Evening star., 1915-02-21
Secretary Declares Journey of
American Pioneer at End
at Panama Exposition.
ALL RECORDS ARE BROKEN
BY ATTENDANCE FIRST DAY
Admissions at 4 O'Clock in After.
noon Had Reached Total
of 225,WO.

EXPOSITION GROUNDS, SAN FRAN
CISCO. February 20.-The Panama Pa
cific international exposition was for
mally opened at noon today, Pacific
coast time.
All records for exposition first-day
attendance were broken at the opening.
By 4 o'clock this afternoon the turn
stiles had clicked off 225.O0o admissions.
and it was expected that by midnight
the total would have reached more
than 100000. The previous record was
at the opening day of the st. Louis
worlds fair. 176,455, In 1904.
The crowd was a spectacle in itself.
1t filed the grandstands. it packed the
great courts and concourses. it poured
through the aisles, it overflowed from
the sidewalks into the avenues, from
the hills to the bay, as far as the eye
could reach in unending rivers of bob
bing heads.
Tears in Many Eyes.
AS the Presidents personal envoy,
Secretary Lane was heard with the
closest attention. In the more solemn
passages of his grafton the vibrations
of his voice stirred the audience in
sympathy and there were tears in many
eyes as he pointed to the slender,
dauntless. plodding figure. standing
beside two oxen. which looked down
upon the court of the nations. where
east and west come face to face"
That figure was the American
pioneer His sufferings and triumphs
were the orators theme. This exposi-
ton was his house in which should be
taught the gospel of an advancing
democracy strong, valiant, confident,
conquering. Without him there had
been no exposition, no San Francisco.
The day broke threatening and rainy
but by sunset there was scarcely
cloud in the sky. One shower fell dur
ing the dedicatory exercises. AS Presi-
the touch of a button in the White
House the suns long slanting rays
glinted in miniature rainbow through
the squirting streams of the Fountain
of Energy that was at that moment
unleashed.
Aeroplane Releases Doves.
Flags of all the nations rose on
manifold poles and pinnacles. Signal
bombs were detonated from towers.
An aeroplane circled about the Tower
of Jewels, scattering doves of peace
The doors of the Palace of Machinery
swung open and the exhibits within
were shown in motion.
The dedicatory ceremonies were made
as simple and short as possible. The
citizens, headed by Gov. Hiram w.
Johnson and Mayor Rolph, represent
ing the state and the city were well
coined to the grounds by the officers
and directors of the exposition and Off
GERS of the federal government Ad-
dresses were delivered by President c.
c. Moore of the exposition, DR.. Fred
erick j. V. Skiff, director in chief; Gov.
Johnson, Secretary Lane and a few
others. 1nvocations and benedictions
were pronounced by clergymen repre-
senting the Roman Catholic, Protestant
and Jewish faiths.
Shortly after noon the grounds were
given over unreservedly to the people
The exposition will be open tomorrow
and on succeeding SUNDAYS. Monday
will be held the Vanderbilt automobile
cup race, to be followed five days later
by the Grand Prix race
Secretary Lanes Address.
On opening his address Secretary Lane
said in part:
ITO you, President Moore, and to your
colleagues, ladies and gentlemen, I bear
the congratulations of the nation on
the opening of this international ex-
position. This morning 1 have from the
President the following telegram:
Please convey my heartiest con-
gratulations to the authorities of the
exposition and express my hope that
their highest expectations for its dis
tinguished success will be more than
realized
Within a month l expect the Presi-
dent himself will be with you to greet the
representatives of the nations who have
of ;fxr
by the Golden Gate. 1 came as a token
bearer to speak a feeble foreword to the
rich volume of his admiration for your
courage, your enterprise and your genius
The sculptors who have ennobled these
buildings with their work have surely
given full swing to their fancy in seek
ing to symbolic the tale which this ex-
position tells. And among these figures l
have sought for one which would repre-
sent to me the significance of this great
enterprise.
Prophets, priests and kings are
here, conquerors and mystical figures
of ancient legend, but these do not
speak the word I hear. My eye is drawn
to the least conspicuous figure of all
the modest figure of a man standing
beside two oxen, who look down upon
the court of the nations, when east and
west come face to face.
The American Pioneer.
without him we would not be here
Without him banners would not fly nor
bands play. Without him San Fran
cisco would not be today the gayest
city of the globe. Shall / tell you who
he is, this key figure in the arch OF
our enterprise? That slender, daunt-
less, plodding. modest figure is the
American pioneer. To me he is far
more. He is the adventuresome spirit
of our restless race.
"The long journey of this slight
modest figure that stands beside the
oxen is at an end. The waste places
of the earth have been found. But ad-
venture is not to end. Here will be
| taught the gospel of an advancing de.
| mocracy-strong, valiant, confident.
conauering-upborne and typified b,
| the Independent spirit of the American
pioneer"
| President Wilson, in the White House
by the touch of button completed 8
telegraph circuit which automatically
worked relay key In the wireless
station at Tuckerton, n. j. Instantly
powerful electric waves leaped ou,
| across the continent A fraction of 6
second later they were received or
aerials strung from the Tower of Jew
els in the exposition grounds. Another
\ relay instrument transmitted them t(