Polk County observer. (Monmouth, Polk County, Or.) 1888-1927, 1905-07-07
ATTENDANCE IS LARGE
More Than 10000 Admissions to
the Lewis and Clark Exposition
the First Three Weeks.

That the Lewis and Clark Exposi,
tlon will prove to be a notable success
from the point of attendance is
practically a foregone conclusion
though it has been open only a
month. 1t has had a larger attend
ance for the first four weeks, in pro.
portion to the population of Portland
and its vicinity, than any other ex-
position ever held in the United States.
Figures compiled by John A. Wake
Held, the director of concessions and
admissions who has been connected
with half dozen expositions, show
that the Portland Fair has enjoyed an
attendance up to date 2O) per cent
greater than any other exposition,
considering the population within a
radius of 500 miles.
Approximately 100000 people live
within 500 miles of Portland. Since
opening day, June l, the daily attend
ance at the Fair has averaged IA, 1877.
The city of Portland has about 14O, 900
Inhabitants, Chicago. at the time of
the Columbian Exposition, including
the immediate suburbs, contained
practically as many people as dwell
within Portland's 50O-mile radius.
Yet for the first month of the Chicago
Fair the daily attendance ran from
1924 to 3O,929, excepting one special
day when $4,000 people were present.
For the first twenty-five days of the
Portland Fair, ending with June %,
the admissions aggregated 31O,795
Of these 100, 1913 were paid admissions,
averaging 1900 paid admissions
daily. AS the Fair goes on, the pass
admissions will decrease and the paid
admissions will increase. Many work.
men have been employed during the
first few weeks, putting the finishing
touches on the exhibit booths here
and there, shaping up the latter land
scape, and completing some of the
buildings on the Trail, the concessions
for which were granted late. This
has made the free admissions aggre-
gate considerably greater than it will
be during the remainder of the Ex-
position period. On the other hand, it
is the experience of all expositions
that the crowds do not begin to come
until che second month, and as rule
the largest attendance is in September
and October
The paid admissions for the first
twenty y-three days at Portland were
equal to the aggregate for the entire
first month at the Omaha Exposition,
Notwithstanding the fact that within
one nights ride Of Omaha there were
100000 people. With less than one
seventh as many inhabitants in the
corresponding territory, Portland feels
that she has surpassed the most
sanguine expectations.
The Lewis and Clark Exposition
will run until October Is. A daily
average no larger than that of the
first three weeks would give nearly a
million paid admissions, which many
experienced exposition men declared
before the opening of the Fair would
be as large an attendance as reason
ably could be expected from an ex-
position so far from the great centers
of population. But it is the history OF
all expositions that the first month s
attendance is the smallest Of all, and
Director Wakefield counts upon a
paid attendance far exceeding one
million. Hotel bookings in Portland
indicate a far larger attendance for
July and August, while it is not to be
doubted that September and the closing
days of the Fair in October will bring
the largest crowds of all.