Delaware gazette. [volume] (Delaware, Ohio) 1855-1886, 1858-01-15
OF Fairs Their Sources and Extent Of Power

"a E2arS-Tnear sources and Extent OF Power.
We never visited Fair, from the humb-
lest township gathering To- the proud festival
of State or Nation, without having our e.
motions stirred and our intellect quickened
and enlarged by their influence. II will
not do US any harm to analyze the sources of
their power. What are theya They are
among others:
I. EXAMPLE. The simple fact that others
are making improvement, and that we see
and feel it, is enough to start many from a
life of leihargy to one of vigorous industry
and accomplis hment Men become warIike
or peaceful, gentle OF rude, elegant or boor.
ish, because others about them are. So with
farming community in which fairs are held
that all attend. The mass see what the
rest are doing and the same instinct of i'm
tation which should have led them to use
stick with one end burned hard for
plow had they lived in the time of Homer,
now leads them 10 use the latest and best
patents, which turn a furrow twelve inches
deep and sixteen inches wide. and lay
every blade Of grass completely out Of
sight.
II. EMULATION. Men do not like to be
out done by their neighnors. The man
whom the mere force OF example will not
rouse, may be quickened by the knowledge
that others with no better brains and no
more means than his are ontstripping hini
in wealth and comfort, in taste and power.
1T is base to be beaten thus he Gays to
himself. His muscles now move TO the irl-
pulse of his soul. A fair stimulates emuIa-
lion, and this i% another grand source of
power.
who suppose that orators and statesmen,
discovers in science, and conquering gener-
ais are the only men
.'who see the brow of laurel vago,
And effort make to elimb,n
make great mistake. The improver or
importer of u new breed of valuable cattle
may feel this impulse as legifmately as the
orator who enjoys the cheers of applauding
thousands. He wins the first prize for rear
ing the best steed, may enjoy more
spotless fame than the warrior whose ord
nance
Thunder strikes the walls
Of rock hui NJ
The mechanic, whose inventive power has
transformed the toll of the reaper to horses
and oxen, and whose finished implements
enable the farmer to harvest hundred acres
of wheat in one week, and thrash it and
send II TO marketthe next, has as high title
to renown as if his invention had been
christened with some high title drawn from
Greek Lexicon and heralded to the world
with a flourish of trumpets, at which all ears
would ring. Now Fairs call forth this aui-
bition. And this is another source of their
power.
w. AcQyIsITivENEss Men love money
And within proper limits, and for proper ends,
this is noignobe impulse. Thai il is pow
ersuI one and next to universal, none will
deny. Now Fairs appeal to this impulse with
great effect. A wide market is here found
| for everything whose excellence is obvious.
and whose cheapness brings it within. the
reach of their money. A single State Fair
in single year may evoke and crafty this
/ impulse in an intelligent and innocent way
to degree which transcends all ordinary
computation.
V. CURIOSITY. Men love to see new
things. This is an elementary form of the
love os knowledge, and is the same impulse
in the peasant as in the philosopher, in the
child as in the gray haired patriarch..-
Now Fairs crafty this impulse in most
wonderful degree. For most men see at a
Fair. well planned and managed more new
things in three days thnn-they can see in a
year besides. Fairs stimulate curiosity too.
The thinking men or women whose minds
have been delighted thus will wish to go a.
gain. The more they see the more curiou;
they will be to see again. The recurre nee
of Fairs provide for all this. Hence anoth'
er source OF their power.