The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1893-11-11
A TRIUMPH
For The Great Mountain State.
Her Splendid Exhibits.
The State Superintendent Of Schools
Talks Of West Virginia at the
Worlds Fair.

Il
Worlds Fair.
Hon. Virgil A. Lewis, State Super
intendent of Free Schools, who re-
turned from the Worlds Fair lately,
was seen by a reporter and asked
what he thought of West Yirginia's
exhibit at Chicago.
SIN my opinion" said the Super
intendent, "West Virginia was one
of the best represented States at the
Worlds Fair, and her Commission
ers have done honor to themselves,
credit to our people, and great COM
mercial good for the State. l be
lieve that West Virginia win receive
as much benefit from her exhibit as
any other American State"
How is this2" Said the newspa
per man.
well, you see,' said the Super
intendent, West Virginia's Build
ing was one of the prettiest in Jack
son Park, it was also one of the
most substantial, built as it was of
our native woods, it was of itself one
of the best forestry exhibits there,
and this more fully appears when it
is remembered that in the Great
White City by the Side of the In
land Sea- nearly every building
owed its snowy appearance to plas-
ter and stucco, which, while temper
arily pretty, was far from being an
exhibit of forest products.
How about the States special
exhibits?"
well, take her Agricultural ex-
hibit in the northwest corner of the
great Agricultural Building, and it
faithfully represents our agricultu
raj interests. There were the won
derful exhibits from the great agri-
cultural States of the Northwest,
and West Virginia could not equal
them. If our Commissioners had
attempted this, great injury to the
State would have resulted, for it
would have appeared to all intelli-
gent beholders, both home and for
eign, as a deception, and harm
would have resulted"
"What of the Educational exhib
it?'
THAT, to me, was especially in
teresting. 1t was located on the
second floor, in the southeast corner
of the great Liberal Arts building
and does great credit to the State,
representing as it does but a quar-
ter of century's work, along edu
cational lines. We could not hope
to rival the exhibits of New York,
Pennsylvania or Ohio, which are
near by, and here as in the Depart
ment of Agriculture, the State is
most fairly represented. The above
named States have had their public
school system in force for nearly a
hundred years, supported by mil
lions of dollars annually, while West
Virginia has had but twenty five
years for work, with but few hun
dred thousand dollars at most with
which to support and advance it's
educational work. The visitor who
knew the facts must conclude that
our State has made most rapid pro-
gress, and her future is a bright one;
for, in addition to her own efforts,
she has the advantage of the expert
ments of her sister States"
How about our forestry exbibit?'
"Well it was here that the Com
missioners knew of the States super
iority, and they made that superior
ity fully to appear here. The exhib-
it is near the center of the great
building and one hears it spoken of
everywhere by the vast crowd that
throngs the building. just across
the middle aisle are the exhibits of
Mexico and Brazil, and these, when
contrasted with the specimens Of
the forest monarchs from the West
Virginia mountains, sink into insig
nifcance. West Virginians coming
home with the forestry awards, and
in this connection. The name of
Dr. Millspaugh. who arranged our
collection, must not he forgotten.
But it is in the Mines and Min
ing Building that our State is pre-
eminent. Her sixteen thousand
square miles of coal fields. repre-
senting as they do, wealth sufficient
to discharge the national debts Of
Christendom and then enrich every
man, woman and child in our State,
have been made known to the world
With her coke exhibit she has beat
en- Pennsylvania and every other
coke producing State of this nation,
and hereafter West Virginia coke
stands No. in every market in this
continent.
why, everything from West Vir-
GINA attracts attention. l saw a
group of visitors standing in front
of the Canadian Temperance Union,
reading an extract from the Acts Of
the West Virginia Legislature of
1887, providing for the teaching in
our schools of the nature of alcoholic
drinks and narcotics in connection
with the subjects of Physiology and
Hygiene"
MARK what say, that no other
American State will derive greater
benefit from the Worlds Fair than
West Virginia. The hearty thanks
of the people are due to the Con. siis-
sioners."