Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1858-09-25

N--~ "a loAA'lz AaAuI VIC AAdAc w
way to the depot to take advantage of the esrl
freight train, and thus fulfil our engagement
made to the good people of Bedford to b
''among them taking notes" On entering tn
car we found ourselves the only occupant, an,
monarch over all the seats, on two Of which ",
Stretched our form and listened to the patterini
of the rain upon the roof Until we reache,
the city limits the train
Like wounded snake dragged its slow length along,
but then we were carried at good rate to New
burgh, where about forty excursionists got OF
board, being mostly young ladies and gentlemen
who were as full of fun as John G. Sake Ar
irving at the pleasant village of Bedford, the
drenehing rain put damper upon the pos
poets for the day, but rendered the day a fine
one for those having umbrellas or overshoes FOL
sale. The people of the village had been en-.
terPrising and active in preparing the grounds
for successful Fair, and had accomplished
much. A large tent capable of containing :, OOO
persons had been erected. The finest trOtting
ring in the county had been made ready for the
tests of speed-stalls and pens had been pro-
vided for the cattle. and the whole arranged in
systematic and thorough manner. Seats
overlooking the ring were erected for the use Of
the ladies. The Secretary's Office was situated
at the entrance to the grounds where the words
Bedford Union Fair" were wrought in large
evergreen letters.
The tent being rather oil and worn, the rain
fell in quantities through its holes, for which
cause many of the fancy articles and cloths had
been removed, but enough remained to present
fine appearance. Had the day been fair there
would have been a very large concourse of peo-
pie to honor this first fair of the Society, bu
water is potent agent in the affairs of men,
and its effect when falling from the clouds is
not always pleasant So, although the attend
ance was large, it was much less than the mer-
its of the case demanded The exhibition Of
horses and cattle was very ereditable 10 the
farmers about, but in the mechanical depart.
ment there were very few entries Among the
latter Baldwin, Dewitt & Co, and B. Martin &
Co, furnished some harrows, Plows, straw cut
ters, &c. Chas. HOwelrs mower was the only
one on exhibition. The Home Sewing Machine
was working diligently under the direction of
the Agent, Mr.. Jerry Coon.
We note some of the articles which were es-
Pecially creditable, and regretting that the want
of space will exclude the rest
C. D. Purdy, of Belford, had on exhibition a
beautiful Aquarium stocked with various kinds
of fish, and containing also turtle and a frog
which seemed to have made themselves sat
home" among the stones and plants. by
means of water tank above, fountain was
playing in an elevated basin of rocks from which
the water flowed through trough and turned
the wheel of miniature grist mill. The miller
Qazy fellow was sitting OF a projecting log
fishing, and once or twice a minute would jerk
his line up with true fsherman's snap, and
we could almost see a shade of veIation on his
face as he saw it was "only bite The whole
was very ingeniously constructed. Mr.. Purdy
also exhibited a number of Indian relics and a
warriors skull broken by blow from loma.
hawk. These relics were dug from a mound on
the Upper Mississippi
The Purdy family must be great on antigua
rian researches, as we were shown in addition
to the above, collection of Roman coins, and
some old newspapers which have reached the
''sere and yellow leaf"
These latter are interesting types of the
times" from which we could Gull many extracts
had we space A fac simile of Benjamin Frank
Inns Ne1S England Courier of l7s3 was not the
least attractive specimen.
While speaking of by-gOne times, we will
mention a landscape embroidered with silk
which was done by Mrs R. Thomas of Bedford
in 1905. 1t was excellently done, as were sew
eral other fine specimens of embroidery.
The Ladies department was well attended 70
and many neat and delicate contributions show
ed that the fingers ofthe fair danes and msilens
had not been idle. Flowers, Baskets, Paintings,
&c, were arranged in prOfusiOn, and the list
would swell to formidable size were we to
enumerate all deserving of praise.
The Chair Factories of Bedford were well
represented by large array of chairs, plainly
saying "eome TO our arms"
In the fruit department there was of course a
scarcity, but among those who exhibited, ". P.
RObinett of Independence, had tempting ar
ray, comprising forty varieties of different kinds
of fruits OF the merits of some of his noble
apples we can speak, knowing whereof We af,
fim," and furthermore, We can speak from ex-
Perience of the richness and favor of somebody
homemade wines, both Elderberry and Currant
Were we not temperance man, we should eI
patiate upon the subject
The rain so affected the track as 10 prevent
any display of hOrsemanship upon it in the fore.
noon. On Thursday the following ladies rode
in the ring:-Miss Brewster, of Northfeld; Miss
es Wheeler, ParkmsD, Libby, Culver, 70 years
old Leland and Osborn. of Bedford. The n.
ding for prizes was to take place yesterday af
ternOOn-
Taking the Fair rs whole, it was one re-
hecting great credit upon the managers and up
CT the spirit of the contributors. The Fair in
cluded the FIVE towns of Bedford, Newburgh,
Scion, Independence and Warrensville, but Bed.
ford led the rest The officers of the Fair we're
President, Benz. LamsOn; Vice President, ]. C.
Cleveland; Secretary, E J. Bates Treasurer
Wm- King.
Being obliged to leave at 2:5OP NJ, we were
unable to see the afternoon eSecises or to obtain
a full list of the premiums.
Among those whom the Fair called together
were several sporting gentlemen, who thought
that the rural inhabitants might have theil
pockets picked with imPunity, but who were