New-York tribune., 1900-08-19
PARIS.
A GREAT CEREMONY AT THE AWARD OF
THE EXPOSITION PRIZES
MR. PEcK's SATISFACTION AT THE AMERI-
CAN wINNINGs-EyPosITIoN FINANcES-
SMALL WHEAT CROP

ICopyright: 1900: BY The New-Yors 1rbune
tBY CABLE TO THE TRIBUNE.l
Paris Aug 1S.-To-day the Worlds Fair had
its grandest field day. The ceremony OF dis
tributng the 1882 Exposition awards, over
which President Loubet presided, in the Sale
des Fetes, was characterized by a briiancy not
attained at the inaugural solemnity In April
nor by any OF the functions that have hitherto
taken place. The ceremony began at 3 O'Clock
with an overture composed for the occasion by
Saint-Sasns and admirably performed by the
united orchestras Of the Opera, the Opera
Comique and the Lamoureux Concerts. The
three bands. with choirs then executed the first
part entitled WAR Peace" of a special can
tata composed by NJ. LIE Borne. After this came
speeches by President Loubet and NJ. Millerand,
Minister of Commerce, and the second part OF
NJ. lie Bornes cantata, which in its entirety is
called "Patria." prepared the minds of the ex-
hibitors for the emotions OF the distribution of
2S27 grand prizes s168 gold medals. IL, 224 sill
medals, II 615 bronze medals, and 5000 hon
orabIe mentions.
grand military march composed by Massenet
concluded the ceremony during which the Com
missioners-General Of all the nations with the
flags and banners Of their respective countries
and all the prize winners. grouped around their
standard bearers. marched past the President of
the republic In person. The Commissioners and
exhibitors in the cards of invitation
quested to wear uniforms OF national cos
tunes This enabled the Persians, Turks,
Arabs, japanese Siamese Cambodians and An
namites completely to eclipse their Western col
leagues. The National costume selected by the
United States functionaries was plain black
evening dress, which always has an incongruous
"out over night" aspect when worn In broad
daylight Commissoner-General Peck and AS
SSH ard
not wear their insignia of grand officer and Off
Ger respectively of the Legion Of Honor at this
afternoons function, because before they can
officially accept them they will be obliged to
obtain an enabling act from Congress or await
the expiration of their terms of Office
When asked to express his opinion concerning
the awards secured by the United States Mr..
Peck replied:
Ut is a decided success for our country
close scrutiny of the recompenses shows that IN
number well quality the awards given to
the United States exhibitors are superior 10
those obtained by any other foreign country.
The United States in this respect comes next TO
France herself. Considering the great distance
from which everything in sections had to
be transported, 1t is result of which every
American may we'll feel proud"
The afternoon fete was followed by illumina-
tions Of the Exposition, q monster torchlight
procession and a Venetian carnival on the
Seine, the bridges. each bank of the river the
Place de la Concorde, the Champs Elysees and
the public buildings were festooned with hang
ing chains of gas jets and electricity. as on the
national holiday, the Fourteenth of July. There
viii be garden party at the Elysee Palace to-
morrow, and on Monday and Tuesday President
Loubet will retire to Rambouillet for rest
Visitors to the Worlds Fair are increasing
in number. The entrances for the week just
ending exceed those Of any previous week On
Sunday there were 435.019 paying entrances:
Monday, 1S7,2S7; Tuesday, 1854 on
Wednesday. the fete Of the Assumption 4OO-
422; on Thursday 170,213. Tickets now sell
at 10 centimes The exhibition bonds are
quoted at francs so centimes. This swarm Of
visitors is composed Of third class travellers
from Central Europe. who possess the secret of
seeing all the sights without spending a soli-
tary extra cent. NJ Paul de Cassagnac. in
leading article in to-day's "Autorite," calls at
tention to this, and says that the Exposition
is a gigantic failure which will have disastrous
results not only for the exhibitors but for
Paris tradesmen and the commercial public NJ
de Cassagnac cites an instance Of bankruptcy
in the Rue de Cairo, where yesterday three
fine Egyptian camels were sold for $50 francs
and twenty-five beautiful white donkeys
brought at great cost from Cairo, were knocked
down at auction for 40 francs each. when they
would yield more than that If chopped up into
Lyons sausages. He ridicules to-day's fete and
says that the number of awards is of all
proportion to the number Of exhibitors, and
declares that in the face of epidemic of Ex-
position bankruptcies, failures, ruins and dis
asters, this deuge Of medals of every i'm
aginable metal and all this junketing, wining
dining, speechifying and self-glorifcation are
as grotesque as it would be TO decorate the
Morgue with flags and and illuminate It
with blaze of electric lights
The latest returns colated at the Ministry
of Agriculture indicate that the French wheat
crop for 1900 will be 103, 900 900 hectolitres
which is % per cent less than the crop of last
year, but the quality of wheat is better this
year than for several years past. Notwith-
standing the expected deficiency In the quantity
Of the forthcoming crop, which will be 20 600 900
hectolitres below the average annual home
consumption-123,00 100000 hectolitres-the lead
ing wheat dealers unanimous in expressing
their conviction that no foreign wheat will be
imported into France this year. Their reasons
that the surplus supply on hand from the
abundant crops of 1899. which amounted to
100000 hectolitres. and OF 1898, which
amounted to 129,000,0O0 hectolitres, is calculated
at 20000000 hectolitres. This, added to the
yield Of the present harvest. will tally exactly
with the quantity required for home consump-
tion. The dealers. nevertheless admit that this
year the home demand will empty every wheat
sack in France.
The present price OF foreign wheat In French
ports is II francs the 100 kIogrammes to which
must be added seven francs duty the 100 lriIo-
grammes' bringing the price up to 10 francs
the 'hectolitre. The prevailing opinion in the
wheat market here is that an advance in the