Final Report of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Commission Part 42

The Roman Virgil (fifth century), the miniatures of the Greek Palatine Balter (twelfth century), the famous Greek Vatican Bible (fourth century), the Vatican Virgil (fifth century), the miniatures of the Bible of the Patricins Leo (tenth century), selected pages from the Papal Letter Book (eleventh century), Papal letters regarding Greenland (ninth century), earliest Papal doc.u.ments regarding America (sixteenth century), the miniatures of the Ottobonian Pontifical (fifteenth century), the Palmipsett ma.n.u.script of the (de republica) of Cicero (fifth century), the ivories of the Christian, Museum of the Vatican Library.

Many phototypical and photographical reproductions of the Borgia rooms, Sistine Chapel, Raphael's Stanze.

Forty-one different pieces of mosaic work.

The death mask of Leo XIII.

Cast of the right hand of Leo XIII.

APPENDIX 4.

REPORTS OF STATES, TERRITORIES, AND DISTRICTS.

ALABAMA.

Committee on Birmingham district exhibit: Fred M. Jackson, president; J.

B. Gibson, secretary; J.A. MacKnight, special representative; Rufus N.

Rhodes, Culpepper Exum, F.H. Dixon, George H. Clark.

The legislature of Alabama failed to provide any funds for an exhibit of the resources of that State. A commission which had been appointed by the governor to attend to the business for the State was powerless to act and gave up the undertaking. In consequence of this failure the Commercial Club of Birmingham decided, when it was almost too late to arrange for any kind of an exhibit, to make a display of the State's mineral resources by means of a fund raised by popular subscription. The actual amount of money raised was approximately $20,000.

After considerable discussion the Commercial Club decided, upon a suggestion made by J.A. Mac Knight, to build a colossal statue of Vulcan, G.o.d of fire and metals, in iron. F.M. Jackson, president of the club, and J.B. Gibson, secretary, took a deep interest in the matter, and as a result the work was commenced in October, 1903. Great difficulty was met with in securing the services of a competent sculptor who was willing to build the model for such a statue, which was to be of a height of at least 50 feet. Mr. Mac Knight was appointed special representative of the club to promote this work and finally secured the services of Mr. G. Moretti, a sculptor residing in New York, who undertook to perform the task and to complete it in time for the exposition.

The model of this colossal statue of Vulcan was first built in clay at Pa.s.saic, N.J., where Mr. Moretti carried on the work under adverse circ.u.mstances and through the zero weather of the winter of 1903-4. It was then cast in plaster of Paris in sections, which were braced and stayed with scantling on the inside of the sh.e.l.l, to be used as patterns in the foundry. The entire model was shipped to Birmingham, Ala., on seven flat cars, its bulk rendering it impossible to put it in box cars.

As soon as it reached Birmingham the work of casting the figure in iron was begun in the foundry of the Birmingham Steel and Iron Company.

Mr. Moretti went to Birmingham to keep the patterns in condition during the process of casting, and it was well that he did so, because the extreme cold had frozen the plaster casts before they were dry, rendering them so brittle that many of them were broken in handling, and the head itself was crumbled into a hundred pieces and had to be entirely remodeled.

Iron manufacturers from all parts of the world have said in regard to this statue that it was the most remarkable piece of iron casting they had ever seen. An agent of the j.a.panese Government was present at Pa.s.saic to watch the building of the model, and followed the work to Birmingham to make notes on the methods of casting it in iron. He also went to St. Louis and remained during its erection in the Mines Palace, and made an extended report to his Government on the subject.

The statue was successfully completed and set up in the exposition within three weeks after the day of opening. At the close of the exposition it was taken down and removed to Birmingham, where it is to be set up in a public park. Its height is 56 feet, and its weight a little more than 60 tons. The head was cast in one piece and weighed over 17,000 pounds. There were 20 casts in all, including the anvil and anvil block. The statue, which was intended to show forth the colossal iron deposits of Alabama, representing primitive man at the time he discovered the method of hardening iron into steel. Vulcan held aloft in his right hand the finished spearhead as a result of his knowledge and handicraft. It is the largest cast statue in the world, and it could not be duplicated for less than $40,000.

The s.p.a.ce occupied by the exhibit collected and installed by the Commercial Club was 62 by 32 feet on the south side of the Mines Building, and contained approximately 2,000 square feet. The statue of Vulcan stood in the center of one side of the s.p.a.ce facing the center of the Mines Palace. It was placed on a platform built upon nine heavy piles, which were driven to bedrock. The figure was perfectly poised when set up, but as an additional safeguard anchor bars were run down through the legs and through a heavy timber, which was bolted to the piles. These pa.s.sed through plates on the inside of the timber and were screwed up tight. The rest of the s.p.a.ce was occupied by a complete exhibit of raw mineral products from all parts of Alabama and especially iron and coal from the Birmingham district. The raw materials embraced the following: Brown hemat.i.te iron ore, soft red ore, hard red ore, bituminous coals, building stone, gray iron, limestone, dolomite, kaolin, clays, cement rocks, gold ores, copper ore, lignite, and gla.s.s sand, and a long list of other minerals which have not been developed.

The products of coal and iron were c.o.ke and pig iron. The finished products were as follows: Open-hearth steel rails, bar and angle iron, car wheels, bar steel, steel plate, sewer pipe, and vitrified brick.

This entire exhibit was displayed in an attractive manner and was the object of a great deal of comment by visitors to the exposition and by newspapers throughout the country and Europe.

A display of Alabama marble was made in the form of a head of Christ, which was carved by Moretti, while he was at work on the Vulcan statue at Birmingham. This marble is of exceedingly fineness and whiteness.

Moretti gave it as his opinion that this marble is equal to the best Carara or Parian marbles, and it is believed that the making of this exhibit will lead to the development of the marble deposits of Alabama, which are believed to be very extensive and of superior quality. The raw materials displayed offer to capital and enterprise a number of splendid opportunities. The gla.s.s sands are probably destined to place Alabama in the front rank in gla.s.s making in the future, while the following resources were displayed in such abundance and were of such excellent quality as to offer the greatest inducements to capital and skill:

An exhibit of porcelain clays and kaolins, which should lead to the establishment of the manufacture of all kinds of crockery and pottery ware near these deposits.

The cement rocks, which formed a princ.i.p.al part of the exhibit, have already attracted capital, and Portland cement of the highest quality is now being manufactured to a limited extent. Large industries in this line are to be located near these deposits, which are among the finest in the world and in inexhaustible quant.i.ty.

The beds of lignite, of which samples were on exhibition, are said to be of very superior quality. No artificial binder is required to make this material up into briquettes for fuel. It is understood that very profitable enterprises in this line are to be built up near these deposits.

The marble deposits, gold and copper ores, and other mineral deposits were sufficiently exhibited to warrant the a.s.sertion that they were worthy of the fullest investigation. The large deposits of low-grade gold ore in the eastern part of Alabama, according to exhibitors, will undoubtedly prove immensely profitable to anyone who may establish a system to extract the gold economically.

Owing to the failure of the State to make an exhibit, the authorities of the exposition recognized the Birmingham committee as the State commission of Alabama and extended to them the courtesies due to a State commissioner. The exhibit was maintained through the period of the exposition, and many thousands of souvenirs of the great statue of Vulcan were sold at the exhibit. An electric picture machine was installed, which gave a large series of moving pictures representing the scenery and life of the Birmingham district. The business of the exhibit was under the direction of J.A. MacKnight, of Birmingham, throughout the exposition, and he had his office at the exhibit.

ALASKA.

Members of the Alaska commission.--Thomas Ryan, First a.s.sistant Secretary of the Interior, chairman; Governor John F. Brady executive commissioner; Joseph B. Marvin, resident representative; Mrs. Mary E.

Hart, hostess. Honorary commissioners: M.E. Martin, mayor of Ketchikan; Peter Jensen, mayor of Wrangell; O.H. Adsit, mayor of Juneau; Frank Bach, mayor of Douglas; John Goodell, mayor of Valdez; L.S. Keller, mayor of Skagway; D.B. Miller, mayor of Eagle City; W.H. Bard, ex-mayor of Nome; Anthony Tubbs, mayor of Treadwell; H.P. King, mayor of Nome.

The district of Alaska appeared at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition as an exhibitor in a national exposition for the first time. The conception of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition and its plans were presented for the consideration of the Congress of the United States at a time when the reports of the committees of Congress sent to Alaska to investigate its resources and needs had aroused the Congress to the duty of enacting legislation for the development of this great region. In appropriating the large sum of $50,000 for an Alaska Building and an Alaska exhibit at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition it was the purpose of Congress to afford an object lesson as a means of education to the millions of people who should attend the exposition as to the extent and resources of this country or territory. The sequel showed that the money was wisely expended, as the Alaska exhibit had the distinction of being regarded by the thousand of its visitors as forming one of the most interesting, instructive, an surprising exhibits shown at the great World's Fair.

When the United States, thirty-seven years ago, paid to Russia the sum of $7,200,000 for the almost unknown territory of Alaska, the purchase was not generally approved; and even members of Congress denounced it, regarding the acquisition as a region of icebergs and glaciers. Later, when gold was discovered in Alaska, the region was regarded as being one of ice and almost inaccessible gold, and few had the hardihood to venture within its precincts, even with the possibility of finding gold as an inducement for the venture.

Still later, after the reports of the Revenue-Cutter Service and the recognizances of army officers and naval commanders, the United States Geological Survey sent men into Alaska to investigate its resources. The Department of Agriculture tested its capacity for agriculture, the Bureau of Education established schools and introduced reindeer from Siberia, the Signal Service began to build telegraph lines and to inspect the country as to the availability of its rivers and harbors for navigation, and it became known by the Government that Alaska was richer in resources by far than had been supposed. This knowledge was not common to the public, and emigration to that region was tardy.

The United States could hardly have done more for the furtherance of the development of the great rich district of Alaska, with its untold wealth in minerals and its great possibilities in agriculture, than it did by securing to the people of Alaska an opportunity to display their resources and products to the inspection of the millions who have visited the Louisiana Purchase Exposition. The exhibits shown by them excited the utmost wonder and surprise in the minds of many witnessing them, who had been in ignorance of the resources of their country.

Thousands have been led to investigate and seek further information. The effect of the Alaska exhibit will undoubtedly be far-reaching and permanent; nor can it be doubted that Congress will supplement this contribution to Alaska's welfare in the near future by legislation which shall secure the one great need of Alaska--inland transportation.

An appropriation of $50,000 for the Alaskan exhibit at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition was made by act of Congress March 3, 1903, as follows:

To enable the inhabitants of the district of Alaska to provide and maintain an appropriate and creditable exhibit of the products and resources of that district at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in the city of St. Louis, Missouri, in nineteen hundred and four, and to erect and maintain on the site of said exposition a suitable building to be used for the purposes of exhibiting the products and resources of said district, the sum of fifty thousand dollars, to be subject to the order of the Secretary of the Interior, who is hereby authorized to expend the same in such manner as in his judgment will best promote the objects for which said sum is appropriated in accordance with the rules and regulations to be prescribed by him.

After the pa.s.sage of the act of Congress which made appropriation for the Alaska exhibit, providing that the sum appropriated should be expended by the Secretary of the Interior in such manner as in his judgment would promote the objects for which the sum was appropriated, in accordance with rules and regulations prescribed by him, one of his first acts was the appointment of Hon. Thomas Ryan, First a.s.sistant Secretary of the Interior, chairman of the Alaska commission, to have immediate charge at the Department of the elaboration of the exhibit.

Later Governor John G. Brady was appointed executive commissioner, and entered upon the task of gathering together and forwarding to the exposition such collections of exhibits as would best represent and ill.u.s.trate the products and resources of Alaska.

Still later Mr. Joseph B. Marvin was appointed special agent of the Alaska exhibit and was sent to St. Louis in December, 1903, to superintend the construction of the Alaska Building, to attend to all accounts with the Department, and to arrange for the installation of the exhibits as they arrive.

Mrs. Mary E. Hart was employed January 1, 1904, to a.s.sist in the securing of the exhibits in Alaska, especially in the Department of Education, and upon the opening of the exposition Mrs. Hart was directed to proceed to St. Louis, where she was designated as hostess and placed in charge of the bureau of information in the Alaska Building. At the same time attendants were selected, whose duty it was to explain the exhibits to visitors.

The executive commissioner, the honorary commissioners, the hostess, all of the attendants, and those employed in collecting exhibits in Alaska were all Alaskans, the attendants being especially selected because of their acquaintance with Alaska and its products.

It was the desire of the executive commissioner that the utmost hospitality should be shown to all visitors at the Alaska Building, and the commodious and homelike parlors on the second floor of the building were free to the public, maids being employed for special attention to the wants of ladies and children.

The princ.i.p.al exhibits in the Alaska Building related naturally to the mining interest of the country.

One of the most impressive and significant exhibits was a gilded cube, about 3 feet in diameter, representing the size of a block of gold worth $7,200,000, which was the amount paid by the United States to Russia for Alaska, and beside it, inclosed in a bra.s.s railing, a gilded pyramid of blocks representing the amount of gold taken each year since 1882 from the Treadwell mine in Alaska, aggregating $21,800,000, a sum which is three times the amount paid for Alaska taken from one mine.

The ore exhibit, especially of gold and copper ores, was very large, filling a gla.s.s case 75 feet long and 5 feet high. These ores were collected by an expert mineralogist employed by the Alaska commission, and included specimens from nearly all the mines in Alaska.

Following is a list of exhibits, showing the princ.i.p.al industries the country, as displayed throughout the building: Marble, canned goods, furs, coal, oils, guano, vegetables and fruit, Indian basketry and curios, and mounted specimens of game and fish.

An interesting exhibit of Alaskan ethnology was made, twenty totem poles and two native houses and one war canoe being located about the building. The totem poles came from different places on Prince of Wales Island and from two different tribes. At an old village called Tuxekan four were obtained. These represented the totem or heraldic sign of each family, and the back part of the totem was excavated to receive the charred bones of friends and ancestors of the man who raised it. The Thlingits were in the habit of burning their dead, but carefully preserved all the charred embers from the funeral pile. These totem poles were always erected on great occasions, and the bones were usually carefully wrapped in a new blanket and incased in the back part of the totem.

The Commission was fortunate in securing for the exhibit a fine collection of samples of grains raised at the experiment stations at Alaska, consisting of the grains in the straw and thrashed grains, including wheat, rye, barley, and oats. These samples were handsomely displayed, some of the grains and straw being tastefully arranged on the walls, covering a s.p.a.ce 10 by 40 feet, and the balance in a pyramid some 10 feet high and 8 feet in diameter. The thrashed grains were displayed in gla.s.s jars. The gra.s.ses were shown in bales of hay. The display of cereals and gra.s.ses was one of the most important, instructive, and surprising to visitors of any display in the Alaska Building, for it demonstrated the fact that agriculture is possible in Alaska, and seekers of the treasures of the mines may always feel sure of subsistence.