The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1896-11-10
CREDI? TO THE CITY.
Mayor Wanser Opens the Mer-
chants Food Show
Last Night.

iN-it tOtCCttfS 9SSOcidtlOA IeGl DF0QQ
Of the food show which they are holding
in Oakland Rim The exposition opened
last night and the large rink was crowd
ed to the doors, there being at least 5000
people in the place at one time, while DUR
ing the evening there must have been
fully 1000 people who visited the show.
Admission was by Invitation only, and
as from three to four persons were adj
mitted upon Zach ticket the exact num-
Der who attended could not be ascertained.
The exposition was formally opened by
Mayor Wanser. He was met at the en-
tranc to the rink by the members of the
Executive and General Committees, who
had the fair in charge, and by about one
hundred members of the association. They
escorted him around the place to the of
nee OF the exposition which is next to the
entrance. From the doorway of the Of
flee the Mayor made a few remarks, in
which he declared the food show to be
opened.
He said That the Merchants Protective
Association deserved great credit for UNI
dertaking TO hold an affair which New
York had been unable to make a success,
yet which they (the merehants} were GO
ing to make a success despite the failure
of their Metropolitan friends. The Mayor
then referred to the business outlook of
the city, and said times were beginning
to look brighter, of which the merchants
not only in this city, but all over the
country were helping to bring about by
holding just such expositions as the one
which he had the honor of declaring open.
me exposition this year far exceeds the
one held by the association in the same
place last year. At the first exposition
there We're only some forty odd exhibitors
while this year there are over seventy
five. The booths of Hoos & Schultz, fur
n1ture dealers; Furst Brothers, milliners,
and several Others are especially elabo-
rate. Furst Brothers booth Is filled with
household goods only, they merely adyer-
Using that branch of their store.
In the rink Is everything one can i'm
agine, from a down South log cabin,
where pancakes are made. to a full-fiedg-
ed printing establishment, where one Of
the latest printing presses of the day is
on exhibition. The ladies of the West
minister Presbyterian Church have secur-
ed the restaurant privileges and have a
pretty dining room In the gallery, where
they serve excellent meals.
One good thing about the fair above all
others is the absence of the "fakir.'s In
most shows of this kind there is usually
a number of the Coney Island hot-tamale
and ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS peo-
RtLs 0ok tll6l z 10 " JIG liz COlll-
mtttee in charge had any number of APP
phcations from just such fakirs, many of
whom offered to give double the amount
asked for a stand, but all were refused.
The food show is strictly an exposition,
and outside of the a few re-
freshments. candy, soda water and q few
fancy articles, but little is for sale. Free
samples in abundance are given away,
while a large four Is kind
enough to give cloth bags away to carry
the sample home in.
The show will be opened this evening
to the general public at 7:30 o'clock and
| hereafter until it closes from / to ID
o'clock P. M. every day. There are a
few finishing touches to be added to the
place yet, which, when completed. will
even make the affair more attractive
One of the drawbacks to the show last
night was the scarcity of electric lights.
The Jersey City Electric Light people
were to have had all connections and
everything in readiness by six o'clock last
evening, but they failed to keep to their
contract, and in ~seque a number
of the exhibitors were unable to show
off their booths to good advantage. The
greatest drawback to the affair, however,
is the smallness of the rink. The man.
agement were compelled to turn a number
away last night, and it Is expected that
they Will be compelled to do it a number
of times.
Messrs. James E.. Banks, C. w. RE
mann and William G. Meyer, who con-
stitute the Board of Directors of the Cen
of the association, have had the gen.
eral arrangements in their hands, and
the success of the exposition is due en-
tirely to their efforts.
The members of the Merchants Pro-
tective Association met at seven O'Clock
in the Avenue House last night and
marched in a body to Oakland Rink,
where, as stated above, they met Mayor
Wanser and then escorted him around
the place, previous to his opening the
exposition.