The herald., 1898-01-10
A Human Sacrifice

The crowning success OF the World s
Columbian exposition. after all the money
had been spent and the exhibits put In
place. was due to the enormous attendance
from home and abroad. the patriotic fervor
and spontaneity of enthusiasm displayed by
our own people In the magnificent achieve
ment, and their unyielding determination
to make It. in detail as well as in general.
| the most brilliant as well as the most stu
pendous function In the history Of the
country.
believe Moses p. Handy contributed
more to this than did any other man.
Comparisons are odious. and I shall draw
none between the work of President Pal
mer and Director General Davis with that
| of Major Handy, for their duties were
totally different In kind and called for the
exercise of talent In marked contrast. The
| triumph of Chicago over half a dozen
powerful rivals In securing federal recog-
milton as the most favorable site had left
a trail of bitterness and jealousy extend
| ing from the metropolis to the Mississippi
and menaced that harmony which was
deemed absolutely essential to the attain
ment Of the high ideals sought.
+ + +
To the allayment Of the feeling en-
gendered by defeat, the eradication Of the
rduCOT provoked Dy loss OIL opportunity,
and the harmoniziug of all disturbed and
| disturbing elements. was the first task
10 which Major Handy lent himself as
chief of the department of promotion and
publicity. Second only, perhaps. to Mr..
| A. T. Goshorn, was he familiar with the
details Of arranging a mammoth exposi-
tion, and with the difficulties to be over
come. Much better than any other person
did he comprehend the subtleties of the
p6,Yoa fional nd rnnCiltot faafIyraQ of
the undertaking. His long connection with
the Cincinnati exposition had given him
| the essential experience In the one field,
his newspaper instinct fully supplied all
Of the requirements of the other.
His methods were practical business
| like and effective. In the 10000 newspapers
of the country, with which he was in close
touch. he possessed an army of willing,
able and powerful coadjutors, who made
constant communication with 6o.000,000 Of
people easy and agreeable. Only the off,
oial report of the Worlds fair commission
discloses the vastness of expenditures of
money and effort upon the part of Major
| Handys bureau In furtberance of an
achievement justly ranking as the grand
est of the century.
y \ =
! And while am thus paying a poor
tribite to the dead promoter, may ] not
without shock to the sense OF propriety
recall the phenomenally successful SER
vices of another member of the directory
the youngest on the board and also
trained journalist-Mr. F. ]. v, Skiff.
| chairman of the committee on mines and
mining, and head of that division OF the
| great exposition? Why should al! the
pleasant things be withheld until one is
dead, and when fairly won encomiums Will
| no longer serve to cheer, encourage and
| support in the all too stormy pathway of
| life?
Skiff's commanding abilities as an organ
| yer and director. and his matchless energy
In execution, attracted the attention of
| Marshall Field, who, upon the close of the
| exposition, commissioned him to under
| take the work of building up in Jackson
park what the great merchants ambition
cont templates shall be the greatest museum
In the world. To this congenial task the
young Journalist Is legally and intelligent
y devoting himself. while his former coad-
Il tutor in the Worlds fair achievement lies
dead in a southern city, an undoub. ed VIC
tim of excessive zeal in promoting the
glory of his country In the next great
artistic and Industrial carnival OF the
nations.
Commissioned to represent the United
States at the French exposition Of 1900.
Major Handy. after tentatively ascertain
| ing the needs OF American exhibitors, pro-
ceeded to Paris and at once helped the
directory of the exposition to a pleasing g
surprise by demanding double the space
allotted to this country. Since then he has
devoted himself all too assiduously to the
/ new and difficult task of making the pro-
posed exhibit conform to the French
| Ideals, the relative merit of which. CON-
pared with our own great show, will nee
essarily remain in suspense until final
judgment is rendered by the worlds critics
=
More or less intimately acquainted with
the man for thirty years, and familiar with
his methods, I have little difficulty in dag
nosing the cause of his untimely taxi n G
off. All too many Americans are travel
ing the same highway. They forget there
must be day of settlement They over
tax their physical strength, exhaust
natures reserves and fall early victims to
their contempt for the plainest lessons OF
human existence. c. C. D.
Diplomatic Obtuseness
| The aged reader looked over his steel