Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-06-27


the fundamental rules must be passed upon by
the national commission 1t must be admitted
that the powers of these two bodies have never
been clearly defined. and probably never will
be. Until the end of the fair the local direct
ory will always regard the national commission
as an obstruction to the proper management Of
the fair. and the commission will doubtless
consider the directory in very much the same
Light.
The directory is here all the time and is in
actual daily control. but the commission only
meets at long intervals. 1t Is Eot in session
now and at present the atmosphere about the
management is clear as there must be two
parties to quarrel and only one is on tine spot.
When the commission meets its members re-
ceive &c day each and thev are paid their &C
tual travelling expenses besides IL can easily
be seen that they don't make much money, 1or
il they live at hotels they have to spend all OF
the allowance and probably little more. But
they cost a good deal OF money to the general
government all the same, for the ''actual trav-
cling expenses Of such commissioners as live
far away amount to good deal. There are. 1t
NAV be incidentally remarked. two commission
ers from the territory Of Alaska. The direct
ors are paid by their corporation and the gov
eminent has nothing to do with the question.
Now, these two bodies have their officers, the
head of the national commission being known
as the president of the worlds Columbian coz
mission, and the head of the directory being
president of the worlds Columbian exposition.
The former presides at the meetings of the COM
mission and has no executive authority, but the
president of the exposition, as the head of the
corporation actively in charge Of the fair, has a
great deal of power. There are other officers,
such as secretaries, &c.
BOARD OF ADMINISTRATIONS.
The directory and commission make rules.
but there must be a machinery for carrying
them out The highest piece of machinery is
tlah - 10 Il
posed of members chosen from both the COM
mission and the directory. They say how the
rules arctic be executed. and they give their
orders to the director general. This official.
until few days ago. received his orders, and
the director Of works and superintendent OF
admissions all received theirs from the same
source, and each was supreme in his own sphere
The consequence was that there were collisions,
as the spheres necessarily ran into one another
often. Besides this thsre a number OF
committees deriving their power from the
board of administration and control, and they
| often performed duties and took action which
the director general supposed lay within his
| province. But all this was simplihed recently.
| and now the orders of the board of administra-
ton and control go to the director general, and
he is the chief executive officer of the fair I'M
| nediately under him is the director of works,
| the superintendent of admissions being also one
/ OF his lieutenants. The chief lieutenant. how
ever under the director general. is the director
| OF works
| ANY one who starts out to discover all the
wheels of the smaller parts of the machinery OF
| the fair undertakes a colossal task. The mere
| arrangements for passes require great many
men and great many chiefs. The concessions
/ require more, and in this department ii il
\ necessary that the employees be honest and
i that confidence can safely be placed in them.
| These concessions are simply arrangements with
| people which permit them TO sell something oil
I Nlxrra ~
| treasury OF the fair portion of the
| proceeds of the sales. The proportion
| Is not fixed at certain rate for
all. but varies according to the article sold. but
/ In no case Is the proportion demanded by the
/ management for the concession granted lesi
| than twenty-five per cent of the gross receipts
/ and in many cases it is more. As for the num-
| Der of people who have concessions. it mounts
| up TO the thousands For one thing there are
| III round numbers 100 restaurants and cafe:
running. 1t is necessary TO get from all these
| coneessionaires the full amount of money due
| TO the fair every day. and it requires careful
/ system of checks bookkeeping and collecting
Then there is the army Of Columbian guards
OF these there are 1.500. and they are under the
| command of colonel of the United State:
| Army. and he, in turn. has under him majors
| captains and lleutenants. The colonel Is, Of
| course. under the director general. but he /.
under no one else except the authority from
which the director general receives his orders.
| TIE GRAND SUBDIVISIONS.
All the grand subdivisions OF the exposition
are called departments. and they were provided
for when the rules governing the fair were frs
adopted. Each department has a head who's
duty it is to look after the general conduct o
| affairs in his department. The exhibitors hav
ing any grievances should report them immedi
a,ely to the head of the proper department. and
if he cannot remedy them uuder existing rules
then he goes to the director general
The government of the United States and tn
foreign governments. of course. have their owl
arrangements, but they must conform witt
cupied by France is wholly under the Frenc
thing to do with it, but it would not be permits
sible to sell anything there except on a conces
sion from the exposition or TO do any thing con
trary TO the regulations relating to police o
fire. But French exhibit in general build
ing which receives the exhibits of all nations is
i'll general sense. under the supervision Of tn
head of the department in which it is situated
As for the government exhibit in the govern
ment building. 1t is not in any department an
is independent of any department chief. bein
under the government board OF management
and control. but here again nothing can b
done to conflict with the general rules of til
exposition. and particularly nothing can be sol
without first obtaining a concession. Thi
government board il comprised of representa-
tive from each of the government department.
and the exhibits either in the immediat
; charge of the representatives or else in th
charge of special agents OF the departments.