Omaha daily bee., 1895-09-18
|ST0RY OF THE STATE REVIEWED
NEARLY 10000 PEOPLE ATTENDED
Immense Multitude of People Bravea
the Dust and Heat to visit the
show Prepared of Me-
brnslkn's Products.

the state fair managers as Pioneers and Chill
dren's day, and youth and old age went out
hand in hand to admire the wonders of Me-
braska's new White City. They went early
in the morning TO stay all day and dssipate
any possible doubt that the exposition now
In progress will make a new record in the
history Of state fairs in Nebraska.
Yesterday morning saw what was really the
opening of the fair. II was not until late
Monday that the last of the exhibits was fully
completed and 1t was not until yesterday
that the real force Of the vast crowds that
will gather at the metropolis was felt at the
gates and surged through the wide avenues
of the grounds. The earliest visitor, who
had risen and breakfasted before daylight in
order that ne might avoid the crowd by an
early start, missed his calculations. The
crowd was there before him and the first
motor trains were loaded to the footboards.
In the early part of the forenoon It seemed
that the motor company had misjudged the
amount of travel. The trains to the fair
grounds were eight to ten minutes apart
until nearly o'clock, when a two-mlnute
service was put on. The result was that in
the early part of the day the motor service
was utterly inadequate. The trains were
boarded and before they had passed half way
When they reached the actual starting point
1t was impossible to obtain standing room
and hundreds of people who were waiting
there and along the line to the grounds were
Obliged to exhaust their patience before
there was possibility of beginning the
journey.
Al the grounds it was evident an hour
after the gates were opened that an un-
There were fully 10000 people on the grounds
at o'clock and 1t reached
fully 10000 in the afternoon. The
buildings were filled in all their aisles and
passages and the spectacle afforded vivid
| impression of what the scene Will be during
| the latter part of the week. when the fuir
tide Of the coming thousands swells through
| the White City.
CHILDREN OUT IN FORCE.
There are nearly $4,000 children in the
schools of Omaha and it was the prevailing
opinion that 80 per cent of them were at the
| fair grounds during the day. They were on
the grounds In droves, some accompanied by
their elders, while others elbowed their way
alone with that indomitabe pertinacity which
characterizes the progress of lively kid,
through crowd before which man would
hesitate: They were everywhere in evidence
and their long drawn exclamatcns of aston
ishment and admiration were heard in every
corner of the fair. AS 1t was well known
among the exhibitors that the public schools
| had been closed in order that the children
| might have an opportunity to see the big
| show, the exhibitors were disposed to give
| the little ones all the benefits of their brief
vacation and many man of business was
| obliged to wait while the curiosites of an
exhibit were explained to a group of open
eyed children who drank in the wonderful
story with breathess establishment and i'm.
| plicit faith.
The pioneers who helped to build a COM
! monwealth on the Nebraska prairles were not
| so numerous as their grandchildren who
| thronged around them. Their ranks were
broken by the advance Of years. but it is
| doubtful III the little nwad ha
vast display with more unconcealed satisfac-
| tion To the children 1t was simply q show
| the biggest one they had ever seen, but as
| the gray haired men and women contemplated
| tho city which typifed the resources of their
| adopted state their thoughts went back to the
years when they had seen forests and un-
broken wilderness on the slopes where the.
| magnificent structures now reflect thei
| morning sunshine and they saw in the vast
| spectacle before them the fruitlon of their
hopes and years Of toll. 1t was even greater
| than they had hoped. and as they shook
| each others hands and recounted experiences
| of the early days their pride and satisfaction
were too deep for words.
| third feature of the day was the golden
| rod, which was everywhere noticeable A.
vast supply of sprigs Of the plant had been
| prepared for the occasion, but 1t was ex-
hausted early in the day. Thousands had
| provided themselves elsewhere, however, and
| but few Of the Nebraska visitors appeared
| without the flower which has been declared
| the typical blossom Of their state. The chill
| dren were especially true to the golden rod.
| 1t has a part in the instruction Of every
| kindergarten, and the child who could not
| obtain a spray of the flower had lost half
| the pleasure Of the holiday. The committee
| Of the managers on Golden Rod day consisted
| Of Messrs. Bassett, Vance and Doolittle and
the young women who pinned on the sprigs
were the Misses Durham, Smith, Vance, Bas-
sett. They were kept busy the greater por-
tion of the day.
At II o'clock the address Of the day was
| delivered at the grandstand by A. ]. Weaver,
| jr. OF Falls City. The platform was occu-
| pied by the pioneers and their wives Among
| them were noticed Colonel c. s. Chase,
David Anderson of South Omaha. ], II. Mas
ters of Nebraska City, Patrick McArdle and
| Daniel Carpenter
Secretary Furnas said: "Fellow citi-
zens and Pioneers of Nebraska:
use the expression in its strong
est and most impressive terms,
BY pioneers mean the men and women
| who came into this so-called great Ameri-
can desert years ago and laid the founda-
| ton for all you see around you today To
| them more than to all others is due the
credit of building up this great common
| wealth. In recognition of this the Board of
| Managers has decided to admit you all apd
extend to you the privileges OF the grounds.
/ We are glad to see you here and proud
TO show you this magnificent spectacle Of
| Nebraska resources"
| Mr.. Furnas then introduced as one of the
products Of Nebraska Mr. Weaver, who was
given an enthusiastic reception, after which
| he spoke as follows:
| GRAFTON OF THE DAY.
"Mr. Chairman. Pioneers and Fellow Citi.
| zens: | do not know why have been asked
to address this Pioneer Association " Me-
braska unless II is because, wanting product
| of Nebraska soil you knew Of no better place.
| Of no more reliable county to go than to old
| Richardson. Mr.. Chairman in behalf Of
Richardson county. the southeast cornerstone
OF our state. In behalf OF her pioneers and Of
all her citizens, I thank you for the compli-
ment. Perhaps you wanted TO know also
what the young manhood Of our state thinks
| OF the structure you have built and what,
after you gone, We propose TO do toward
embellishing the superstructure OF the founda-
tlon which was begun In wilderness and
ago.