OMAHA DAY.
October 31, 1898.
It having been decided that the gates of the exposition would close on
October 31st, this day was designated as Omaha Day, and every effort was used
to make it one of the banner days of the exposition. Mayor Moores issued a
proclamation reciting the many benefits that Omaha has received from the
exposition praising its management, and declaring Omaha day an official
holiday. He urged all places of business to close and every citizen of the
city to attend the exposition on that day. The Board of Education ordered
the schools close. The Commercial Club and Labor Organizations urged the
universal celebration of this holiday and every citizen of Omaha seemed to
take on himself the responsibility of working for the success of this day.
Proprietors of many of the large stores distributed tickets of admission
among their employes. Charitable citizens distributed hundreds of tickets to
the poor of the city through the assistance of the Associated Charities.
The last day of the Exposition, like the first, was one of bright
sunshine. The exercises of the day were planned to take place in the
Auditorium at 3 o'clock P.M. and immediately after the band concert. The
program was as follows:
Music . . Innes Band
Innovation . . Rev. T.J. Mackay
Address . . . Mayor Moores
Address . . . Manager Z.T. Lindsey
Music . . Innes Band
Address . . . Manager Rosewater
Address . . . President Wattles
Music . . Innes Band
Mayor Moores spoke as follows:
It is fitting that the closing day of the Transmississippi Exposition
should be set aside as Omaha Day, for from its inception this great
enterprise has been dependent upon the energy, sagacity and benevolence of
the citizens of Omaha.
Omaha farsightedness planned this exposition when the leaden skies of
adversity hung heavy over the land; Omaha courage inspired the
Transmississippi region with faith in the future and secured promises of
co-operation and assistance from the western cities and states, when
financial panic and business depression were trying the stoutest hearts;
Omaha liberality and generosity furnished the vast amount of money required
to secure the successful completion of the exposition plans; Omaha
intelligence and energy have directed and managed the enterprise; and now
most properly to Omaha has been accorded the honor of closing the exposition.
I trust that when the turnstiles cease clicking tonight they will have
registered the largest daily attendance ever seen upon these grounds.
This exposition has been a benefit to Omaha in many ways. It has
inspired Omaha people with faith in themselves and in their city. It has
shown our citizens that no enterprise is too large for them to undertake and
carry to successful completion if they work together and give it their united
loyal support. It has made Omaha people proud of their city and they have
formed the habit of doing their part to make the city neat, clean and
attractive and of saying the best things about Omaha instead of talking to
friends and visitors about the failings of the city. In fact many of our
most hopeless old fogies have become so accustomed to hearing other people
say good things about Omaha that they sometimes find themselves praising the
city. Then again the hundreds of persons who have visited our city have gone
to their homes in various parts of the country singing the praises of Omaha
hospitality, liberality, pluck, push, energy and thrift, and hundreds of
business men and manufacturers are now looking toward Omaha for the purpose
of locating new establishments here. My prediction is that during the next
ten years Omaha will experience a larger proportion of growth than any other
city in the country and that the close of the decade will see here a
population of 250,000 to 3000,000 with a commensurate increase in business in
all lines.
The country at large believe in Omaha and visitors have not been slow
to voice their approval. That distinguished statesman and diplomat,
ex-Governor Crittendon of Missouri, in an address here on Kansas City day
said: "The record Omaha has made in erecting this exposition is marvelous.
Kansas City could not have done it; St. Louis could not have done it; in fact
no other western city could have accomplished the task. Such an enterprise
required a complete unity and splendid liberality and public spirit which no
other city I believe possesses."
Such words from such a source should fill our citizens with greater
pride in their city.
I feel that at this time I should poorly represent the people of Omaha
if I should close these remarks without expressing to the directors and
especially to the officers and board of managers of the exposition the
gratitude of their fellow citizens for their devoted unselfish labors which
have brought the exposition to this splendid culmination. They have
succeeded far beyond our fondest dreams. I wish to thank them in behalf of
the citizens of Omaha for what they have accomplished here and for the good
they have done the city.
And now fellow citizens as the exposition closes let us look forward
to the future with faith and courage and let us one and all put our shoulders
to the wheel of Omaha prosperity and progress. The future of Greater Omaha
is in your hands.
Manager Lindsey spoke as follows:
Away back in the good old times which we have all heard about and some
of us have seen, there used to be an occasion at the close of the district
school called the "last day." It was a gala day, as it meant freedom from
lessons and restraint and because it ushered in a long looked for holiday.
and international Exposition, our tasks are almost ended, and our holiday near
at hand. We have all seen the Midway some wonderful and beautiful illusions,
and have been mystified by many marvelous feats of magic, but the greatest
marvel of all have been the exposition itself. To transfer an irregular
cornfield into a fairy land, with magnificent buildings, stately domes,
graceful colonnades, beautiful flower gardens, tracery of brilliant light-- to
do all this in less than two years does indeed seem a feat worthy of Aladdin
and his lamp.
Unlike our friends on the Midway, I am going to tell you how this marvel was
done. First of all it did not come by chance or by inheritance. Some would
have you believe it was a streak of luck, that good fortune like a pillar of
cloud preceded us by day and hovered like a Providence aided us with clear
skies, pleasant weather and bountiful harvests, still I must repudiate the good
luck theory, and attribute the stupendous success of the exposition to the
common sense, every day business ideas, to the sleepless nights, and the
persistent hard work of the members of the executive committee.
Social pleasures, personal comfort and individual business requirements have
all been brushed aside, and no obstacle has been allowed to interfere with the
successful outcome of our aim- an exposition worthy of its name and the great
territory it represents.
Continuing, Mr. Lindsey briefly reviewed the work of securing the funds with
which to promote such a colossal enterprise and expressed his grateful
acknowledgment of the confidence that the people had reposed in the management
of the exposition. He also paid a tribute to the men on whom they had called
for advice and encouragement in times of discouragement, and trial and
expressed the thanks of the management to every one who had contributed to make
the exposition what it is. In conclusion, he said that while there had been
much hard work in the building of the exposition, there was also much that was
pleasant, and if, in the stress and worry consequent upon so vast an
undertaking there had arisen any unpleasant memories he asked that they be
consigned to rest and that the people should remember that what had been done
had been done for the glory of Omaha, of Nebraska, and of the transmississippi
region.
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