The French Broad hustler. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1896-1912, 1907-06-20
Notes From Memorandum Book, Of
Visitor to the Worlds Fair
1898.

For the benefit of your readers, and
especially the, school children, l trust
you will allow the writers to make pub
lie what he has recently come across in
an old note book. Fourteen years ago
this autumn, some of us, yet living, had
the privilege Of attending what has
gone down in history as the Worlds
Columbian Exposition! It was intend
ed to bring together all nations of earth,
and practically it did so. In the United
States, Connecticut, South Carolina and
Mississippi, were the only three states
that gave the great show the go-by.
These States had no buildings or exhib
its except such as were made by indivi-
duals or Societies.
No such human endeavor had ever
been undertaken, in the Western World
since It's discovery by Columbus, up to
that time, A six hundred acre tract of
land, seven miles South of the heart and
center of the great city of Chicago, on
the West bank of Lake Michigan, called
Jackson Park, was selected as the site.
Al NOhAONOAOA bh1o ALdOb was bhO
Midway P~laisance, which was a strip of
land six hundred feet wide and nearly
one mile long, and connected the Jack
son Park Fair grounds with Washing
ton Park to the west. Many of the
scenes along this wonderful Midway will
hardly ever pass from the memory and
vision of the visitor, notably among
which may be mentioned, the Great
Ferris Wheel, with it's sixteen cars, lift
ing the passenger 364 feet above tcrre
frma, and putting before him a scene of
awful sublimity and grandeur, over the
great city and inland sea of Lake Michi-
gan. The Eiffel Tower, a street 10 Cal :
70. Blarney Castle and the Palace OF De-
~lusions, wherein un once had it, that
our good friend, w. A. Smith, ESQ, OF
your city, was for a time lost.
The main entranse to the Fair grounds
was at 9th ST., and at about the csntra
part of the buildings, where stood the
Administration Building, o~vertoping al
the others. 1t was 275 feet high from
the pavement and when brilliantly light,
ed, could be seen for miles around above
surrounding buildings. The building o.
all buildings though, was that of Manu-
facturers aud Liberal Arts. 1t had 9
length of 1857 feet and a breadth of 49,
feet and covered BIZ acres of ground anC
cost q million and a half dollars tC
erect. The stock Sheds and Pavilion
b covered % acres, and could not be care
fully looked over under three days
> Our friend Col, S. v. Pickens has here
= tofore, when we were talking to tht
E School Children) doubted that thu
7 writer saw a swine there, that weighed
{ 1900 lbs, and nov that fourteen year
U have passed, l trust he will not become
scrupulous about the size of that Liber
al Arts building. The machinery build
? ing and annex covered IL acres and cos
9 one million and two hundred thousau,
Z dollars. The transportation BuiIdin,
and Annex covered thirteen acres AM
had within in it more different kinds o
~contrivances for transporting peopl'
than could be looked at in q week
Among the carriages, were those which
d once belonged to George Washington
Henry Clay, Andrew Jackson, Abraham
e Lincoln and hundreds of other distin
guished men.
The Agricultural Building and anne.
y covered fifteen acres and contained tn
/ products of the field from around tn
globe, specimens of those fields, not tn,
} entire output. The Art Galleries Build
u ing covered five acres of land and with
y in its walls were more than fifty carload:
of the finest works of Art, paintings ant
sculpture. A careful examination o
alltheae works of art could not hay,
y been made in less time than six months
q There were more than one hundred 9th
er buildings Including the buildings o
foreign countries and the various states
u Upwards of fifteen million dollar
we're spent for buildings alone. No tw,
n were alike in architectural design O
q general appearance, but lest this be to,
long and weary the patience of tn,
II reader, let us close and have more anon
y My note book is not yet exhausted.
" THOS. j. HICKMAN.
Asheville, N. g., June 10. 'O7.