St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1889-10-31
Obe Californian.
THE "PUMPKIN SHOW, ON TOP.


THE "PUMPKIN SHOW ON TOP.
Score one for the pumpkin shows
1t is fond cOnceit almost universal
" entertained by fair managers
whether of state or county exh1b1
tons, that a successful show cannot
possibly be held without the mag
netic influence of a ''horse-race" tC
draw the attendance and swell the
gate receipts-for are not fairs sue
cesses or failures according as the
box Office" returns exceed or fall be
low expenses? So generally is this
opinion held by Boards of Agricul
ture and Fair associations that, as
the Gazette now remembers, the
Empire state alone attempts to hold
annual agricultural exhibitions free
from the dcmoralizing influences sc
often attendant upon the race-course
In the West, at least, man who
would venture to suggest that a sue
cessful shOw-measured by gate re-
ceipts-could be made purely of agri-
cultural and mechanical products,
would be regarded by those in charge
of our exhibitions with a pityine
stare Indicative of sympathy for his
superlative ignorance and green
ness" What hold a fair without
the 'bang-tails' and gay-coated and
capped Jockeys; the trotters booted,
bandaged and toe-weighted; the end
less, soul-wearying scoring and jock
ewing; the pool-selling and open
gambling-hold successful fair
without these attractions? Prepos-
terousl Get the people out to look
at bulls and COWS, pigs, sheep, and
poultry; machinery and agricultural
products-grasses and vegetables
induce the people to pay their money
supreme folly to talk about it. A
'hoss-trot' is the only thing that will
attract and entertain them" SO
argued the practical fair manager.
St. Louis has just passed through
an interesting and highly instructive
experience which the Gazette thus
prominently places on record, and to
which it invites the thoughtful atten-
ton of fair managers. In point of
attendance the st. Louis fair easily
leads any exhibition of the character
i'll America. Under pressure from the
machinery exhibitors and the lunch
stand caterers, whom the crowd de-
serted III the afternoon as soon as
the races were called, the fair assO-
citation concluded to take a new tack
this wear and hold the races the week
previous, working off all events of
that nature before the opening of the
fair. This step was ordered not
without dire forebodings as to the
result. Nevertheless it was hoped
that the attendance upon the races
would be SO large as to make up the
heavy deficit which was sure to fol-
low, it was thought, from the meager
patronage of the pumpkin show"
Accordingly flaming advertisement
both at home and abroad, was made
of the races under the auspices of the
st. Louis Jockey Club, an attractive
program was prepared and every
thing done to clear the way for sue
cessful meeting. Indeed it is openly
charged that the Illinois State Board
of Agriculture under pressure from
the St Louis people, broke the circuit
of fair dates assigned and held its
fair on the week allotted to Indiana,
i'll order that it might not detract
from the interest i'll and the attend
ance upon the st. Louis races. And
what was the upshOt of it all? A
teetotal fizzle. a disgracefully, ruin
ously light attendance-a ''beggarly
array of empty benches" greeting
even the $4,000 race-and a deficit
at the close appalling to contemplate.
Here surely was a pretty kettle of
fish. An association organized pure
ly for revenue only" losing heavily
where it is expected to gain, and with
nothing to fall back on but the show
of live stock and agricultural pro-
ducts, which of course the people
would never patrOnize without the
additional attraction of the races.
To await events, however, was all
that could be done with the hope
the wish being father to the thought
entirely -that some surplus might
accrue from the fair. Well, it did;
for the gate receipts of the 1899 st.
Louis fair surpassed by far any year
in the history of the association A
SOS, 900 crowd forced its way
through the turn-stiles Thursday, a
record exceeded only on the day of
President Cleveland's visit to the
grounds in 1897, when all democrat
ic Missouri assembled to do him hon
or. That the lesson of this expert
ence will be lost on the st. Louis Fair
association the Gazette does not
doubt; that it will thus be led to
treat with more decency the live
stock and agricultural exhibits is not
for Il moment imagined but it is re-
pectfully submitted to other fair as
SOc1atiOnS which are earnestly labor
ing for the advancement of the cause
of agriculture rather than the gain of
the almighty dollar, whether in the
light of this significant experience
they have not Overestimated the
drawing strength of the racing feat
ures, which they have so long endur-
ed as a necessary evil. There is GER
tainly much in this incident to lead
fair managers to conclude that a sue
cessful agricultural and mechanical
exhibition can be held, even when
the appeal is largely to the patron
age of city folks, without the assist
ance of jockeys, rubbers, bulldogs,
and all the other paraphernalia with
which the modern race course is en-
numbered Breeders Gazette.
DOGS IN THE SHEEP FOLD.
Dogs are making fearful work
among the sheep OF the state Sew