Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-08-26

by which / mean
the Indebtedness of the fair, is also big and
1t represents millions The dome covers
nearly half an acre and it shines out under
the sun above the great city Of Chicago
The mortgage covers all the seven hundred
odd acres of shows here and 1t can be seen
blazing oyer Chicago all the way from New
wiped out at the end of the fair. when the
administration building will be sold to the
highest bidder Whether the mortgage
seen. The director general thinks 1t will.
1t was to ask as to this that called.
A Chat With Director General Davis.
Walking over the marble floor Of the ro-
tunda past the pretty girl in the center
who peddles out for 81 each silver souvenir
Columbian half dollars. reached one
of the half dozen steel elevators which
carry you to the upper floors. At the sec
through the introduction Of Major NJ. p.
Handy. was in the big parlors of the direc-
tor general A tall. robust, gray-haired.
gray-bearded man. with an eagle eye and
brunette complexion was presented as the
manager of the worlds fair, Director Gen.
eral Davis. and he. in response to my ques-
The worlds fair is doing better every
day. 1t will pay all its debts, and we will
expenses in every way. and the saving from
the music under Thomas is to be followed
by other radical reductions. Prof. Thomas
and the people who heard him had to pay
dollar apiece to go to his concerts. 1t took
me several months to get rid Of him. Think
Why It costs only 1920 day to run the
great buildings of the exposition. We are
reducing right along. Our next cut will be
and We will cut also in other quarters"
What does 1t now cost to run the expo
at costs just about $4,000 a day now, but
an average in the past has been far above
that. When we were building We spent $780,
had to flow like water. We have labored
under great disadvantages. All the work
has been done under the eight-hour law,
lures of the fair over a million dollars. The
trades unions have regulated our prices
and we paid double wages for the work we
ready in time. Some Of our contracts were
made for the entire period Of the fair, when
they should have been made for a short
time. and the expense of the whole has
been materially increased through the
haste We have had to make"
Police and Detective Force.
Where does this $4,000 a day that it re-
quires to run the exposition go?" asked.
1t Is spent In all sorts of ways" was
the reply. "A large amount has to be maid
out for guards police and detectives. We
nave about two hundred detectives, and
sixteen hundred guards. The number of
guards has been criticised as being too
large. but we need them to provide against
nre The statue Fire Controlled above
this building is typical Of our work. We
nave mere one of the most inflamma BILE
cities or the world. and one of the most
dangerous as regards loss of life. Suppose
fire should break out in the manufactur-
ers building machinery hall or the cleo
Think Of the electric wires charged with
hundreds upon hundreds of volts of cleo
tricity that might fly about wild wires
II we were not prepared for them they
would deal death at every touch. WIN
some OF those wires are charged up to one
thousand voltage. One Of them broke the
other day and fell into pond covering
nearly an acre OF ground A man was
standing in the waters of this pond a good
distance from the wire. He is now laid up
shock he got at that time l have it now
arranged so that these wires can all be
deadened at once. If 1t were not so and a
fire should break out the results would be
more terrible than any confiagration of his
tory. We have already had fifty fires. but
they have been put out so promptly that
the people have never heard of them. AS
1t Is our fatalities have been very few We
have had In round numbers seven million
people on these grounds. We have built
these great buildings with the men clinch-
ing the bolts on some of these great iron
structures as they were put together, hang
ing onto the beams while they were NOV
Ing, and all told only fifty men have been
killed, and not more than 700 wounded. In
other words, including visitors only one
man In every ten thousand, so far connect
ed with the fair, has met with an accident
The only building burned has been the
storage building and for this We were not
responsible.
You must also remember that these great
buildings are not like ordinary structures
They are fragile. and, solid as they look.
you could kick hole into them at almost
any point"
The Future Of the Fair Buildings.
What is to become of these buildings?''
I asked. "Will there be fair next year,"
NO" replied Director General Davis "A
fair next year with these buildings Is an
impossibility. They would not last the
winter through. The glass roofs are so
constructed that they would be broken by
pieces. / know there is some talk of an ex-
position next year. but 1T is out of the ques-
ton
How about the extending of the exposi-
II can't say whether it will be extended
or not: I think 1T might be good thing
for us II we could have ten days, two weeks
or even more in November, and it would
help us out. Whether Congress will be
asked for this, and whether 1t will be
granted, / cannot now say, but 1t is very
bile that some such movement will be
undertaken"
How Hard Times Have Affected the
Fair.
HAS TIE panic hurt the FAIR asked.
EYES," replied Gen. Davis, ut has re-
duced our attendance at least 25 900 q day
and our receipts proportionally far more
The rich men Of the country are not COM
ing to the fair. Capitalists, bankers, mcr-
chants and the men who usually spend a
great deal of money at such places ns this
are staying at home to watch their bust
ness. The financial condition is such that
they are afraid to go away.
Chicago and the Fair.
Has the fair helped Chicago?''
"Yes" replied Mr. Davis. 1T has prac-
tically saved the Chicago banks. There has
been less trouble here than at any other
point in the country. and the Chicago banks
have plenty Of money. The merchants are