The Advocate and news., 1898-10-26
A Kansas Aprlculturnl Festival.


ton. It is the general opinion that
something new should be taken up.
Among the new schemes proposed, one
brought forward by the Topeka State
Journal will be of especial interest to
readers Of the Advocate and News be-
cause of it's agricultural nature. If it is
adopted and carried out it will undOubt-
edly take we'll with the farmers and
ranchmen of the State, especially as 1t
would probably come in conjunction
with the State G. A. r. reunion.
The State Journal says:
while those interested in the success
Of Topekas Fall Festivals are applying
their minds to thinking up something
new for next year, the State Journal
begs leave to make suggestion which
may have merit Suppose that the Fall
Festival Of 1899 be made a glorifcatiOn,
so to speak, of the material interests OF
Kansas. Our chief resources are live
stock and agriculture. Let all the cattle
men of Kansas be invited to grand
jubilee at Topeka. Every big stock farm
and cattle ranch in Kansas should be
represented here by its owner as well
as his cowboys and hired hands. There
ought to be from 10000 to 10000 cattle
men here during Festival week and they
ought to be given the jolliest time they
ever saw, not even excepting some Of the
Jolly times they have when they visit the
Kansas City and st. Louis festivities.
We want these cattlement to come with
their horses and the cow-punchers with
their bronChos and give us an equestrian
parade the like of which was never seen
in Kansas or the world. There is no
reason why there should not be 5000
men on horseback, in picturesque ranch
costumes with innumerable banners and
half dozen bands also on horseback.
Kansas, one Of the greatest cattle States
in the Union, is fully capable Of getting
up such show as this. The splendid
stock farms Of Kansas, Of which there
are hundreds, should each be repre-
sented by their finest animals, which
should appear in one section Of the pro-
Cesslon led by uniformed grooms and
garlanded with flowers and ribbons, with
oranges on their horns and other fancy
gewgaws to make them look gay. Each
stock farms exhibit can be designated
by silken banner, no large, cheap and
ugly advertisement to be permitted. Pre-
miums should be offered by Topeka for
the best exhibits.
I'm addition to this, a free exhibition
should be given at the fair grounds Of
the operation of Kansas ranch. The
roping Of cattle, branding, dipping,
rough riding, ETC.. can be made an inter-
esting spectacle
The presence of so many cattlemen in
Topeka would be pretty certain to bring
a great number of manufacturers Of
windmills, water tanks, and other appa-
ratus used on stock farms. These peO-
pie could erect their exhibits in the
street fair being charged a small fee
for the privilege, which would help pay
the expense of the festivities.
THE celebration need not be confined
to cattlemen; horse breeders, as well as
swine and sheepmen could very we'll be
included in the general invitation, but
OF necessity the main part of the DEM
onstration would be by the cattlemen.
THE second section of this proposed
Festival, namely, the agricultural fea-
ture, should be given separate day.
"A novel plan would be to have each
county represented by chariot or tab
leau car, not piled up with miscella-
neous assortment of pumpkins and
beets, but constructed in really pictur-
esque style, with half dozen or more Of
the most beautiful girls in the county
appropriately clad, representing symbol
ical figures. This would give each
county an opportunity to exercise it's in
genuity and some of the tableaux would
doubtless be marvels Of beauty. The
finest agricultural products from each
county could be arranged on these floats,
adorned with flowers and suitable dec
oratiOns in manner that would make
the most attractive display ever seen In
the West After the parade, these floats