The Illinois State Building is naturally by far the finest of all the structures erected by the various States of the Union. It stands on a high terrace in one of the choicest parts of Jackson Park, commanding a splendid view of the grounds. It is 450 feet long and 160 feet wide. At the north Memorial Hall forms a wing 50 by 75 feet. At the south is another wing, 75 by 123 feet, three stories high, containing the executive offices and two large public halls. Surmounting the central portion of the building is a fine dome 72 feet in diameter and 235 feet high. The entire edifice is constructed, almost exclusively, of wood, stone, brick, and steel produced by the State of Illinois. No sketch of the Columbian Exhibition would be complete without some mention of its principal projectors and managers. The President of the World’s Fair Columbian Commission is Thomas Wetherill Palmer, who was born at Detroit, Michigan, on June 25th, 1830. He is of New England descent and his parents were among the early settlers in Michigan. Mr. Palmer was educated at St. Clair College and the University of Michigan, and after his college days made a long pedestrian tour through Spain, thus becoming familiar with the country to which he was afterward sent as United States Minister. After some years of prosperous mercantile life in Detroit, and honorable participation in State politics he was elected United States Senator and served six years. In 1889 he was made Minister to Spain. At the first meeting of the World’s Fair Columbian Commission, held in Chicago on June 26th, 1890, he was unanimously elected President and at once entered upon the duties of the office. [Illustration: GEN. THOS. W. PALMER, PRESIDENT NATIONAL COMMISSION, WORLD’S COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION.] Women and their work will be more conspicuously represented at this Exhibition than at any of its predecessors, and there has therefore fittingly been formed a Board of Lady Managers. At its first session, on November 20th, 1890, Mrs. Potter Palmer, of Chicago, was unanimously elected President. She was born at Louisville, Kentucky, her maiden name being Bertha Honore, and she was educated at Louisville and Baltimore, Maryland. She was married in 1871 to Potter Palmer, one of the foremost business men of Chicago, and has since been one of the most prominent and most admired leaders of society in that city, besides being identified with innumerable benevolent and educational enterprises. [Illustration: MRS. POTTER PALMER, PRESIDENT OF WOMAN’S NATIONAL COMMISSION.]