CHAPTER IV.

THE FORMAL OPENING OF THE EXPOSITION.

Nearly a quarter of a million people present — President Cleveland presses the magic electric button at noon,
May i, 1893, and the monster Allis Engine in Machinery Hall is set in motion amidst the booming of can-
non, the blowing of trumpets, the ringing of bells, the unfurling of flags and the vociferations of the mul-
titude— The white palaces abloom and ablaze with color — Twenty thousand flags are unfurled — Half a
hundred, foreign emblems cheered by the people who live under them — The orchestra play the national
hymn and thousands of patriotic men and women join in the chorus — The spectacle as seen from the Ad-
ministration Building — President Cleveland's address 155