BUFFALO: A. D. 1901. The Pan-American Exposition. Assassination of President McKinley. Vice-President Roosevelt becomes President of the United States. In Volume VI. of this work, which went to press in the spring of 1901, an account was given of the plan and preparations made for the Pan-American Exposition at Buffalo, then just at the point of being opened, on the 1st of May. The following characterization of the Exposition by a visitor is sufficient to add what was then said of it: "They have staged electricity at Buffalo this summer, and they call it the Pan-American Exposition. It took a rectangle of 350 acres for the stage, and over $10,000,000 for the settings. The result, baldly stated, is the most glorious night scene the world has ever had the fortune to witness. The staging of Niagara is the one unforgettable thing about the affair. The Pan-American is, however, much more than this. … "It may be well to say that the original generic scheme for the Exposition, that of joining the three Americas in a unified attempt to show one another their trade resources, seems to be in results far less prominent than was hoped at first. For one reason or another,—I have heard European influences in South America given as a chief cause,—the Latin Americas did not cooperate as was expected. The great trade idea upon which the Pan-American was originally based gradually faded, and gave place to the idea of an electrical beatification—for which the spectator will perhaps be thankful. There are exhibits, to be sure, from most of the South American countries, but the United States occupies industrially foreground, background, and middle distance. The other countries fill in the odd corners. The ardent patriot will see no lack of proportion in this; and as there is a hint of Mexico and the Argentine, and very creditable exhibits by Chile and Honduras, we have enough of the sister continent to justify the name. Most of the southern republics are represented in one way or another. It is hard, however, to explain the insufficiency of Canada’s exhibit. It is upon much too small a scale to do credit to her great resources. It is worthy of note that when the other countries realized the importance and beauty of the Pan-American, they set about vigorously to retrieve themselves.