now of Los Angeles, architect, owes its unique ground-plan to a
three-cornered lot. That it is a pleasing structure is witnessed by
several dwelling houses now being built in California after its plans.
The building is French in style, treated in a simple manner. It contains
interesting exhibits of the products of the Northern State, including a
noteworthy display of pottery made at the University of North Dakota, an
institution which devotes much of its effort to promoting state
industries.
The Montana Building, Carl Nuese, San Francisco, architect, is one of
the group of classic structures finished in plastic travertine. The only
display made in the building, which serves as a social center for
visitors from Montana, is a school exhibit. The State is, however,
largely represented in the Palaces of Mines, Agriculture and
Horticulture.
The Idaho Building, Wayland and Fennell, of Boise, architects, was the
first state structure completed at the Exposition. It is built in the
manner of the Italian Renaissance and looks out over the bay. Like most
buildings of the Western states, it is equipped with a moving-picture
theatre, as well as rooms for visitors. Idaho's exhibits are chiefly in
the Exposition palaces.
The Nevada Building, designed by F. J. De Longchamps, of Carson, is
another structure in the style of the French Renaissance. It is the
headquarters of the Nevada Society of California and of visitors from
the Sagebrush State. Nevada has important exhibits in several palaces.
The Utah Building, Cannon and Fetzer, of Salt Lake, architects, is a
classic structure with deep porticoed front. All its furniture is an
exhibit, made by the pupils of the manual training department of the
Utah schools. The building contains interesting models of copper and
gold mines, and an exhibit of the processes of salt-making, displays of
building-stone, grains and grasses, and collections from the cliff
dwellings. Other exhibits are in the Palaces of Mines, Education and
Horticulture.
The Hawaiian Building, C. W. Dickey, of Oakland, architect, excellently
represents the Pacific isles. In style it is French Renaissance, built
with a half rotunda at the rear to accommodate a semi-circular aquarium.
In the center of the main hall is a clump of palms and tree ferns, and
native singers give the island touch. The aquarium contains a wonderful
collection of the many-hued fish of the South Seas. Interesting displays
of native cabinet woods are made in the finish of the offices. Though
small, the Hawaiian building has proved one of the most popular.
The Philippines Pavilion, designed by the Bureau of Architecture, is one
of the Exposition places which no one should miss. It marks the creation
of an original style of exposition building. It is Filipino in all its
motives. Its groups of four columns suggest the four essential posts of
native hut construction; the broad roofs are tiled; the windows are not
glass, but of thin shell, the common material used in the islands; the
walls are finished in split bamboo matting. The same style of
construction is used also in all the Philippine booths in the palaces.
The materials are used with restrained taste, and this, with the
magnificent cabinet woods employed throughout the construction, has
resulted in a beautiful building. It is a little hard to realize the
richness of the woods used here. The very floors in the pavilion and the
booths are good enough to make piano cases of. The central portion,
upstairs and down, is floored, wainscoted and ceiled with the costliest
of timber. The two offices to right and left of the main entrance are
finished in a beautiful, hard, heavy rosewood, called narra, the one to
the right in yellow narra, that on the left in red narra. The stairway
is of a magnificent, richly figured, claret-red hardwood called tindalo,
the favorite material for such construction in the islands. The panels
of its wainscoting and the balusters are of a dark velvety epil, so dark
and so glossy in some places that it looks almost like agate. All the
columns are natural trunks of the palma brava.
XVIII.
The Live-Stock Exhibit
The first Exposition to offer a live-stock exhibit covering its entire
period--Prizes total $440,000--Classification of competitions--New
methods of displaying herds and flocks--Contests in dairy and beef
cattle--Other exhibits range from high-bred horses, hens and sheep down
to pet rabbits, rats and mice.
For the first time in the history of similar celebrations, this
Exposition offers a continuous live-stock show. Other expositions have
confined their live-stock exhibit to a few weeks during the time of
award-making. Here, however, the show extends from the opening of the
Exposition until its closing. The competitive period extends from
September 23 to December 3. Naturally this will mark the high tide of
the display. During this time the International Jury on Awards will
distribute in cash prizes a total of $440,557. Of this amount, $190,000
has been given by the Exposition management, $100,327 by the breed
record associations of the country, and $150,230 by various states to be
used in prizes and the transportation of stock.
These attractive prizes will be distributed, among the well-established
and well-known breeds of draft and light horses, ponies, beef and dairy
cattle, sheep, swine, poultry, pigeons, and pet animals. All animals
will be judged according to the rules of recognized breed associations.
Foreign or other animals not recorded in the books of the associations
named in the premium list will be judged by the standards of the
associations to which their exhibitors belong.
The educational value of the live-stock show for the general public, as
well as the stock breeder, has been emphasized in every department. The
increased cost of living being a dominating topic for both producer and
consumer, much attention has been centered on meat-producing animals.
Liberal provision has been made in the prize list for fat classes in
beef-cattle, sheep and swine.
When the Exposition management designed the live-stock section and
planned the buildings for the various features of this department, an
effort was made to create a model arrangement for exhibit purposes. So
successful was this effort that a number of states have requested the
plans for a ground layout. This portion of the Exposition cost the
management approximately $150,000, and covers sixty-five acres. The
buildings represent, in their equipment, the very latest development in
the housing and caring for stock. The visitor first approaches from the
east a quadrangle of eight large stables, enclosing the forum where the
live-stock shows are held. These stables have a total accommodation of
1124 horses. The forum has a seating capacity of 2680 persons.
To the north of the stable quadrangle is Congress Hall, for the
accommodation of conventions and other meetings, and containing also the
administration offices of the chief of the live-stock department. On
this side also are the corrals, feed storage barns, a service yard, and
an area for open-air exhibits. To the south is the large dairy building,
a dairy manufactures building, and the poultry exhibit building. The
dairy building houses more than 300 animals. West of the stable group is
the mile racecourse with its polo and athletic field.
One of the novel features of this show is the manner in which the view
herds and flocks are displayed. These are seen in stalls and pens built
at an angle of about forty-five degrees to permit the visitor to get a
side view of the stock. The view-herd idea in itself is something new.
These exhibits are purely educational in purpose, and non-competitive.
They have been on display since the opening, and will continue until the
close of the Exposition, thus enabling the visitor to see a creditable
live-stock show, no matter at what season he may come. The view herds
are selected by competent authorities, and represent the best of their
respective breeds. Among such herds on exhibit are Shorthorn cattle,
Berkshire swine and Percheron horses. These exhibits are changed from
time to time.
In addition to these general features, the special events include the
milk show, harness races, universal polo, wool grading, sheepdog trials,
poultry show, and an international egg-laying contest.
For eleven classes of dairy cattle the Exposition offers awards, as
follows: Jersey, Ayrshire, Guernsey, Holstein-Friesian, Dutch-Belted,
Dairy Shorthorn, Brown Swiss, French-Canadian, Simmenthal, Kerry and
Dexter, and Grade-Dairy Herd. This last is a recognition on the part of
the Exposition of the great utility value of the grade-dairy cow, which
forms the basis of the dairy industry, and yet could not exist without
the pure-bred stock. In the beef-cattle group, the Exposition offers
awards in the following classes: Short-Horn, Hereford, Aberdeen-Angus,
Galloway, Polled Durham, Red Polled, Devon, Fat Cattle (by ages) and
Car-lots.
One of the especially attractive features pertaining to the dairy
section is the exhibit of 150 high-grade Holsteins for utility purposes.
This herd is in full flow of milk and is maintained by a large milk
condensing plant. This exhibit, in the daily care given these perfect
specimens of dairy cattle, the yield of Milk, the quality of feed and
the appliances used, forms one of the most attractive units in the
department. An important event in this section was the pure milk and
cream contest, June 14 to 19, in Congress Hall. City and state boards of
health and the dairy divisions of agricultural colleges participated in
the contest. The purpose of the event was designed to create a greater
interest in pure milk and cream. Four samples of milk and cream each
were submitted. One of these was submitted to an official
bacteriologist, a second given to the official chemist, a third
displayed in Congress Hall, and the fourth tested for its butter-fat
content. Awards of gold and silver medals and cash prizes were made in
the following classes: city boards of health, cream dealers, milk
dealers, college experiment stations, pasteurized milk, pasteurized
cream, market milk producers, certified and medical milk commissions.
In the horse exhibit the following classes are provided: Percheron,
Belgian, Clydesdale, Shire, Suffolk-Punch, Standard Trotter,
Thoroughbred, Saddle Horses, Morgan, Hackney, Arabian, Shetland Pony,
Welch Pony, Roadsters, Carriage Horses, Ponies in Harness, Draft Horses,
Hunters, Jumpers, and Gaited Saddle Horses. Among special events in this
section are the following: trot under saddle, one-mile track, one-mile
military officer's race, one-mile mounted police race, gaited saddle
race of one mile, steeple chase, hurdle race, polo pony dash, relay race
of one mile, cowboy's relay race of same length, cowgirl's relay race,
six furlongs, saddle tandem. Exposition jumping contest and five-mile
Marathon four-in-hand. On the closing day of the Exposition there will
be a grand parade of all first and second winners, not only in the horse
display, but in all other displays in this department.
The following dates have been set for the exhibition of stallions and
mares in the breeding classes in the Forum: Thursday, September 30,--
Percheron, standard trotter, Welch pony, and Morgan; Friday, October 1,--
Belgian, Thoroughbred, Hackney, and Shetland Pony; Saturday, October
2,--Clydesdale, Saddler, Arabian, and Suffolk-Punch; Monday, October 4,--
Shire, Jacks and Jennets, and Mules.
The exhibition of horses for awards is from Thursday, September 30, to
Wednesday, October 13. One of the important events of this period is the
special horse show. Two other big special events are the races and
international polo tournament. The polo tournament from March 7th to May
1st enlisted the following teams: Cooperstown, N. Y.; Philadelphia
Country Club; Midwick Polo Club; Pasadena, Burlingame and San Mateo
Clubs; Boise, Idaho, team; Portland, Oregon, team; First Cavalry,
Monterey; Second Division Army, Texas City, Texas; and Southern
Department Army, San Antonio, Texas.
The Exposition harness races cover two periods, one from June 5 to June
15, and the other from October 30 to November 13. In addition to these
there will be matinee races from May 23 to September 30. A total of
$227,000 has been set aside for purses in these races.
The poultry exhibit for award is scheduled from November 18 to 28. This
is known as the Universal Poultry Show, and is planned to be one of the
largest ever held. Between 10,000 and 12,000 chickens, entered from all
parts of the Union, will be in competition. In conjunction, the American
Poultry Association meets in Congress Hall in the live-stock section.
The International Egg-Laying Contest, extending over a period of one
year from November 15, 1914, has attracted widespread attention. Pens of
fowls have been entered in this contest from the United States and
Canada, and even distant England. Daily records are kept of the
production of each hen, and, once a month, the score is bulletined by
the live-stock department for the information of owners.
Sheep and goats are to be judged for awards from Wednesday, November 3,
to Monday, November 15. The breeds classified are: Shropshire,
Hampshire, Cotswold, Oxford, Dorset, Southdown, Lincoln, Cheviot,
Leicester, Romney, Tunis, Rambouillet, Merino-Ameiran, Merino-Delaine,
Corriedale, Exmoor, Persian Fat-Tailed, Karakule, and car-lots; goats,
Toggenburg, Saanen, Guggisberger, and Anglo-Nubian breeds, with the
grades of each breed, and native goats.
The exhibit of swine for awards runs between the same dates. The
eligible breeds, besides swine in car-lots, are Poland-China, Berkshire,
Duroc-Jersey, Chester White, Hampshire, Tamworth, Mule Foot, Large
Yorkshire, Large English Black, Victoria, Essex, and Cheshire.
The scope of the live-stock department is not limited to the material
things of rural life. A Universal kennel show is scheduled from November
29 to December 1. Two classes of dogs are provided for in the awards,
sporting and non-sporting. A cat show, of long and short-haired cats, is
set for the same period as the kennel show. Other groups of exhibits in
this line are pet stock, rabbits, hares, rats and mice, and children's
pets.
XIX.
Sports and Games; Automobile Races; Aviation
Exposition contests include nearly every branch of sport--National
Championships of the A. A. U.--Two great automobile races, the
International Grand Prix and the Vanderbilt Cup, already run--Polo and
Golf--Sensational flights of the aviators--The International Yachting
Regatta and other aquatic events--All-star baseball expected in the
fall.
An account of the Exposition, and indeed, American athletic history for
the year 1915, would be incomplete without a description of the sports
programme. This outline of games and exhibitions includes nearly every
branch of sport familiar to the American public, and its wide appeal has
attracted many thousands to the athletic fields and gymnasiums of the
Exposition. Although ten months of sport was originally intended by the
athletic committee, this period has been somewhat abbreviated by
circumstances, though a practically continuous performance has held sway
since February 22.
International competition, at first intended in many branches of the
programme, was generally abandoned on account of the European conflict;
but the want of foreign representation has in no way lessened the
quality of competition, or dampened the attractiveness of the summer
contests. Some of Europe's star track men are entered here, in spite of
conditions on the continent.
Perhaps the most popular attractions of the programme are the national
championships, held every year under the auspices of the Amateur
Athletic Union. At the convention of that body during November, 1913,
prior to the death of its president, James E. Sullivan, it was voted
unanimously to award all of the organization's events, with the
exception of boxing, to the Panama-Pacific Exposition. These
championships are the blue-ribbon events of the amateur world. They
include track and field games, swimming, boxing, wrestling and indoor
gymnastics. Three of these championships were staged in San Francisco
before the opening of June.
In basket ball, the first of the national competitions, premier honors
went to a California organization, the San Francisco Olympic Club. Next
in line came gymnastics, followed by wrestling. Although these sports
are not immensely popular with the athletic enthusiasts, generous
galleries turned out to see the American champions in action.
The more important part of the Amateur Athletic Union programme was
scheduled for the summer months, when the track and field championships
are held. Facilities for staging these games are ideal. The cinder path,
situated at the far end of the Exposition grounds, with unexcelled
scenic advantages, is reputed to be the equal of any athletic stadium in
the country. The oval measures one-third of a mile to the lap, with a
220-yard straightaway flanking the grandstand. The earlier games
convinced Eastern athletes that there could be no complaint against
facilities.
The senior and junior track and field championships of the Amateur
Athletic Union loom up as the banner track events of the programme.
National stars have signified their intention of participating in these
games, and it will be surprising if many national records are not
broken. In addition to these games, the International Olympic Committee,
which controls all the modern Olympic meets, conferred upon the
Exposition the right to hold the Modern Pentathlon, this being the first
time it has been contested outside of the Olympic Games. In addition,
America is to have for the first time the Decathlon, and the famous
Marathon race originated in Greece centuries ago, and impressively
revived during recent years by the more important athletic bodies of the
world.
Besides the Amateur Athletic Union track and field games, an abundance
of competitions, ranging from grammar school contests to collegiate
struggles, was arranged. Among the first of these, the Pacific Coast
Intercollegiate Conference, was won by the University of California from
a field of collegiate teams representing the entire Pacific Coast.
Several high and grammar school contests have attracted spectators to
the stadium. One thousand grammar school athletes entered the lists upon
the Exposition cinder path, and staged a carnival that stands as a
record in California, and approaches any American event of its kind both
in the number of entrants and the class of competition offered.
Automobile racing, of the kind that thrills, was furnished by the
Exposition during its early weeks. Two events of international
importance were run upon the Exposition grounds, and in each instance
attracted one hundred thousand spectators to the course. The first of
these was the International Grand Prix, run in the rain and under other
conditions far from ideal, over a four-mile course for the distance of
four hundred miles. Sensation followed sensation in this feature, a
final winner being supplied in the swarthy Darius Resta, who drove a
Peugeot car for an average speed of fifty-six miles, 7:07:57 being his
actual time. Other drivers of international reputation appeared in this
struggle, among them De Palma, Hughes and Wilcox. Handsome prizes were
distributed to the winners in these events.
The Vanderbilt Cup Race was staged over the same course on March 7, and
brought out an equally attractive field. Running with the precision and
dexterity that brought him home a winner in the Grand Prix, Resta
repeated his victory in the Vanderbilt Race, coming home from his
journey of three hundred miles ahead of such stars as Burman, Pullen,
Wilcox and De Palma. Resta earned the reputation of being one of the
most skillful drivers holding the wheel in this or any other country.
For six weeks, from March to May, polo held popular sway at the
Exposition. Ten teams competed in a tournament which offered many
valuable trophies. The contests were held daily and attracted thousands
to a specially prepared turf field near the athletic stadium. The sport
furnished thrilling competition throughout its period.
Perhaps the most famous team seen in competition was the noted four from
Cooperstown, New York, bearing an international reputation. The
Easterners, although weakened by illness in the ranks of their players,
proved practically invincible. Another notable organization was the four
representing the Midwick Club of Pasadena, California. In addition to
the civilian teams, the United States army was represented by some fast
fours, who provided thrill after thrill with their reckless but winning
form in the saddle. Perhaps the most notable of the military
combinations was the Fort Sam Houston four, which went through the
tournament with practically an undefeated record. The army teams were
granted certain handicaps, however, which gave them a slight edge in
some of the contests.
Aviation, a branch of sport which claims a large place in the popular
fancy, was not neglected by those who drew up the programme. Two
world-famed aviators have performed before hundreds of thousands, though
one of these, Lincoln Beachey, became a victim to the elements which he
had so often defied. While giving an exhibition flight in a German
Taube, Beachey fell to his death on March 14 when his monoplane crumpled
at the start of a daring loop.
Nothing daunted by the untimely end of Beachey, a new luminary appeared
in Arthur Smith, whose aerial maneuvers exceed in point of recklessness
anything attempted by his predecessor. Smith thrills thousands in daily
flights and skiey acrobatics, including crazy dips and loops, startling
dashes to the earth and illuminated flights through the night air. (See
p. 192.) Smith became in a day an attraction outshining, perhaps, any
other single performer upon the huge Exposition programme.
Those who loved horse racing and grieved at the decline of the sport in
California, were rejoiced at the announcement of some of the biggest
harness and running events yet staged in this country. Two meetings were
arranged for the Exposition schedule, a summer harness event, June 5th
to 19th, and a fall running meeting, October 30th to November 13th. The
Panama-Pacific is the first Exposition to make horse racing an
outstanding feature of its activities. About $227,000 was set aside to
be distributed in handsome purses and stakes for the events. A $20,000
trotting and a $20,000 pacing stake was put up for each meeting, with
other sums ranging from $1,000 to $5,000. The four stakes of $20,000
each are the largest ever offered in any light-harness event, and
insured entries of the highest class.
The race track is situated near the athletic stadium, and commands an
unsurpassed view of the San Francisco Bay, together with the Marin
County heights and the entrance to the Golden Gate. The grandstand seats
thirty-five thousand spectators. The course, under scientific
preparation for several months, was put in fine shape. The length of the
lap is one mile.
One of the biggest golf events ever staged in this country was
successfully managed by the Exposition. Five weeks of sport on the links
around the bay counties, including high-class exhibitions by both men
and women, were in the plans of the committee. Events included both
professional and amateur contests, and seldom, if ever before, had a
community of the size of San Francisco maintained so continuous an
interest in the sport. Valuable prizes and trophies were offered for the
different events of the programme. Handsome cups and medals were granted
amateurs, while professionals were tendered purses of generous
proportions.