Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-10-09
KANSAS CORN CARNIVAL
The Unique Prairie Idea of Harvest Cele-
bration.
Ingenious and Picturesque Decorn-
lions Made Of Maizc-FrOlfcs With
the Cleaning Red Ears.

Once year the sunftowcr state grows en-
thusiastic over the glory of its corn crop
and proceeds to celebrate the harvesting.
This city has for the past three years been
the center of the corn celebrations, and its
corn carnival,t to which it devotes day and
night, is one of the unique features Of the
west.
The principal point on which the most
stress Is laid is the decoration of the town,
and it is made very beautiful. The stores
use hundreds of ears of corn in making odd
designs that will attract the attention of
the passers-by, and there are on the side
walks strange creatures made out of the
grain that seem impossible to the novice.
The young ladies make out of the husks
the most bewitching bonnets and capes
and wear them through the day, and the
young men even get up jackets and hats
that rival those of the fair sex for in
genuity and attraetiveness. Even the
horses are decorated, and one might think
that the town was all in the corn business
SO gene rally is the place given up to the
festival.
The fun comes at night. When the lights
are ablaZe and the streets are shining in
The glory of corn decorations, the young
people-and the old for that matter-go out
with pockets full of corn kernels, and woe
De IL 10 the passer who is not ready to take
his own part. Where in the Mardi Gras
thefe Is a shower of confecton or flowers
here IS one of corn, and the handfuls that
are thrown among the crowds soon make
the streets cracking pandemonium
mere Is prize offered to the farmer who
VIII drlve down the street with his wagon
hlied with corn and have any of it left
When ne arrives at the opposite end So
lar no one has been able to claim the prize
lhere IS license of the fullest sort during
the nlgat. and the police are theoretically
locked up until morning With horns and
corn, he parade goes up and down, laugh
ing ana shouting, and the corn decorations
oeSih 10 SuHer. One after another they are
pulled down and used to amuse the people
and there are few stores that have tbs
trouble Of taking down their decorations
In the morning. The streets become veri-
table mills for the grinding of the corn.
anu aIter the crowd has been on them ali
the evening, the corn is ground into flour
Bushels are gathered in the morning. and
many OF the poor are glad to get this corn
for food. wa
the young men insist that the good old cus
tom that they shall be allowed 10 kiss the
girls under the red ear is still IN forc..-and
,hey abide by its rules, too. One grain
buyer this year bought a large load of red
ears at a fancy price to sell again to the
Young men, and they were all disposed of.
Inc state has good right to be proud of
,he corn TINS year. for there is good crop
anu the price is above that of many wears
The state board of agriculture estimate.
that there will be l6D. 800 900 usheis of The
yellow grain. - '--e
one of the interesting contests of the in
terror OF the state VAS thar of the fair
mere the yellow and whit, ears had a COR
Test The silver advocates We're supposed
10 De the favcrites on the White-corn dav
ana no one was admitted unless he brought
10 the gate white ear. The corn was ,,jjed
up ana made several large wagon loads for
the poor. The speeches were for the white
metal, and the bands played for the ora
lois. linen on the next day the yellow was
III the ascenGancy, and the admission was
ah ear Oh the yellow corn, and the speakers
made talks for the gold standard This
was DAY OF rejoicing, too, and the excite
mfeht ran as high as on the one preceding
me l. ne people came from all parts of the
country on both days, and the addresses
were by the best talent on both sides of the
question. Nothing was decided but the
corn Was given TO the Door AMI ,,,any a
tamily was glad that there had been the
lively rivalry
The originator of the corn-carniyal idea
was r. w. Howe, the author of the STORY
oi country Town and the writer Cor the
Aichlson Globe of popular reflections on
me ana manners. He proposed an occasion
when there should be no speaking. and the
corn carnival was the result
northeastern Kansas, in the vicinity Of
Atehison, Is the greatest corn region of the
west. The fields never know a failure and
the people are settlers who own their
farms, and have been here for many wears.
Ihey till the rich bottom lands of the Mis-
souri,, and harvest the crops with regular
ity and dispatch. The corn fields that rea oh
away from the highways are among the
largest in the nation, and are a beautiful
sight In the summer. Now they are golden.
ana nave on them the weight of the big
ears