A GIGANTIC FAIR

Evening Star, Issue 22975, 4 June 1938, Page 2

A GIGANTIC FAIR

PLANNED AT NEW YDRK AT GOST OF MANY MILLIONS SCHEME IN OUTLINE The discussions for a trade agreement between Great Britain, and the United States give impetus to the British preparations for the New York World Fair, which will not be opened until April 30 next year; but is already well advanced, wrote the New York correspondent of ‘ The Times ’ recently. Sir Louis Beale, British CommissionerGeneral for the fair, has been, busy for some time between London and New York. It is clear that the whole exhibition will' be on a magnificent scale. All exhibitions are intended to celebrate something, and the germ of this one was found in the memory of a momentous event 150 years ago next year. On April 30, 1789, George Washington stood between the pillars of Federal Hall in New York and took the oath as first President of the United States. The same stone building now stands in the heart of Wall Street, dwarfed. by the skyscrapers in which financial powers hold sway. A statue of Washington stands in front of the hall and seems overwhelmed by the scene which has grown up round it. The organisers of the fair, explaining their motive, speak of enlisting the nations of the world “in an attempt to build a new world of to-morrow . . . a fuller, happier existence for the average man.” RIVAL FLOODLIGHTS. Among the 5t nations who have already advised that they will take part are all those to whom propaganda is the second estate, and this is their chance to present themselves to the American public as they see themselves. Up to now they have won few friends in a country where the state of mind is not suited to the blandishments of Fascism or Communism, and doubtless they will vie : in setting out those arresting exhibits-—lighting objects in relief, and so on—at which they are so adept. Optimism must be generated if the fair is to be a worthy foe of the recession, and it has been written that 150,000,000c10l (£30,000,000) will be spent by all the nations exhibiting, and that “in 1939 50,000,000 people will come to New York and Spend one billion dollars.” It is consoling for the promoters to know that the Chicago Fair of 1933 succeeded in spite of the depression, and fairs held in Philadelphia in 1876, Chicago in 1893, and St. Louis in 1904 all opened in bad times. To stimulate interest now in the 1939 exhibition it is proposed to have a parade through the streets of New York this April 30, one year before the opening, but there has been some difficulty in choosing the route. The fair authorities naturally want the procession to bo seen on the main streets, but Fifth Avenue and Broadway dealers object to such parades, on the ground that they keep business awaj while they last. FLUSHING MEADOW. ‘ The site of the fair was until recently a 1,200 acres of swamp, info which went a great deal of the city’s refuse. It went by the name of Flushing Meadow,(,;a name more deserved since engineers have been at work • there.-. * This’ meadow is on. The north shore of Long,lsland,: in the borough of Queens. It is nine miles from Times ■ - - ■ ■

Square, and 12 from Wall Street, in Manhattan. Flushing Meadow borders on Flushing Sound, which joins with Long Island Sound, and among the plans for bringing people to the fair is one for building a boat basin, so that cruft may enter Flushing Sound and disembark passengers. A network of roads and railways will also lead to the grounds, and the new aerodrome under construction in Queens is expected to be in use when the fair opens. It is this aerodrome which will be the terminus for the transatlantic air service. Only two of the fair’s structures will be permanent. The remainder will be taken down after the exhibition is over and the .whole area will become a city park. The two permanent structures are a recreation building and a marine amphitheatre. The stage for the theatre will be an island close to_ the shore of a lake, and the auditorium, seating 16,500 people, will be on the shore. Pageants, plays, and musical festivals will be presented, and in place of a curtain a screen of water will spring up from fountains between the stage and the auditorium. What the audience or players will do if there is a high wind has not been indicated. A BALL AND A TOWER. Next to the recreation building will stand two remarkably conspicuous objects—a steel ball 200 ft high beside a steel triangular tower 700 ft high. This will be the theme centre. The ball will have the appearance of being supported on fountain jets, and a clever manipulation of lights 1 will make it seem to revolve in clouds as the globe might do. In it there will be room for 1,500 persons, who, from slowlymoving platforms, may watch a passing panorama of the world of to-mor-row. Grouped round the theme centre will be the buddings containing American industrial and commercial exhibits. In a transport building there will be an “ interplanetary rocketport ” model, and with mechanical effects a miniature demonstration is promised of rocket travel of the future. A central hall will run in a straight line from the theme centre to an ova 1 lagoon, and on the other side of the lagoon the foreign Governments’ buildings will spread fanwise. They will be divided in the middle by a parade ground running from the lagoon to the Federal Government buildings. To attract exhibitors, certain nations, Britain and the dominions among them, were allocated free 10,000 square feet, but as the number of exhibitors is greater than was expected there is now a shortage of space. SPACE FOR THE EMPIRE. The British Empire, with 140,000 square feet, has the most space of the foreign exhibitors. Australia, New Zealand, some of the colonies, and ppssibly India will share in the British undertaking, but South Africa has indicated she will not take part, and Canada prefers to erect her own exhibits near the Federal building. In view of the fact that South Africa is the largest gold-producing country, and America the largest gold purchaser, her decision is a little and from the British point of view is to be regretted. Britain’s national industries, such as steel and textile, will he subjects of exhibits, _ the emphasis being on ■ national industries so as not to break up the display into a confusing variety or small and unrelated phases of manufacturing. Government departments are responsible for Britain’s representation at this fair. This was not so at the Paris Exhibition, and efforts will be made to render the; British. Pavilion mbre imposing than-it wflg in ,Paris.