The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1894-11-29
THE GREAT FAIR OF 1900.
PARIS PREPARING FOR AN EN-
POSITION ON GRAND SCALE.
A Talk With NJ. Picard, the Commits
missioner-G eneral, on the Prelimin-
nary Work and Contemplated
Features of the Next Great
est Show.

The commissioner general of the UNIVERSAL
Exposition that is to be held IN Parls at lne
close of the Nineteenth century Is one OF
the presidents of the council OF state OF
France. At this early period, although the
different officers of the exposition nave not
yet been appointed nor any bureau VI ~
formation established, says Parls CORES.
pondent of the New York Tribune, q vast
amount of work has already been accOmp-
lished, the general outline mas Deen P Ie1
pared the site has beeen CHOSEN, anu ooo
architects are hard at work preparing plans
for the different buildings struggling nlgnt
and day for the various premiums, amount
ing in all to the sum of $4,000, when the
government has consented TO distribute a.
mOng the. most successful competitors. In
1889 only 100 architects entered the llst
A TALK WITH NJ. PICARD.
The competition has just begun ana tne
architects will have four months at their
disposal to draw up plans of their IDEAS
how the buildings, the gardens and the gen,
eral ornamentation of the exposition shOuld
be. 'They are at liberty to pull down any
or all of the existing buildings, even TO zoe 1e
feet high. if they consider it necessary Tor
the establishment of their plans and as
consequence for the general beauty OF tne
fair says the comSsiUaeT Ee@e a that
has been said to the contrary, since the Gay
it was decided to hold the exposition on the
same site as the last, the fairs of 1889 ana
1900 will be entirely different from an arch
itecturaI point of view. Finally, we do no
intend to abide by the best general pan
and arrangement sent In. Ihat one VIII
obtain the highest premium, but we judges
will study all the plans and we reserve our our,
selves the right to take any parts OF any
plan, so that the final arrangement ADOPTED
will be no more nor less than the essence
of the highest expression of French modern
architectural genius.
DIFFICULTIES UNKNOWN IN CHICAGO
eve do not intend to start the work of
building the exposition until three ana one,
half years before the opening day; We VIII
be we'll occupied during one and one-half
years, beginning in 1895, examining the dl1-
ferent plans and projects and drawing up
our final plans and designs of all the gard
ems and buildings. We have not at our
dispose Ian almost unlimited stretch of
land, as was the case in Chicago. NOW tnat
it is decided to hold the fair In the interior
of Paris, and in so central locality as Is
the Champ de Mars, we must do all In our
power not to interfere with the enormous
traffic of the city, nor-as TINS latter is al
most as impOrtant-with the habits ana Gus
any important thoroughfare would be very
serious affair, and we have, in this respect,
to contend with many difficulties that were
unknown in Chicago.
las to the amount of space covered Oy
the Universal Exposition it will be about
40 hectares 90 acres); this being about 80
acres more than the space covered N 1929,
but not so large by far as was the WoriG
Fair So far, the exposition will include the
Champ de Mars, the Inyaides. the Troca-
dero, the Palais de IIndustrie, the COurs-
la RENE, part of the Seine, which Will be
covered during the period of the EXPOSE
ton and even part of the Champs Elysees
A point that cannot fail to interest ,Ameri-
cans, for it was a question over which much
ink was split, is what to do with the build
ings at the close of the exposition. "When
the play Is over the scenery must ulSaD
pear And the commissioner gene, nj has
resolved that no architect, however Deautl'
full his designs may be, shall be allowed to
construct any but extremely light buildings,
so that when all is over nobody VIII pc
tempted to clamor for the preservation q
any or all of the buildings.
.'The general classification of the objects
exhibited" continued NJ. Picard. "has in all
previous expositions presented most serious
anomalies. To give you but one instance,
the departments of health and war-that is
to say, life and its most cruel Adversary
were in one and the same group. In l9O0
it is our intention to insure better assorted
alliances and to place together products
bearing close aftnities. We mean TO Keep
pace with Industrial evolution Ihus, IN
stead of separating the machines, the pro
cess and the objects manufactures, IL u
our intention 30 place them IN the same
group. and, If possible, in the same class -
''Wil you have bureau of publicity and
promotionW
am fully aware that such bureau existed
for the first time in Chicago, but Paris does
not require the same publicity as II new.
or relatively new, city like Chicago. Our
expositions have advertised themselves! anu
although fully comprehend the sagncity OF
such a step in the United States, | am of
the opinion that it is almost unnecessary
in France. We shall, probably, in the early
months of next year, make oyertures 10 We
different governments, and there Is no rca-
son why exhibitors should not flock to Paris
III as great numbers as they have dole
hitherto or even Ii greater nnmlcrS