Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1893-08-26
Worlds Fair Notes.
Special woanp Correspondents.
AGRICULTURAL BUILDING.

"For Farmers Only"-this is the way
1 had labeled this letter in my notes.
have always prided myself on my knowl-
edge of farming and, to prove that it is
really truly farming acknowledge and not
the kind of farming-on-paper knowledge
that one gets from the perusals OF the
ordinary farm journals, or that city
resident suddenly acquires when he
wishes to run for Office on an alliance
ticket, l shall not expatiate on the
beauties of the paintings and statues of
the building to any great length, but tell
you what looked up that l thought
would most interest you.
This building has floor space Of
nearly nineteen acres, and comparing 1T
with the other large buildings it would,
believe, contain more of interest to the
greatest number of people than would
either of the others. There are nineteen
groups in the classification of exhibits
here and your taste is bound to be graft
fed whether you are farmer, because
of the beauties of farming as symbolized
by the paintings and statuary; farmer
for your health only as witness the ar
ray of ''tonics" whose base is supplied
by the farmer and whose exhibits here
are bottled and arrayed as tastefully as
the ingenuity of man can accomplish;
a farmer of the middle man persuasion
who is represented by the exhibits of
machinery, breadstuff, pastes, syrups,
fats and every thing that may be con-
nected in any way with agriculture; a
farmer for statistics; farmer for the
pleasure of inficting bucoiic verses
on some stuck-up editor; a farmer
of the elect or vampire order who
fastens onto the farmer as his leader in
political struggles and bleeds him liter
ally to death as a head man in the
grange or a boss in an alliance camp
(you will find him in the assembly room
for farmers congresses J or farmer of
the simon-pure variety who BEAUTIFULLY,
happily, independently earns his bread
by the sweat of his brow.
For any of the farmers boys and girls
who are interested in mythology l will
name some of the figures in painting
and statutory here represented, and if
you will look them up you will berepaid
for your trouble in the entertainment
afforded you. Ceres, the goddess Of az
riculture, Cymbell, Zeus, Demeter and
King Triptotemus.
had visited Agricultural hall once
before, merely for the pleasure of taking
in the beauty of it all; had climbed the
stairway to the top of the mammoth
cheese, the largest ever made, from La
mark county, Ontario, to satisfy myself
that it was cheese-and it was-eleven
tons of it; had casually compared state
exhibits, and l am pleased to say that
the Kansas exhibit compared very favor
ably with many richer states exhibit;
Iwould liket to have gotten some statistics
of the grains used in the building up
and decorating of the Kansas space, but
could not find the manager in on any visit.
To give you some idea of the amount
of grains used will here give you some
figures given me by the manager of the
Iowa exhibit. Iowa has beautiful ex-
hibit here, the space allotted her, as is
true of most state exhibits, is covered
by pavilion. In the center is pagoda,
so called by some or as the manager de-
scribed it Moorish structure. All the
pillars and arches are covered with
grains. All kinds of corn are used for
decorative purposes, pillars are covered
with spiral rows of popcorn, red and
white. The filling of the ears of corn in
covering arches, in making flowers, in
lettering with corn rosettss, by cutting
corn on cob the round way is all done
with the nicely and precision of real
mosaic work. To one who has seen but
little of the capabilities of grain and
grasses in the way of decoration it is i'm
possible to picture the beauties of these
exhibits. Over 1900 bushels of corn,
and four car loads of grain in straw was
used in Iowa's exhibit, and 1000 days.
work was consumed in putting it up.
The figures and relief pictures, made
with grains, are so wonderful that one
feels that the pleasure of seeing them is
marred by the regret that they must
soon be torn down. l think if people
would ordinarily speak their honest con-
victions the grain pictures and statues
are more interesting to look upon than
nine-tenths of what one sees in the Art
gallery.
There are two such beautiful things
in grain in Pennsylvania, my states-in-
law exhibit: The old liberty bell hung
in center of pavilion, and a fireplace in
one corner. looked at them and then
returned and looked again, they were SO
artistically done, so beautiful.
In matters of education l could learn
more out of my own latitude, SO spent
more time south and north. 1 had the
privilege of looking through Louisiana's
oxbihif under tho Yootronaco of fuo IF