Publication information |
Source: A History of Buffalo Source type: book Document type: book chapter Document title: “In the Era of the Railways: 1851-1908” [chapter 3] Author(s): Larned, J. N. Volume number: 1 Publisher: Progress of the Empire State Company Place of publication: New York, New York Year of publication: 1911 Part/Section: 1 Pagination: 62-96 (excerpt below includes only pages 86-90) |
Citation |
Larned, J. N. “In the Era of the Railways: 1851-1908” [chapter 3]. A History of Buffalo. Vol. 1. New York: Progress of the Empire State, 1911: sect. 1, pp. 62-96. |
Transcription |
excerpt of chapter |
Keywords |
Pan-American Exposition; Pan-American Exposition (financial outcome). |
Named persons |
Frederick Almy; Frank Burkett Baird; A. L. Benedict; George K. Birge; Herbert P. Bissell; Karl Bitter; George Bleistein; John M. Brinker; William I. Buchanan; Newcomb Carlton [misspelled below]; John M. Carrere; George Cary; William A. Coffin; Frank A. Converse; Walter Cook; David T. Day; Conrad Diehl; W. Caryl Ely; August C. Esenwein; Samuel J. Fields; Edwin Fleming; Henry Montgomery Gerrans; Charles W. Goodyear; Edward B. Green; Harry Hamlin; William Hengerer; William H. Hotchkiss; John Galen Howard; John Hughes; Charles R. Huntley; Joseph. T. Jones; Frederick C. M. Lautz; Henry Cabot Lodge; William McKinley; John G. Milburn; Edwin G. S. Miller; Thomas M. Moore; J. H. Murphy; Robert S. Peabody; Selim H. Peabody; Henry J. Pierce; Robert Cameron Rogers; Theodore Roosevelt; Henry Rustin; John N. Scatcherd; Robert F. Schelling; George F. Sever; George F. Shepley; Carleton Sprague; Thomas W. Symons; Frederick W. Taylor; Charles Yardley Turner; Rudolf Ulrich [first name misspelled below]; George Urban, Jr.; John B. Weber; Algar M. Wheeler [first name misspelled below]; Ansley Wilcox; George L. Williams; Timothy L. Woodruff. |
Notes |
This chapter includes a photograph of the Milburn home as an unnumbered
plate facing page 91, accompanied by the following text: “This house,
which was built early in the development of Buffalo, was occupied and
owned from 1884 to 1904 by John G. Milburn, the leading attorney, and
a close friend of President McKinley. When the President was shot on September
6, 1901, he was taken to this house, where he was tenderly cared for until
his death on September 14th. Mr. Milburn removed to New York about 1904,
and afterward parted with the house.”
From title page: A History of Buffalo: Delineating the Evolution
of the City.
From title page: By J. N. Larned, with Sketches of the City of Rochester by the Hon. Charles E. Fitch and the City of Utica by the Hon. Ellis H. Roberts. |
Document |
In the Era of the Railways: 1851-1908 [excerpt]
The project of an All-American exposition
of arts and industries, to promote trade and social relations between the countries
and peoples of North, South and Central America, and to be held on the Niagara
frontier, was conceived and urged in 1896 by Captain John M. Brinker, of Buffalo.
A number of enterprising capitalists and business men became interested in the
scheme, and a Pan-American Exposition Company was incorporated in June, 1897.
In the following September the directors of the company selected Cayuga Island,
at La Salle, about two miles from Niagara Falls, for the site of the proposed
exposition; but prospects of war with Spain and other discouragements brought
a halt in the undertaking and it went not much farther at the time. The idea,
however, was kept alive. [86][87]
When the war with Spain had come and gone, Mayor Conrad
Diehl, of Buffalo, was induced to revive the proposition, as one which our city
should take in hand. He did so in a special message to the Common Council, which
called out an effective response. A new company was incorporated, originally
capitalized at $1,000,000, but having that amount raised quickly to $2,500,000.
The company was authorized to issue bonds to the amount of its stock, and both
stock and bonds were taken, mostly at home. Appropriations of $500,000 and $300,000
for National and State exhibits were obtained at Washington and Albany, and
agencies for wakening interest in the enterprise worked actively in other parts
of the Union and abroad. Cayuga Island was discarded as a practicable site for
the exposition, because of inadequate railway facilities, and the use of large
grounds on the northern edge of Delaware Park, with some use of the Park and
its beautiful lake, was obtained. The Spanish style of architecture for buildings
was adopted as appropriate, in view of the extent to which the Spanish-American
peoples were expected to participate.
When all preparations were in working order, the organization
of chief officials of the Pan-American Exposition was as follows:
President: John G. Milburn.
Secretary: Edwin Fleming.
Treasurer: George L. Williams.
Directors: Frank B. Baird, George K. Birge, Herbert
P. Bissell, George Bleistein, John M. Brinker, Conrad Diehl, W. Caryl Ely, H.
M. Gerrans, Charles W. Goodyear, Harry Hamlin, William Hengerer, Charles R.
Huntley, John Hughes, William H. Hotchkiss, J. T. Jones, F. C. M. Lautz, John
G. Milburn, E. G. S. Miller, H. J. Pierce, John N. Scatcherd, R. F. Schelling,
Carleton Sprague, Thomas W. Symons, George Urban, Jr., George L. Williams. [87][88]
Executive Committee: John N. Scatcherd, Chairman; George
K. Birge, Conrad Diehl, Harry Hamlin, Charles R. Huntley, J. T. Jones, Robert
F. Schelling, Carleton Sprague, Thomas W. Symons.
Director-General: William I. Buchanan.
Commissioner-General and Auditor: John B. Weber.
Director of Concessions: Frederick W. Taylor.
Board of Architects: John M. Carrere, Chairman; George
F. Shepley, R. S. Peabody, Walter Cook, J. G. Howard, George Cary, Edward B.
Green, August C. Esenwein.
Director of Color: C. Y. Turner.
Director of Sculpture: Karl Bitter.
Director of Works: Newcomb Carleton.
Landscape Architect: Rudulf Ulrich.
Chief of Building Construction: J. H. Murphy.
Chief Engineer: S. J. Fields.
Chief of M. and E. Bureau: Henry Rustin.
Director of Fine Arts: William A. Coffin.
Superintendent of Electric Exhibits: George F. Sever.
Superintendent of Graphic Arts, Machinery, etc.: Thomas
M. Moore.
Superintendent of Liberal Arts: Selim H. Peabody.
Superintendent of Ethnology and Archaeology: A. L.
Benedict.
Superintendent of Live Stock, Dairy, etc.: Frank A.
Converse.
Superintendent of Horticultural and Food Products:
F. W. Taylor.
Superintendent of Mines and Metallurgy: David T. Day.
Superintendent of Manufactures: Alger M. Wheeler.
As happens generally in such undertakings, the appointed
day for opening the Exposition, May 1, 1901, found much [88][89]
incompleteness of preparation for it, but mostly in matters which general managers
cannot control. Some States and some foreign countries had been late in their
building undertakings, and great numbers of exhibitors were unready to make
use of the space they had engaged. Something of this tardiness was due, without
doubt, to the dispiriting effects of a wet and cold spring. The opening of the
Exposition to the public took place, nevertheless, on the appointed day, but
the formal ceremonies of its inauguration were postponed until the 20th. Exercises
held then in the Temple of Music included addresses by Vice-President Roosevelt,
Lieutenant-Governor Timothy L. Woodruff, of New York, Senator Henry Cabot Lodge,
of Massachusetts, and Mayor Conrad Diehl; with noble poems read by Robert Cameron
Rogers and Frederick Almy.
The United States Government interested itself most
heartily in the Exposition, and realized most perfectly in its finely organized
exhibits the instructive main purpose in view. Every department of the government
contributed something interestingly representative of the functions and public
services it performs, or of the national resources and activities over which
it presides. The three buildings of the group in which these exhibits of governmental
work were arranged became the centers of a more substantial attraction than
any others on the ground.
Thirteen of the States of our Federal Union were represented
by handsome buildings under official care. The fine permanent building of New
York State, in marble, on public park grounds, is now the property of the Buffalo
Historical Society. The New England States were joined in the erection of a
beautiful building for their common use. The other States represented by governmental
buildings were Pennsylvania, Maryland, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Illinois.
Porto Rico, alone, of the outlying possessions [89][90]
of the United States, presented exhibits in a building of its own. Other American
countries which contributed admirably, not only to the Pan-American display
of resources and products, but to the housing of them, were Canada, Mexico,
Cuba, Chile, Ecuador, Honduras and the Dominican Republic.
That Buffalo was benefited by the Exposition will hardly
be disputed; but in immediate financial results it was not a success. A late-coming
spring and a singularly unfavorable state of weather throughout most of the
months following were blighting in themselves; but the fatal stroke came in
the awful tragedy of the assassination of President McKinley, which occurred
on the 6th of September. While holding a reception in the Temple of Music, on
the Exposition grounds, the President was shot by a Polish anarchist, who approached
him in the passing line of people, with a pistol hidden by a handkerchief in
his hand. Death was not immediate; there were eight days of suffering, heroically
endured, while the country was thrilled with hopes and fears. Death came on
the 14th, and Vice-President Roosevelt immediately took the oath of office as
President, at the residence of Mr. Ansley Wilcox, who was his host at the time.
To many thousands of people the Pan-American Exposition
is a delightful memory; but it was not thronged as it needed to be for an immediate
repayment of its cost. The total admissions were 8,120,048; the total revenue
from admissions $2,406,875.80. The total expenditures upon it were $9,447,702.93;
the total income, including payments on capital stock and proceeds from the
sale of bonds, was $8,869,757.20. The loss to stockholders ($1,643,203.50 in
amount) was entire. First mortgage bonds were paid, but nothing was received
by the holders of the second issue, of $500,000. Towards the payment of unsettled
accounts, which amounted to $577,945.73, a Congressional appropriation of $500,000
was obtained.