Members of the Alaska commission.--Thomas Ryan, First Assistant Secretary of the Interior, chairman; Governor John F. Brady executive commissioner; Joseph B. Marvin, resident representative; Mrs. Mary E. Hart, hostess. Honorary commissioners: M.E. Martin, mayor of Ketchikan; Peter Jensen, mayor of Wrangell; O.H. Adsit, mayor of Juneau; Frank Bach, mayor of Douglas; John Goodell, mayor of Valdez; L.S. Keller, mayor of Skagway; D.B. Miller, mayor of Eagle City; W.H. Bard, ex-mayor of Nome; Anthony Tubbs, mayor of Treadwell; H.P. King, mayor of Nome. The district of Alaska appeared at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition as an exhibitor in a national exposition for the first time. The conception of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition and its plans were presented for the consideration of the Congress of the United States at a time when the reports of the committees of Congress sent to Alaska to investigate its resources and needs had aroused the Congress to the duty of enacting legislation for the development of this great region. In appropriating the large sum of $50,000 for an Alaska Building and an Alaska exhibit at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition it was the purpose of Congress to afford an object lesson as a means of education to the millions of people who should attend the exposition as to the extent and resources of this country or territory. The sequel showed that the money was wisely expended, as the Alaska exhibit had the distinction of being regarded by the thousand of its visitors as forming one of the most interesting, instructive, an surprising exhibits shown at the great World's Fair. When the United States, thirty-seven years ago, paid to Russia the sum of $7,200,000 for the almost unknown territory of Alaska, the purchase was not generally approved; and even members of Congress denounced it, regarding the acquisition as a region of icebergs and glaciers. Later, when gold was discovered in Alaska, the region was regarded as being one of ice and almost inaccessible gold, and few had the hardihood to venture within its precincts, even with the possibility of finding gold as an inducement for the venture. Still later, after the reports of the Revenue-Cutter Service and the recognizances of army officers and naval commanders, the United States Geological Survey sent men into Alaska to investigate its resources. The Department of Agriculture tested its capacity for agriculture, the Bureau of Education established schools and introduced reindeer from Siberia, the Signal Service began to build telegraph lines and to inspect the country as to the availability of its rivers and harbors for navigation, and it became known by the Government that Alaska was richer in resources by far than had been supposed. This knowledge was not common to the public, and emigration to that region was tardy.