The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1904-05-27
COST OF ST. LOUIS FAIR.
More Than One Hundred Million
Dollars is the Price Alone OF
Insuring the EXHIBIT.


! William Fiewcllyn Saunders. III the
American Review OF Reviews.
! This wonderful exhibition at St.
.ouiS OF what the world is and does
| in the beginning OF the twentieth
century was planned. at first. as a
much more modest thing. 1t arose
through a suggestion made TO the
people OF St. Louis in 1898 by the
Missouri Historical society for some
fitting celebration OF the centennial
OF the sale. on April 80. 1908. by Ma
poleon Bonaparte to Thomas Jeffer-
son. OF the country west OF the Mis-
Sissippi river, and the land known in
history as the Louisiana Purchase.
and now divided into fourteen states
and Observation-Disclosures. Colorado,
| IWyoming. South Dakota and North
Dakota. Iowa. Indian Territory.
Minnesota. Kansas, ouiSiana, NebraS-
ka. Montana. Missouri and Oklaho-
ma.
The idea took deep root. The Bus
mess Mems league. with its far-reach-
ing commercial influence. assumed re-
Sponsibility ior the movement. The
enthusiasm OF the states and terri
tories in the purchase was aroused.
rational encouragement was got. 1t
was decided that the purchase should
be commemorated by a worlds tair.
The people OF ST. Louis gave S5,ooo.-
600 in personal subscriptions: the
city voted gift OF S5,ooo,ooo NOR.
and hall OF the beautiful Forest Park
as site: congress gave outright S5.-
ooo. 900 and lent to the fair S4.6oo.-
900 more. All OF this SIo.6oo,ooo has
been spent in making the grounds,
building the exhibit palaces. inducing
the cooperation of foreign govern
ments and OUR own states. and in ad-
vertising the fair.
The. United States has. moreover,
spent SI.65oooo on its own exhibit,
and the Philippine Islands exhibit
represents 100000. Fifty-one
states and territories will be repre-
sented by comprehensive exhibits.
and forty-three OF them will
have buildings on the grounds. The
appropriations and subscriptions OF
these states to the purposes of the
fair; varying from Missouri's S1.ooo,-
900, to Maine's $4,000, amount to
&;I42.ooo. Missouri spends $1,000,
900.
Most OF the foreign governments
have large and valuable exhibits, and
all the great ones, except Russia,
have buildings, the appropriations OF
| the foreign participants having been
few thousand more than seven mil
lion dollars. Germany and France
have spent more money than any 81
| the other something
more than one million dollars each
England. China and Japan have
spent half million dollars each, and
Mexico nearly as much. The show
places on the Pike are as extravaganl
apparently, in their cost as in their
architecture Some of them, particu'
uarly the "Tyrolean Alps" and Gre
ation,' have cost three-quarters OF
million dollars each, which is also
the cost of building Jerusalem"
Without counting the six or seven
million dollars which these conces-
sionaries have spent to construct and
equip their places; the cities, states
and foreign governments are paying
ior their participation in this fail
about thirty-fve million dollars
more than twice the S15,ooo,ooo
which Jefferson paid for the whole
Louisiana Territory. The computa-
tio:,. Of course. does not consider the
great cost that will fall upon private
exhibitors. 1t is estimated that the
insurance on exhibits is more than
one hundred million dollars.