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Nearing the End [excerpt]
Among the events of
the opening year of the twentieth century one of the most interesting
was the Pan-American Exposition, [295][296]
held in the city of Buffalo, N. Y., from May 1st to November 1st.
This project was first planned in 1897, the exposition to be held
on a small scale, in 1899, on Cayuga Island, near Niagara Falls.
The Spanish-American War, however, checked the project, and when
it was revived it was on a more ambitious scale. Buffalo was chosen
as the site, and the original fifty acres were expanded into 330
acres, the ground chosen including the most beautiful portions of
Delaware Park. A fund of $5,000,000 was provided by the city and
citizens of Buffalo, appropriations were made by the State of New
York and the Federal Government, and the work was begun on an estimate
of $10,000,000 of expenditures.
The purpose of this
Exposition is clearly indicated in its name. It concerned itself
solely with the countries of the two Americas and the new possessions
of the United States, of which it was proposed to show the progress
during the nineteenth century, a leading object of the enterprise
being to bring into closer relations, commercially and socially,
the republics and colonies of the Western Hemisphere and promote
intercourse between their peoples. The Department of State, in June,
1899, invited the various governments of the American Continents
to take part in the enterprise, and acceptances were very generally
received.
The preparations made for the Exposition
were of the most admirable character, and, when completed, the grounds
and buildings presented a magnificent scene. While on a smaller
scale than the Philadelphia and Chicago World’s Fairs, the Buffalo
Fair surpassed all previous ones in architectural beauty. Instead
of presenting the pure white of the Columbian Exposition, there
was a generous use of brilliant colors and rich tints, which gave
a glowing rainbow effect to the artistically grouped buildings;
the general style of architecture being a free treatment of the
Spanish Renaissance, in compliment to the Latin American countries
taking part. The elaborate hydraulic and fountain arrangements,
the [296][297] horticultural and floral
settings, and the sculptural ornamentation, added greatly to the
general effect.
Of the varied elements of the display,
that of electricity stood first, the enormous electrical plant at
Niagara and its connection by wire with Buffalo affording unequalled
facilities in this direction. The Electric Tower, 375 feet high,
was the centre-piece of the Exposition, the edifice itself being
stately and beautiful and its electric display on the grandest scale.
The vari-colored electrical fountain was strikingly beautiful. There
were winding canals, caverns, and grottoes, water cascades, towers,
domes and pinnacles, and other objects of attraction, not the least
of them the Midway, with its diversified display, a feature which
has become indispensable to all recent enterprises of this character.
We have spoken especially of this superb Fair from the sad relations
which President McKinley was to hold to it—a subject of national
grief which we reserve for later treatment.
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