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 88-B 
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 THE COMMERCIAL 
 MUSEUM 
 
 PHILADELPHIA 
 
 Its History and Development — Collections 
 of the Resources of the World — Educational 
 Work — Assistance to the Business Man 
 
THE COMMERCIAL 
 MUSEUM 
 
 PHILADELPHIA 
 
 Its History and Development— Collections 
 of the Resources of the World — Educational 
 Work — Assistance to the Business Man 
 
HE PHILADELPHIA MUSEUMS, perhaps 
 more generally known by the title of Com- 
 mercial Museum, from one of its component 
 departments, is a city institution occupying a 
 large tract of land east of Thirty-fourth street _ L 
 
 The Commercial 
 
 below Spruce in West Philadelphia, on which Museum 
 have been erected during the past ten years a 
 group of permanent museum buildings which, 
 although still unfinished, gives promise upon completion of taking a 
 leading place among such institutions the world over. 
 
 The Philadelphia Museums, in plan and purpose, comprise a group Organization 
 of museums, educational and commercial, material for which is being 
 gathered and the institution developed by a Board of Trustees created 
 by the City Councils of Philadelphia, and responsible to the Mayor. 
 
 The Board comprises eleven well-known citizens of Philadelphia 
 acting as appointed members, and a number of ex-officio members 
 including the Mayor of the City, the Governor of the State, the Presi- 
 dents of Select and Common Councils, the State Superintendent of 
 Public Instruction, the State Forestry Commissioner, the President of 
 the Philadelphia Board of Education, and the Superintendent of the 
 Philadelphia Public Schools. 
 
 The City of Philadelphia has set aside as a permanent park and Grounds 
 botanical garden and as a site for the Museum buildings, more than 
 fifty acres of land in West Philadelphia, of which about sixteen acres 
 front on Thirty-fourth street; the remainder, still undeveloped, fronts 
 on the Schuylkill River, and is surely destined to form part of the 
 great river park improvement that must some day connect Bartram' s 
 Garden with the Fairmount system. 
 
 The Philadelphia Museums were created by ordinance of Coun- Buildings 
 cils in 1894. Much-needed storage room was first provided by the 
 late Mr. William Weightman and by Mr. Frank R. Tobey, who 
 gave the Philadelphia Museums the free use of buildings. For 
 some years the rapidly-growing collections were installed in the large 
 Pennsylvania Railroad Office Building on Fourth Street below Walnut, 
 which the Pennsylvania Railroad Company gave to the Philadelphia 
 Museums, rent free, for nearly ten years. In 1897, the land above 
 described was transferred by the city, and in 1899 construction of 
 the present group of buildings began. There are now three perma- 
 nent Museum buildings, steel frame with walls of brick and cement, 
 
A CLASS FROM THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS ENTERING THE MUSEUM GROUNDS 
 
Commerce and 
 Enlighten the 
 
 each 100 x 400 feet, and on the northernmost of the three a good 
 beginning has been made on the permanent white terra cotta wall 
 which is some day to cover the entire exterior. These buildings are 
 lighted and heated from a fourth permanent structure, a steel and 
 stone power-house at the railroad level, in which are also located the 
 Museum workshops. 
 
 The present Museum buildings were only made possible by the or- 
 ganization, in 1899, through National assistance but under the control 
 of the Museums' Board, of the National Export Exposition. This 
 enterprise succeeded in raising funds sufficient for the erection of the 
 present buildings, and thereby marked out the plan of development 
 which the institution has since followed. 
 
 The completion of the entire group of buildings, under the plans 
 adopted, will be a work of considerable time, corresponding to the 
 undertaking. The permanent buildings as they now stand represent 
 an expenditure of over $800,000, raised in the past ten years, two- 
 thirds of which has come from sources other than the city government. 
 
 One of the main objects of the Commercial Museum is to promote Object to Extend 
 the commerce of America with foreign lands and to disseminate in 
 this country a wider knowledge and appreciation of the customs and People 
 conditions of other nations and peoples. 
 
 That Philadelphia should have had the foresight to establish and 
 foster this Commercial Museum is not difficult of explanation. In a 
 manufacturing city, the foremost in the world, there is constant and 
 increasing need of such an institution. But, except for location, the 
 
 • t -r • Educational 
 
 Museum is much more than of local importance. Its ramifications Features 
 extend into every quarter where human beings live and labor. The 
 completeness of its facilities and the practical efficiency of its system 
 are demonstrated continually. In some respects the Museum con- 
 stitutes a school where American men of business can acquaint them- 
 selves with any subject relating to the commerce of the world. 
 
 The exhibition feature is probably the most conspicuous, and the 
 phase that offers the best opportunity for learning to how great an 
 extent the institution is placing itself at the service of the manufactur- 
 ing community. The exhibits, in fact, would do honor to any 
 country desiring to hold a temporary exposition. For this reason 
 many foreign nations have had representatives visit the Museums and 
 inspect their workings for the purpose of emulating the American 
 example and establishing similar centers for the gathering and diffus- 
 ing of industrial and commercial information. 
 
 Considerable interest attaches to the manner in which the insti- History 
 tution came to life. At the close of the Columbian Exposition in 
 Chicago, it was found, through the efforts of Dr. W. P. Wilson, the 
 
present Director, that the City of Philadelphia could secure upon 
 promise of permanent exhibition many of the valuable collections there 
 displayed. Such promise was given in an official letter signed by 
 Mayor Stuart, and the packing and transportation of the material was 
 made possible through the efforts of Mr. Simon Gratz and Mr. 
 Thomas Meehan, who secured an appropriation from City Councils 
 with which to begin the work in Chicago, and through the efforts of 
 Mr. Charles W. Henry, who personally guaranteed the necessary ex- 
 penses until the city' s funds should become available. Mayors Stuart 
 and Warwick, and the City Councils, appreciating the value to the city 
 of a Commercial Museum, entered heartily into the development of 
 the institution, which was organized under the presidency of Dr. 
 William Pepper, who earnestly supported the undertaking from its 
 very inception until his untimely death. Many foreign governments 
 became actively interested, and have amplified their collections as 
 opportunity offered. Much of the material sent to the Paris Ex- 
 position in 1900 was promised, before its collection, to the Philadel- 
 phia Museums, and designed for permanent installation here. Great 
 acquisitions were made also at the Pan-American Exposition in 
 1901, and at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in 1904. From 
 exhibitions in Central America, as well as from far away Tongking, 
 other collections were obtained. 
 
 As a matter of course the Museum' s exhibits, located in the main Exhibits 
 buildings, command the most interest through the information they 
 convey in a direct manner. Covering the commercial materials of the 
 world, the imports and exports and the manners and customs of many 
 countries, the main purpose of the exhibit is to portray in vivid fashion 
 the products and people of foreign lands. The installation and 
 arrangement of the exhibits have been done with an eye single to the 
 best results from the standpoint of the observer. Many of the groups 
 can find their counterpart nowhere else. In the case of the semi- 
 civilized peoples, no small degree of artistic taste has entered into the 
 scheme of display. The daily life of the people, their peculiar 
 habits, their dress, cooking, agricultural and manufacturing imple- 
 ments, are arranged in classified array and are most attractive to the 
 visitor, apart from what he can learn touching economics. 
 
 That the Philippine exhibit is one of especial interest and Philippines 
 completeness is due largely to the fact that Dr. Wilson, as Chair- 
 man of the Philippine Government Board which made the Philippine 
 Exhibition at the St. Louis Exposition, was enabled to bring these 
 valuable collections to the Commercial Museum at the end of the ex- 
 hibition. 
 
 This great exhibit includes a full series of all grades of Manila 
 
A VIEW THROUGH THE CHINESE EXHIBIT 
 
hemp, the most important commercial product of the islands, shown 
 in hanks and in commercial bales. Rice, sugar, pina, tobacco, 
 bamboo, rubber, tropical cabinet woods, ores, coal, and other natural 
 products are shown in great variety as well as life-sized figures of civ- 
 ilized and savage people, clothing, tools, weapons, musical instru- 
 ments, pottery, baskets, houses and a variety of other exhibits which 
 illustrate the people of the Philippines. 
 
 The Chinese and Japanese departments reveal a mass of material china and Japan 
 depicting modes of living in the Orient. Here is shown the life-sized 
 figure of a Chinese scholar seated in his study; in another case a woman 
 of the same nationality is engaged at the silk reel. Numerous huts 
 and odd-appearing dwelling houses have been reproduced in either 
 natural size or miniature where the purpose, perhaps, has been to 
 show an entire settlement, such as the Siberian display. 
 
 The collections from China, Japan and Formosa are among the 
 largest and most comprehensive permanent installations to be found 
 from those countries, and comprise the full range of their natural 
 products which enter so largely into the commerce and daily con- 
 sumption of the world. Some of the leading industries of those 
 countries, particularly silk and rice are fully displayed in serial 
 exhibits, and the most characteristic arts are represented by typi- 
 cal examples, such as fine porcelain, metal work, lacquer, and 
 cloisonne. 
 
 No such collection of African materials exists in any other museum Africa 
 in the world. Separate sections are devoted to Egypt, Algeria, Tunis, 
 Morocco, Somaliland, the French West African colonies (Senegal, 
 Sudan, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Dahomey, and French Congo), Liberia, 
 Congo, German East Africa and the English colonies of South Africa. 
 
 These collections are rich in samples of rubber, palm oil, palm 
 nuts, peanuts, Senegal gum, coffee, cottons, wools, and other raw 
 products. Scores of cases are filled with a most interesting showing of 
 articles which make plain the life of the native people. Idols, musical 
 instruments, mats, pottery, weapons, tools, and all sorts of native 
 utensils, show the conditions of life on the Dark Continent. Of par- 
 ticular interest is a collection of fetiches, once the property of the 
 King of Dahomey, affording to the student a startling view of the 
 crystalization in modern Africa of belief and ritual handed down from 
 the civilizations of the ancient world. Typical imported trade goods 
 from Europe indicate the taste of the people and show American ex- 
 porters what is salable in a great market comprising millions of 
 human beings who at present know no American goods but coarse 
 muslin. The cotton textiles made by the natives themselves are 
 often interesting and attractive in design and excellent in quality. 
 
A SHIP OF THE CLASS OF THE WELCOME OF WILLIAM PENN 
 A. D. 1682 
 
 Model to scale. Prepared by and exhibited in the Commercial Museum 
 
Accompanying a large series of these is a showing of goods made in 
 England and Germany in imitation of the native fabrics. This and 
 other similar exhibits in the Museum from these countries, should 
 teach our manufacturers how necessary it is to consider and cater to 
 the tastes of their customers in export markets. In spite of the attract- 
 iveness of much of the English and German goods, the richer natives 
 in some sections prefer to use the more costly native cloths on account 
 of their superior quality; an indication of the future importance of 
 the great African commerce. 
 
 The Madagascar exhibit is of exceptional merit. The textiles Madagascar 
 of this collection are of native make, and in many instances im- 
 possible of duplication, since they have been gradually disappearing 
 for a number of years and their place has been taken by the cheaper 
 fabrics of foreign make. There is also shown here a native loom of 
 most primitive construction, and yet capable of producing remark- 
 able cloths from the raphia fiber. Side by side here are found for- 
 eign-made cloths resembling closely the Madagascar manufacture, both 
 in texture and design. American manufacturers should have no 
 difficulty in competing with Europe by supplying the Malagasy with 
 textiles, provided the proper effort be made to give them just what 
 they want. It is a fact that the Europeans are particularly success- 
 ful in conforming their own ideas to the tastes of semi-civilized 
 people and even the barbaric races. Among the Madagascar displays 
 there are to be found an assortment of musical instruments, such as 
 only the native ingenuity could have fathered. Rattles, made from 
 beans and used by dancers and sorcerers; dulcimers, constructed en- 
 tirely from raphia, and other instruments illustrate most interestingly 
 the musical inclinations of this picturesque people. 
 
 The collection of articles from Tahiti, New Caledonia, Fiji and The South Seas 
 other islands of the South Pacific is of unusual merit. Very few Mu- 
 seums in the world possess its equal. In addition to such articles as 
 display the peculiar habits and customs of the natives, there are sam- 
 ples of pearl shell, copra, birds' nests, trepang, cotton, coffee, and 
 other products which show the natural wealth of the region. The 
 collection is rich in the bark cloths which are so perfectly imitated by 
 German manufacturers who place their wares in the native markets 
 through the many traders of that nationality. 
 
 India, Ceylon, Indo-China and Siam display collections of almost 
 equal interest. 
 
 Almost the entire floor of one building is installed with compre- Latin America 
 hensive collections of the natural products and resources of all of the 
 Latin-American countries, this being, as far as known, the only per- 
 manent exhibit of that character in the world. From those countries 
 
come some of the most important of our imports, and here are shown 
 in great variety the rubbers, coffees, cacaos, asphalts, and mineral ores 
 on which so many of our industries depend. 
 
 An important exhibit at the main entrance, which is in course of The History of 
 installation, illustrates the history and development of commerce from Commerce 
 the earliest beginnings to the present time. Serially arranged in uni- 
 form cases are the important products of commerce in the order of 
 their entry into the world's demand, while maps in contemporary 
 order show the development and changes in trade routes and the con- 
 comitant rise and fall of the nations. The development of trans- 
 portation from the most primitive type of human burden to the 
 modern railway train, steamship, automobile, and airship, is pictured 
 in a series of large photographs on the surrounding walls, and by a 
 unique collection of panel photographs six feet high, surrounding the 
 columns of the building in the space occupied by the exhibit. The 
 development of water transportation is portrayed by a series of models 
 of commercial shipping beginning with the most ancient tomb-paint- 
 ings of Egypt and carrying the evolution down through the Greeks 
 and Romans, the Arabs, Spaniards, Portuguese, Dutch and English, 
 ^ down to the modern leviathans both of steam and sail power. These 
 models are being constructed to uniform scale so that the visitor can 
 compare at a glance the relative size and capacity of the shipping of 
 the Pharaohs, that of the Caesars and the empires of the East, with 
 the modern liners. 
 
 Among the most valuable of the exhibits are those which show Economic 
 the various grades of one substance from different parts of the world 
 and the working up of raw materials into finished products. These 
 economic collections are arranged to illustrate foodstuffs, spices, bever- 
 ages, fibers, tans and dyes, gums, resins, oils, etc. The exhibit of 
 cotton takes up not only cotton fiber and its manufacture into yarn, 
 thread and fabrics, but also the utilization of cotton seed, showing the 
 many useful things made from cotton seed oil, as well as from the oil 
 cake, the hulls and the linters. The corn exhibit not only shows hun- 
 dreds of commercial varieties of corn and various foodstuffs made from 
 corn but surprises the visitor by showing also corn oil and the dozens 
 of useful things made from it, including such unexpected articles as 
 rubber overshoes. 
 
 From the educational point of view the Commercial Museum has Educational 
 become a very influential factor in the training of young men for busi- 
 ness life. There have been distributed among the schools of the 
 State about fifteen hundred collections of commercial products, in- 
 cluding photographs and maps arranged for the study of particular 
 localities throughout the world, where certain articles are produced. 
 
 Work 
 
There has also been developed a system of daily illustrated lec- 
 tures to schools, delivered in the Lecture Hall by members of the staff 
 and profusely illustrated with stereopticon slides, following which the 
 students are conducted through the sections where are found the ma- 
 terials under discussion. This service of the Commercial Museum is 
 extremely popular with the public and private schools of the neighbor- 
 hood and is taken advantage of by scholars of all grades from the 
 very young children up to classes from our colleges and universities. 
 It is a wonderfully stimulating agency for making young men and 
 women interested in the possibilities of business, either at home or 
 abroad. It is decidedly a training that can only work the greatest 
 possible benefit to the community. 
 
 An interesting and popular feature of the Commercial Museum s n , 
 
 . . Photographic 
 
 work is the use it makes of its large collection of photographic negatives Collection 
 and prints, now numbering over 25,000 and increasing at the rate of 
 2,000 every year. This collection cannot be duplicated in this coun- 
 try, and is without doubt one of the best in existence, having been 
 gathered from all parts of the world for the special purpose of illus- 
 trating the life and industries of the people of all countries. Many 
 prints of large size are installed together with the exhibits to which 
 they relate, showing the methods of production, use and transporta- 
 tion practiced in the various countries of the world. Besides serving 
 in this manner to educate the people, the photographs are of extreme 
 interest to our manufacturers and importers, since they show the con- 
 ditions to be met in foreign markets. Under each State appropriation 
 for the educational work of the Museum, its photographic laboratory 
 prepares from 50,000 to 75,000 prints which are distributed among 
 the public schools of the State. 
 
 Lantern slides are also made in great numbers for the illustrated 
 lectures given to visiting classes and the general public and on loans to 
 schools throughout the State. 
 
 The laboratory is well supplied with instruments and apparatus 
 necessary to make the bromide enlargements, which illustrate the 
 exhibits of the Museum, as well as photomicrographs for use in 
 technical schools. 
 
 During the winter, free public lectures are given frequently in the 
 Museum Lecture Hall. The subject is usually one of the important Lectures 
 countries of the world, and the lecture gives a general idea of the 
 country and its inhabitants, emphasizing especially the products and 
 industries that make it important commercially. Other lectures take 
 up the history, development and present importance of commer- 
 cial products. The accurately-colored lantern slides with which they 
 are illustrated double the interest and attractiveness. 
 
GEOGRAPHIGAL COLLECTION IN CABINET FOR UNGRADED SCHOOLS IN PENNSYLVANIA 
 
Similar lectures are loaned free to schools in all parts of Penn- 
 sylvania. The slides are carefully packed and shipped, with type- 
 written readings, to any teacher requesting them. These loan lectures 
 are becoming extremely popular and are carrying the educational work 
 of the Museum into the remotest country villages. Simple lanterns 
 and screens are loaned with the slides, and thus rural schools are en- 
 joying freely to-day facilities for teaching geography and commerce 
 which a few years ago were beyond the reach of the most favored 
 educational institutions. The wide-reaching importance of this service 
 is almost impossible to estimate. 
 
 One of the most important departments of the Commercial Museum Foreign Trade 
 is the Foreign Trade Bureau. The energies of this Bureau are de- Bureau 
 voted solely to the development of the international trade of the United 
 States. It does this by encouraging individual manufacturers, who are 
 properly equipped to handle the business, to extend the market for 
 their wares to include foreign countries, and then by assisting them 
 in a very practical manner in inaugurating and developing that trade. 
 The service rendered by this Bureau is designed to meet the needs of 
 the individual manufacturer, each manufacturer receiving that help 
 which his particular case requires. The assistance and information 
 
 r.,., , -p> AHelptothe 
 
 given covers subjects or a wide range and varying nature, r or ex- Business Man 
 ample, the manufacturer is supplied with live and practical informa- 
 tion touching trade possibilities and openings for his lines of goods; 
 he is advised as to what foreign countries are supplying a particular 
 market; is told of the drawbacks and discriminations against Ameri- 
 can goods and what steps must be taken to overcome these objections; 
 is furnished with information concerning methods of packing goods 
 for different countries, the best shipping routes and the prevailing 
 freight rates, the consular and shipping papers necessary on specific 
 shipments, and the customs duties charged by foreign countries on 
 these shipments; is advised on the trade mark and patent laws of for- 
 eign countries and the restrictions and taxes which apply to commer- 
 cial travelers and their samples in those countries; is supplied with 
 the names of firms in foreign countries importing and dealing in par- 
 ticular lines of goods. In many foreign countries and in many lines 
 of goods, business can best be conducted through a local agent, and 
 an important feature of the work of the Bureau, therefore, is advising 
 the best points at which to locate such agencies and suggesting the 
 names of reputable firms in a position to handle the agency to the best 
 interests of the American manufacturer. 
 
 Another very practical way in which the Foreign Trade Bureau Trans i ations 
 helps the American manufacturer doing an export business is by trans- 
 lating his business correspondence, for which purpose it has an 
 
efficient and well-equipped Translation Department able to handle 
 
 any commercial language. Letters received by American houses from Int i uines fro 
 
 Abroad 
 
 firms abroad in a foreign language are sent by the recipients to this 
 Translation Department, translated into English and returned. The 
 manufacturer then writes his reply in English, sends it back for trans- 
 lation into the proper foreign language, and after such translation the 
 reply is either returned to him or forwarded direct. 
 
 Not only does the Foreign Trade Bureau perform this direct 
 service for American manufacturers but, conversely, it is constantly 
 in receipt of a large number of inquiries from foreign firms asking for 
 the names of makers of particular lines of goods and requesting to be 
 placed in touch with such manufacturers. These inquiries are 
 promptly referred to the manufacturers here who are best able to 
 handle them. By reason of the great store of valuable information 
 touching the subjects connected with the export trade, the Foreign 
 Trade Bureau is always appealed to for assistance and inquiries 
 are referred to it by foreign consuls located in the United States, 
 by foreign trade organizations, frequently by heads of govern- 
 mental departments abroad, occasionally by the several national 
 departments in Washington, and by American consuls located abroad. 
 It is promoting trade relations by serving both individual firms and 
 governments. 
 
 Another feature of the Foreign Trade Bureau is its publication Publications 
 service. Two journals are regularly published — The Weekly Bulletin, 
 which, as its name implies, is issued once a week (every Saturday), 
 and Commercial America, a monthly publication. Commercial America 
 is intended for circulation abroad for the purpose of interesting foreign 
 buyers in American goods. The greater part of the magazine is de- 
 voted to a description of new and novel articles made in the United 
 States and especially suited for export. Through the agency of infor- 
 mation conveyed by Commercial America inquiries have resulted which 
 have led to valuable trade connections for American manufacturers. 
 The Weekly Bulletin circulates only in the United States among the 
 manufacturers who are subscribers to the services of the Foreign 7>ade 
 Bureau. It is, therefore, of a somewhat confidential nature, contain- 
 ing abstracts of letters received from foreign firms asking for informa- 
 tion concerning specific American products, items concerning business 
 conditions in foreign countries, trade hints received from foreign cor- 
 respondents or culled from the foreign commercial press and from 
 foreign consular reports, and a schedule of steamship sailings from all 
 ports of the United States to foreign countries. These two publica- 
 tions — the one showing foreign importers and merchants what American 
 manufacturers have to offer, and the other showing American 
 
BRONZE SUN-DIAL IN THE MUSEUM GROUNDS 
 Calculated for its exact location and set according to the North Star 
 
manufacturers what foreign importers and merchants want and the 
 articles for which they are in the market — are believed to cover the 
 export field, in so far as it can be covered by publication work, in a 
 most satisfactory manner. Besides these regular publications there are 
 issued from time to time other pamphlets and reports bearing on com- 
 mercial topics, such, for example, as ' 'Foreign Trade Figures, ' ' showing 
 trade conditions in every country which figures in international trade 
 and pointing out the share the United States has in the business of 
 each; " Cotton Manufactures," which has been the means of posting 
 both producers and manufacturers on the world's trade in this com- 
 modity as well as specifying the standing of this country where cotton 
 growing and further utilization is concerned. 
 
 As a result of several years of unremitting effort the Foreign 
 Trade Bureau not only has intimate relations with American manufac- Equipment for 
 turers and exporters but is in close touch with reputable merchants, Work 
 importers and large consumers and governmental and municipal au- 
 thorities in foreign countries. Properly to carry on the work, it has 
 built up a network of valuable connections throughout the commer- 
 cial world. Special correspondents in all the larger cities of the world 
 are constantly keeping the Foreign Trade Bureau informed on topics 
 pertinent to international trade; in almost every quarter of the globe 
 the Bureau is, through its connections and facilities, able to secure in- 
 formation which is helpful to American manufacturers. Moreover, 
 members of the staff of the Commercial Museum, men trained 
 in foreign trade and thoroughly familiar with the needs and con- 
 ditions of manufacturers here, have been sent abroad from time to 
 time to study conditions as well as to make the acquaintance, per- 
 sonally, of the heads of some of the leading importing houses in for- 
 eign countries. 
 
 Invaluable to the members of the staff of the Commercial Museum T Fr f e Co "» mer ciai 
 
 Library 
 
 and of great assistance to manufacturers and business men generally 
 is the Commercial Library of the institution. This is probably the 
 most complete library of its kind, not only in the United States but 
 in the world. It is a practical consulting library, in which are on 
 file, in addition to the official statistics and similar documents of nearly 
 all foreign countries, the consular reports of all countries which system- 
 atically publish reports of their consuls. There is also a large collec- 
 tion of books on general commercial topics, as well as most of the 
 recent works of travel and description having value from a commercial 
 point of view. A most important part of this commercial library is 
 the collection of directories of foreign cities and industries. There Business 
 are over four hundred of these directories, ail of late date, covering Directories 
 the more important cities and towns in every foreign country and 
 
\ 
 
 CENTRAL PORTICO AND MAIN ENTRANCE 
 NORTH BUILDING 
 
every town and city in the United States with a population of over 
 100,000. 
 
 The administration and staff of The Philadelphia Museums are 
 as follows: 
 
 Board of Trustees, ex-officio. — The Governor of Pennsylvania; 
 the Mayor of Philadelphia; the President of Select Council; the Administration 
 President of Common Council; the President of the Board of Public 
 Education; the Superintendent of Schools; the State Superintendent 
 of Public Instruction; the State Forestry Commissioner. 
 
 By Appointment. — Daniel Baugh, Wilson H. Brown, Theodore 
 N. Ely, W. W. Foulkrod, Ellis A. Gimbel, Simon Gratz, W. S. 
 Harvey, William W. Supplee, W. T. Tilden, Charles F. Warwick, 
 W. P. Wilson, Sydney L. Wright. 
 
 Officers cf the Board of Trustees. — President, W. S. Harvey; Vice- 
 President, Charles F. Warwick; Treasurer, Daniel Baugh; Secretary, 
 Wilfred H. Schoff. 
 
 Director. — Dr. W. P. Wilson. 
 
 Curator. — Charles R. Toothaker. 
 
 Librarian. — John J. Macfarlane. 
 
 Chief of the Foreign Trade Bureau. — Dudley Bartlett. 
 
 The Museum buildings are open daily, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sun- Hours 
 days, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. 
 
 Admission to all departments of the Museum is free. 
 
Plans for Completion of Buildings 
 
 The Philadelphia Museums in their present condition consist of 
 three large Pavilions or Exhibition Halls, and a one-story building 
 which covers the entire ground between the present Central and South 
 Pavilions, and adjoins the Power House. 
 
 The one-story building will ultimately be replaced with a large 
 central Auditorium and Library. The three exhibition halls will re- 
 main, and a fourth building, similar in character, will be annexed as 
 a future development to the south of present South Building, and 
 these four buildings with their projected connecting arcades and 
 galleries, and the large central Auditorium and Library referred to, 
 will in the future comprise the Philadelphia Museums. 
 
 The three large pavilions when erected were built in the most 
 substantial manner, as to strength and material. The walls are of 
 brick, the floors, girders and supporting columns are of steel, and as 
 structures, answer admirably as permanent exhibition halls. The 
 buildings were originally planned in order to be used temporarily for 
 the National Export Exposition, and owing to lack of funds it was 
 found necessary to cover their exteriors, for the time being, with 
 stucco and plaster ornaments. Since that time the exposure to the 
 elements has naturally caused the plaster work to fall away from its 
 brick backing. Consequently, the task of refacing the entire work 
 was found to be imperative, in order that the buildings might pre- 
 sent an appearance worthy of their purpose. Within the three past 
 years the work of refacing has progressed as rapidly as the appropria- 
 tions from the City and State have permitted, and as a result of 
 these endeavors, the North Pavilion or Exhibition Hall will, with 
 the fulfillment of present contracts, soon be complete. 
 
 The North Pavilion is severely classic in its style; its great dimen- 
 sions demanded a broad, simple and dignified treatment. All attempt 
 at ornamentation has purposely been restrained. The Main Entrance 
 Portico is the most prominent feature of the building, surmounted with 
 its great Corinthian columns and pediment, while the east and west 
 ends recall in a suppressed measure the treatment of the main entrance 
 portico. 
 
 A word of explanation as to the method employed in refacing 
 this building may be of interest. From a 24" ground course of 
 granite, to the sills of the first story windows, a base course of terra 
 cotta, limestone in color and texture, was employed to act as a base 
 course for the entire building. From this point to the top of the 
 
balustrade along the roof semi-glazed white terra cotta was used. 
 Each block, moulding course and cornice stone has been caiefully 
 anchored into the old brick walls in such a manner that the new and 
 old work are as thoroughly bonded and fast as if the refacing had been 
 a portion of the original building. 
 
THE PHILADELPHIA MUSEUMS' PRESS 
 19 10