
wish to tender you my thanks for the
frank, manly stand you have taken in
behalf of the Kansas exhibit in the
Worlds Columbian Exposition. The
men who can rise above little petty
prejudice. when the interests of a
great state are at stake will live to have
an influence long after the grumblers
and fault6nders are forgotten.
l have this to say: That parties
who have garbled over my letters and
purposely miscOnstrued them, ss was
done in Great Bend, are disgrace to
the profession to which they belong.
The letters L am writing for my home
papers are intended for the benefit of
the people of Barton county, ''withont
regard to race, color or previous cOndi-
tion of servitude." have my political
opinions as other men, and shall claim
the right to use them SO long as have
sense enough to use them in a proper
way. L fully realize what 1 am here
for: to represent the State of Kansas
in the greatest exhibition the world has
ever known; 1 am here to represent
the products of her soil, her mines, her
climate, her people and all other inter-
ests, and l shall continue in the dis
charge of that duty to the extent of
my ability as long as l remain here.
But l wish to get rid of this unpleas-
ant part of my letter and hope 1 shall
again; would much rather give my
readers something that would be more
interesting and profitable.
The exposition, though not near
finished, is being pushed rapidly for
ward, the main buildings are the far
thest behind. But don't be uneasy
about their not being enough here to
see. There is already thousand times
more than you can see and understand
il any reasonable time. The most of
the state buildings are nearing COM
pletion; we are just winding up; have
gotten rid of about all of our rubbish,
which by the way was no small matter;
have discharged all of our help, and
we are now ready to submit our work,
not only to the people of Kansas, but
to the world. We are not ashamed of
what we have accomplished for we do
not have to be.
l would say to all who can come, to
come; it is well worth your time and
money. l would say to the "kickers," :"
you come too; leave home kicking,
kick while you are here, then kick
after you go back if you want to; no
body cares. Kansas is in it big and the
people here acknowledge it.
From six to ten thousand people
enter our building every day and the
people have hardly commenced coming.
The attendance. so far, is considerably
below the expectations of the people of
Chicago, and the receipts running be-
low expenses. While l believe the fair
in many respects will be great success,
financially l believe it will be failure.
get my information from those who
care in position to know, but that does
mot by any means destroy the many
other great benefits to be derived from
1T. The money it has cost simply
:changes from one class of people to
another, and is not lest to the country.
The real advantages to be gained from
it cannot be estimated in dollars and
cents. The knowledge we will get of
our own resources, and the resources
of other countries must result in great
good for years to come; it will broaden
our views ard cure many a prejudice
long cherished; it will convince our
people that their interests are too
closely identified to ever want to live
separately. Our children will catch
valuable ideas from the fine decorations
they will see here, made out of grains
and grasses; they will learn how to
use the countless products of nature to
beautify their homes and school rooms.
1t would be utterly impossible for me
to attempt description of the beauti-
full decorations to be seen here; art and
nature combined have done their work
well. 1 do not wonder that when the
Creator of all things had finished His
work, He looked upon it and pronounc-
ed it good.
The buildings are great show out
side of what they contain, while dur
ability was but a very small part of the
consideration in their construction,
they are both comfortable and attract
i've.
1t is great surprise to all how our
young western states are looming up
Colorado, Washington. Idaho, Nevada
and the Dakotas-the timber and
fruit displays are very fine, also grains
and grasses and minerals. California
is making q grand fruit display, but in
Washington and Idaho she has danger
our rivals.
Kansas has the largest black walnut