Final Report of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Commission

by Louisiana Purchase Exposition Commission

The exhibit of fibers, especially that of Henequen, from Yucatan, was very important and complete, the last named being the cause of flourishing trade with the United States. The exhibit of sugar showed the great resources of Mexico in this product. A splendid exhibit of Mexican vanila attracted the attention of all visitors. The exhibit of agronomical maps by the Mexican Commission was of much scientific value, and the collection of insects and injurious parasitical plants was also worthy of attention.

The Mexican exhibit in the Department of Forestry, Fish and Game consisted of 600 specimens, arranged and classified by the Medical and National Institute of Mexico, and attracted considerable attention. The magnificent exhibit of animals and stuffed birds was also admired. The exhibit was arranged and presented by the Geographical Commission of Mexico. The collection of woods presented by the governments of the States of Colima, Durahgo, Mexico, Puebla, San Luis Potosi, Michoacan, Yucatan, and the department of fomento was noticeable for the diversity of kinds of woods forming the collection, amounting to 800. The exhibit of broom root from Mexico was the only one of its kind in all the Department of Forestry, and concerning which the largest number of inquiries was made.

In the Palace of Mines and Metallurgy Mexico occupied 13,000 square feet of space. A great variety of ores and minerals was displayed, viz, gold, silver, lead, iron, copper, antimony, zinc, etc. The number of exhibitors amounted to 330. The Geological Institute of Mexico presented maps, geological plans, mineral rocks, publications, etc. Among the latter a very interesting study of the veins of the mines of Pachuca and Real de Monte, also another of the Rhyolitas of Mexico.

The social and economical conditions of the Republic of Mexico were splendidly represented in the Department of Social Economy by numerous official and private publications and photographs. The wise steps taken by the Government, which have changed the economical conditions of the country, constituting an intellectual, material, and positive development, were logically collected according to the department of state to which they belong. The exhibit was completed by a numerous collection of photographs of cities, ports, public buildings, monuments, residences, etc., showing how Mexican cities have been improved and beautified and how the Republic of the south has progressed from a material and artistical standpoint.

NEW ZEALAND.

Members of commission.—Mr. T.E. Donne, representative; Mr. Frederick Moorhouse and Mr. Thomas Clarkson, attachés.

When the New Zealand government received the invitation of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition executive to be represented at the World's Fair the colonial parliament gave the utmost publicity to the proposal and offered to allow any of its business firms a share of the space that was to be placed at its disposal. The tariffs of the United States, however, proved a serious obstacle, as the chief business houses of the young nation failed to see how their interests would be served by advertising in a country which placed a heavy tariff on their goods. However, the executive of the government, recognizing the cordiality of the invitation and with a desire to emphasize its wishes for the closest relationship with the American people, decided to be represented directly by one of its own departments—the department of tourist and health resorts. The chief of that branch of the public service, Mr. T. E. Donne, was therefore authorized to prepare an exhibit setting forth the attractions of New Zealand to tourists and the work the department is doing in that connection. When compiling the exhibit Commissioner Donne represented to his government that it would be advisable also to include a few of the country's general products, and it therefore extended the original idea in this direction.

In the Department of Forestry, Fish, and Game New Zealand had a unique and tastefully arranged display that attracted keenest interest. A collection of Scotch red deer and fallow deer heads testified to the magnificent hunting that is obtained among the virgin forests of New Zealand, and specimens of trout—rainbow, salmon, fario, and fontinalis—taken from the mountain-fed streams that intersect the country from one end to the other appealed to the fishing enthusiast.

Pictures and paintings around the walls were fascinating in that they served to indicate to visitors the character of a country which nature has blessed, when judged from a point of view of the beautiful and picturesque. Mount Cook, majestically rising to a height of nearly 13,000 feet, was shown in paintings and photographs. Lakes Taupo, Te Anau, Wakatipu, Manawapouri, Waikaremona, and others, whose clear, glassy waters, surrounded by verdure-covered hills, gave some idea of the loveliness of New Zealand lakes. The Wanganui River, Milford Sound, one of the world's wonderful fiords, and the canyons known as the Otira and Buller gorges were some of the features that interested the visitors.

The thermal districts were chiefly represented by the great Waimangu geyser and its crater, 21/2 acres in extent, which throws up boiling water, mud, and stones to a height of 1,500 feet, claiming a place as one of the "wonders of the world."