Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1870-10-08
THE FAIR.

The Memphis Agricultural and Me-
chanical Fair will be opened next Mon
day under the most favorable cireum-
stances. The officers have worked zeal
ously and successfully to perfect the ar
rangements necessary for brilliant dis
play of skill and home industries, and
for the accommodation Of so large a
crowd Of people as may reasonably be
expected. This enterprise, although in
the hands Of few citizens, is not for
their especial benefit; their compensa-
ton for so much labor and time, with,
perhaps, the exception Of one officer on
parsimonious salary, will be realized
only in the general benefit derived by
the community. Every citizen is more
or less interested in the financial and the
external success of this fair. The ad-
vantages derived may be gradual and
indirect, but must reach all who
are identified with the common
interests Of the city and surrounding
country. The generous emulation ex-
cited between planters, farmers, fruit
raisers, stock-growers, manufacturers,
mechanics, and the various classes of
the bone and sinew of the community,
will lead to more diligent efforts in de-
veloping our resources, in improving
the soil improving the various cereals,
and the breeds Of horses, cattle, swine
and poultry, and the strengthening and
building up of all the sources Of our
wealth, comfort, and material prosperity
and happiness. The list of premiums
offered is large and attractive; the prizes
and medals are beautiful specimens of
art and intrinsic value, well worth the
laudable efforts that will be made
10 win them. These medals will crown
their wearers with prouder and more
enduring honors than the decorations
won on any field Of carnage. These are
the trinmphs Of peace and the insignia
of honest toll in the fields where God
commanded man to earn his bread by
the sweat Of his brow These medals
are the bright and shining evidences of
industry and skill in the field, the gar
den and the workshop, and should be
handed down to successive generations
as priceless family heirlooms- Their
possessors will be those who obey the laws
Of God and man, who rise up to their en-
nobling toll with the golden light of the
sun and lie down to rest and sweet
dreams at night No phantom Of misery
haunts their steps; peace and pros
perity abide with them, and they
follow the dictates Of conscience
beneath their own tree Of plenty.
They are the salt of the earth; for it is
the farmer, the producer and the manu-
facturer Who build the monuments and
Gil up the granaries and storehouses Of
civilization. This beautiful and faseina-
ting theme tempts our pen and mind into
a meandering and picturesque pathway.
where there are orchards Of ripe fruit,
fields of golden grain. and the music Of
the anvil, the hymn Of the contented
laborer. the hun Of machinery. she low
ing Of sleek herds, aud the multifarions
productions Of an intelligent. progressive
and happy people. The counterpart Of
this pleasing picture viii be seen next
week at our fair. The young and the old
win Be there. the brave and the fair ones
Of tie land It viii be a season Of
rivalry and rejoicing, and happy re-
unions Of old citizens, farmers, mer-