Mr. Smith Goes to Paris

Following up … Mr. Smith goes to Paris

A while back, I wrote about North Hampton’s long-serving Library trustees.  Edward M. Smith – thirty years as a trustee – was among them.  https://northhamptonhistoricalsociety.org/blog/2021/2/17/devotion-long-serving-library-trustees

Smith (1866-1943) was a civil engineer for the Boston & Maine Railroad; his father Morris Hobbs Smith had been the station master at the North Hampton depot for 43 years so railroading ran in the family.

Among the tidbits that I did not follow through on was Smith’s trip in 1900 that included attending the Paris World Exposition running from April to November that year.  A local newspaper announcement in June noted he was sailing to England and Scotland for six or seven weeks,  and also attending the Paris Exposition.

This World Exposition billed itself as celebrating the achievements of the 19th century and accelerating development into the new one. Total attendance amounted to more than 48 million.

I assumed the fair was similar to Chicago’s 1893 Columbian Exposition,  perhaps familiar to Americans from novels and historical accounts.  Or just check out this blog about S.A. Dow’s trip to that exposition.  https://northhamptonhistoricalsociety.org/blog/2022/7/11/mr-dow-goes-to-the-1893-chicago-worlds-fair 

Paris’ was different.  Smith saw what he likely had been sent to see and learn about  –  the diesel engine, patented in 1892 but not perfected and employed by American railroads until the 1920s.   

Smith also may have taken in the Olympics. After the 1896 revival of the ancient games in Greece,  Paris staged the next Olympics at the same time as the World’s Fair.  There were competitions in twenty different sports at fourteen venues across Paris from May to October. 

Just imagine Smith, a 34 year old bachelor, in Paris at that time.

This year’s Paris Olympics, running from late July to mid-August, includes forty-one Olympic sports. And many of the venues are in Paris itself.  No World’s Fair though this time.