Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1879-09-26
CINCINNATI EXPOSITION,
Kansas Farm PrOduets-A Flower
Bed-The Thomas Orchestra.

Bed-The Thomas Orchestra.
The display of the Kansas Pacific Rail-
road is small country fair all by itself.
The general land agent out at Salina en-
deayored to send US a little of everything
to be found out in Kansas and Colorado,
including a man in the person Of Mr.. F.
Robb, who is supposed to be able to an
swer anything they asked him about that
part of the West. He has fifty varieties
of apples, sixty-five of wheat and thirty
five kinds of vegetables. The apples are
none of them very fine looking, though an
Ohio farmer would not recognize them un-
der their names. The maiden's blush for
instance, has hardly particle of red on it.
It is in the wheat that there is the greatest
change. One kind is shown called the white
Siberian which looks as if it had been bleach
ed. 1t is almost as white as paper aud the
grains are of remarkable size, being almost
as large as grains Of corn. Ten pounds to
the acre produce sixty bushels. In the
way of fodder, millet is the most prolific.
1t grows ten feet high and produces four
tons to the acre. They claim it is as.good as
hay for cattle. Oats as tall as rye and
broom corn sixteen feet high are among
the other products. All are arranged un-
der pavilion of native grasses and weeds
with blooming flowers. The center piece
is a cornucopis out of which are pouring
specimens of everything raised in the
western country in the way of fruits and
vegetables and not neglecting their birds
and animals.
On the oiher side of the wall, in a long
wide balcony overlooking the hortieultur-
al department, are the displays Of cut
flowers. The premiums for these are large
and as consequence there is considerable
competition and very elegant displays are
made. One of these was a bed-stead of
large size entirely made of flowers. The
four upright posts were dark to represent
black walnut and the canopy was beauti-
ful pink. The greatest skill was shown in
the fabrication of the quilt-one of the
patchwork kind with large star in the
middle. The lines of the same were per-
fectly shown and the whole from short
distance looked like the familiar bed spread
of our grandmothers. The bed was flow
er one Of ease, and one can imagine the
luxurious repose of reclining on it and en-
joying the fragrance of its tube roses. As
the rewards offered are of original designs,
the shapes and arrangements are varied.
Ships, crosses and houses tower up from
the table in abundance. The hall being
lighted by electric lights the effect is rath-
er remarkable. The shadows cast are We
ry dark and the color of the light is pc
euliar. 1t is at night when these lights
are burning that the cascade and waterfall
show to the best advantage. A great rock
hill is built up and covered with grasses
and moss. From the top large volume
Of water falls about ten feet into a pool
below. From this it runs in a hundred
channels over the rocks fosming and
splashing into the lake below. Various
colored lights are thrown on this and their
ICuSCLAOu W buS WdlCL ID DAAA44dAA5 AuuECus
Another Of the special attractions is a
concert by the Thomas Orchestra once
each week. During the winter Thomas
can fill any order at any hall with tickets
at dollar apiece. When he gives the
same concert for quarter of course his
fame secures large attendance. These
are held in the main hall and have the or
gan for an accompaniment. The whole
balcony has in it nothing but seats and
will accommodate about fifteen hundred
persons. Some of these seats are occupied
from four o'clock in the afternoon though
the concerts do not begin until eight. The
crowd in the evening of the Jewish New
Years day was immense and the music
was not Of such an intensely classical kind
as to be unappreciable. Some Of the hear
ers could not see the use Of having Thomas
standing up beating time. Another was
laboring with a companion trying to con-
vince him that each of the forty perform
ers played by note but his refractory com
psnion insisted that the orchestra could
not make exactly the same noise over
again. JUvENIs.