Evening star., 1900-04-11
ARMY And NAVY PALACE UNFINISHED
Street Hawkers Will Sell Admis-
sions for Five Cents.
EXPOSITION FINANCES SAFE
Copyright 1900. by Baldwin. Eastman & Coz
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navy palace will be the last finished. 1t
cannot possibly be ready in time. The
various peace societies in different parts
of the world are asking why, in mani
festly pacific an undertaking as the Paris
exposition, there should even be a building
dedicated to almighty Mars. The only
answer is, precedent" The only opposi-
ton to the building rose from the quar-
ters where 1t was least to be expected
from the war department and from the
ministry of marine. Both of these gov
ernment offices declined to appropriate to-
ward this undertaking one cent of the funds
they had been struggling for. one might
almost say. 'at the point of the sword"
in the chamber of deputies and the senate
The excuse for not exhibiting on grand
scale is the assertion that recent military
inventions could not be displayed at the
exposition without divulging the secret of
their manufacture, so the national defense
would be liable to suffer. And when the
military authorities speak of national de-
fense' no Frenchman, even though he be
an exposition manager. dares TO utter one
syllable In protest. So that, instead of
being an up-to-date military and naval
exposition. the army and navy building
Will furnish only retrospective display.
Germany bids fair to be quite as promi-
nent as France herself in the showing of
military and naval instrumental warfare.
Only these two countries will be in evil
dence to any extent The display will
have formidable rival in the museum of
artillery In the Hotel des Invalides which
is open to visitors the year round and is
permanent Paris exhibition of ancient
and mediaeval military appliances exceed
ingiy difficult to surpass.
The War Show.
As to the building itself it will be found
on the banks of the Seine, between the
Alma and lena bridges 1t is not pic
turesque affair, but plain wood-and-plas-
ter construction, conveying chiefly an idea
of architectural solijity. The central part
resembles on one side portion of the old
Bastile. while from the Quai d Orsay point
of view 1t recalls the Tower of London The
centerpiece of the building is connected with
the opposite bank of the Seine by a pretty
foot bridge. Among the features which Will
attract attention are the illustrations of
military scenes of years gone by. coIec-
tons of helmets. costumes and old-fashion-
ed weapons, and models of the old fleet OF
trance-vessels used nowadays as floating
batteries and naval training schools
In the drama of nations Africa now oc-
cupies the center of the stage. The dark
countries will be represented in hundred
dierent ways at the Paris exposition.
Europeans are Watching the DEVELOPMENTS
of events in this division of the world from
political. scientific and commercial points of
view. Before the British-Transvaal war
Fachoda had nearly led to an outbreak of
hCstilities between France and England.
That incident, although officially concluded.
is not buried and forgotten. but may yet
prove a source of trouble. Be this as it
may. European nations are bent on increas-
ing their colonial possessions, especially in
Africa, as promptly as possible.
Darkest Africa.
In this connection some of the results OF
the work of French explorers. soldiers ard
official representatives in various parts of
Africa will be shown at the exposition.
There will be many panoramas of the dark
continent, both inside and outside the fair.
In the gardens of the Trocadero. where sew
eral acres of ground have been built over by
the various African and Asiatic colonies of
France. there will be much to interest and
instruct the visitor Not only have several
prominent buildings of the distant French
possessions been reproduced with scrup-
ulous exactitude but natives have been inn
ported and will dwell in the Paris exposi
tion buildings for seven months.
This grand colonial display is said to be a
very clever move on the part Of the ex-
position managers II it does not result
in awakening desire among the youth Of
France to set out and seek fortune in one
or another of his country's rich possess
sions, then it may be taken for granted that
France Will never be a coloniZing nation.
At the head Of the French explorers who by
their daring and courage have gained uni
and Colonel Montell. The panorama of the
formers trip of exploration which ended a
couple of years ago at Fachoda will be a
drawing card on the grounds of the exposi-
ton. In recent years Explorer Monteil has
done much for France and Northern Africa.
Thanks to curously constructed alumni
mum boat. which will be shown in the
colonial section of the fair. he worked his
way from the Atlantic to the Niger, thence
to Lake Tchad and finally to Tripoli.
Admission. Five Cents.
Visitors to Paris will not have to pay so
cents to gain admission to the exposition
grounds as was the case at the worlds fair
in Chicago. They will not even be required
to pay one franc 90 cents). although that
Is the official charge After much calcula-
ton, expert computers have reached the
conclusion that the 65.00o,O 600 tickets now on
sale in all parts of France will be disposed
of at about an average of % centimes
French money, 5 cents American money.
During the first few days of the fair no
doubt the price will be somewhat higher
The charge Of one franc will be maintained
at the admission gates. but the street
hawkers will meet the demands of visitors
long before they reach the ticket Offices
This low figure. however. does not Indicate
that the fair is in any way failure. 1t
only proves that there is a superabundance
Of tickets on the market. arising from the
fact that the various drawings Of the lot
terry in which exposition holders were en-
titled to participate nearly all termi-
mated. and consequently the chance Of win
ming a prize Of S1OO.0O Is now exceedingly
remote. The eagerness with which the
general public bought big blocks of exposi-
tion tickets at the outset because lottery
with few big prizes was element in the
financial scheme Is only another proof Of
the extraordinary gullibility of continental
nations.
A Matter of Millions.
The Golfers of the exposition are safe
They have been for four years past
The leading French banks guaranteed and
handed over to the exposition the &C, ,OOO, 900
francs G12, .OOO) of which they stood in
need. In return the exposition presented
the banks with 65O0O 900 exposition tickets
Oace value $13.OG0OOO). The extra million
dollars was set aside to pay the expenses
Of the issue The money for the lottery
prizes was supplied by the interest during
four years on the 81, 100000, on such
portions Of 1t as remained unspent as the
building Of the fair progressed. One has
only to divide the s., ,0O0, 600 tickets by the
205 days which the fair will be open to see
at a glance that the ticket issue provides
for $4,000 visitors daily. All these tickets
have been paid for in advance. but as 1t la
not likoly that the attendance will reach
such enormous figures. there is a great deal
of depreciation in the face value of the
admission.
After the Lottery.