A COMING EXHIBITION.

Colonist, Volume LI, Issue 12471, 23 February 1909, Page 1

A COMING EXHIBITION.

The Alaska-Yukon-Paclfie Exposition to be held this year at Seattle, — - on Puget Sdvind, is being advertised as the only exhibition ever ready on opening day. The claim may be premature, because the opening is fixed for June 1, but soven of the twelve large buildings were completed in October, and the elaborate grounds were fully laid out before the winter set in. The cost of the building is set down at £2,000,000, but £150,000 of that amount has been spent on permanent buildings, to. be added to the University of Washington, in the grounds of .which, the exhibition is being held. The .people of- Seattle themselves ontereel into the project with great enthusiasm. They provided a million dollars of initial capital, the first call of- 600,000 dollars being subscribed in one day. Then the national Government and practically all the States in the Union decided to be represented, and it is. expected that ton million - pounds worth of exhibits 'will be shown in the- buildings. The area covered will bo 250 acres, and from a landscape point of view the site is an ideal one, because it borders on two lakes. The promoters have set out to make the show a particularly beautiful one. The Garden Committee asked for geraniums, and in one afternoon the people of Seattle sent 40,000 cuttings to the grounds. One of the buildings will be entirely covered with woodbine and clematisr In front ;of the United States Government building is a monument 80ffc. high, .wjiich will be entirely gilt with gold ? from the Yukon, 'the gold alone costing, it is said, £1400. Seattle, is practically a new- city; In 1870 it had a population of eleven hundred. To-day its population is 250,000. It is situated at the head of Pugetf Sound, one of the most beautiful pieces of enclosed waterin the world, and its total over • sea trade reaches £10,000,000 a year.