The Billboard 1913-03-22: Vol 25 Iss 12 (1913-03-22)

] qa ; ‘ Pad ) “a ' = ii : — ] Siw i ae. ‘, : ae! i nan “ai ; i) i.e 4 | . : 3 we. Voge it : . i“ ‘5 , ; , ' “ ] he ; ‘ : 1 * : ; “4 a ' ; The Billboard MARCH 22, 1913, By Frank Burt Wonders ofthe 1915 Exposition = apa: = _— ss S43 fs = — <A | — oy Altho it is almost two years before the Pana ma-Pacific International Exposition will swing its gates open to the world, yet more than two thousand applications for amusement concessions have been received by Director of Concessions Frank Burt. This number of applications is totally unprecedented in any of the American expositions at a date so far in advance of the opening day. The concessions will be notable not only for their great size and the splendor ane artistic excellence of their presentation, but also for the fact that they are being selected with a view to their educational value. The most recent of the world’s advances in the art of presenting cycloramas and dioramas upon an elaborate scale will be exemplified. Visitors to the scene of America’s Panama celebration at San Francisco in 1915 will be entertained with many unique amusements never before exhibited. Readers of The Billboard will be especially interested in the advance preparations for amusement displays at the exposition. All told, more than twenty-five of the concessions have been accepted. It is not the plan of the exposition to accept all concessions that are offered. Indeed, only the most attractiv are accepted, and the care exercised in their selection not only contributes to the value of the accepted concessions but leaves the field open for the impresario who may wish to present an amusement or educational feature, that in originality and brilliancy will in every way be equal to the high standard adopted. The accepted concessions will be presented at a large expenditure, seventeen of them involving an outlay of $1,505,000; nine of the concessions will involve outlays of from $100,000 to $250,000. Among the concessions will be The Grand Canyon of Arizona, The Panama Canal, The Trianon at Versailles, The *Forty-nine Camp, Ice Palace and Hockey Arena. The Evolution of the Dreadnaught, Creation. The Submarines, The Areoscope, Racing Coaster, The Scenic Railway. Infant Incubators and Child’s Welfare Pavilion, and others. The concessions grounds, occupying sixty-five acres, are situated upon the east wing of the exposition grounds, which cover, all told, six hundred and twenty-five acres, an area slightly less than that of the World’s Columbian Exposition at Chicago. The grounds are reacht on the west by Van Ness avenue, one of the principal boulevards of San Francisco, and which joins Market street in a V in the heart of the city. One of the wonders in the concessions grou» 1s will be the Grand Canyon of Arizona, in all its grandeur and color as seen from the platform of an observation car. Walter Burridge, the widely known American scenic artist, will execute the paintings which will depict the scenes of the canyon. The concession will occupy 300x700 feet of ground space. The Santa Fe plans to render the concession one of high educational value rather than one to amuse only, and to this end the company will engage the foremost talent of the country. A motor electric train will take the visitor thru the “Canyon;" guides will deliver running lectures on the points of interest In consonance with the setting, an Indian village will be installed, and members of the Pueblo, San Domingo, Navajo, Zuni and Hopi Indian tribes will present their nativ dances and customs in nativ costume, and display their handiwork. The Pueblo Indians, noted for their work as silversmiths, will be seen engaged in this craft. The Navajos will weave their blankets, so much prized by tourists, and the San Domingo Indians will give an exhibition of pottery work. The illumination of the canyon will receive the same attention which is given to the lighting of the exposition by Director of Lighting W. D. A, Ryan, so that all of the colors of the canyon will be seen in their natural shades. The Indian feature of the concession will be in the hands of the Fred Harvey Company. The Evolution of the Dreadnaught, a realistic illustration of the birth, growth and development of the modern American navy, will entail an outlay of $150,000. The concession is in charge of E. W. MacConnell, who producel the Creation at the St. Louis exposition. There will be a thrill from start to finish in this production. The spectator will gaze at battleships, cruisers, torpedo boats, submarines and fighting hydroplanes in action. The audience will be seated in such a way that it will have an unrestricted view of the mimic warfare; the illusion of being outdoors will be perfectly conveyed. The representation opens with a view of the open sea. By a combination of art, meehanism and electricity, a perfect illusion of the restless ocean will be presented. The water and falls, the waves actually appearing to form at the horizon and sweep to and under the deck on which the spectator is seated. rises Several early scenes lead up to the later days when iron and steel finally displaced the wooden frigates of an _ earlier generation. thostly gallevs, manned by slaves, sweeps across the main. Then a glimpse of the rocky coast of the Northeastern shores of the continent, and the valiant viking, Leif Ericson, is seen in his war galley, the first European to step on the shores of America. Again the restless sea. beckt now by the tropic coast line of the South Away on the horizon is discerned a craft of a later period, the high poop and towering forecastle of the Spanish ships in which Columbus sailed, and also formed the formidable Armada which swept the seas and did such deeds of valor and occasional piracy. Captain John Paul Jones’ intrepid little squodron attacking and defeating the consorts, show a_ spirited duplication of the historic battle in which the defiant, “We have only just begun to fight.’” became historic. Serapis and her Another stirring scene shows Farregut in the midst of the rowr of cannonadine and din of bursting shells at New Orleans, followed by the terrific duel between those two forerunners ot F is os TTT ITT re } wit oe 7 een ae SSS We & (| \ a \\ 7 mo l/ LN II Pree re te the modern dreadnaught, the Monitor and Merri The memordbie engagement of the Spanish War, the gallant feats of Dewey at Manila, of Sampson and Schley at Santiago, are part of the the development of the modern battleship and supply the next series of incidents in the spectacle. The concession will close with a panorama lepicting the entrance of the composite fleet of battleships of the world into Golden Gate. This is a presentation that will become an actuality upon the opening of the exposition. The great powers of the world will be represented by one or more of their battleships when the exposition opens. It is anticipated that one hundred and fifty foreign battleships and cruisers, the largest composite fleet ever assembled, will be gathered in San Francisco harbor upon the opening of the exposition. France, Germany, Spain, Italy, and each one of the twenty-seven foreign powers that has at this early date accepted, will send detach story ot ments The display will be unique as well as spectacular. China will be represented by ancient war junks as well as by its mod ern cruisers. Winston Churchill, First Lord of Admiralty, assured the Panama commissioners, when they were in Europe, that Great Fritain will be rep resented by a number of its greatest dreadnaughts The European nations will assemble their battleships at Hampton Roads: thence, after an official review, the fleet will proceed thru the Panama Canal to the Golden Gate. A bill has been introduced into Congress by Senator Swanson of West Virginia, conveying the nation’s official invitation Another concession, housed in a building reproducing the architecture of the Grand Trianon at Versailles, promises to be of peculiar interest. Napoleon, his marshals, officers, soldiers. and horses, will be represented in full uniform with the arms and equipment of the period. The Grand Trianon is the famous villa erected by Louis XIV for Madam de Maintenon. All the important campaigns of Napoleon I. will be illustrated by scenes reproduced from the celebrated pictures in the grand gallery of battles at the Versailles art gallery Mary famous paintings. like Artist Verestchagin's historic painting of the bloody battle of Porodino, will be reproduced. More than fifty artists will be engaged upon the canvases, which are to be painted in Paris Still another feature will be the Aeroscope a novel contrivance that will raise passengers to an elevation of 268 feet. which is four feet higher than the elevation reacht by the Ferris wheel, promises to add to the attractivness of the 1915 World's Fair The Aeroscope consists of crane arms 21° feet in length, mounted on a tower 50 feet high. The crane arms are made up of two parallel riveted trusses. The short arm is 40 feet long and carries a counter-welght to balance the weight of the long, or 200-foot arm, which carries the cage for passengers The cage is double-deckt, end the operator. who controls it. is located in the center of the upper deck. The tower is a structural steel frame work resting on a circular rack on a concrete foundation This circular rack permits of the rotation of the tower about its central vertical axis At the top of the tower is a horizontal trunnion shaft, fixt to the extreme end of the 200-foot (Continued on page 138.) Tie