The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-10-22

| miles off, was then approached the Kent
road and the river being the chief. No rail-
/ place was supplied 10 some extent by stage
| coaches and wherIieS When the holiday
| means made their way to Greenwich they
| found the principal street filled from end to
/ end with shows theatrical booths and stalls
| for the sale OF an infinite variety of mer-
| chandise Usually. however, the first OBJ
| ject was to get into the park; a terrible
| struggle il was through accesses much mar
/ rover then the multitude required In this
| beautiful piece of ground, made venerable
| by the old oaks of Henry and Elizabeth
| and dear to the science by the towery OBJ
servatory. the youth and maidenhood of
London carried on a series of sports during
the whole forenoon; At one place there
| was issing-in-the-ring; at another you
might for penny enjoy the chance of
| knocking down half a dozen pieces of gin
| gerbread by throwing stick; hut the favor
! lite amusement above all was to run your
partner down the well-knOWn slope between
! the high and low levels of the park Cen
| orally row was drawn up at the top. and
| at a signal off they all set: some bold and
| successful in getting to the bottom on their
| feet others timid and awkward tumbling
headlong before they were half way down.
STREET FAIRS IN LONDON.
| Street fairs in London were by no means
uncommon even down to the last century,
| for there were comparatively few large
| buildings which could be utilized for the
purpose of a fair or exhibition of goods and
a line of booths in the street had advan-
| tages over even a permanent incIosed struc-
ture Indeed, to the present day there are
certain streets in the East End that pre-
sent the appearance of a fair the whole
year round, the sidewalks and portions even
of the roadway being on every fair day COW
cred with stands and temporary counters,
whereon are displayed all kinds of commo-
dities that might attract the public eye
A street fair on the ice is novelty, but
three times in the history of London has
such thing occurred In the mild climate
of the British isles the freezing of the
Thames is a comparatively rare occurrence,
and when it happens IS regarded as very
| wonderful event. In 1854 the Thames froze
| solidy from shore TO shore: a portion was
reserved for skating, another part was
staked off as a street. and coaches piled up
| and downsf4@ river as on dry land while on
| each side" of the mprovised roadway a
street fair was established which continued
| for several weeks, and until the condition of
the ice became such that the authorities
| forbade travel and traffic on the river An
other ice fair was held in 1741, the Thames
was covered with booths. greatly to the sat
| isfacton of the hucksters and small trad
ers, who for nine weeks were required to
! pay no rent and did business FAR greater
| in amount than they had even before been
able to do in any London street. In 1855 an
other freezing of the Thames occurred, and
again the small merchants flocked to thu
river. A street thirty-fve miles long was
| established on the ice, coaches piled up and
down, the ice street was crowded with We
| hicles of all kinds, and for several weeks
| this mpromptu street fair continued
The fair has always been a popular insti-
tuition in England, and several of these
| gatherings are devoted to the sale of par
ticular commodities. At Wey Hill, in Hamp-
shire, an ANNUAL fair is held for the sale of
spring, a lamb fair: the other a butter and
| cheese fair in the fall. At Howden in
| Yorkshire. and several other places. there
are horse fairs. The fair has never had
much success in Scotland. its merry-mak
ing features not commencing it to the sober
Scotsman but in Ireland every county has
or has had its annual exhibition of goods
and products, with a great deal of fun on
the side, The great fair of Ireland Is that Of
| Ballfnasloe: the most famous was the Dom
nybrook fair. which was suppressed long
ago as. contrary to public order. In fact.
not few of the annual fairs in various
parts of the united kingdom have suffered
the same fate. The Greenwich fair was
abolished MANY years ago as. a nuisance,
the inhabitants complaining of the swarm
| of jewellers from London who, in the lam
guage of one of the Greenwich citizens
| drought their nose-bags with them" that
is, carried their own provisions and often
their own liquors. spent little or nothing at
Greenwich and made day and night hideous
| with their reveling.
EUROPEAN FAIRS.
The fairs of the leading countries in Eu-
rope partake in their essential features of
the nature of street fairs. Every country
has it's great annual expositions, and in
every land one or more have assumed in
terpational Importance. France has its
greatest fair at Beauclaire, town other
| wise unknown, but which every year pre-
sents in its public squares and streets an
| exhibition of goods rivaling that of any
other in the world. Holland has fairs at
Amsterdam, Rotterdam and three or four
other cities: the great fair at Hungary is
at Pesth; in fact, the people of Pesth live
in constant round of fairs, for there are
four of these expeditions every year, one
to each season, and every Hungarian who
can afford the journey goes to Pesth as on
| DtlQFima a q T.
tend one of the fairs The German fairs
have for ages been famous. Most of them
ing held annually at Leipsic. the two
Frankforts and Brunswick. Portugal has a
street fair at Lisbon swtzer Ter has sev
and even Turkey has number of EXPOSE
tons for the sale of goods, the principal
Turkish fair being at Yenidye Vardar. and
is attended by traders from all parts of
Europe, Asia and Africa. Every Turkish
market or t pssaa f, h Tow a Is II
but a street or square rooted over and d-
vided into alleys or passageways, with
sale are exhibited. The greatest of all street
fairs, however, is that at Mini Novgorod, in
Russia, which is attended by traders and
merchants from every part OF the world,
for it commands the markets of Siberia and
Central Asia, and every manufacturing and
trading country Is anxious to obtain en-
tendance is said often to exceed 100000, and
every street of the city is converted into a
wherein may be bought anything from a
Himalayan dagger or prayer cylinder to an
American steam engine The Russian fair
in Importance and in the number of visitors
takes precedence of all exhibitions of this
kind and is the greatest street fair in the
world The street exposition is. therefore,
no novelty. 1t has been an institution since
the beginning of trade. It's revival, how
ever in formal fashion, is a pleasing inno-
walton upon the practice of holding exposi-
tions in fair grounds often at an incon-
venient distance from the center of popula-
ton, and. If for no other reason than its
accessibility, it deserves encouragement