Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1893-06-03
DEADHEAps At the FAIR.
Politics Said 10 Be Responsible For Many d
Them.

| CnfcAGo, June 2.--if a certain man in
| New York should receive \ pass to the
| Worlds Fair for himself and one for his
wife, he would be gettiag only what he is
under the impression be is entitled to, be-
cause he has sen; & medal of historic value
| to swell the already large colonial exhibit
made BY the state. In letter which ac-
companied the relic he states TO the general
managers that he understands that every
exhibitor il entitled to free admission to the
Fair This understanding is shared by q
great many others v ho have loaned articles
for display, as letters of similar import TO
the managers attest. but unfortunately for
them, il is an entirely erroneous one.
! Ii is true that passes are granted to ex-
hibitors, but lenders of colonial relics are
not considered exhibitors, and if they were,
they would have to show that their presence
was continuously necessary in the interest of
such exhibits.
| Consequently, a lady who loaned fan
or piece of lace or a gentleman who per-
mitted a miniature of his great-grandfstheI
to be exhibited would have TO be constantly
on hand for the sole purpose cf caring for
that object, even If he were an exhibitor.
| If every one who has sent an article or
articles to the Exposition were admitted
free there would be greater cause than now
| exists for the treasurer and the auditor to
| stand aghast at the redoubtable showing of
| free admissions. of course, the number
of contributed articles at the fair is very
| formidable. There are at least 800 separate
lenders of New York colonial articles alone,
and if each of the - original states which
have colonial exhibits in the rotunda of the
government building represent an equal
number, these 1900 passes would not be Il
drop IN the bucket beside those for the
thousands who have objects in the Woman's
building and the state buildings. OF course,
| the idea is quite absurd, but it serves to ex-
plain iu measure the astonishing discov
cry made on the first Sunday opening,
when there were 80 900 paid adult admis
sions and 40 900 free passes registered at
the gates.
1t caused the auditor and the treasurer,
who have yigilant eye for the receipts, to
start an immediate investigation, and as
usual in such cases they seem to have dis
covered the molehill and overlooked the
mountain. They Immediately concluded
that because power to issue passes to the
oress had been conferred on Major Handy,
Ms chief of the bureau of publicity and pro-
motion, therefore Major Handy had given
out 40, 900 free admissions, or thereabout,
making due subtraction for concessionaires,
their employees, and Exposition employees
and workmen.
They were totally unprepared for the as
founding discoxery that Major Handy's de-
partment had issued up to date only 5000
passes of any kind, leaving ~ 900 to be ac
counted for. 1t was very apparent at this
stage that the other officers of the Exposi-
ton company, being the only persons with
passes to distribute, must be accountable
for the remarkable showing, and there,
quite naturally, the inquisition of the audi
tor and the treasurer stopped.
1t was understood when the Fair opened
that no passes were to be issued except TO
persons actually engaged in labor, mental
or manual, within the grounds, but no poll
,ician in New York or Chicago believed in
the statement since there are few poll
ticians connected with the Exposition
locally, nationally, and by states. Hence
it is that passes other than Photographic
passes are in circulation in liberal quanti
ties, and it causes the auditor and the treas
urer to groan in despair because their
purely monetary minds refuse to cherish
lovingly the proposition that 10000 people,
mere or less means $50, 900 or there
about Yet, as it is a matter largely OF
politics, thy let it pass