Omaha daily bee., 1903-04-30
aeREArEsr snow ON EARTH"
That f. what So. Louis Claims for the
Project Dedicated To-day.

AhAN ~ hAN ~ hNhAa
Project Dedicated To-day.
The Louisiana Purchase exposition build
ings formally dedicated today, represented
an outlay Of s., 1000, 900 to date. All the
buildings OF the main show and the side
shows will represent, according to st.
Louis estimate. an expenditure Of S32, 000,-
900. It is evident from these estimates
that ST. Louis will have considerable work
to do and considerable money to spend to
complete the greatest show on earth in a
year.
In area OF ground covered, in number and
size Of buildings and in money available the
project deserves the claim OF the advance
agent as the largest ever. Probably so
large a temporary investment never has
been made before.
The total Of SIS, 00O, 900 is reached by the
use Of figures supplied by the Worlds Fair
company. The table from which it was Sc
cured follows:
State and territorial appropria-
tiols and subscriptions. ...,.. 81 .0n0. mn
Foreign governments ............ 10000 600
Gpnneds ana bn,i,d,nSs ' SSS S9 q
HdministratIop and Sreiimtnarv,. 1000 600
Maintenance and operation. ...... 5000. 900
bXhlolts 5.OOO.OOO
All that now is to be seen at the fair
site represents. however. more than the
IS. 1000. 900. Because OF the system OF pay
ments for work lone the money expended
represents 25 per cent less than the results
attained. Roughly. then. the casual visitor
to the site today Is seeing about SO. 900. 900
worth. He is not viewing one-tenth of the
wealth, concentrated in a fair, that he is
yet to see II he lives a year.
What at the present has been accom-
Dlished in tie department Of works in
cludes the construction Of nearly all the
larger buildings. The varied industries, the
electricity, the machinery. education. social
economy and liberal arts buildings are
practically complete. The manufacturers
building is about 40 per cent done. The
mines and metallurgy is growing daily.
Ground is broken for the agriculture build
ings and the horticulture building. The
United States government building is also
rising from its foundations. and the con-
tract for the fish, game and forestry build
ings has been let.
Work upon the central feature of the ex-
position the cascades on Art hill-has
progressed we'll within the last month. The
hill is now shaped to suit the purpose. and
the constructive parts will soon be erected.
The IS, 900, 900 introduced In the table I'M
der the head of concessions is Intended to
represent the money to be expended upon
the hundreds of displays and sideshows, the
cost Of production" None Of the conces-
sions thus far let by the fair represent an
expenditure of less than SIS, 1000. Some Of
them mean an outlay Of $500 900 before the
returns are received. Consequently 1t Is
considered that IS, 900. 900 is a conservative
total.
- zA,al- - ~,
exposition are being received at a surpris-
ing rate. The total Of subscriptions
amounted to IS, 100, 900.
The above represents merely the SHOW"
Sums equally large must be considered
when an effort is made to gather what
amount Of money the worlds fair will at
tract TO st. Louis and place in circulation
there. To attempt to do the latter, it is
only possible to refer to the Chicago expo
sition.
The number OF paid admissions to the
Chicago fair was 21, 900, goo, or $11, 900, 900.
Adding to this the receipts inside the
grounds the total reaches $40, 900. 900. THIS,
remembering that the st. Louis fair will be
on a larger scale than hat held In Chi
cago, gives an idea OF the wealth that the
fair represents and which it will attract
The experience OF Chicago was that the
attendance was made up largely of the local
population. 1t is said that rs per cent
came from within a radius Of fifty miles OF
Chicago. The other rs per cent represented
5000, 900 admissions, who were visitors. II
each went to the fair three times, it would
mean, approximately. 1900, 900 persons. II
they averaged three days stays in the city,
at 81 a day, 1t means an expenditure OF
$11, 400, 600. This for board and lodging
AI--. - -.
chases would aggregate another large sum.