Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1896-11-12
At the Fair.

7sh, being Farmers Day at the Fair,
and it being in the programme. Char
ley was to take me to the fair on that
day. AS we left home, the angel of
the household handed Charley box
of lunch nicely done IN, and with a
school book strap around the boz for
carrying. When we reached the car
line. which was only a block and q
half away, where the cars pass each
way every two and one-half minutes.
So, you see, we did not have to wait
long for car. As we passed along,
every few rods the car took on more
passengers, until there was no more
room, and we were soon at the fair
grounds.
As we passed through the wicket
We stopped to take birds eye view of
the grounds, for it had been four years
since I was there last. and great
changes Gao be made in four years.
saw the grounds east of the amphi-
theatre were all occupied with tents of
all sorts and shapes and sizes. First
was The Last Days of Pompeii, and
if Pompeii T. as anything like what was
represented, it was time for the last
days. Such lot of beings could not
get together unless it was the last
days OF something. Outside of the
tents was kind of stage, with stairs
to go up on, and on the stage was q
tall. slim man, talking to the crowd,
while on each side stood a woman
dressed out in all the Eastern toggery
you could imagine. Every little while
one of those women would begin to
shake herself just like dog that had
come out of cold water, when the man
would put mis- hand on her head and
shake his head at her. Then she
would quiet down for a few minutes.
All this time two men seated at the
foot would play on a f1ageolet, and
such a squeaking as fhey did make!
And boy with two sticks kept up a
clatter on tom-tom. | asked Char
ley if those fellows that were playing
played any tune. He said, II don't
know. Ii they do. it's in a foreign
language. | asked him what the
man said. He said, ''If you want to
get rich, or if you want to keep warm
when it's cold, or you want to. keep
cool when it's hot, or if you want to
keep well. come in to the tent and see
the Last Days of Pompeii." Well, as
we were not sick, or cold, or hot, we
went on.
Next we saw woman out on style
beside car just talking. She said
they had a peIrifed woman inside of
the car; but as had rather look at a
half dozen live women than one petri-
fed woman, we went on.
Next, we saw snake-charmer
standing on a stage with big rattle
snake around his neck, and one around
his arm and talking. Said he had five
hundred kinds of snakes in his car. /
told Charley had seen all the snakes
in my life l cared to see. So we left.
Next came Wild Bill and his band
of broncho-riders, with a band-and
such looking set, and such music!
And so the grounds were filed, where
10 other days you saw things to learn
something from.
And just on the west side of the am
phitheatre were two merry-go-rounds.
One was real curiosity. 1t was up
high, with a solid floor, and suspend
ed by wire cables from the top of a
mast on which the thing revolved.
Four young men were under the floor,
which was higher than their heads.
When they wanted to make the thing
go round, they would push it; when it
got to going fast they would catch hold
of one side and pull it down towards
the ground that would throw the other
side way up twenty or more feet high,
then that side would sink down and
the other side go up-just like the
waves of the ocean. 1t was very inter
esting to see the folks hang on to the
seats as it would go down into the
Deep 1t made me think of the old
play we used to play in the old times,
as we marched around saying,
''Riding in the boat when the wind blows
high,
Riding in the boat when the colcrs they do
fly,
Waiting to kiss some pretty girl by and by!"
After looking as long as we cared
about, we went to look at the chickens.
This is a very large building, filled
with the greatest variety and the great
est number of all kinds of chickens
ever saw; with incubators, where you
saw the eggs Matching out chickens;
and from that all the way up to old hens
and ROSTERS. think it was the best
chicken show l ever saw. And tur-
keys, geese, ducks, peafowl. One old
gobbler, it said, on his legs weighed
forty pounds, and | am certain / have
killed old wild gobblers big as that
one.
After looking as long as we cared
about, we went to the sheep-pens, and
such sheep l never saw before. Just
think! A sheep that would weigh three
hundred pounds! 1t was worth all it
cost to go to see such sheep and hogs
as were there. Hogs that weighed
nine hundred pounds; another eight
hundred; another seven hundred-and
so on down.
After looking at the sheep and hogs.
we went to see the farm machinery,
wagons and carriages. We saw at
one place grain drill, made small, all
silvered over. To it was hitched a
pair of the smallest ponies | ever saw
NOT much bigger than a Newfouud-
land dog The driver was an oldish
man, with a mustache. He was not
more than three feet tall, and wore a
suit of black, old-style skirted coat,
and a silk hat. As he rode the drill