East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1905-06-30

Portland, June SO.-That the Lewis
and Clark exposition will prove to be
notable success from the point of
attendance is practically a foregone
conclusion, though it has been open
less than a month. 1t has had
| larger attendance for the first three
weeks, in proportion to the popula-
tion of Portland and its vicinity, than
any other exposition ever held in the
! United States. Figures compiled by
John A. Wakefield, the director of
concessions and admissions, who has
been connected with half a dozen eX-
| positions, shows that the Portland
fair has enjoyed an attendance up
to date 200 per cent greater than any
other exposition, considering the pop
ulation within radius of 500 miles.
Approximately 10000 900 people live
within 500 miles of Portland. Since
the opening day, June l, the daily at
! tendance at the fair has averaged
| 14,127. The city of Portland has
about 100000 inhabitants. Chicago.
at the time of the Columbian expo
sition, including its immediate sub
urbs, contained practically as many
] HtOplt as uNCll NAtillil . OVN-
mile radius. Yet for the first month
of the Chicago fair the daily attend
ance ran from 1854 to 30,929, ex-
cepting one special day when $4,000
| people were present
For the first % days of the Port
land fair, ending with June 22, the
admission aggregated S10,795. OF
these 160,79S weer paid admissions,
averaging 1909 paid admissions daily.
AS the fair goes on, the pass admis-
sions will be decreased and the paid
admissions will increase. Many work.
men have been employed about the
grounds during the first few weeks,
putting the finishing touches on the
exhibit booths here and there, shap-
ing up the latter landscape work and
completing some of the buildings on
the Trail. the concessions for which
were granted late. This has made the
free admission aggregate considerably
greater than it will be during the re-
mainder of the exposition period. on
the other hand, it is the experience
of all expositions that the crowds do
not begin to come until the second
month, and as a rule the largest at
tendance is in September and Octo-
her.
The raid admissions for the tiIst
! % days at Portland were equal to the
aggregate for the entire first month
at the Omaha exposition, notwith-
stand the fact that within one nights
ride of Omaha there were 100000
people. With less than one-seventh
as many inhabitants in the cores
ponding territory. Portland feels that
she has surpassed the most sanguine
expectations.
The Lewis and Clark exposition will
lun until October 8. A daily average
no larger than that of the first three
weeks would give nearly a million
paid admissions, which many eXper-
fenced exposition men declared before
the opening of the fair would be as
large an attendance as reasonably
could be expected from an exposition
so far from the great centers of pop
ulation. But it is the history Of all
expositions that the first months at
tendance 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.