The Iuka vidette. (Iuka, Miss.) 1894-1912, 1894-12-20
ARP AT A FAIR.
How the Good People of Corinth
Were Entertained.
The Fine Display That Was Made-Handi-
work of tho Iadies-Fine Preserves
and Good Old Homemade Wine.
Horse Racing and No
Betting.

land trip to some quiet country settle
ment where there is camp meeting or
fair going on. l found a place last
week that surprised and pleased me.
There is a territory about ten miles
square down in the corner of Troupa
Heard and Coweta counties that seems
to loom up little higher and is good
deal richer than the average land OF
either county. The old original sur
veyor who laid off these boundaries
would not put all this fine land in a
single county, but tried TO tote fair with
all. lie gave Heard the largest share
because it needed it. About tho center
of this territory is a little village called
Corinth. Some old Bible reader gave it
that name, reckon, in honor of Paul,
who lived and preached in the ancient
city and planted churches there and
turned them over to Apollos to be
watered. This Corinth has no Paul
nor Apollos, but it used to have a repu-
tation for its school. Just as Beman
and Fouche and Isham and Dick John
ston made reputation so did man by
the name of Corbett acquire renown as
teacher at Corinth. LaGrange boys
and Newman boys were sent there,
especially those who were hard to
manage at home. Ben Hill got his
rudiments there. Rudiments in those
days included the use of persuaders as
well as books, and the persuadors were
generally from three to four feet long.
But the boys are so much better now
adays that the persuaders have been
discarded. One of our teachers whipped
boy the other day and has been ar
rested for it and big rumpus raised
over it. That boy is in danger of the
State refornatory just as soon as they
build one. mean what say. l have
noticed these boys whose parents raise
row when they arc whipped at school
and they turn out bad. Dick Johnston's
rule was good one-'beg pardon, take
a whipping or quit school,
Corinth is high and dry, kind OF
plateau of red chocolate land that grows
cotton and bermuda grass to perfection
and corn and oats in abundance. 1t is
only sixty miles south OF Gainesville,
and yet there las been no killing frost
The cotton leaves and potato vines and
late corn are still green and the cape
jessamines take tho winter out of doors.
Bermuda grass can be seen all along
the roads and streets and when grown
for hay makes three crops year.
'Corinth has just closed her fifth an
nual fair--a settlement fair that draws
the farmers and their families together
like camp meeting. 1t does not pre-
tend to he thing, but it costs nothing
hardly and the people like it. They
brought the best products of their farms,
some corn stalks eighteen feet eight
inches high and twelve feet to tho ear.
Wheat and oats and hay, hams and leaf
lard and butter, cane syrup and sor-
! ghum. potatoes and pumpkins and many
kinds of garden seed. A fine display of
fowls, some hogs and Jersey cattle. In
the woman's department there were
some of the same old coverlets and
counterpanes and patchwork quilts that
we have seen ever since we were boys.
and there was some beautiful en-
broidery work that VIC didn't see in the
long ago. There were all sorts of pre-
serves and jellies and pickles and l
counted six kinds of homemade wine,
among them was some maypop wine that
the judges said was delicious, but they
never offered me any Some of the old
veterans brought their guns and swords
and canteens. There was an old bat
mt in oil
war and had been such poet as my
friend Lucien knight / would have
written an apostrophe to it in verse
Hail old canteen. the Southern soldiers friend,
While on the march his country to defend
Close by his side thy shining form was seen
And none stuck closer than his old canteen,
or words to that effect And the Italians
were there with their monster perform
ing bears. These wandering sons OF
italy were 5000 miles from their home
ministering to the pleasure OF our chill
dren for mere pittancc, but where the
bears came from l know not. They
danced and pranced to music. They
marched and countermarched and made
bows anG sat in chairs and wrestled
with their keepers and did many funny
and fantastic things that amused and
entertained us all. The men and the
bears sleep together in some clubhouse.
They cat together and share common
fortune. The chief difference is that
God clothes one and man the other.
When dinner time came the matrons
and maidens spread their table cloths
upon the ground under the shade of tho
trees and filled them with good things
for the multitude. Every body was in
vited everywhere and all were pressed
to eat and drink, for spring water and
coffee were abundant. l eat chicken
and sausage until didn't know whether
tc crow or to grunt, and SO did neither.
Next came the races-horse races,
upon 4 mile track that was in the shape
of the figure eight. 1t was in close
sheared meadow Of bermuda grass.
This racing business seems to be quite
orthodox with the people, for the stock
is all homemade, and there was no
;oo ettt f,r hot fir1or bat Hfcoouarod