Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1878-09-09
HISTORICAL.
Passing in Review the Great State
Fair vi 1873.
SOMETHING BRILLIANT TO SEE.
AS the Minds Eye Trvaerses the Scenes
and Events of the Past Week.

The week just closed will ever be memorable
In the history of 81 Paul, for the incidents Vi
the State fair crowded fast upon each other
that those who have taken it upon themselves
to keep track of them have found time for
little else. We have had an exhibition of the
products of the farm and the mandatory un-
rivalled in extent and completeness; the dis
play Of blooded horses and cattle has been of
wonderful variety and extraordinary numbers;
sheep, swine and poultry, boasting distin-
guished lineage, have condescended to show
their good points to the assembled multitudes;
the President of the United States, attracted by
the promise of such an unusual display, has
journeyed from Washington to exhibit his title
to his office; and Rarus, Edwin Forrest, Great
Eastern and other distinguished stars of the
turf have shone upon the grounds of the State
Agricultural society, Such an aggregation of
attractions was probably never before gathered
at any agricultural fair in the Northwest if
indeed. in the country.
AS the management had taken such pains to
assure an attractive exhibition, it was but fair
that the clerk of the weather should smile
upon them. Perhaps there was u little too
much coloric In the atmosphere for comfort
but otherwise the weather was all that could be
desired. good show being guaranteed, and
the skies being propitious, it was natural
that the people of the State of Minnesota and
of the States bordering upon her fertile acres
should come to see. They came, they saw, and
were satisfied. They came in couples and in
troops in companies and in armies. From
Monday morning till Saturday every convey
ance that gave promise of landing the occu-
pants in St. Paul was crowded to suffocation,
and on Wednesday and Thursday especially the
trains and the boats were packed with mass
of sweltering humanity, every soul bent upon
seeing Rarus or Hayes or dying in the attempt.
The engines putfed and groaned beneath their
loads; the wheels of the rars squeaked and
protested, but finally the throngs arrived, with
crushed clothing, wilted linen, but buoyant
spirits. For the most part they came from the
farms and the villages of Minnesota. The men
were ha dy looking set, with well developed
muscles, broad shoulders and chests and brawny
arms and hands. Not many came alone. If
they didn't bring their wives they brought their
sisters-or somebody else's sisters. The mid
dle-aged women were Drowned and Drawn; the
younger were rosy, bright-eyed and modest.
They were all q little timid, put by c]jpging
closely to the arms of their escorts they finally
found courage to walk the streets with the air
of the oldest inhabitants They Toasted their
eyes on the elegant silks cassimeres, brocades
and laces displayed in the shop windows, emp
tied their portmonais in the purchase of tempt
ing articles of wearing apparel, and sweetly
sighed for more. Then they went out to the fair
grounds. All of them saw Hayes or Rarus.
They seldom have had an opportunity to see
Il live President horse that can trot his
mile in 2:l3I. They also saw the pictures,
the pumpkins, the knitting work and the prize
tb, ito <Iox +o1l ,Il1,
and the agricultural machinery; and after
weary day plodding through the dust and dirt
OF the fair grounds, partaking of q lunch pro-
fusely seasoned with sand, drinking a few
glasses of lemonadc-or rather water, into
which u lemon had been hastily immersed, they
returned to the city pretty well worn out with
their unaccustomed exercise, but glad that
they had come. LIE they could manage to get
seat or standing room on q train returning
homeward, they set out for their farms or their
cosy cottages; if not, they patiently awaited
the morrow, and patiently submitted to a
nights unrest in overcrowded hotel or
boarding house,
1t lis probable that over a hundred thousand
non-residents visited st. Pau during the week.
For the most part they were of the class we
have described. They thronged the city morn
lng, noon and right, and yet there was scarcely
n case of drunkenness and not a single case
OF disorderly conduct or riot among them. They
were as fine a class of men and women physi-
cally as can be gathered in any State in the
Union; they were observanb, intelligent, cour-
teous, orderly. They did not need the restrain
ing influence Of the police, and the police felt
free to accord them the freedom of the Streets
conscious that they would do no wrong. ST..
Paul is proud of her visitors.
1t IS worthy of mention that no pool selling
was allowed upon the grounds. Neither was
the presence of any gambling device for getting
the money of the unwary. In excluding these
by many considered indispensable accessories
to racing meetings, the society undoubtedly
lost few hundred dollars in money, but the
satisfaction of doing right and setting a good
example ought to be, as it undoubtedly is,
most ample compensation for the loss,