Those who didn't want to venture inside the Better Living Center to see several floors of exhibits before leaving could still see its largest exhibit situated just outside the building, an authentic Civil War locomotive called the General which had been a staple of major World's Fairs held in America as far back as 1893 and which had a fascinating history behind it.

The General on display at the Better Living Center during the 1964 Season of the New York World's Fair

SOURCE: Photo presented courtesy Bill Cotter collection © 2010 Bill Cotter, All Rights Reserved. See more images from Bill's fabulous collection of World's Fair photographs at his website WorldsFairPhotos.com.

On April 12, 1862 a group of twenty Union raiders led by a civilian spy, James J. Andrews, stole the General from its station in Marietta, Georgia as part of a daring attempt to destroy Confederate rail and telegraph lines throughout the state and disrupt rail service between Atlanta and Chattanooga. The ensuing chase of the General by the pursuing locomotive Texas ended when the General ran out of steam eighteen miles below Chattanooga. All of the raiders were captured with eight of them eventually hanged, including Andrews. The rest managed to escape imprisonment or were later exchanged during the war for Confederate prisoners. After the release of the remaining six raiders, Secretary of War Edwin Stanton made the raiders the first recipients of the Congressional Medal Of Honor (save for Andrews who, as a civilian, was not eligible) in recognition of the courage they had demonstrated in such a difficult operation.

While the "Great Locomotive Chase" earned itself a permanent place in Civil War folklore, the General itself returned to nearly thirty more years of obscure service for the Western & Atlantic Railway Company, eventually falling into a state of near-ruin and being described as "condemned" when retired from service. The decaying locomotive was located by a photographer/lecturer, E. Warren Clark, in Vinings, Georgia. He hit upon the idea of restoring the locomotive and having it put on display at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago where it proved to be a successful attraction from an attendance standpoint (though not from a financial standpoint for Clark, who went broke from the endeavor).

After its display in Chicago the General spent most of the next sixty years on display in Chattanooga, being moved for exhibit to Baltimore in 1927, again to Chicago in 1933 for the Century of Progress Exposition and to New York for the 1939-1940 World's Fair. After World War II the locomotive became the subject of a drawn-out dispute between Tennessee and Georgia over where it would be permanently displayed and these matters were still ongoing in the early 1960s when the General underwent a new restoration that enabled it to move under its own power once again. A national tour followed during the celebration of the Civil War centennial and, in 1964, it was decided to bring the locomotive to the second New York World's Fair. Because of a tour commitment in Louisville during Derby Week, the General wouldn't arrive at the Fair until more than a month after opening day.

The General on display at the 1939-1940 New York World's Fair

SOURCE: From WIKIPEDIA (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_General_(locomotive)), : This image (call number OP-19817) is from the collection of the photographs of the late Otto Perry (b.1894, d.1970) held at the Western History Department of the Denver Public Library (http://photoswest.org/), and is copyrighted. The department actively encourages fair use of its images for educational purposes.

After being transported to New York by railroad ferry her engine was fired up and the General traveled to Flushing Meadow under her own power along the Long Island Railroad tracks and entered its exhibit location at the Better Living Center by means of a special track that was laid. The General carried behind it a special "museum coach" filled with numerous railroad memorabilia that would also be a part of the display.

Because of the difficulties in keeping the General over the winter months at the Fairgrounds the locomotive was only displayed at the Fair during the 1964 season and then returned to its traditional berth in Chattanooga. The locomotive would only travel under its own steam again one more time before finally moving to a permanent home in Georgia (after a Supreme Court ruling finally settled the matter of ownership) at the Kennesaw Civil War Museum where it has been displayed continuously since 1972.

The General's presence at a World's Fair that also featured an original copy of the Gettysburg Address in the Illinois Pavilion certainly made Flushing Meadows "the place to be" for serious Civil War buffs in 1964!

To learn more about the story of "The Great Locomotive Chase" visit the Kennesaw Museum's site at http://www.locomotivegeneral.com/general.html.

 CHILDREN'S WORLD

Dorothy Draper's Dream Home

Humane Society of the United States

The Humane Society of the United States   AT THE WORLD'S FAIR

Left to right: Nicky, Mr. Phifer, Mr. Amory, Donna, Lady Guinevere, Jester, Mrs. D'Essen, Ryda, Sir Llancelot (two l's) and Morgan.     THE GROUND FLOOR - THE BETTER LIVING CENTER

What is a Humane Society?

The dictionary defines "humane" as "having what are considered the best qualities of mankind." And first among these qualities is, of course, an actual part of the word "mankind" - the word "kind." A humane Society wants, in short, not just human beings, but humane beings.   The Humane Society of the Unites States, or HSUS, as it is known, was organized as recently as 1952. Yet in less than a score of years it has grown to be the largest national Society in the world for the prevention of cruelty to animals. There are local SPCA's all over the country, but they are independent organizations and are even independent of the "American" SPCA, which is a New York organization only. The HSUS, in contrast, has either branches and affiliates or members in every state in the Union and more importantly, it also works closely with all humane societies, whether they are HSUS affiliated or not, and whether the job consists of rescuing an individual stray, reorganizing a whole shelter operation, policing a rodeo or circus, or sponsoring legislation such as the Federal Humane Slaughter Act of 1958.   Today, any humane Society worthy of the name realizes that while we are, on the one hand, in the midst of the greatest pet boom in history, we are also, on the other hand, living in a sad and dwindling world for wildlife and a world which is, through neglect and surplus breeding, a terrifyingly inhumane one for literally millions of unwanted dogs and cats. Spaying bills are essential - so, too, because so many state anti-cruelty laws specifically exempt laboratories, is a federal bill to protect laboratory animals. On this subject, between the anti-vivisectionists, who believe with religious fervor that there should be no use of animals for experimentation, and today's "research unlimited" which believes, with equal fervor, in every conceivable experimental use, a middle-ground can and must e found - for the use of animals but not their abuse. This middle-ground must establish ground rules and foul lines whereby genuine necessary research can proceed unimpeded, and yet whereby the 300,000,000 animals in our laboratories will be protected every step of the way - from unjust pound seizure and unscrupulous dog dealers to unnecessary cruelty and needless repetition of experiments in grant-happy institutions.   Finally, a humane Society worthy of the name is not just for animals for animals - it is for animals for people. While it believes that the least cruelty to the least creature diminishes us all, it is a resolute in its opposition to cruelty to children and mob violence as it is to bullfighting and steel traps. And, looking to the future, it seeks to enlist a whole new generation of humane beings - who may be discovering for the first time a broad-scale charity in which they themselves can play a meaningful role and through which they may spearhead, on a broad front, an all-out assault on today's age of violence.   CLEVELAND AMORY