Final Report of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition CommissionLouisiana Purchase Exposition Commission
History
Final Report of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Commission
Louisiana Purchase Exposition Commission
Louisiana Purchase Exposition (1904 : Saint Louis, Mo.)
The collection made by the twenty-two treaty ports comprised such
articles as were not offered by the mercantile class. In nearly every
case the ports' collection included samples of products and manufactures
typical to the district, models of the prevailing architecture and of
any special costume worn by the people, models of the types of boats in
use, carriages and wheelwrights' work, agricultural implements and farm
machinery, appliances and methods used in agricultural industries,
agricultural seeds, equipment and method employed in the preparation of
foods, minerals and stones and their utilization, musical instruments,
chemical and pharmaceutical arts, gold and silver ware, weights and
measures, coins and medals, and photographs of the port. The collections
made by the provincial authorities comprised art work in jade, crystal,
porcelain and bronze, Chinese books and publications, lacquered ware and
fancy articles.
The total approximate value as given above was $638,250, but this sum
included the cost of transportation and installation. It represents in
fact the market value in the United States. There was in the
neighborhood of 2,000 tons of shipments from China to St. Louis--800
tons from the south of China, and 1,200 from the north of China. The
rate from the south of China, i.e., Hongkong, was $8 per ton, while from
the north of China, i.e., Shanghai, or nearly 900 miles shorter trip,
the rate was $14 per ton. The amount paid for transportation was more
than $20,000, to which must be added some $2,000 for terminal and
switching charges. The cost of installation for the entire exhibit was
about $7,500. The exorbitant wages necessary for all work done at the
exposition accounts for this heavy expenditure. Another large item of
expense, according to the Chinese commissioner, was the 5 per cent rate
charged in this country for fire insurance. Most of the foreign
countries taking part in the exposition effected insurance in home
companies at about half the above rate.
The total cost of the Chinese Government Pavilion amounted to $75,000.
It was partly a reproduction of a portion of Prince Pu Lun's palace at
Peking. Models were sent from China and copied in this country, the
large arch at the entrance being a "Pai-Lou," or memorial arch, common
in China as entrances to palaces, temples, and tombs. A small octagonal
pavilion or tea house was shown. They are always at some beautiful spot
in the gardens of the wealthy. Two flagstaffs outside were also copies
of Chinese models. The wood carvings were very expensive, and good
examples of what the Chinese workman can do in that line. Special men
from China were imported to carry out the designs of the building and to
do the painting in the Chinese style.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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