Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 07.djvu/144

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PANAMA HATS 100 PAN-AMERICAN CONGRESS 7,128,000 passed through the Canal. These were, according to nationality: United States, 786; British, 602; Bel- gian, 1; Canadian, 2; Chilean, 93; Chi- nese, 4; Colombian, 1; Costa Rican, 12; Danish, 79; Dutch, 19; Ecuadorian, 1; French, 104; Greek, 3; Japanese, 87; Mexican, 1; Panamanian, 128; Peruvian, 65; Russian, 3; Spanish, 5; Swedish, 29; Salvador, 1. The entire investment of the United States in the Canal up to June 30, 1919, was $365,416,000. The governor of the Canal Zone in 1921 was Colonel Jay J. Morrow. PANAMA HATS, very fine plaited hats made from the fan-shaped leaves of Carludovica palmata, a dwarf palm tree which grows in Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, and Venezuela, and is called Jipijapa in Central America. PANAMA, ISTHMUS OF, formerly called the Isthmus of Darien, has a breadth of from 30 to 70 miles, connects North with South America, and sepa- rates the Pacific from the Atlantic. The coast is low and swampy along the Carib- bean Sea, but less unwholesome along the Pacific. PANAMA-PACIFIC EXPOSITION, Exhibition held in San Francisco in 1915, contemporaneously with the fair at San Diego, and with a like object, namely the celebration of the completion of the Pan- ama Canal. A total of $2€,500,000 was raised for the purpose, but the initial cost wai5 estimated to have exceeded twice that figure. The buildings included twelve great palaces, and around these were the pavilions of the various States of the Union and of foreign nations, with race track, thoroughfares, drill and pleasure grounds alternating. The pre- liminary work took nearly four years and the area covered 635 acres. The Court of the Universe, with sunken gar- dens, formed the core of the exposition, having decorative features representative of the different nations of the world. The Arch of the Rising Sun, the Court of Abundance, the Court of the Four Sea- sons, the Tower of Jewels, the Palace of Fine Arts, the palaces of mines, metal- lurgy, machinery, transportation, horti- culture, education, and manufactures, formed a wonderful ensemble. The pieces of statuary ran into thousands. Over eighty different States and nations participated and sent exhibits. PAN-AMERICAN CONFERENCE, an assemblage of delegates from all the gov- ernments of South and Central America, convened at Washington in 1889-1890, at the instance of James G. Blaine, then Secretary of State. The conference had for its immediate object the furtherance of international comity and commerce among the races of the American con- tinent. The sittings were protracted for nearly six months, the delegates mean- time visiting every city of importance in the United States. The conference pos- sessed no legislative or executive func- tions, its duties being purely advisory. The definite recommendations included a coinage of uniform weight and fineness, a common method of legalization of docu- ments, the metrical decimal system, and a uniform system of weights and measures, regulation of the fees of consular agents, and certain conveniences of method in customs administration. Other impor- tant propositions were unanimously adopted, such as a great N. and S. trunk railway; government subsidies for steam- ship lines connecting the American coun- tries represented; uniform protection for literary and art property, trade marks, and patents; uniform quarantine regula- tions; a uniform extradition treaty; and a great international bank. The second conference, in response to an invitation issued during the previous year by the Mexican Government, met in the City of Mexico, Oct. 22, 1901. A third conference was held at Rio de Janeiro in 1906, and a fourth at Buenos Aires in 1910. There were delegates from 19 states. PAN-AMERICAN EXPOSITION, a fair held in Buffalo, N. Y., from May 1 till Nov. 3, 1901. It was distinctively an American exposition, the exhibits from the various States of the Union and of South and Central America being un- usually full. The buildings were made of staff tinted a soft greenish-blue. Power for the electrical exhibit, the finest ever given, was derived from Niagara Falls. Over 5,000 horse power, and 200,000 incandescent lamps were used. The electric tower alone had 44,000 elec- tric lights on its sides. Financially the exposition was a failure, due largely to the setback the exposition received at the time of President McKinley's assassina- tion, which caused a temporary closing. The total cost of the exposition was $8,860,757.20; the total receipts were $5,534,643. PAN-AMERICAN SCIENTIFIC CON- GRESS. The second meeting of the Pan-American Scientific Congress was held in Washington, D. C, from Dec. 27, 1915, to Jan. 8, 1916. The meeting, which resulted in the exchange and ad- vancement of new ideas and views in the scientific and educational world in the Pan-American aspects, was held for the advancement of civilization. Eduardo