The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1910-06-23


we are right, and DR.. Cook is still liv-
ing somewhere to prove 1t,
=----------
WANING INTEREST IN FAIRS.
The promoters of an epoch making"
Worlds Fair in New York have met
with the cold shoulder wherever they
have turned. Boldly announcing that
New York should have fair in 1913,
and that 1t should eclipse anything
the world ever saw, a meeting OF i'm
portant men was held on Tuesday at
the invitation TO Mayor Gaynor to
discuss the subject. There were SO few
present and those who came expressed
so little interest in the matter that
the meeting adjourned without action.
The members were merely instructed
to feel the public pulse" regarding
fair and are to meet again If the
Chairman think it advisable.
This is probably a decent way of
burying the idea, and it clearly in
dicates the waning interest in great
fairs and expositions. When the Chi
Sd6o al HdS iiSiu III 1910, ana wien
the men who projected it Were able
to carry through their great under
taking without loss. the whole coun-
try Went exposition mad. In rapid
succession Atlanta, New Orleans,
Charleston, Buffalo, ST. Louis. Nor
folk and Seattle had their fairs,
until exhibitors got in the habit
of packing their exhibits in box
Gradually the public has wearied of
these expositions and gradually the in
terest in them has declined. None Of
them has been as successful as the
Columbian Exposition and the attend
ance at them has gradually decreased.
This does not mean that the fairs
are not good things for the country
and for the cities in which they arc
held Every city that has ever held
a great fair has been benefited by IT,
and some of them have literally been
given new life by the influx of Wis
itors. The Charleston Exposition, for
instance, was not a financial success,
but 1t did far more for Charleston
than everything else her citizens had
done since the war, and it put that
town back on the map
The decline in the popularity Of
these fairs, however, does mean that
they will cease to be anything but a
dead loss unless they are held less fire.
quently. Foreign countries Will not for
ever be sending their treasures abroad;
even manufacturers weary of eternally
shipping fine exhibits and having them
damaged by rough handling: the peo-
pie Will cease attending shows where
they will see what they have seen in
half a dozen other places. 1t is time to
call a halt and the long-headed New
Workers are right In refusing to coun-
tenance a great fair as early as 1919
Baltimore plans a Flag Exposition"
in 1914, and San Francisco or New Or
opening of the Panama Canal. These
will b. enough to last the country
until 1926, by which time Mr.. Bryan
will be, or will not be. President.
A GREAT WORK OF OUR WOMEN.
The work OF the Confederate Me-
mortal Literary Society in marking the
sites of Confederate offices and public
buildings in Richmond deserves the
commentator of every patriotic citi-
zen There were many Of these build
ings, we'll known to the last genera
ton. which had played a great part In
the history OF the country. The Old
Post O1fice, for example, used as the
executive Offices of the Confederate
Government, was for this reason one
Of the most historic buildings In
America. rich In its associations and
immortal in It's copnection, with the
great men OF the Southern Cause. To
mark this and similar places is to fix
them forever In the affection of our
people.
This. however. is but one thing the
women of the Confederate Memorial
Literary Society have done that en-
titles them to a high place in the re-
gard of all Southern people. From the
day they opened the old Davis Man
sion as & Confederate Museum until
the present time. there has not been a