The river press. [volume] (Fort Benton, Mont.) 1880-current, 1881-10-05
TIL E RIV ER PRESS.
Shall this
enioyments within their homes. Shall this
winter witness the Inauguration OF q new
aud better era in the social life of our own.
THE TERRITORIAL FAIR.

The Fair this year was not an eminent
success. The attendance was comparatively
small and the citizens or the Capital are now
busy framing plausible excuses for the alb
sence Of the multitudes. The weather Ger
tainly was not favorable. One or two days
it showed and at no time would a person feel
comfortable on the grounds without an over
coat. Heretofore the Territorial Fair has
been held some weeks earlier and It is now
generally conceded that the association made
q mistake inspostponing the exhibition until
this late date. After the middle of septem-
Der the weather can not be depended on in
this vicinity and the experience of this year
will serve as a good lesson for the assoeia-
ton.
The d.. A. M. s. M. association have beau
tiful groundssin the valley about two miles
from the Capital. The buildings, including
a grand stand or amphitheater, are neat and
commodious, and the race track one OF the
best mile courses in the West. There is also
an elegant mortgage on the property for al
most its full value, and it is not probable
that it will grow less this year. If the ASSOC
citation succeeds in making both ends meet
they will do better than is generally expected
Apart from the horse racing the Fair
amounted to very little. There were q few
agricultural products on exhibition, but Geo.
Houck's display of q few weeks age would
have been almost equal to it. The water
melon sent over by W. FL. Todd and raised
on the ranch Of Mr.. Austin was the only one
on exhibition and it attracted general atten-
ton. The potatoes were large but they do
not compare with some I have seen from the
ranches in the vicinity Of Benton. The poul-
try exhibition consisted of a few sickly look
ing chickens of very ordinary breed. The
farmer seems to have overlooked the Fair to
q great extent Or elsesthe inducements Of
fered by the association in this department
are not Of a very liberal character. 1t is
probably the latter. When $4,000 in prem
iums are set apart for the races. but little can
be left for the granger. | take it that the
division is not fair. There was some excel
lent stock on the grounds, but not as many
stalls filled as there should have been. If the
exhibition made at the Fair can be taken as
a test Governor Potts and Russell B. Harri-
son have the finest horses in the Territory.
They exhibited about twenty animals, many
Of them ~thoroughbreds and of the highest
order. Their Clydesdale and Suffolk stall
lions, pure blooded imported horses, are as
fine as can be found in the west. Some eX-
cellent colts by the former were also shown.
The Suffolk horse was brought to the Terri
tory last year by r. B. Harrison who pur-
chased him at Indianapolis where the horse
took the sweepstakes with thirteen other an
imals in the ring. Governor Potts also exhib-
tied several head of pure Jersey cattle, as
pretty pets as one would wish to see. If
other stockmen would follow the example of
Messrs. Potts and Harrison it would not be
long until there would be a great improve
ment in the stock of the Territory. It is the
experience of these gentlemen, too, that it
pays to handle such stock. Several others
exhibited good horses but [ have not time to
recount their merits. The cattle and sheep
AIiC1 ISIS VI 0ACALHlL dAO P4VUGDLt dAGaQ VI
all others, but one would never suspect it af-
ter he had made the rounds at the 1'erritor-
ial Fair.
In Art Hall there were some very credita-
bic displays and especially of work executed
BY fair hands. Mr.. Bundy, the photographer,
had some excellent pictures on display and
we noticed they were freely decorated with
red ribbon. Mr. Geo. e, Boos, of the Pion-
eer Bindery, had a sample case of work in
his line that would make New York binders
rustic to surpass. Mr.. A. j. Davidson,
who, with Mr.. Mofdtt, is soon to open a
branch house in Benton, had a fine display
Of saddles and harness. / also saw here
some excellent specimens Of ore from Tom
my Cruse's celebrated mine, the Drum Lom-
ond, and there together with about a peck of
coal constituted the mineral portion Of the
Fair!
The chief attraction was the racing. A
great many flyers were on the grounds and
some of them did good work. That the boys
were not afraid to bet on their favorltes is
shown by the fact that fully $25, 900 were de-
posted in the pool box during the week, not
to say anything Of the outside bets. During
the afternoon the pool stand was the center
Of attraction and George Booker, who sold
the pools as fast as two clerks could rake in
the money, the most important man On
the ground. In Saturdays running race, be-
tween d. ID. Davis s'Serrel Mike and M. q,
Morris ssBoulis, " two best out Of three, the
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