Evening star., 1905-10-01
A GENUINE SUCCESS
Portland Exposition All That
Was Promised.
TT rs WE'LL ARRANGED
AncH1rEcrunr AND LANDSCAPE
GARDENING ATTRACTIVE.
Receipts Have Largely Exceeded the
Expenses-The Timber Temple Is
the Great Triumph.
BY WILLIAM e. CURTIS.

o.
Special Correspondence Of The Star and the Chicago
ecard-Herald.
PORTLAND, Ore, September %. 1905.
The Lewis and Clark exposition is a sue
cess-not big, but genuine. 1t is all. that
was promised, and I have never seen an
exposition that was more compact, better
arranged or installed, with more attractive
architecture or landscape gardening. In
all the external respects 1t is perfect. One
is struck particularly with the artistic ar
rangement and the neatness of the grounds
and buildings. They are as well kept as
private house and garden, and the land
scape effects are particularly fine. The dis
play of roses and other flowers is worth
going far as Portland to see- The gov
ernment building is the best example OF
architecture, excepting always the fores-
try building. which is unique. The gov
ernment building stands on island in
the center of a lake about an eighth OF a
mile from the main group of buildings,
and may be reached by an artistic bridge
or by electric launches. 1t is surrounded by
several smaller buildings containing the Ols-
plays of different departments and col
lection of articles from the Philippines AL
together, I think the group OF buildings
was never surpassed at any exposition on
either side of the Atlantic.
Appropriate Statues.
The landscape gardening Is made more
effective by the introduction of few ap-
propriate statues and groups of figures In
bronze and staff. Standing in the center
of the court is bronze figure of Sacajawea,
the Shoshone sQuaw who acted as guide
for Lewis and Clark on their expedition to
the Pacific northwest in 1oO4-o 1t was
made by Miss Alice Cooper of Chicago and
was paid for by the women of the north
west. SAGA jawea has papoose iashed to
her back and with outstretched arm is
pointing across the lake. The inscription
calls her THE Mother of Oregon. 1t is
one of the happiest conceits we have In
bronze, and 1t Is matter OF congratuia.
ton because there are SO few statues OF
women and not all of them are commenda-
ble With Frances E. Willard in the Cap
itol at Washington and Sacajawea stand
ing the goddess of Oregon, women nave
done well this year.
At little distance on the terrace over
looking the lake are figures of Meriwether
Lewis and William Clark that are quite
creditable and facing the main entrance
to the grounds is Remington's group of
COW punchers shooting up the town, which
was loaned presented by the st. Louis
Exposition Company. There are two or
three other groups from ST. LOUIS
A Financial Success.
1t is gratifying to know that the exposi-
ton is likely to be q financial success, and
that 1t will restore to its stockholders a
good part of the money they subscribed
If the present attendance continues to the
end of October the treasurer hopes to be
able to pay so per cent dividend, If not
more This is due to limited ambition and
economical management The exposition
company has not tried to outdo anybody
or anything. Its modest policy from the
beginning has been to secure an appropriate
display of the resources, industries and
progress of the Pacific coast and mountain
states with as much from other parts OF
the Union and from foreign countries as
Trey had room to accommodate. fhey
have made no splurges; they have not tried
II spread out or make records; they have
paid no big salaries or subsidies. They
set out to have million-dollar exposition
and have incurred no debts.
The expenses have averaged only about
$500 day, being increased to $1,000 on
special occasions by displays of fireworks
and other special features, tea n. whien nave ave
varied from 1900 to 2500O a day, averag-
ing Is 600; the biggest record-56, ,OOO-hav1ng
been made on the Fourth Of July. The re-
ceipts have varied from 5000 to $1,000
day. Sometimes they have run up as high
as $4,000, out they tell me that there has
scarcely been day when the treasurer was
not able to put half of his collections in
the bank. The revenues from concessions
have not been large.
The Trail, where the sideshows are, Is
cheap tawdry, and commonplace, and alto
gether the least credttable feature of the
II.
and most of the freaks came from st. Louis.
The location, however, and the arrangement
are excellent. The Trail occupies portion
Of the long bridge which leads to the gov
ernment building on the other Side or the
lake.
The electric display Is not SO elaborate or
fantastic as that made at Buffalo, but Is an
Illustration of simple splendor. The artist
who designed 1t has a refined taste, and has
shdllfully utilized the topography of the
ground and the lake-a natural setting for
picture surprising that of Chicago. Omaha,
Buffalo. ST. Louis or any previous expo
sition. The lights are arranged along the
chaste outlines of the buildings. There are
no colors, the candles being all white.
The Timber Temple.
The Timber Temple, as 1 have already
said is the great triumph Of the exposition,
and its most unique feature from two points
of view as a novelty and Illustration
of one of the great resources of the north
west It was designed by Ion Lewis, chief
architect of the exposition, and is built en-
tirely of enormous fir logs, nearly all of
them more than six feet in diameter and
fifty feet in height. The building fs 205 feet
long by 102 feet wide, and IL the logs were
laid end to end they would stretch a dis
tance of more than two miles Eight miles
of poles are used and twenty tons of shin
giles. One of the logs was weighed before
1t was put in place, and It's weight Is thirty
two tons. Any one of the logs in the walls
contains enough lumber to build an ord-
nary house and fence to inclose 1t. The
ends of the buildings are gabled. with bal
comics sustained by brackets, and the main
entrances are sheltered by porticos with
fifty-two columns of wood six feet in
diameter and fifty feet long.
These logs were cut on the shores of the
Columbia river about seventy-hve miles
from Portland, and were foated down in
RATS to the very site of the building.
The interior Is splendid illustration of
the forest wealth OF Oregon, but is unfor-
trivial exhibits. and cheap stands for the
sale of souvenir spoons and knick-knacks.
The temple should have been allowed to
remain empty for the worship of the deities
of the forest. There are one or two appro-.
pirate exhibits, howeyer-a sawmill and
fish hatchery.
The art collection is creditabie. 1t Is not
large, but well selected, and consists of
loans from owners, chiefly on the Pacific