is half over. Three months ago to-day the formal opening exercises took place, with a flourish of trumpets and much pomp and circumstance. President Cleveland touched the electric button which set the machinery in motion, and fage waved from every pinnacle and archway of the city. Now after three months of open gates what has been accomplished, and what is the prospect for entire success? The total paid attendance for the month of May was 1,050,037; the total for June, 2,675,113; and the total for July, 2,761,263, or an entire paid attendance for the first half of the Fair of 6,486,413. The greatest single day's attendance was on the anniversary of American independence, the Fourth of July, when 283,273 persons p"id their way into Jackson Park. Nowas tothe financial condition that has resulted from this quantity of business. The auditor's report shows that the Exposition has expended for construction and administration $22,182,423.92. 1t still has outstanding liabi ilities of $1,190,462.32, besides $4,444,500. of debenture bands, The total gate receipts have been $3,447,037.55 and the receipts of percentages from concessions $1,178 546.32. Tt is encouraging to note that the receipts from each of these sources have increased each month since the Exposition opened, and that during the same time the daily running expenses have been reduced from some $20,000 to less than $15,000 und are continually decreasing. As near as it can be estimated, the net daily profits are about 865,000 or some $4,500,000 for the renv ing period of the Fair, which with the salvage will be ample to pay all floating indebtedness, and the debenture bonds. The attendance is so rapidly increasing, however, that it is believed there will be a considerable sum to apply to the payment of a portion of the subscriptions to capital stock, which were made rather as a matter of civic pride than with any hope that the amounts would be returned. So altogether it may be taken as proven by the first three months of the Fair that it is to be a triumphant success. Tt is true that the attendance is not as great as was hoped, but conservative persons have always thought that the hopes were too high, and the present conditions of hard tit which are largely responsible for the lack, could hardly be anticipated.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.