New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1882-09-24
SEPTEMBER F4IRS.

The series of State and county fairs which
began last week. will, before October 20, num-
her many hundreds They make \ marked
feature in the commercial and social life of the
country. vet they are not at all the old yearly
gatherings which our middleagcd readers re-
member under the same names, nor, al
though larger and more prctcntous. do they
count for as much. The farmer and the farm
er's wife looked forward to the old-fashiOncd
fair all the year it was iol them the choice
plc was fattencd for months and the two-ycar-
old trained for them the pretty, plump
checked girls crochetcd and embroidered, their
mothers made amber jelly and lucent syrups &,
and the old grandmother PIT together in the
, chimney corner with her shaking fingers the
marvellous quilt on which her name and age
were TO he stitched. 1t WAS with an eye
10 the glories OF the first PRIZE at the
county far that a year before the farmer
pulled the price of an imported Mcrno eve
or Uolstein calf out of his reluctant pocket.
The fair, then, too. was for many Of these pcO-
ple the one opening into the outer world in their
cycntlcss lives Nothing could be more homely
or friendly than these gatherings within the
fenced Enclosure, gay with flag the village
band playing, the yellow September sun shin
ing, and the wind, with a snap Of frost in it,,
blowing. 1t was no ordinary occasion, and
WAS approached with Il certain solemn and de-
ljbcratc pleasure. The farmers wife alghted
from the buggy slowly, in the pOmp OF her
sunday black silk and bugle- trimming, the girls
Ocaning very decidedly on the arms Of their
young mem strollcd around, all conscious of
their new gowns and coats, through the sleeves
of which their hard, red hands asserted them
selves. Perhaps the laughter was loud AMI
The roses in the bOnncts we're glarng and COM
mon, but the spirit Of the thing was altogether
wholesome and hcalthiul The visitor bad
won the prize for colt or jelly or butter which
had cost n years anxious, patient work, and II
WAS for that that the sun shOne and the band
Dlaycd No wonder there was laughter. Then
the young fellow was pretty sure to see the
Girl ne most liked looking her best, and the
old fellow had Il chance to see what his neigh
bors were doing with the same problems of
land, crops and cattle which he spent his life
in working out Then came the races: the
rope surrounded by a solid black ring of men,
most of them deacons or class-lcadcrs or mem
brrs of some orthodox church, shouting and
whoopng nadly a. Browns bay got ahead, or
Sccrlyht's sorre cam up ucchl and mech landl 'ach
with secret fearful joy in thus vcnturing
once Il year on goddess deeds known only to the
wicked. There WAS the meeting, too, with old
friends from the other end OF the county, the
wonder OF hearing about the Judges daughters
bridal trip East, or that Briggss boys who
had gone TO Iowa had turned over a clean six
thousand in the first year"
The old fair, with its homcy features, is only
now to be found in some solitary corners OF
PENNSYLVANIA or the Southern States. The
new fair is Il totally different thing. II Is
usually an advertising medium for wealthy
city firms, or large dealers IN cattle or agrcul-
! tual implements, OF nurscIymcn, OF 1t Is, as
in Nebraska, an exhibit by great railway cor
p0ratlons OF the possibilities Of their land in
order to tempt emigration. Professional rae
ing men are seen now on the stands, and enthu-
siasts in archery, lawn tennis or lacrosse put
up cups TO be won. The fair, indeed rs n
feature of our social or commercial life, is still
useful and important. But it has almost wholly