Daily Davenport Democrat. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1864-1874, 1868-10-02
T1H e STATE FAIR.

Fair, party OF American citizens, thre,
q1arters wnits and at least twenty -one
years Of age. put sG for the grounds Of tn,
Assoet stie,, which are sitoatsd in tha
county Of Gluten. % the Dividing line b.
tween tbs two hostile teibss-,he Lyoncse
and the Cin,onians. And right hsrs lei
it be mentioned tho. u you ever should 50
there to . fair. and take along any regard
f,r psrsonsl safety aud regularity Of facisl
fsatures, don't intimate. 10 the presence OF
Lyons man, that the Fair is held at Clin-
ton, or to Clinton man that il 10 held At
lyons. II you do, look out for devslope
ments
The way to the Fair is the. way of the
transgrsssor. You travel by seven distinct
rou,es-two ferries, two railroads, two
hrack lines. and your own. The distance
| is forty mles-tims very indefinite, do.
pending mostly upon perseverance and
good luck.
Dashing along up The Rack Island road
g Port Byron, and while tearing over the
track just above Hampton at the rate Of ten
milss an heur, exclusive Of steppagss, .
fag Of dis,ress is signalled. aud fosr,een
able b,disd men. women and children
wildly gssticulated | Just beyond-out in
the centre Of the raging Mississippi
'ay tho steamer Dexter in q sunksu condi-
ton. The poor wrstches on the sand bank
are her unfortunate passengers. who have
been washed ashore. The train Is hslted
the shipwrecked sufferers taken aboard and
furnished with such restcrativss snd invig
orstvcs as the market afforded. From
| hearty young nan vhs had been rescued
beyond doubt fron the briny dssp, our
reporter learned tho thrilling particulars,
The morning previous, he related, some
fourteen persons took . sunrise passage on
the i'll fated vessel, then laying at Daven-
port, determined TO reach the Iowa State
Fair Grounds in sdvancs Of oil competition.
The reuts ~, perilous, to be sure, but the
Dexter was withdrawing I've inches Of
water and we'll provisionsd. She passed
the bridge, climbed the lower end Of tho
rapids. and in the short spscs Of four hours
bad made five miles without serious d6a-
Guilty. Unfsrtunassly, however, the break.
ing 10 Of the Moline Golfer dan few days
before had used up 90 much Of The wstsr
naturally devoted to navieation purposes
a. to leave the rocks above nearly bare, and
at eleven o'clock, when the cook threw out
his bucket to get some water to boil bis
Goldfish and potatoes, he made too
heavy . haul. 1t was the last feather
that broke the came"s baek-it Vas asking
altogether teo much Of the Father Of Wa
| tsrs. the Dexter went aground with oil on
| board! Our informsat assured 10 that the
scene amsng the doomed passengers, when
made aware Of the awful situation, beg
CARED description or words to that effect
The old and the yeupg, the middle aged,
and the Reconstructed. gazsd wistfully at
each other in terrible sarnsstnsss. Not .
shriek, not 4 tear, not even . call Of
"twsn.v minutes for dinner" but a. hu-
nan beings Of the nineteenth century on
their devious way to the great Iowa horse
trot, stsod their ground and waited for
something 10 turn up. In this psrilous
condition matters stosd until the shades Of
evening, when into an open life boat bud
died the impsriled passengers, and without
chart, compass, or ratious, struck boldly
out for the hostile shores Of Illinois. What
need Of discanting upon the horrors Of that
undertaking. the hopes and fears, the sleep.
less vigilance and scanty ratiops suffice
i: to say they.. made the riii . and anon
stood proudly cree: on Sucker soil. The
kind hearted conductor answered this
frantic signals, pocksted six incEes Of bo
| Iosna from which he was eagerly lunchiDg.
stopped the machine, backed up and took
them on board, where they we're greeted
by Commodore Davidson, who passed them
through to their destination like man.
Our party arrived at Fulton 10 good or
der, restsd At tho hotel Robinson, got TIE
landlord ints . " muddle' as he frequently
declared, went to bed, and after q hearty
morning meal, proceeded 70 the Iewa shore.
and anon to the Fair Grounds.
This was the third day Of the Fair. The
weather beausiful-in pleasing contrast to
the day preceding, the people came forth
right numerously. Strolline about ,h.
grounds, We found Davenport aud Scott
county well represented in various depart
msnts, and very fair exhibition Of natural
aud artificial productions. Horses and hogs
were the most numerous. The former led
of with Bashaw, Kirkwood and Rockey,
followed BY any quantity Of lesser fry Of
various denominations: the latter made
up sight 20 behold, and were . special
feature. In cattle there was nothing wor.
thy Of particular mention. In the Fine
Arts Hall the display was thin, but en-
braced many articles really attractive. A.
usual. there was . great splrrge in the
sewing machine department.. in which. "
believe, the Grover / Baker won the red
cards.
Shields' Davsnpors woolsn Mills we're
handsomely illustrated 10 clethe, cassi.
0srss, 6annsls, blanksts, which we're usi
vsesaly admired, and darisg the latter par.
sf che DAY properly smhslishsd With red
cards. John Hsyts music store had . flns
display Of choice instsunents. There vas
small display Of furniture, several eases
Of mercantile goeds, lots Of photographs,
two or three quilts, cabinets Of nissrs .,
sp ,ngs g,sds end s.hsr things. Ons very
particular feature was I've elegant mante's
mads Of LIE Grand, Iowa, ma bic, by Kir
BY 4 Howe. This marble 10 found in il.
menss qusntitiss near Aarshalltown, cuts
6ssly, tskssa splssdid relish, has creamy
color, beautifully grained, and snakes up
magnificent style. Bat Of this more here
after.
The display Of frsits, plants, flowers.
pantry stores, ETC., Was extremely msayrs,
though gssd enough.
In the agricultural, machinery and in
ol.s~>uA Nr> Ah> d;nela~ .~a >~S>~.:~>