The Portland daily press., 1886-09-01
THE NEW ENGLAND FAIR.
Rain Interferes With the Programme
of the First Day.
A Large Crowd of People Present to
Witness the Great Show.

BANGOR. Aug. 31.-This year. as last, the
opening morning Of the New England Fair
was rainy. The rain, however, stopped fall
ing at s o'clock, and at noon, while yet
cloudy, appearances indicated pleasant
weather.
The regular trains this morning from The
east and west brought enormous crowds of
people, and a special from the east at noon
was heavily loaded Notwithstanding the
rain good crowd was on the grounds this
forenoon. The track and enclosure were
full of horses taking exercise The track
was heavy today but will probably be in a
better condition for the races tomorrow.
At II o'clock Hon. George B. Loring, pres
ident of the New England Agricultural So
ciety, delivered the annual address before
the members of the Society He spoke of
Maine as a summer resort, a manufacturin
State, and finally as an agricultural region.
He treated at length Aroostook county and
its prosperity and prospects. He spoke of
the present condition of agriculture in New
England, taking the ground that it is on the
increase and giving statistics In closing he
acknowledged obligations to the various
Maine railroad lines and their connections,
and said:
81 congratulate you, gentlemen, on the
collection on these grounds, surprising even
the magnificent display made here last year.
That the agriculture of Maine has not de-
clined we have here abundant proof. Here
may the farmers of New England learn q
useful lesson and realize the Importance OF
by the New England Agricultural Society
for so many years, and in which every prac-
tical farmer has been invited to j0ln L con-
gratulate the Eastern Maine Agricultural
Society on its success thus far, and the or
ganization which / represent on our good
fortune in being able to cooperate with 1t
once more
Following Mr.. Loring's address, a business
meeting of the two societies was held and
work was given to the committees of the
various departments, who were to commence
their labors this afternoon.
At o'clock this afternoon 1t commenced
raining hard and continued till O'Clock. A
large crowd of people had gathered on the
grounds to witness the races and the base
ball game between the Bangors and Belfasts.
But one inning of the latter was played, the
score standing: Bangors, 3; Belfasts, O. But
one heat was trotted in the races owing to
the rain. In the 3-minute class there were
eight starters. Brackets Roanoke" took
the first heat; time, 2.46a. The driver of the
bay horse 'sDuke," from Boston, was thrown
out during the heat and the horse ran for
half mile before being caught, but was not
injured much of any. The postponed races
will be trotted Wednesday forenoon. A
large amount of stock arrived today; and all
that is needed is good weather to make the
greatest fair ever held in New England.
Tomorrow, today's programme of trots
will be carried out, together with those an
nounced for Wednesday in the afternoon;
also base ball game between the Manches-
ters and Con cords, and the great balloon as
cension will take place. The trains tonight
added largely to the crowds.