The Henson Journals

[91]

Wednesday, June 23rd, 1909.

Seattle:– Mr Josiah Collins & Dr Lloyd came to meet us at the station. We were taken in the motor to a very pleasant house, with a noble fire–place in which a whole household could gather. The walls were adorned with trophies of the chase. An immense moose's head was particularly noteworthy.

After lunch we went with Mrs Collins to the Exposition. It is finely situated, having a noble view over the bay & lake, with the mountains beyond. The arrangement of the grounds is excellent. Flowers are prominent & beautiful. We looked at the exhibits from Alaska, which appears to be a habitable & fertile country, extraordinarily rich in minerals. The Forestry exhibition was most striking. It is housed in a noble log–built structure, destined to be a permanent possession of the State University. There was a beam of wood 18 inches square & no less than 156 1/2 feet long, cut out of a single tree. Another beam 4 1/2 feet square was 76 feet long.

The Exhibition is held under conditions which might well compromise its financial success. It has received no grant from the Federal Govt: it has been required to have no alcohol sold within its confines: & some of its buildings have been built with a view to the permanent needs of the State University.

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