Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1900-05-03

faIlS, france, At"ll lS.-lne formal
ceremony Of opening the exposition
and handing it over TO the head Of the
state occurred on Saturday, accord
ing to program. The ceremony was
held in the Sale DIES Fetes, which is
an enormous ampitheatre built inside
of the building which served as the
machinery hall during the exposition
of 1889, This building is very similar
to the manufacturers and liberal arts
building at the worlds fair, being of
single span construction and nearly as
large as its counterpart at Chicago. 1t
is now being used for the exhibits of
agriculture and food stuffs, the center
being occupied by the Sale DIES Fetes.
The features of this palace are the
mural decorations by Cormon, Flameng
Rochegrosse and Maignau and the
magnificent stained glass cupolo by
Herman and Godin The admission
to the formal ceremony was only by
invitation. About $4,000 invitations
were issued All the invited guests
were seated in the Salle des Fetes
where they listened to the speeches of
President Loubet and Others. The
United States was represented by
its ambassador, General Horace Por-
ter, Ferdinand w Peck, the commits
sioner general, Mr. Woodward, assist
ant commissioner general, John X.
Gowdy, United States consul general,
Mrs. Potter Palmer the only woman
appointed as a commissioner to the
exposition, Mrs. Custer widow of
General Custer, Dr.. Daniel Gilman,
president of Johns Hopkins univer-
sity, the directors OF the different de-
partmentS of the United States exhibit
and many others. Among those pres
ent was Ogden H. Fethers of GAINESVILLE,
commissioner to the exposition APP
pointed by President Mckinley. After
the formal ceremony, which consisted
of the handing over Of the exposition
to President Loubet and his acceptance
thereof in a short speech, the whole
party proceeded through the Champs
de Mars TO the Seine where they en-
parked on steamers which carried
LlGi1i " IHt Uul AlGAdnuIS lIl.i
whence the presidential party went to
the residence Of the president. In the
line Of march from the Sale des Fetes
the party passed the space which is
devoted to the electrical exhibit of the
government of the United States.
Here the entire guard force was drawn
mp parallel to the line of march of the
president. When he appeared he was
greeted with the salute to the presi-
dent of the United States, and the
United States flag carried at the head
OF the column Of guards was dipped,
The president and many others in the
party saluted on passing.
The United States flag came in for a
good deal of attention during the day
Several American ladies standing. in
the crowd near the flag carried by one
of the guards reached forward and
patted its silken folds and one man
was so glad to see the flag again that
he kissed it. The Americans are
treated with great respect everywhere
as long as they are not mistaken for
classes who are more or less intelli-
gent understand that the best of rela-
tons exist Between France and Ameri-
ca. The lower classes, however, are
not always so well informed and they
are guided more or less by the sensa-
tional press of Paris which is strongly
pro-boer and anti-English These
papers. and La Patrie in particular,
have of late been printing several
articles about pro-boer meetings in
America. This gives the masses a
liking for America and Americans and
when the guard force marched back
10 the quarters after the inaugural
ceremony there were many cries Of
"Vive rAmerique" arising from the
crowd that lined the sidewalks The
appearance of President Loubet on his
way to and from the Sale des Fetes
did not arouse great deal of en-
thusiasm and according to those pres
ent al the Inauguration Of the EXPOSE
ton Of 1889, there was a great differ
ence between the reception of Presi-
dent Carnot then and that OF President
Loubet last Saturday. when the cries
of "Vive Loubet" were rather scarce
although no sentiments to the con-
trary were expressed.
The popular inaugural occurred on
Easter Sunday, the day after the for
NAL opening. On this day the gates
were thrown open to the public for
the first time and the grounds were
thronged with visitors The principal
attraction was the Sale des Fetes,
which many consider as the "clore' Of
the exposition. The visitor must, for
the present content himself with ar
chitectural beauties. as the exhibits
themselves are far behind. In the
grand palace Of fine arts no exhibits
will be ready for two weeks and and
visitors are not admitted. The United
States sections in all Of the buildings
are in an advanced stage Of compile
ton. Conqeten. judges declare that
1t will BE June before everything Is
De- -