The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1904-07-07
Mr.. T. 7. HICKS

In 1903 President Jefferson sent COM
missiOners to France to purchase from
the great Napoleon large territory
West of the Mississippi river. They did
SO for $50, 100000 His prime object
was to get an outlet and military post
at the mouth of the Mississippi. In the
hundred years since, that territory. which
was then almost unoccupied, has been
carved into many States and territories,
the land only in each of which is now
worth a hundred millions or more. Mr..
Jefferson admitted that he violated the
Constitution in making this purchase,
and he allowed it's opponents only two
hours debate when the treaty OF pur-
chase was ratified President Roosevelt,
who, his opponents now claim, holds
the mind and will of the nation in the
hollow of his hand, never objected to all
the speaking Democrats could do in OPP
position to the Panama treaty, and they
actually spoke against it till majority
of the Democrats even, came to his sup
port.
An Exposition is now in progress at
st. Louis in this Louisiana Purchase, in
tended to show the progress OF that ter
ritory in the century just passed. The
members of the National Republican con-
vention, held at Chicago June p, were
invited to see it. l. with others, went.
1t is said to be the largest Exposition
ever held-cOvers $50 acres-and con-
tains completely classified exhibits in
separate buildings OF the agricultural,
electrical, manufacturing, mining, min
eral, forestry, fishery, educational, art,
and other products of every State and
territory in the Union, and nearly every
- hn nd
Russia; and also of the postal, naval,
military, agricultural, pension, treasury
and other departments of our National
government, and explanations of how
they are operated. Besides, there are
two miles OF private shows on a street
called the Pike, where many curious and
wonderful things are to be seen from all
over the world The whole area and
many tall buildings, towers, the Ferris
Wheel and other high objects, glow with
myriads of electric lights. making the
nights indescribably beautiful. But few
of our people will see it, owing to the
distance and time required. | saw in 3
days and nights only a small part.
Imagine the finest and prettiest you ever
saw of everything you ever saw. From
that point in your mind will start and
tell you of some others. Coal, iron. corn,
wheat, cotton, gold, silver, electricity,
education, foreign trade-these are the
things especially heralded at this fair.
In the mines and mineral building, cover
ing many acres, there are innumerable
exhibits of coal, gold silver, iron, repro
auctions of the mines, and the machinery
that operates them. Myriads of build
ing and ornamental stones polished TO
the highest degree, iron and steel pro-
ducts immense in size and quantity, ma
chinery so large that one can hardly
conceive how it is possible to make or
move il, operating as smoothly and al
most as noiseessly as a child playing in
the sand. 1t seemed to me the wonder
OF the show how men have left the sur
face and gone into the interior of the
earth and found such wealth and COM
fort. The agricultural wealth Of our
country is exhibited, though known al
ready; but every State exploits especially
it's inexhaustible supplies Of coal, iron,
timbers, building stones, and shows it's
mineral output for 1903, ranging from
small sums to twenty-five millions for
California.
| could not suppress the thought that
if our rich men will not bore down into
the bowels of our North Carolina earth
to find what is there, it ought to be
done in half a dozen places in every
county by public taxation. Undoubtedly
the mineral wealth is here just as it is
wherever the genius of man has sought
for it. The multiscOpe is interesting. 1t
is a small machine exhibiting pictures of
moving objects, as Of a Nebraska harvest
ing machine in full operation, a moving
train, and almost everything else. They
were in many of the exhibits. The edu-
cational building and exhibits were a
revelation to me. It's feature was the
phase education has
taken of late. 10000 men and women
graduated from our colleges this spring,
but according to this exhibit nearly 90
600, 900 are learning with their books,
the use of tools, the manufacture of al
most everything that is produced in fac
tories. Many of the Northern and New
England school exhibits looked to me
like hardware and furniture and fancy
goods stores. There was large board
showing the 1908 per capita expenditures
for education by the several States. New
York was highest, Massachusetts next.
while North Carolina was lowest and
South Carolina next
The Philippine exhibit covered 80 acres
and is inclosed with stockade made of
bengals that grow as large as a mans
thigh. 1t has several separate villages
of houses and tribes, showing their con-
dition and state of development. Invent
through one where the men wore no
clothes except girdle, the women wove
and strung beads, etc They like no meat
but dog. Their houses do not deserve
the name, being four posts with reed or
hon fn1A tnY IL ,n1 Ito hoo
pen, a covered box inside in which they
sleep The living apartment was the
center of the pen where q pot or pan on
rocks stewed the dog meat. But there
was military company of native Philip
pinos and the civilized parts of the Island
had exhibits much like those of other
except they had great deal
of hemp and religious goods. crucifixes.
etc, and all the weapons of war and
tools of agriculture in use in that coun-
try for centuries past. covering the period
from the stone arrow and spear to the
Calling gun and Mauser rifle and smoke |
less powder.
The art exhibit was wonderful to me.
564 900 people saw the fair last week, |
though it was not anywhere crowded
except in the art exhibit. Those there |
were different from the people in the |
other exhibits. They were pale, thought |
full looking, often sharp faces and fat |
heads. There were acres and acres of |
pictures, but none of them looked as well |
to me as the real, nor did the sculpture |
take any great hold upon me, for which |
l am ashamed. But the difference be- |
tween the exhibition and county or |
State fair is that this is a ''World Exhi- |
bition." There are great buildings erected |
by nearly all nations, with full exhibits |
of their productions.
The orators at the National convention |
all spoke of our illimitable wealth. man. |
ufactures and exports, and what world |
power we are but these were taken with |
some allowance till we reached the fair.
Then we knew, like the Queen Of Sheba.
''the halt had not been told"-that we
produce more than two or three nations
like ours can consume, and the Spanish