The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1855-10-04
ANNUAL STATE FAIR IN oHIo-A GLANCE
AT ITS WONDERS.
COLUMBUS, ONO, Sept. 81, 1855.

eye State has just closed, and the thousands
who have been collected here, to witness the
signs and the wonders, are departing. The fair
has passed off well, and pleasantly.
The grounds are about mile from the city,
IN what is called Franklinton, and is the very
spot where "once upon time" when this great
Buckeye State was yet in swaddlng clothes,
the lamented Harrison held council with the
chiefs of the Wyandotts, Delawares and Sen
eca tribes of Indians. And tradition aflirms
that the very elm under which this talk was
held Is still standing, and enclosed in the fair
grounds.
Beginning at the circumference of the circle,
we hnd the horses, cattle, sheep, and swine, and
all the fourfooted beasts, in sheds uponj the
outer edge; and very complimentary to the fer
tility OF our soil were their sleek fat sides. 1t
IS one of the "rights of woman" | hope, in
tins age OF liberty, to admire fine horses, if
there be the inclination. At any rate, ortho-
dox or not, honesty obliges me to confess to
very decided penchda of that kind Never
was that taste more fully gratifed than at this
exhibition. Whatever beauty there could be
In form, whatever grace in motion, within the
confines of horsetesh, | am sure was to be
seen then and there. | wish all lovers of such
things could have been there to see and enjoy
for themselves.
The horned mammalia were well represented
likewise. There were black, white, and brown
cattle, ring-streaked and spotted "the COW
with the crumpled horn" and the cow with no
horn at all Durhams, and others whose high
sounding names | must beg their pardon for
forgetting. Indeed, | am obliged to confess to
most deplorable ignorance of all technical
ties IN this department. | can easily distin-
guish between a big OK and a little one. and an
misunderstanding COW and viXenish one but
thnrt Il i Il
not. There was one OK quite distinguished for
his Brobdignagian proportions. His size was
so commensurate with the occasion, that it
rather indicated that he had been gotten up
purposely to suit the time and circumstances
Had he been barbecued, his broad sides would
have furnished nice little bit to the longing
taste of his hungry admirers
The number of sheep seemed to be small at
least smaller than l expected. There were
some foreigners there, possessing the quality
so often wanting in their fellow-creatures " of
the biped race-of being better inside than
ont. The wool upon the exterior looked black
and unpromising; but when opened it was
white, aud soft as silk. There were also a few
representatives of the native species but all
these specimens, upon the whole, looked deci-
dedly sheepish, probably ashamed of their linn
tied representation.
dignation Of a devout jew, though scarcely so
many as might have been expected in this hog
raising State. But the assembly seemed to be
very select. | noticed one kind that appeared
to have the premOnitory symptoms of being
packed. At any rate, the brstles were all off,
so that there was but the simple matter of
"giving up the ghost" and being cut up, in
order to be ready for being slowed away in the
barrel.
Chickendom would by no manner of means
have delighted q Know Nothing. | almost
wondered that the honorable committee would
bring together such an assemblage Of foreign
ers. Here were Shanghais, Cochin. Chinas,
Brahmas, and / do not know what other up
start intruders. Indeed, our Native Americans
are almost entirely ousted by these refugees
from other lands. | dare say they have, half
of them, been sent over here because they
would not behave at home. Very likely the
hens refused to lay oftener than every other
day, and rested on Sunday besides and the
mascuines made such awkward attempts at
growing, to make midnight appalling, and
morning hideous. But here they are permit
ted to rule the roost, and quite look down upon
our humble Bantams and industrious Dorkings
whose fathers and grandfathers scratched up
the gardens long ago, and their mothers laid
eggs for pumpkin pies and flannel cakes many
generations back. | noticed here how these
Shanghais, with their aspiring heads and feath
cred toes, looked down with disdain upon the
meek-looking Bantams at their side, which
latter seemed to be calculating how many eggs
they might possibly contrive to lay, as return
for their glossy feathers and full crops.
Turkeys were there, too, already wearing
sad and troubled look, as though they knew and
could not forget that Christmas is coming, and
they were already preparing their "last will
and testament" in preparation for that event.
There were ducks, too, in considerable number
and variety, and few demure-lo looking geese
The fancy bipeds 1.-THE. teathered ones, at least
had most of them stayed at home. OF course
they had no business at this Industrial Exhibi
ton, where use and not show found favor.
saw two or three varieties of pigeons, and kind
of dove that was new to me. With black or
brown feathers all over their bodies and wings
they had snowwhite heads and tails. But their
most striking popularity was, the broad ruff
they wore about their necks, precisely in the
Elizabethan style. They were very becoming
to them, and, though it exposed them to the
risk OF being classed with the " old fogies," yet
L could not but admire their independence in
wearing ruff that suits their style, notwith
standing imperous fashion has hanshed ruf,
files, and bid all her subjects wear collars in
their stead. They were appropriately called
ruffled-necked doves"
The products of art were arranged in differ
ent halls. First was Power Hall" Here
were steam engines and labor-saving machines
of all kinds and descriptions, from the only
self'weighing, self-discharging, selfregistering,
and seltcalculating grain scale in existence"
down to apple-parers, churns, and washing ma
chimes. The best ranges, the best furnaces, the
best cooking stoves, the best everything, with
or without patents, that is or ever has been or
ever will be, were here to be seen.
Then there was the Manufacturers Hail."
with its appropriate contents. 1t would be te-
dious to give list of the articles exhibited and
| could not do it if tried. One invention par,
ticularly interested me, perhaps because it
came so entirely within the range of my COM
prehenson. That was dining table that could
all be nicely folded up and put inside of side
board. 1t certainly would be very convenient
in small house.
Next was the hall containing the products of
the farm and dairy. / have never anywhere
seen so fine collection of fruit as was here ex.
hibited. There were apples, pears, peaches, and
grapes in almost endless variety and of most
marvellous size. There was, however, decided
drawback upon the pleasure of looking at them,
occasoned by the feeling that that was not the
sense by which one would most gladly test their
excellence The vegetables, too, were of wonder
full magnitude. l scarcely recognised some
quite intimate acquaintance, they had so grown
away from my recollection. There were cab
bages that would excite in a Dutchman lively
feelings of gastronomic pleasure, and beets that
beat any beets have ever seen before. There
were ears of corn that Liiputian would be long
in measuring with his strides the longitude there
of, and melons and cucumhers and pumpkins
all in keeping. The season has been so unusu-
ally favorable to the growth of vegetation that