Daily Kennebec journal., 1901-12-07
The Charleston Exposition.

The Charleston Exposition
This week has seen the opening %!
another great exposition enterprise oi
which we are hearing little in this see
ton Of the country, hnt which never
thelcs.. means much 10 tn" whole ma
non. Ii is the Interstate and West
Indian exposition II Charleston. South
Carolina. instituted with the idea g.
stimulating more intimate commercial
relations with ,hn West Indian islands.
That this field rf trade il an important
one is shown 10y the fact that The eN-
ports from the TniteI states in l""c IL
the West Indies were greater than
those of the II republics of South AND
central America. and @re"tcr ais"
than tile exports !" China. Japan and
.Asiatic Russia combined. charleston
is in a favorabl,. POSITION f"r d'Nel"r-
ing IN important ":-port ana import
trade with th,. W-st Indies ana S"uth
America. ana is destined to become Il
great seaport. There IL peculiar time
liness in holding an 'Np"sition Of TN.
Aind lust when v" ar" coming iato
closer relations with Fort" Bic" ant
about III" project is the evidence fur
nishcd hy tie activity ~ conservative"
South Carolina that th. South. with r.
great natural re sources ana hug pro
ductivc territory. j. awakening to Is
possibilities. and is bent upon taking an
important part in the Industrial ana
commercial aCvaace Of The United
states. The South is = rich empire,
hut it has until recent wears r-tn lik,
Il giant asl,ep. With Tho adv"lt "f
,.apital ana thu recovery from tho lie
rletion caused ~ The War, il haS made
marked nlogre.- r. late. which * only
the beginning II wonderful growth.
III" exposition itself is on no such
scale as is Planned at St. Louis. n"r i
il - cyt-n>iv.. as that just closed at
Iuralo. but tha accounts agree THAT
il is most cre3itahlc 2nd interesting.
The grounds cove, l6n acres ana HAY,
Il frontage of .0tti fret oa til, A-Al-y
river. There aro II principal depal,-
mental h.lI ln@s, built mainly in tn"
Spanish American STYLE of A., Lit"c-
ulre mad. familiar at Eural". Many
yhibits, Including that of the Iuitc,l
stats government. Wrre moved bodily
from Buffalo. ana 4 large part "f the
buffalo midway is there It was hored
to have President Roosevelt present It
the formal opening, but the assembling
nj Congress prevented this. NcVerti.,-
less he touched the electric button iu
Washington which sct the wheels of tn.
in motion. H.. will visit ANA
inspect the exposition il is said "a
February l.. I.incoln's birthday.
Charleston itself, where thr cNposi-
lion is held. j. an interesting ana p.-
tractive city to th.- visitor. II H. pli
ana has many historic associations. "a
size it is a little larger than Portland.
over half Of It's population being r"i-
cred. IN Charleston WAS neld in $50
The memorable Democrat, convention
IN which the party SPLIT upon the SiaN-
ry question. The hotel which sh -
cred the delegates ami from whose bal
ony General Butler addressed tn"
great crowd of s.cCssioniSts i'll lhc
war t. come. stiIl stands III thc har-
Dor is Fort Muultri'. Of EcvolutIun"i.
ianle. ami tEcr,. also is Fort Sumut"r
he 81, n" Of the first conflict uf tht
great civil strife. The harbor is @"
i.ep that III. great hattlv>hips kear-
age. Massachusetts ana Nlabama were
,blc to steam vi for clos. inspection hy
axpoSition visitors on the first day. Ii
would u" hard t" find 4 more idea!
not for N" location of a great winter
exposition ana thousands of visitnI;
from ,he North viii sp,nI = f-w days
there duriI4G the coming months.
southern hospitality viii he in cvi-
orrce ami all the characteristic feat
ures ana customs Of the South will
give the exposition a peculiar charm.
Success I" t." ent"rInis" and may there
" u" deficit uhcr il closes.