The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1879-10-23
The Baldwin. Augusta Fair.

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FOR TO DAY AND TOMORROW.
Never was there gloomier prospect ior
our county Fair than that which Tuesday
last ushered in. Early In the morning tne
sky was overcast and the rain commenced
descending with a steadiness and perslsten'
cy which destroyed all prospects OF its
abating during the day, and dampened the
hopes OF the most sanguine, who were az all
interested in the success Of our annual ex-
hibition. The attendance at the grounds
was scarcely worth counting, and the ma
chinery and stock looked lonesome indeed,
as It stood forth bereft OF Its human accom-
paniments. Notwithstanding the unpropi-
tious weather, however, among the exhibitors
all was hustle and hurry. Around the
Rotunda the machine men were placing
their various candidates for premiums in pos
sition, and the owners of all kind of mechan.
ical contrivances were anxiously looking for
a good stand.
The display Of machinery and articles OF
manufacturing industries exceeded in vari-
ETY., workmanship and appearance any pre-
vious exhibition. Lynn & Eyler had large
number of agricultural implements &c., en-
bracing steam engines, mowers, reapers &c.
| w. A. Rife exhibited his premium Virginia
Feed Cutter, one Of the best labor saving
machines ever invented. It. Burkholder,
had steam tbresher in operation; Clinedinst
& Bodell made magnificent display Of bug
gies &c., as did also Click 6 Miller OF Bridge
water. w. W. Gibbs wagon mandatory
was represented by several of the finest
specimens of first class workmanship we
have ever seen, whilst thousand and one
other articles useful to the farmer were to be
seen, operated by number Of exhibitors
whose names and entries we have not the
space this week to record.
The exhibition OF stock, especially cattle,
was simply unprecedented. G.. Julian Pratt
had mis- splendid herd of Jersey including
imported "Nugget," the winner of the
first premium at the State Fair last year,
and the Culpeper Fair this year, s'Rose
Hairbell,'' the ribbon taker wherever she
has been exhibited, ''Lady 'Daisy,"
'Ada's Pet" recent sold to Mr.. j. B.
Bear, of this place, an Ayrshire heifer out
of ''Seagull," and number Of others. B.
F. Graves. Of Spotsylvania, had herd of
nine Devons that for perfection of form,
evenness Of color and gene raj beauty were
models. A. M. Bowman had his splendid
short-horns and Jerseys, and just next to
him was the magnificent short horn herd of
Geo. s. Chrisman, hea ded by the famous
sLexington,' and including four M ammoth
steers, averaging 1905 lbs. the largest
1902. Then comes J. Mop. Crawford with |
the Kentucky thoroughbred sh ort-horns,
"Monarch III, - sGeorge Ann," with twin |
calves and a number of others. Besides
these, which were the largest exhibitions,
were many splendid specimens.
Both in number and q ualty the display Of |
horses was behind that of last year. The |
only thoroughbreds entered were two be-
longing to Col. J. W !. Davis, of Greenbrier. In |
heavy and light draft horses the display was
good and included some excellent equine
specimens. Among the prominent exhibi.
tors were G. P. Bryant, K. G. Byers, c. B.
Coiner, Arch. Walker, A. M. Bowman, J.
S. Hawpe, Jno. Myers, E. R. Ro Her, S. A.
East, A. 2. Anderson, Jno. Churchman
and others.
There were not as many sheep and hogs
as usual, but the quality was uns urpased,
and proved that the Augusta farmers deserve
to be classed as leaders in fine stock.
Among the owners Of some of the best
pens were G. J. Pratt, A. NJ. Bowman, II.
J. Hamilton, ]. S. Hawpe, c. p. Hartman,
J. A. Sproul, G. L. Peyton, Gilkerson, and
others.
We do not pretend in this issue to give
anything like full description of the stock
or mention the names of all the exhibitors.
Suffice it to say that taken all together, the
Directors OF the Fair as well as those whose
stock was on exhibition, may well congratu-
late themselves on the display, for it would
have been creditable to any section or State.
THE RoTUNDA.
The most noticeable feature of the exhibit
ton in the rotunda is the collection of the
musical ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS, organs, &c. !,
The piano exhibit this year is principally by
Steif and Knabe, two firms so we'll known !.
to fame that it is needless to comment at
any length upon the merits Of their instru-
ments. Both have achieved worldwide re-
nown, and it is hardly possible to say which
is the favorite of our people. Besides these !
there is on exhibition beautiful upright
piano from the mandatory of J. & G. Fish
er, New York. Judging from the exquisite
workmanship outside, this ought to be a pi-
ano OF superior merit. Beautiful Clough G.
Warren organs are exhibited by Prof. j. !!
N. Branaman. 1t was however difficult y
matter to determine the tone of any one of
the instr uments while each was striving for
rivalry in different key-sP inafore, - 1
Home, I" Sweet Bye and Bye,'' and s.Dix- t
ie,' all blending their homogeneous notes in
one awful medley. p
Next in order comes the exhibit of furni- q
ture from our popular dealers, Messrs. c
blckle and Wilkes, each contributing his q
share OF handsome and substantial articles .
Messrs. Bickle's stand was easily distinguish I
ed by its grand display of burial cases. Look o
ing upon these from an artistic point Of view a
we could be 'shalf in love with dreamful p
1eath. y The sight ofsuch luxurious surround.
ngs is enough to make one ready for the last y
sleep without any other incentive There h
we're collins Of walnut, rosewood satin.lined, of n
bronze, and of metallic, each deliberately fin y
shed, and the plainest OF them handsome .
enough for minister of state. Messrs. n
Bickle also show some fine specimens Of cab n
net work, and Mr.. Wilkes set hard to sur- y
BASS. Mr.. A. E. Miller's display of hard a
ware, especially Of fine table cutlery, glitters O
between the two furniture stands, and Major G
Newton is bard by with his display of tasteful g
carpet exhibitor and sewing T
Machine stand. The carpet exhibitor at "
racted great attention, being novelty in g
he way of advertising and showing to great y
advantage Major Ms large an1 tasteful stock Il
Il carpeting in every style and price. The
Exhibition Of fruits is both large and fine,
the advanced season. There are I'll