Los Angeles herald., 1905-01-11
BEST DISPLAY IN
States HISTORY
FRANK WIGGINS PRAISES THE
EXHIBIT AT FAIR
Says Traffic to California Has Inc
creased Several Hundred Per
Cent Since the Close Of
Exposition

HlOnefS lot Ine state Oh CallIOInid u
the st. Louis exposition and secretary
OF the chamber of commerce, arrived
in Los Angeles yesterday morning. and
was at his desk i'm the chamber as soon
as he had arranged for the departure
of Mrs. Virgins for the family home
at Ocean Park.
The return of Secretary Virgins was
not unexpected, as The Herald had an
nounced that he would arrive at an
early hour, consequently however de-
srous the secretary might have been
10 give immediate attention to his Of
fetal duties. he was 80 frequently in
terrupted by his many friends who
called him up by telephone to welcome
him to make any satisfactory head
way. He finally gave it up when
railway official telephoned to him
about the weather in st. Louis and the
condition of the streets. He rang off,
picked up his hat and left to keep an
appointment.
Secretary Virgins is in the best of
health is as genial as ever, and is
more than pleased to get back to Los
Angeles so he can wear a light coat
and enjoy the balmy sunshine of the
Pacific slope.
In an interview the secretary said
among other things:
california never made a better ex-
hibit of products of the state than was
shown at the st. Louis exposition. 1
have attended all of the exhibits where
California has made a display, the
orange carnival in Chicago in 81. the
Chicago worlds fair in '93, the Omaha
exposition, the Atlanta exposition, the
Pan American exposition at Buffalo,
and while the displays at those places
were in every way creditable, the one
just finished at st. Louis was far
ahead of them all, in variety and gen.
eral arrangement for the best effects.
The results of the st. Louis display
will be greater for the general bene-
fit of the state for the amount of
money expended than any exhibit
made heretofore by the state of Cali
fornia.
California in Lead
California simply took the lead in
the show of fruit products, mining and
other items, and the people flocked
every day to the California section to
feast their eyes upon the attractive
exhibit and walk away with literature
telling OF the wonderful climate and
the business advantages of Southern
California and the great west.
"The effect of the show at st. Louis
is immediate. Even now the people
from nearly every part of the east are
flocking to our state. They are COM
ing on every train and they will keep
coming especially since the blizzards
have broken out afresh beyond the
Rockies. In ST. Louis the representa-
tives of the leading railroad companies
doing tourist business informed me
that since the exposition closed the
passenger traffic for the west had in
creased 200 to 600 per cent over the
same time in former years. In my
as never before by strangers during
the present season.
"The state was represented by two
commissioners at the exposition, J. A.
Filcher of San Francisco and myself,
and we were a working commission
with executive powers. Other COM
missioners were sometimes conspic-
uous by their absence or disposition to
pose and look around. We were busy
all the time giving the California ex-
hibit our personal attention and try
ing to make the display, what it truly
was, an educational feature for the
Pacific coast section.
Work at Fair
1--WE had a hard time getting the ex-
hibit placed in the great hall, because
of the general rush and Inadequate
facilities, but we had much harder
time packing up and getting the dis
play started for the west. We finally
succeeded. One carload arrived in
Los Angeles today. and four more
carloads will soon reach the city. All
of the articles will be stored in the
basement of the chamber and will be
distributed to the various counties in
the southern part of the state as soon
as possible. Five other carloads of
the display were billed direct to San
Francisco, to be looked after by Com
missioner Filcher.
I'm the award of prizes for the dis
play in the various departments Cali
fornia secured 81 grand prizes and 200
medals, but the distribution of the tes-
timonials will not be made for some
weeks. There was something of a
hitch between the national committee
and the st. Louis exposition committee.
consequently the work of making the
awards was delayed. The dispute
has been settled and the awards were
finished before the fair closed.
Secretary G. A. Dennison, of San
Francisco. is on his way home He is
coming over the southern route and
is expected to arrive in Los Angeles
Thursday of the present week. He