THE MIDWINTER FAIR by Editor

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Dec 18, 1893

THE MIDWINTER FAIR.

By Editor

LAST week we presented to our readers some of the interesting facts about the California Midwinter International Exposition. It is safe to say that no other enterprise of its magnitude was ever developed and carried so far as to make its success a matter beyond question in so short a time as this. The World's Fair at Chicago was two years in building, and was then uncompleted when opened. But the prospects are that the Midwinter Fair in San Francisco will be ready to open six months after the first suggestion that it should be held.

We gave cuts last week of the Administration building and of the Horticultural and Agricultural Hall. This week we present another of the five great buildings, that of Manufactures and Liberal Arts. The size of this great fabric is 462x237 feet. The style of architecture is Moorish, reminding one strongly of the California mission buildings. Besides these three great buildings mentioned, there is the building for Mechanical Arts, 324x160 feet, East Indian in style, and well adapted for the accommodation of all such exhibits as are found in machinery halls. The fifth great building is the Fine Arts Palace. The style of architecture is Egyptian and it is constructed in brick. And yet these buildings have been found insufficient in size, and an annex is already being added to the Manufactures building, and the Fine Arts building has been increased by an additional 20 feet to its projected size. These enlargements have been caused by the constantly developing scope of the Exposition since its first inception. In fact, it will be much larger than many of the earlier World's Fairs. The floor space in the main exhibition buildings amounts to one-fourth of a million feet, and every inch of this space will be taken by the time the Fair opens, on January 1. In the Manufactures and Liberal Arts building, Russia alone will occupy 12,000 feet, Italy 10,000, and Austria nearly as much. There will be seen the dainty handiwork of the Japanese, a wonderful display of Bohemian glassware, the beautiful products of the looms of Asia and Central Europe, and some of the latest and finest curiosities of many lands. Some of the best displays made of American products seen at Chicago will be made here, with a large number of valuable exhibits which were not seen in Chicago, so that in many respects the Exposition at San Francisco will surpass that at Chicago. This will be especially true of Pacific Coast products.

The art department will have some fine displays of famous Russian and French paintings, with a large number of pieces of art which Chicago could not secure. The agricultural and horticultural display will probably surpass everything else. In this will be seen in their perfection the products of the glorious climate of the Pacific Coast, especially of California. Cut flowers and roses of every variety, great floral pyramids of daily fresh-cut flowers, in fact, almost every beautiful thing in the flora and fauna kingdoms, will be exhibited here, while the flower gardens of the East are buried in snow. The displays of fruit and vegetables will be equal to that of the flowers.

The best features of the Midway Plaisance at Chicago will be transported to San Francisco, with many new things added. The old Moorish and Egyptian customs shown at Chicago will also be reproduced at San Francisco. Hawaii will exhibit a cyclorama of the burning mountain; Germany, the old castle of Heidelberg; Santa Barbara, a great amphibion, where sea lions and sea tigers will disport themselves; Southern California, an ostrich farm; and various tribes of Indians will be represented from different parts of the great West. Already may be seen on the streets of San Francisco and about Golden Gate Park men with baggy trousers and Turkish fezzes on their heads. The place in sections is taking on quite a foreign air.

The great high board fence around the grounds is rapidly being completed, and when that is finished a small charge will be made for admittance. Thousands and tens of thousands visit the grounds on Sundays and many during the week. The counties of California are already doing excellent work in preparing buildings and exhibits. The counties of Southern California will together put up a mammoth building, and to offset this the northern counties will do likewise. This sharp competition will doubtless bring out the finest products of both sections.

The mining exhibit will probably surpass that of anything which California or the world has ever seen. It will include not only the exhibit of California but of Colorado as well. There will be a quartz mill in full operation; ore will be crushed before the eyes of the people and turned into the precious metal while they wait. Two great pyramids will be erected, one of silver and the other of gold, representing the whole outputs from the mines of California.

Although the past week was very rainy indeed, the work has gone forward just the same. Three weeks ago the wind blew down the Hawaiian Cyclorama building, completely demolishing it, but already it has been erected again, and made sufficiently strong to withstand a hurricane. Arrangements have been made with the Southern Pacific Railroad Company so that transportation of exhibits from exhibitors on the coast to and from the Fair will cost nothing. The management has the following to say:—

The regulation made by the Southern Pacific Company is that shipments originating at stations on the Southern Pacific system west of and including Portland, Ogden, El Paso, Deming, Benson, and Mojave, for exhibitors at the Fair, shall be way-billed to San Francisco at regular rates, consigned to the Exposition, in care of the exhibitor, and the charges prepaid, and that after the Fair is over, by presenting a certificate from the officers of the Fair that the property has been on exhibition and has not changed hands, the first payment of freight to San Francisco will be refunded, and his property will be returned to his home station free of charge.

In the same connection, and in response to numerous communications on the subject, the public is respectfully informed that the Southern Pacific Company has arranged for three classes of tickets in connection with the Exposition, the rates of which are as follows:—

Class A—Half fare, or one-way rate for round trip, with $2.50 added, from all stations located over 300 miles from San Francisco.

Class B—One and one-fifth fare for round trip, with $2.00 added, from all stations located over 150 miles (not to exceed 300 miles) from San Francisco.

Class C—One and one-fifth fare for round trip, with $1.50 added, from all stations located within 150 miles from San Francisco.

The minimum special rate will be $1.00.

Entrance ticket coupons to the Fair grounds will be sold with the railroad special tickets as follows: For class A, five gate coupons; for class B, four gate coupons; for class C, three gate coupons.

The Southern Pacific Company has recently conceded a fifteen days' stop-over privilege on tickets from the East, so that visitors to California will have a little time to spend in other parts of the State than in the immediate vicinity of San Francisco. Other railways are doing their share in the matter of transportation. A $65 round trip rate has already been established west of the Missouri River, and the chance is good for a $100 rate from New York and return, while the big cut already made by the Canadian Pacific may result in a better rate all around.