, 1863-10-02
(F1om Our Own Corespondcnt.l

great. There arc also several wells In the
immediate vicinity Of the horse stalls and cat
Tie pens.
On entering the gate Of the Fair grounds,
which is surmounted By . decorated arch, tte
beauty and adapteduees Of the whole ground,
Us well as tho most excellent and taste.
fnl improvements, are opened to full yie8.
The first cottage at the right Of the
Treasurer and his clerks. for Gen. Singleton,
superintendent Of horses, and also for the
| general superintendent. The next building
ut the right is the police Office, around which
may b. eeen numerous Degberrles, tied up In
| flags Of truce, ready to comprehend the
| gr0utds. The next building at the right /:
The secretary's Office, filed with clerks, and
| ready 10 attend to the wants Of exhibitors,
Then follow n succession the agricultural
implement and mechanics ball, Just In front
Of which is the Prestd.ut'e cottage, neat and
tasteful ediacc; then the farm product hall,
the textile fabric hall, and on the bluff, imme:
diate1y in the rear Of the anphitheatre, is the
ftnit, floral and fine art hsll It Is OF octa2ou
shape, and admirably adapted to the purposes
tor which It is designed. 1t is two storiea
high, the lover story being devoted to fruits,
and the upper to flowers and fine arts. Ad.
vancirg round to the sonth side Of the
grounds, sou reach the dining hall or hotel,
| The lower story of which iB arranged fol
/ &
can be ttated Of dinner at one time, while
| The upper story has large and convenient
| dancing hall. This, with a tew other
small buildings completes the outside rounds.
As near the center Of the lot us Ia possible
] is the race track, half mile In clfcumfer-
| p1etely surrounded with fence, which shuts
| out all vehicles not belonging to the track,
THIS Is an excellent arrangement, us 1t pre-
rents all possibility Of colileion with outside
+~nh n5se1 1Y1+} +}y3Yru ~ ef -
the track is an amphiteatrc, three hundred to
four hundred feet long, capable Of seating
comfortably five thousand or Six thousand
people. Immediately in the center of the am
phitheatre, and directly over It, Is the report.
ers and editors gallery. thirty by twenty teet,
well furnished With tables, detks, &c.sl Il
furnishes the best view Of the whole ground,
and is In every way most admirable institu
tion, far ahead Of anything that haa ever come
under my observation. The editors and "a.
porters unanimously vote that the persons
who designed and ca7ied this gallery to COM
pletion, are entitled to gote Of thanks, and
they have It: Immediately opposite the re-
porters' gallery ls the pagoda, Tor the Judges
and music. nropnd wl1cn cattle aud horsea
| will be brought tor the examination OF com
m1ttees. All Of the buildings are tastefully
| painted, the fences whlteWashed, while every
attention has been paid to the sanitary neces-
| sites.
The stalls for cattle and horses extend the
entire length Of the cast and north sides,
! ulakiDg length Of one hundred and s1xtV
| reds, aud are capable OF afIording room fol
all that may be presented for exhibition. The
pig and sheep pens are on the north side oil
The grounds, and diverge from center In
I have thus given you minute description
Of those fair grounds, and am compelled to
say that, take them In all their natural and
artificial appointments, they are the finest
ever saw: understand they haye cost the
people Of Decatur and Macon county some
and labor Of course has been for q purpose
beyond the eleventh annual Illinois agsIcul.
| tuIal exhibition. It has been made to secure
the permanent adoption Of those grounds for
| our State fairs for al time to come, or al
least for many future Yeara. Whether In thiz
succesefnl, is Jet IN oblivion. might hops
they could be, If one or two difficulties
won1d be removed. The first and great one
is the want Of suitable hotel accommodations
for the crowds who may wish to attend the
faiFs. THIS is serious one, and may defeat
the wishes If the people Of Decatur.
There are two very fair hotels here, which
can comfortably accommodate abont ont
hundred people each, and two or three tay
eTrb which combined can accommodate ONT
hundred more. They all try to accommodate
four or fire times that amount, but in doIng
n.e thav sinnir .hs "a aatita coIoas ~
con. fnt.hie Nav af Inv aetimata 4bar e
vii 1,e nh NJ eorb E,;r Nh" viii 1ranr hnfa
accommodations for Lcarly the entire wcel
of It's existence. How are they to get them
WASN'T evnerienca nrnraa 4h.4 +hst III, +, - -
mnch aid n the arefeoste viii MT . ercee, - ee
onn haif the rom furnished hv thc hoteis
| Here Is difficulty that looks formidable. I
may be overcome, but do not see how.
E11oR11oNATE PRICES.
Another drawback is the disposition mani
tested by all Who offer aceommodatton In
cludiDg omnibus men, lackmen, &C., to dc
these very poor odattons-terms al
ways cath IN advance. The usual charges Q
dny. They now all insist upon 500. Fo
this amount they furnish three very indiffer
ent meals, If you can get them, and cot,
you prosecute your claim vigorously, IN
other cots. With the same number of wear,
and unbapny fellows, without blankets o
pilIoT to warm your body or elevate ron
Head. Il you are modest and less uufortu
rate you can take your chances In the sam,
dipr. in lie halI, on The pfazza. in the attic o
como store. oyer or il the stable, and mony
Ike pleasant places. Pfice for the cot
ecmei1mes simply bundle Of straY, covered
With viii @ ilanKetN % 50 cents. % na1ment AZ @ alTays II II
advance. or iccluding your meals. Rper daY
50 cents, from an apple dumping to hacA
ride. RI haye efuce 1earnel yo3 can get ;
riIenoN TO the Fair grounds sttsiihout springs
for rs cents. and am glad the Jehnes have
come dorn.] The Decaturites may have
grave doubts as to the success In securing
hars they do right. If not, theyact very un
wisely, ard are takipg very effective measures
Very few Of our farmers can afford to be-
Etow weeks time OF lis own. aud perhaps
VI LIZ .i'a, ~ ~ Io uuss " nS4 a. a na -
as.Snutne ineso : nla "aa Pa5"s - *" ~ -,
ean ~ @ noaA1 t, ~" pasS1saso ~ L18 a-. oa'
gaa AZ 'aTx b,t eluuIo s5m sau NJ H. ~ forr nar
pemeo 10 do @ IT, naH Sun, fay ior tooa ~ psI
cons, Per o1em' en- 9ne,nomg lttea1 ei1a ae' anu
T." ia, tera aogs T. ~ Iens,Se ~ p snst Taa
sn ~ 1 ,1oI ho4ei vh;u ~ ~ rssaa q
ssu ~ a. x ~ da,r ~, nr5isa-, s;o,sa
eb,93d % ~ r. Poccssio,ns III 3ii.o thia a3vensa tha;
prices from tTentv.fiye TO one hnndred ne,
cent. K reduction would be more in accord
ancs with justica and fair dcalinr. The ac
commodafions thew afford are cerfnfnjy nucf
inferior. while their natural expenses. in 10
Ito. are Greatly reduced. Thouaands q basi
ness men are extremely ahort-sIehted. and
Decatur hotelkeepers are counted anon,
that class.
But. notwithstanding these serious draY
backs, the excellent faiT grounds, the centrs
wny, and other advantages, may persuade th
Board Of Managers Of The State Agricultura
socIety to continue the Fair here for at leas
another year. II they do 60, trust the abuse
I have enumerated, If not the deficiencies
may be ,emedied, at least those which az
Of Decstur. But enough Of this. I viii no.
visit the various departments, and will, yer
briefly, give you iny Impressions Of eacl
, And iirst In order is