And Missouri "Showed" Them

From A to Z - Alfalfa to Zinc - the "Show Me State" Won Honors at 'Frisco's Exposition

By Mrs. A.J. Wilder, Mansfield, Missouri

Missouri has taken more prizes at the International Exposition than any other state in the Union except California, and Missouri's mines have beaten, on its own ground, the Golden State of the Forty-niners. We have "shown" them. Missouri has met all the states of the Union, all the countries of the world, in fair competition, and has made a proud record.

In agriculture alone Missouri has won the Grand Medal of Honor, 17 gold medals, 21 silver medals, 15 bronze medals, besides two honorable mentions, which go to Henry county. In education the state carried off the silver medal.

Missouri's mines won the Medal of Honor, 6 gold medals, 54 silver medals, and one bronze medal. Our livestock exhibitors received cash prizes amounting to $6,834 and eight ribbons. In processed fruit Missouri won the silver medal. Awards in horticulture were still to be made when this was written.

In hospitality, too, Missouri has been a charming example to many sister state. Our beautiful Colonial home, on a grassy terrace overlooking the Avenue of States and the blue waters of San Francisco Bay, has won the reputation of being the most homelike and inviting at the great fair.

The portico with its pillars, and the broad flights of steps leading up to it, gives an impression both dignified and hospitable. From it, one steps through wide glass doors into a spacious reception hall, finished in white enamel and furnished in dull blue velvet. This great room, more than 80 feet long, with a high beamed ceiling, combines with its feeling of space an effect of cosiness and comfort, given by a huge fireplace, soft-toned velvet rugs and big inviting arm-chairs.

Large French doors of glass open from it on to a rear plaza, which fronts directly on the sparkling blue Bay, dotted with the white sails of innumerable tiny yachts. From this place, sheltered from the ocean winds by the wings of the building, one sees, across the expanse of water, the mountain ranges of Marin county, Tamalpais, Muir woods, and dozens of little towns. The view is inspiring and beautiful.

A feature of the building which has been a revelation to thousands of visitors is the library in one of the wings. Its bookshelves contain more than 1,500 volumes, all written by Missouri authors. Hundreds of persons have been surprised to learn here for the first time the fact that our state has produced more successful writers than any other state in the Union.

On the lower floor of the building, besides the rooms already mentioned, are the rest-rooms, a large board-room, and offices for the commission. At the second-floor level a balcony overhands the reception hall, and opening from it are the bedrooms for the members of the commission and their families. The advantages of architectural arrangement, as well as its beauty, have been widely praised, and it is a credit to the artistic ski8ll of the Missourian who designed it, Senator H.H. Hohenschild of Rolla. Within a few weeks of its construction, by the McCarthy construction company of Farmington, dozens of local and national societies had requested to be allowed to hold meetings or give social affairs there. Hon. D. S. Smith, vice-chairman of the commission, who has been in charge of all Missouri's activities at the fair, found time somehow in his crowded days to uphold the reputation of our state for hospitality.

The popularity of the building grew, and every week since the fair began it has been the scene of at least one brilliant social or philanthropic gathering. Mrs. D.S. Smith has been a charming hostess at these affairs, acting with the official hostess, Mrs. James B. Gantt, of Jefferson City, and their popularity with the best people of the Pacific Coast has reflected no little credit upon Missouri's social ability.

Our showing in horticulture is very good indeed. In this department Missouri processed fruits have already taken the silver medal, and the whole exhibit is very attractive. No Missourian, I am sure, has gone through the palace of Horticulture without feeling justifiable pride in that array of apples, nuts, vegetables, watermelons and flowers, beautifully displayed under green-latticed archways. I noticed especially the apples, which were not surpassed in size, coloring, or flavor by any shown at the fair.

It is a pity that the ruling of the Exposition directors has prevented all states east of the Rockies from entering into competition for the awards on apples. These awards will be made only on five boxes of orchard-packed fruit, and the shipping distance makes it impossible for any but near-by states to get them to the fair in good condition. However, the people at the fair do not see the prizes, they see the fruit, and not a state in the Union has sent better fruit to the fair than Missouri.

Their keeping qualities, too, are proved by the fact that a great many of the apples on the tables were shown last fall at the Sedalia State Fair.

I was glad to see, also, that our watermelons were the best in the entire building, not even excepting the Burbank display, or the exhibit of the Turlock district, which is California's great melon-growing region. Scarcely anyone who passed through our exhibit while I was there failed to notice and comment on this.

While our native-grown black walnut is perhaps not so aristocratic as the California English walnut, still no nut that grows equals it in richness and flavor. In our state Nature bountifully supplies this delicious nut, with no trouble or expense to us, while the Californians must plant, graft, cultivate, irrigate and spray their English variety. The jars of walnuts, hickory nuts, and hazel nuts displayed in our horticultural exhibit were for this reason a striking illustration of Missouri's natural advantages.

The whole display was very ably handled by Director Charles W. Steinman, of Dalton, and his assistant, John McDermott of Montgomery county, and the horticulturists of Missouri can feel that they have done the state full justice.

Nearly 20,000 Missourians had already registered at our agricultural booth, under the great tower with its electric sign, "Missouri," which is conspicuous from any part of the Palace of Agriculture, when this was written in November. This tower, 65 feet in height, stands in one corner of the space allotted to our state, and is the principal feature of the display. It is literally covered with Missouri corn, from the arches up to the top, an impressive spectacle which is given added point by a sign stating, "Missouri produces one-tenth of the world's corn." The archways themselves, through which one passes in going under the tower, are decorated with excellent specimens of oats, wheat, kafir, maize, timothy, alfalfa, tobacco and cotton, arranged attractively on a background of dull blue cloth.

It as distinctly a pleasure to me to observe how excellently well these products compare with those grown in other states. Indeed, with the exception of the alfalfa, which of course competed with that grown under irrigation in the intensely hot California interior valleys, I saw no better specimens exhibited anywhere, and even in alfalfa Missouri won a bronze medal awarded to Scott County.

When I came through the archways under the tower and stood in the main exhibit space, I fairly jumped with surprise. There on the wall was a picture of Governor Major, more than live-size and more than life-like, made entirely of corn. I would have recognized it anywhere for Missouri's governor, and almost anywhere for Missouri corn, so the artist who designed and worked it out may feel that he has done full justice to both his subjects. Above the governor's pictured head an American eagle, made of corn husks, oats and kefir, stood proudly out on the blue cloth background, while above the eagle the state seal was displayed, also made of grains.

Other Missouri products were shown in glass cases, arranged in the main floor space. Except the tower with its decorations, and a skillful use of cotton, grain and grasses in trimming the rest of the exhibit, no attempt was made to produce a spectacular effect. Missouri went to the fair to show, in a business-like way, what she could do in agriculture at home, and she did it. She is bringing home the Grand Medal of Honor.

We surprised our fellow exhibitors in the livestock section, but it was a surprise that re-acted upon the Missouri commission itself. The commission, to encourage our local livestock breeders, had offered to double the amounts won by them at the Exposition. Now the members of the commission are all enthusiastic boosters for Missouri. They expected to make a good showing in livestock; indeed, they expected to make a very good showing. But, sanguine as their expectations were, they had not supposed they would be called upon to double $3,200 in prizes, as they had to do when the Exposition awards were announced. Goodness knows what would have happened to the pocketbook of the commission if the whole of our livestock exhibit had reached the fair. Five hundred thousand dollars' worth of Missouri cattle, gathered, inspected, and ready to ship West from Kansas City, was refused by the Exposition directors, on account of a ruling quarantining the Exposition against all cattle from the Middle West. There is no doubt that if that exhibit had gone through we would have had a much larger share of the livestock prizes, but as it was out breeders won enough to startle the commission, and to flatten its purse considerably.

Our jennets carried off every prize offered in their class. Sixteen little beauties, exhibited by Monsees & Son, won $1,790 in prizes. It is interesting to note that the jennet who carried off all honors at the St. Louis Exposition was beaten here only by her daughter, who now is champion.

Our saddle horses–beauties, every one of them, with their slim dainty legs, heads held high, and bright, intelligent eyes–were one of the most popular exhibits in the livestock section, and they won substantial proof of their fine qualities, $1,410 in cash prizes, and a number of ribbons.

Educational Exhibits Were Fine.

The increased interest in educational methods and systems of child-training, which has grown so rapidly in the last few years, made the palace of Education one of the most popular buildings at the grounds. Here were shown school work, educational methods, and handicraft of children from New York state to the Philippines, China and Japan. Madame Montessori herself came from Italy to take charge of a class of tiny children in this building. Entered thus in competition against the whole world, Missouri won the silver medal. I must admit that this was a surprise to me. We are so likely to see the defects in institutions close at hand and imagine that farther away conditions are so much better.

When I realized the place Missouri takes in education I felt a greater interest in our school problems, and while there are still many improvements possible, I am sure we should all be very much pleased, and proud of this award.

Our commissioner of education, Norman Vaughan, and his assistant, W.N. Laidlaw deserve great credit for the demonstration they have given of Missouri's school system. Our decentralized method is shown by a system of tiny electric lights, representing children, which flash on and off, showing the pupil's progress from grade to grade and from school to school, without any unnecessary loss of time.

A mammoth map of the state, also dotted with electric lights, shows our high school growth from 1894 to the present day. At a glance, while the groups of lights flash on and off, one literally sees the high schools multiply, and multiply again. The sight shows quickly, and in a very impressive manner, the really extraordinary growth in the number of our high schools.

Views of the Missouri University, the five state normal schools, and other colleges and high schools, are shown on an illuminated screen, the pictures changing automatically every 20 seconds. The whole exhibit has attracted the interested attention of educators from all over the world, and it is a pleasure to wander about it and listen to their comments.

When Otto Ruhl of Joplin took charge of our mining exhibit at the fair he intended to show Missouri mines to the best possible advantage. Without intending it he also has shown another Missouri characteristic of which we should be as proud as we are of any product of our state. he has given an exhibition of thrift. With only $6,500 to spend, he arranged a display which is more attractive to the eye, more instructive and interesting, than Nevada was able to show with $27,000. He also has won for us a Medal of Honor, seven gold medals, 54 silver medals, and one bronze, standing second only to Nevada among the states, and leaving California, with her great mining industries, far behind.

Beginning with the mine itself, every process in handling the ore is shown, from the raw quartz in the ground to the finished product. The idea is good, and the way it is carried out is perfect. The display occupies 3,000 feet of floor space, in a long strip down one side of the Palace of Mines and Metallurgy. It is surrounded by a low wall, built up to give the exact appearance of a mine–all the ore showing among the native rock and flint exactly as they are found in our hills. Above this wall great columns covered with zinc and lead concentrates, support cornices of zinc metal from the mines to the finished product.

The entrances are three great arches, one of zinc, one of lead, and one of our Carthage marble. Inside, one sees first a model Joplin mine, showing in detail the tunnels, the little card and railways used underground, the exact rock formation of the mine, and the buildings on the surface. Following this are the crushers, and a concentrating plant, which show the method of bringing our low-grade 2 per cent ore, ready for smelting. After this, one comes to the finished product, shown in wash boards and fruit jar covers.

Beside these cases, displaying the zinc as it enters our kitchens, were cases containing specimens of lead and zinc ores, which were beautiful enough to hold the attention of everyone who saw them. Several specimens of lead ore here contain 68 per cent of pure lead, an impossible proportion according to all the books, for theoretically, a 67 per cent lead ore is the highest possible. However, here are the actual specimens, with 68 per cent. What does Missouri care for theories, when she beats them in actual facts? on the outside of these blocks of almost pure lead, are iron pyrites and pure lead crystals.

Missouri's Crystal springs, too, are represented here by a beautiful display of mineral waters, shining through dozens of bottles, and accompanied by pictures of the springs.

Another unique exhibit to our credit are the clays, which no other state had shown. Here, too, the whole process from the raw earth dug from the St. Louis quarries, to its final appearance in roofing tiles, sewer pipe, garden ornaments and statuary. It might have taxed almost any brain to devise an attractive display of sewer pipe and roofing tile, but Mr. Ruhl has solved the difficulty. He built up the sewer pipe into a tall flagpole, and designed the American flag from the roofing tile, in red, white and blue.

Beside the clays are the coal, supplied by Macon, Randolph, and Barton counties, and the iron, which comes from Crawford county. Specimens of Missouri granite appear here also, the red granite being perfect in texture and coloring. Nor are these the only products of Missouri's mines. Hannibal has represented her cement industry by samples showing every step of its production from shale and limestone to cement blocks, brick and tile.

Amazing and Unexpected Things.

Huge slaps of tripoli, that stone of so many amazing uses, have been the center of a great deal of attention. It is a fine, smooth rock, looking with its colored veinings, something like a cake of Castile soap, and I was amazed to find it the parent of dozens of familiar things. Sapolio, Gold Dust, Bon Ami, Old Dutch cleanser, and practically all other scouring soaps, are made from it.

Another display was startling to me. I have been a Missourian for nearly 30 years, but I had to travel to the Exposition to find out that there is in my state a mining industry entirely controlled by farmers. A mining industry, moreover, which brings in an income of $250,000 to $300,000 a year. This tremendous sum goes to the farmers of Washington county, in payment for their mining of barytes.

The depth of their mines is little more than the depth of a plow-furrow. Barytes, a valuable stone, the use of which has made possible our fine magazine pictures, is found on Washington county farms, on or near the surface. In the fall the farmers plow and fig out the rock, pile it up until the rains have washed it clean of clay and gravel, and then haul it to town, like so much cord wood.

Mrs. A.J. Wilder. "And Missouri 'Showed' Them: From A to Z—Alfalfa to Zinc—the 'Show Me State' Won Honors at 'Frisco's Exposition." Missouri Ruralist (December 5, 1915): 3, 7. The article was accompanied by photographs of the Missouri Building and the Mining Exhibit.  CLICK HERE and HERE to see this article as it appeared in print in the Missouri Ruralist.

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