Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1907-06-07
The Alaska Fair Start.

The ceremony of breaking ground
for the great A.-Y.-P. Exposition at
Seattle, in 1909, took place on the
State University grounds, last Satur-
day, at 2 p. NJ, in the presence OF
from ten to twelve thousand specta-
tors, in one of Natures own amphi-
theaters fronting the lake-shOre.
Among the distinguished speakers
present were J. f. Chilberg Presi-
dent of the Exposition Commission,
John Barrett representing President
Roosevelt, and Gov. Mead, represent
ing, of course, the people of the State
at large. The speeches were all able,
but appear much better in print than
on delivery, there being considerable
confusion among the throng who
crowded the hillsides, most of them
PROSTATE on the ground, in all sorts of
positions that might cOnducc posi-
sibly to comfort during the intermin-
able wait for the stragglers who made
up the procession and came in long af-
ter the major portion of the attend
ants had assembled. Among these
were a detachment of the National
Guard and the jackies from BremertOn
naval vessels, who made a splendid
appearance, on parade, as the soldiers
always do. When the exercises be-
gan, the situation was not much i'm
proved, the sweet harmOnies of the
bands, and the eloquent remarks of
the speakers, reaching the audience
in broken fragments, INSTRUCTED by
clouds of dust, drowned by a steady
undertone of conversation and the
inceSsant rustic of garments, and
interrupted by the strident tones Of
spoilers in the attempt to sell an Of
fetal programme" at ten cents a
copy, which, when bought, was
found to contain literary lucubratiOns
of aspiring genius instead of the
information sought. But all things
must have an end and, this proved no
exception, although some doubt may
have been felt by the thousands who
felt little inconvenience in reaching
the grounds in installments, but had
to endure another tireSOme wait for
reaching town, many of them after
night had drawn her sable curtains.
The observance was q success,
however, from the fact that every
body was in a mood to be pleased,
went there to be pleased and with
mind made up to ignore everything
which might destroy that placid
resolution. All seemed to realize the
importance of the event this meeting
was designed to inaugurate, and to
lend aid in making it success. And
why not? Looking at the matter
from the most sordid standpoint: 1t
will prove splendid investment of
time, labor and resources. Aside
from the many thousands of dollars
left by visitors, the benefit to the
only State University that has had
an international fair for q sponsor, is
incalculable. The example set at
Chicago in 1893, by construction of
the Field Columbian Museum of en-
during materials and leaving it as q
permanent mementO of the occasion;
at St. Louis, few years later by
making the Museum of Arts crown
ing Art Hill in Forest Park, o per-
petual memory OF the Louisianan
Purchase, and at Portland, likewise,
the notable Forestry Building as q
reminder of Lewis and Clark, which
was denominated by joaquin Miller
the Oregon Cathedral" may or
may not have suggested the ben
efactiOn that will inure to the cause
of education by adapting grounds
and buildings to the purpose for
which they have been dedicated.
But certain it is that that spirit now
seems rife and is spreading.
It is said that the New York repre-
sentatives of the project of a building
to properly symbolic the Empire
State, propose to adapt it to the OBJ
jects Of higher education and donate
it to our University, and other
States are considering the matter of
making their presence equally felt in
the same line of usefulness. The
United States building will doubtless
be planned upon this enlarged spirit
of philanthropy. and the result will
be that Natures unequaled endow-
ments will be supplanted by unlimit-
ed resources to make Washington
University the pride of her people
and the leading institution of the
kind in the world.
~A-
ENGLAND LEADS IN SIZE OF BAL
LOONs.-The Mammoth" the larg-
est balloon ever built, made an as
cension in London, on the 26th ult.
It was q "double-decker," and car
ried sixteen persons. The upper
deck consisted of a platform over the
usual car. The big gas-bag took
los, 900 feet of the lifting fluid to car
ry.the load the aseension-power being
4, 800 pounds and the balloon weigh
ing 46O. No ballast bags were used;
the sand was liberated by a chute