CHAPTER III.

DEPARTMENT OF PUBLICITY AND PROMOTION.

The Object of Its Organization— A Unique and Highly Advantageous System of Free Advertising-
How the World Has Been Informed of All the Details of the Commencement, Progress and Com-
pletion of the Gigantic Work— A Perfect System of Distribution of Information of Daily
Happenings Conceived and Matchlessly Executed— Quarter of a Million Documents Mailed in a
Single Week— Thirty Thousand Electrotypes of Buildings Sent Out— Ninety Thousand Litho-
graphs Judiciously given Away— More than a Hundred Thousand Dollars Worth of Postage
Stamps Used— Stupendous Advantages Derived Therefrom— Graphic Sketch of the Distinguished
Department Commander.

S HAS been conceded by the management and all others — and
particularly during the early days and leading up to the
opening of the Fair — no work connected with the Exposition
has been more thoroughly done than the work assigned to
the Department of Publicity and Promotion, and no effort
made by any other department of the Fair is now bringing
to the Exposition such great results. The name of the de-
partment indicates the object of its organization. It was to
advertise the Fair and Maj. Moses P. Handy, the department
chief, has done his work so thoroughly that there is not a civilized
section of organized society in the world that has not learned of the
Exposition and its purposes.

Since the organization of the department in December, 1890, there
has been a constant and systematic effort to disseminate information concerning
the Fair, and every avenue for spreading knowledge that presented itself has been
utilized. Realizing the importance of having it thoroughly understood by the
people of this country as well as the other nations of the globe just what the Fair
was to accomplish, Director-General Davis was quick in seeing that some educa-
tional steps must be taken, and he suggested the organization of the Department
of Publicity and Promotion, and aked that a practical newspaper man be placed in
command. This idea received the approval of both the National Commission and
the Chicago directors, and Maj. Handy was selected as the man to assume the re-
sponsible position. One thing that probably led Director-General Davis to pro-
pose the organization of this department was the unfriendly attitude of a portion of
the foreign press, and another no doubt that the portion of the press that was
friendly might be supplied with accurate information regarding the progress of the
work.

This department is located on the second floor of the northwest pavilion of
the Administration building. It is organized and managed on much the same pria-

74 HISTORY OF THE WORLD'S FAIR.

ciple as a large daily paper — Maj. Handy's position corresponding to that of an
editor-in-chief. He has a general supervision of the department and molds the
policy to be followed.

The next man in authority is J. P. Holland, the chief clerk in the department.
He is also chief of the Bureau of Information. This bureau supplies the demand
for printed information and has received as many as 1,000 letters daily.

The editorial division is in charge of William M. Knox, an experienced news-
paper man. He has the supervision of the preparation of all editorial matter sent
out. He has two assistants, Col. Louis Ayme, who looks after the preparation of
the matter for the French, Spanish, and Portugese publications, while Victor
Sarner takes care of the German press. Mrs. Nancy H. Banks, who is a member
of the Board of Lady Managers, has charge of the correspondence and prepares the
special letters concerning the Exposition that are sent out by the department and
also prepares the editorial news notes that have been largely used by the country
press. The letters of Mrs. Banks has proven of great advantage in advertising
the Fair.

The mailing division, which is in charge of Frank Rigler, is one of the most
important features of the department. The division is practically the same as the
mailing department of a newspaper and has an exceedingly large list. The list con-
tains, aside from a vast number of periodicals and newspapers, all the foreign
Ministers and Commissioners, and a great number of persons who are even con-
stantly writing for information about the Exposition now. In addition to this Mr.
Rigler has furnished the press of the world with electrotype cuts of the principal
buildings of the Fair. The advantage derived from this branch of the work has
been great, as it enabled many newspapers to present to their readers pictures of
the artistic and imposing structures that would not otherwise have been able
to do so.

It is estimated that of the matter prepared by the department for the news-
papers an average of 2,500 columns a month has been printed. The marked copies
of publications received would indicate this. About as much again was used in the
preparation of original matter. The greatest number of documents mailed any
one week was 249,000, while the average number was 60,000. The number of
electrotypes of buildings sent out each month was about 1,000, and they were ac-
companied with descriptions of the structures. There were also 85,000 lithographs
giving bird's-eye views of Machinery and Horticultural Halls sent out, and
$20,000 was spent for a lithographed bird's-eye view of the grounds and buildings.
The postage alone on these reviews at times amounted to $1,000 a day.

How Major Handy arranged for accommodations for the press during the
Fair is best told by himself, as follows:

Another work engaging the attention of the department of publicity and
promotion at this time is the perfecting of arrangements for the accommodation
and courteous treatment of representatives of the press during the exposition
period. Our success in handling during the dedication week 2,500 newspaper men,
the largest number ever assembled at one time, without any complaint from any

HISTORY OF THE WORLD'S FAIR. 75

quarter, encourages us to believe that with the indorsement by the management of
the department's policy, the great problem now before us will be solved with equal
satisfaction alike to the exposition authorities and to the press. Newspaper head-
quarters will be in the administration building, at the very nerve center of the ex-
position. Three floors of the northwest pavilion have been reserved for this pur-
pose. One for the department office, one for the local press, and one foiitoress
associations, foreign newspapers, and file rooms. It will be impossible to give
separate rooms even to the leading newspapers of the country, but desk room will
be abundant, typewriting machines will be at hand, and there will be separate
rooms for those great newspapers of Chicago and other cities which have regular
staffs on duty throughout the period of the exposition. In regard to the extension
of courtesies to newspaper men, the department has recommended that a most
liberal policy be adopted. This contemplates the issue of three kinds of tickets of
free admission on account of the press; first a complimentary engraved invitation
for journalists of distinction, and the editors of the great newspapers of the world;
second, season or term tickets for men who come here to work; and third,
single admissions for transient visitors. It is as much to the interest of the press
as of the exposition that these privileges shall not be abused, and care therefore
will be taken not to extend such courtesies to any persons not fully accredited and
identified. Applications are now coming in in great quantities by every mail, and
it is no small work to classify and arrange them, and decide upon the merits of each
individual application.

[Moses Purnell Handy was born in the State of Missouri, but is virtually a
Virginian, his father, a Presbyterian minister, having removed to the old Dominion
while the son was yet an infant; and it was in the traditions of that State that the
latter was reared and educated, and to her service that he gave his allegiance when
the contest between the sections culminated in an appeal to arms. The horrors of
conflict fell first upon the border states, particularly uoon that portion of Virginia
contiguous to the Potomac, in which the Handys were living; the father although a
minister of the gospel and a man of peace, was an early victim to the ardor of his
convictions and the ill-considered severity of an inexoerienced Federal officer. He
was arrested, thrown into a military prison; the home was wrecked; the family
scattered; and at an early age young Moses was cast upon his own resources. At
the age of seventeen he entered the Confederate army, was assigned to the staff of
General Stevens with the rank of lieutenant, and served until the surrender of Lee
put an end to the struggle. Out of the adventures which befell the youthful soldier
during those years of exciting experience grew the first achievement in that line
which was to become his profession. His first literary venture, consisting of a series
of articles descriptive of incidents of foray and battle, appeared in the Watchman,
then conducted by Dr. Deems. Having thus "seen himself in print," the path of
future effort was irrevocably determined. The journalistic instinct was in full pulse

76 HISTORY OF THE WORLD'S FAIR.

and vigor, only seeking a channel in which to vent itself. The boy now called on
Dr. Converse, editor of the Christian Observer, then published at Richmond, and
said he must have work. The field was not promising, but with characteristic per-
severance he held on until at last (as to such resolute spirits it always does) the
opportunity came. In the summer of 1867 Mr. Wilson, candidate for vice-president,
made^a canvass in Virginia and was announced to speak near Richmond. Young
Handy went to the Richmond Dispatch with an offer to report the meeting "for five
dollars and a railroad ticket." The offer was accepted, and the result was a report
so superior to the usual work in that line as at once to fix the status of the writer.
He was tendered and accepted a permanent situation on the Dispatch, learning the
detail of the craft while engaged in the "all round" work which is the best educa-
tion for a journalist, and was not long in mounting the higher rungs of the ladder.
A little later Mr. Handy in connection with the exciting and tragic affair of the
'Virginius," which so nearly led to a war between this country and Spain, displayed
an enterprise in obtaining intelligence and a brilliancy of method in transmitting it
which elicited flattering comments. This episode led directly to his establishment
with the then brilliant staff of the New York Tribune, and his career since has been
one of unbroken success. He was subsequently, for a time, editor-in-chief of the
once famous Richmond Enquirer, and imparted to that staid journal a vigor and
spice which astonished the natives. In 1876 he was commissioner from Virginia to
the Centennial Commission, and becoming attached to the "Quaker City" remained
there during several years in which he managed the Times, and afterward held a
prominent position on the Press, engaging at the same time in other and successful
literary undertakings. As chief of Department of Publicity and Promotion, Major
Handy has been urbanely accessible to all, and is to-day quite as energetic in attend-
ing to the wants of newspaper people and supplying them abundantly with passes
as during the past thirty months he has been tireless in imposing upon them his
millions of "reading matter," advertisements and pictures of the great Fair. The
name of Moses P. Handy will long be known as that of the most distinguished
promoter of the World's Columbian Exposition.

HISTORY OF THE WORLD'S FAIR.

77