Woodville Republican. (Woodville, Miss.) 185?-current, 1889-10-05

men and women who had prepared for
that era. but should never live to see its
appearing.
Such scenes as these give touch OF
bright, gay color to the dull homespun
texture Of the social fabric of the times.
Indeed. when all the pleasures have
been thus enumerated, they seem a
good many. But the effect of such an
enumeration is misleading. Life re-
manned terse, sad, barren; character
nodded itself on a model of Spartan
simplicity and hardihood, without the
Spartan treachery and cunning.
But from the opening Of the nine
teenth century things grew easier. The
people, rescued from the necessity Of
trying to be safe, began to indulge the
luxury of wishing to be happy. Life
ceased to be warfare, and became an
industry; the hand left off defending,
and commenced acquiring; the molding
of bullets was succeeded by the coming
of dollars.
1t is against the background Of such
strenuous past that we find the Ken
lucky fair first projected by the in
tensely practical and progressive spirit
that ruled among the Kentuckians in
the year 1916. Nothing could have
been conceived with soberer purpose,
or worn less the aspect of great pop
ular pleasure. Picture the scene! A
distinguished soldier and honored gen.
tleman, with a taste for agriculture
and fine cattle, has announced that on
certain day in July he will hold on
his farm a "Grand Cattle Show and
hair, free for everybody The place
is near Lexington, which was then the
center OF commerce and seat Of refined
learning in the West. The meager
newspapers Of the time have carried
the tidings to every tavern and country
crossroads. 1t is anovel undertaking;
the like has never been known this side
of the Alleghanies. The summer morn
ing come, you may see gathering a
very remarkable company Of gentle
men; old pioneers, Revolutionary sol
liegs, volunteers of the war of 1912,
walking in picturesque twos and threes
out of the little town to the green woods
where the fair is to be held; others jog
ging thitherward along the by-paths
and newly opened roads through the
dense forest, clad in homespun from
heel to head, and mindful of the cold
lunches and whisky bottles in their
coat pockets or saddle-bags; some, per-
haps, drawn thither in wagons and aris-
tocratic gigs; once arrived, all stepping
around loftily on the velvet grass, peer
ing curiously into each others eyes, and
Offering their snuff-boxes for grand
sneeze Of convivial astonishment at the
turn affairs were taking, whereby they
could venture to meet under the clear
sky for so bucolic and benign an under
taking; the five judges OF the fair, COM
ing from as many different counties,
the greatest personages OF their day
one, a brilliant judge of the Federal
Court; the second, one of the earliest
settlers, with a sword hanging up at
home TO show how Virginia appre-
ciated his services in the revolutions;
the third, a soldier and blameless gem
tleman of the old school; the fourth,
one OF the few early Kentuckians who
brought into the new society the noble
style of country place, with park and
deer, that would have done credit to an
English lord: and the fifth, in no re-
spect inferior to the Others These
perform the duties assigned them
with assiduity." and hand over to
their neighbors as many as fifteen or
twenty premium silver cups, costing
twelve dollars apiece. After which,
with many interchanges of high-toned
Fluctuations, the dignified assemblage
variousy disperses part through the
woods again, while part make up a
goodly company and return to the lit
tie town. Here some inspect the man
ufactures, and predict that Lexington
will rival Manchester or Birmingham;
others find the taverns, and there, mel
lowed by their whisky and their pipes,
talk over their wars and wounds-as
fine and rich motley of Canterbury
pilgrims as anywhere else in the world
could have gathered together at the
sign of a village inn. Such. then, was
the first Kentucky fair It was a trans
plantation to Kentucky, not of the Eng
lish or European fair, but of the Eng
lish cattle-show 1t resembled or sug-
gested the fair only in being place
for buying and selling And it was
not so much as thought OF in the light
Of a merrying-making or great popular
amusement. 1t seems not even to have
taken account of the manufactures
then so important an industry--or of
agriculture. James Lane Allen, in
Harper's Magazine.