The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1897-11-05
THE END At NASHVILLE.

The Tennessee Centennial Exposition,
which closed its gates Saturday, has been
a success. Not that great success which
was mcritcd by the scope and artistic
beauty of the exposition in all its appoint
mcnts, but still success, and Il remarkable
one considering the disadvantages under
which the mana cement has laborcd.
July and August were unusually dry
and hot, and the yellow fever far south Of
Nashville has, during the past two months,
kept thousands of Northern visitors away
from the exposition. But still when the
gates closed Saturday they had registered
one million seven hundred thousands visi
tors.
Last Thursday was John. W Thomas
Day, in honor of the president of the eX-
position, and there were eighty thousand
people on the grounds, the railroads bring
ing in fifty thousand people. The attend
ance for last week ran close to two hun
dred thousand.
Over one million dollars were spent on
the grounds and buildings, and the COM
| pany started out over two hundred thou
sand dollars in debt. During the six
| months over seventy thousand dollars has
| been spent for music alone, and yet when
| the end came Saturday night the company
was in a position to wipe out every dollar
| of Indebtedness.
The exposition has been of the greatest
| benefit not alone to Nashville, but to Ten
| than one The active interest taken by
many States and cities in the enterprise
| and the sending of large delegations to
| Nashville, has led to better understand
ing between Tennesseeans and the people
| of sister States. Northern visitors especi-
ally have been attracted by the audacious
enterprise shown by city of one hundred
thousand inhabitants in giving six
carrying it to a successful elimination
| The wonderful resources and development
of Tennessee and the South has been dis
| played as never before and much capital
has been attracted as direct result of the
exposition. While the hotels and the
street car and railroad companies have
largely been the beneticaries of the crowds
that have filled the city, still the visitors
have turned loose many hundreds of thou
sands of dollars there and all Nashville
has been benefited thereby. The exposi
tion has been a great educational factor,
too, and a more liberal, broader spirit is
manifest among all classes of citizens.
1t had been the cherished ambition OF
the exposition company to turn the site OF
the exposition over to Nashville for pub
lie park, but the unexpected misfortune OF
a yellow fever outbreak on the Gulf kept
down the attendance and prevents the
consummation of this desire. There is
held, however, an option on the property
and an effort will be made to turn it into
a public park, though the way is not vel
| clear. With view to this being accom-
plished, the executive committee has given
instructions that the Parthenon and the
| History Building, which are built of brick
be not torn down; that the band stands
and the bridges be preserved. All the
other buildings will probably be sold IL
one lot to some salvage company, several
bids having already been made. The cleo
trio light plant will probably be sold to
the Omaha Exposition. During the few
weeks of the dismantling of the eXposi-
tion tickets of admission will be sold at
half price and number of the Vanity Fair
concessions will run until cold weather.
Closing exercises were held in the audi
forum Saturday night. Speeches were
made by Governor Taylor, Mrs. Van Leel
Kirkman, president of the woman board
and President Thomas delivered the vale
dictory \ salute of sixteen guns in hon
| or of the first sixteen States was fired al
midnight.