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Show , j,t , L. . . . I I V I I II ! II I 'II .MLWIIMiM WIIMDMIIIIIIIlll iiH mm mm. gvolt . r ' :.. ! f i " , I . ' i , J K C I I 3 The Esplanade of the Texas Centennial exposition at night. The buildings in the background are the Travel, Transportation and Petroleum group. I Ey ELMO SCOTT WATSON SATURDAY morning, June 6. Parry avenue in Dallas, Texas, is jammed with people hundreds-of them, thousands of them! Men, women and children chil-dren Texans iind residents of dozens of other states in the Union. They have been here for hours waiting', waiting! Some of them have been traveling by train for days to reach this city. Others have come in automobiles driving all night to be here on tiriie. Still others swooped down from the skies to the airport outside the city only this morning and hastily taxied out here. But they are all here for the( same purpose to be on hand at the big birthday party which the state of Texas is giving. The crowd is growing larger every minute. It begins to stir, to move forward. The moment for which they have been waiting wait-ing is almost at hand. At last the signal ! The gates of the main entrance are thrown open and the milling crowds stream through into the grounds of the Texas Centennial exposition, exposi-tion, the $25,000,000 world's fair of the Southwest. The Lone Star empire .which thus begins the celebration of its one hundredth birthday has had a career unique among those of the other states of the Union. The flags of six nations have flown over its broad expanse of more than 205,000 square miles and all of them Spain, France, Mexico, the Republic Repub-lic of Texas, the Confederate States of America and the United States of America have contributed thrilling thrill-ing chapters to its history. For that reason one of the principal elements of the Centennial Cen-tennial exposition is historical the Texans of today honoring the memory of Texans of the past. The visitor becomes aware of that fact the moment he enters the grounds. As he passes through the main entrance, the first building he sees on the left is the administration building which houses the offices of the extensive organization necessary nec-essary to operate successfully a and other men who had a hond in building the great commonwealth of today. But if this treasure house of the past isn't enough for one who seeks to recapture the atmosphere of the old days, he can find It in the dramatic dra-matic re-enactment of Lone Star statehistory presented under the title of the "Cavalcade of Texas." It Is a great pageants produced on a stage 350 feet wide and 200 feet deep. There 300 actors and actresses, some of them descendants of the heroes and heroines whom they are impersonating, present each day a pageant depicting 400 years of Texas history, from the landing of the Conquistadores down to the present day. Spanish galleons and pirate ships float on the artificial river which runs across this giant stage; Franciscan Fran-ciscan . friars, French and Spanish Span-ish explorers, patriots in the Texas War of Liberation, American frontiersmen, buffalo hunters, cattle cat-tle trail drivers, cowboys, Texas Rangers, Confederate soldiers in fact all of the characters who once stalked across the stage of Texas history will appear upon this modern stage in colorful pageantry. pag-eantry. A unique "curtain" marks the end of each scene in this spectacle. spec-tacle. It is a sheet of fine water spray, 100 feet high, with colored lights playing upon it to produce tha mood of the scene which follows. fol-lows. Another of the chief elements of the Dallas fair is that it is an exposition ex-position of the many varied industries indus-tries and businesses of a modern American state. Towering above all others are the "Big Three" of i K -. : k jr The Administration Building, the first structure which the visitor to the Texas Centennial exposition sees when he enters the grounds. Above its doorways is a huge mural painting symbolic of the history of Texas. On the left hangs the historic Lone Star banner of the Republic of Texas and on the right the Stars and Stripes of the United States of America. modern world's fair. Set in the gleaming white face of the building, build-ing, above the entrance doors, is a brilliantly-colored mural painting on a theme symbolic of the history of the state. Swaying in the breeze at the left Is a banner composed of two broad stripes, one red and one white, and a blue field upon which shines a single huge white star. It is the flag of the Republic of Texas, born just a hundred years ago and an independent nation for nine years. Then it became the state of Texas and that huge white star became a star in the blue field of the Ameri- can flag which hangs at the right of the mural painting. Walking past this building and continuing along the beautiful Esplanade, Es-planade, 300 feet wide and 1,000 feet long, with Its huge reflecting basin in the center, the visitor sees rising before him the largest of all the exposition buildings the million-dollar million-dollar Texas Hall of State. Built of native white limestone, one wing houses exhibits illustrative of the historical events which made the I state of Texas, and another is de-! de-! voted to displays of the social and I industrial life of the state. Here, I also, is the Hall of Heroes, where-J where-J in tribute is paid to the pioneers cattle, cotton and oil which in less than 100 years have placed Texas in the forefront of economic- Importance. Im-portance. Since the birth of the republic, cattle have been a vitally important impor-tant factor in the prosperity of the Lone Star state. Her broad plains were ideal "cow country" and she gave to the world that romantic figure, the cowboy, with his wide-brimmed, wide-brimmed, high-crowned hat, his leather chaps to protect his legs from the sharp thorns as he chased those gaunt longhorn steers through the mesquite, his high-heeled boots with their jingling spurs and his daring and endurance, necessary for the job of trailing the vast herds north over the cattle trails that led out of Texas. Although the day of the open range is virtually vir-tually a thing of the past, Texas still has some of the largest cattle ranches and the greatest herds of cattle in the world today, and the cattle business is still one of the keystones In her prosperity. In contrast to the grassy plains of "Cattleland" are the lush river bottoms where "King Cotton" rules. For Texas also holds an outstanding outstand-ing position In the cotton-producing world. And in East Texas, where oil derricks point toward the sky, there flows constantly a stream of "black gold" to complete the trinity of Texas' chief sources of wealth. At the Exposition the story of these three giants is told in graphic exhibits, as is the story of all the other varied industries and occupations occu-pations which have contributed to the greatness of Texas and which will continue to make it great Among the most important buildings build-ings on the grounds are the halls of transportation and varied industries indus-tries and the buildings of the farm center, five in all. In the latter will be conducted live stock, agricultural, agricul-tural, poultry and food shows and similar exhibits. In fact, the majority ma-jority of the outstanding national live stock and poultry shows of America this year will be staged at the Dallas fair. Live stock shows scheduled Include In-clude National Dairy show, October Octo-ber 10 to 18; Texas Centennial Exposition Ex-position Swine show, October 17 to 26; Texas Centennial Exposition Sheep and Goat show, October 29 to November 6 ; Texas Centennial Exposition Horse show, October 31 to November 8 ; National Mule show, November 14 to November 20. The National Dairy show has never before been brought to the Southwest, and with the National Mule show ranks among the premier pre-mier events of its kind internationally. interna-tionally. Texas Hereford Cattle show; Texas 4-H Clubs Live Stock show and Texas Future Farmers of America Live Stock show are also scheduled. In the poultry building of the exposition ex-position the following shows are scheduled : National Turkey Egg and Turkey Poult show, June 6 to 25; National Baby Chick and Egg show, June 6 to 25 ; Advertising Brooders show, June 26 to August 27; National Young Bird Pigeon show, August 26 to September 3; Wild Bird show, September 4 to September 10; 4-H Club Poultry show, September 11 to September 17; Future Farmers , of America Poultry show, September 18 to September 24; Young Bird Poultry show, September 25 to October 1 ; National Bantam show, October 2 to October 8; American Breed show, October 16 to October 22; Mediterranean Breed show, October 9 to 15; English and Asiatic Breed show, October 23 to October 29; United Orpington Club of America show, October 23 to October 29; Texas Cornish Club show, October 23 to October 29; All Turkey show, October 30 to November 5; Texas Pigeon Association show and Rabbit Rab-bit show, November 6 to November Novem-ber 13. Hundreds of fine specimens of southwestern game and bird life are mounted in habitat groups in the hall of natural history. The aquarium of the exposition, one of the largest In the United States, is stocked with myriad varieties of salt and fresh water fish, in 66 different dif-ferent tanks and pools. For the nature lover, the hall of horticulture is a near approach to heaven. It is surrounded by flower gardens where hundreds of varieties vari-eties Of roses. Wild flowers nnd other floral gems are growing. Strolling In the gardens, the visitor vis-itor hears the music from the symphony sym-phony shell on the lagoon nearby, where outdoor programs are given daily during the exposition. The people of Texas look upon their fair as "a tribute to the past, an exhibition of the present and a herald of tomorrow." In February, Febru-ary, 1924, 2,000 Texans met In Austin Aus-tin determined to make sure of a centennial observance In 1930. For more than a decade the spirit of the founders of the Lone Star state has kept the centennial alive and active In the minds of the people of the state. To provide for it properly the state constitution constitu-tion had to be amended, elections held and money appropriated. So the people voted for "a centennial cen-tennial commemorating the heroic period of early Texas history and celebrating a century of our independence inde-pendence and progress." The bill authorizing the celebration provided provid-ed for the selection of a city In which to hold the central exposition exposi-tion which would depict the growth and progress of the state. It also arranged for "other appropriate celebrations ... of a historical character, to be held at San An tonio about March 2; at Houston about April 21, and on appropriate historic dates at Goliad, Brenham, Nacogdoches, Huntsville and other . . . places identified with Texas' history." The metropolitan city of Dallas, ranked as the thirty-third city of the country, was selected as best suited to hold the great central exposition. Dallas is located In the heart of a fertile farming area. Geographically, It Is the center of the great Southwest and consequently conse-quently one of the largest distributing distribut-ing points in the nation. Also with- U If "The Father of Texas." in a 400-mile radius of Dallas there live more than 12,000,000 people. For that reason Texas is expecting ex-pecting to entertain more than 10,000,000 people at her birthday birth-day party which runs from June 6 to November 27. To do that properly those who are having a hand in putting on the exposition exposi-tion at Dallas are expending more than $16,000,000. The exposition corporation is spending four millions of this, the city of Dallas three million and a half, the state of Texas nearly a million and a quarter, the federal government a like sum, concessionaires conces-sionaires a million and a half and exhibitors five millions. These figures fig-ures do not include land value, actual ac-tual exhibits value, etc. When these are included they justify the characterization char-acterization of "Texas' $25,000,000 birthday party." Texas is giving this party not only for her own people but for the people of the rest of the United States and for the whole world as well. Prominent among those whose memory will be honored during the centennial celebration" is Stephen F. Austin, the "Father of Texas." A few years ago a Texas publication publica-tion printed an editorial tribute to him which said: "Austin was the father of Texas in a much truer sense than Washington Wash-ington may be said to have -been the father of the United States. It was he who planted Anglo-American civilization west of the Sabine so deeply that it could never be uprooted. He was consciously and deliberately a builder. He went about his task systematically and patiently. And the Texas of today to-day is Ills monument We like to recall that Austin started the colonization col-onization of Texas because he had lost everything he had In the depression de-pression of 1S19, and began his work burdened by an overwhelm- ' ing load of debt. We like to recall re-call also that the Republic of Texas was set up and established in the midst of the depression of 1S37 and the lean years immediately imme-diately following. Modern Texas is the result of the labors and sacrifices of the founders In the midst of two depressions. Is there not inspiration for us today in all this?" There must have been Inspiration Inspira-tion for Texans in Austin's example. ex-ample. Caught in the midst of their preparations for their centennial celebration by the depression which began in 1929, they never wavered in their determination to follow the example of that other famous Texan, Davy Crockett. They proceeded pro-ceeded to "go ahead." And the exposition which Is now in progress prog-ress In Dallas Is a monument to their faith In. the future of the Lone Star empire which Is holding a big birthday party all the rest of this year. Western Newspaper Union. |