The Wisconsin tobacco reporter. (Edgerton, Wis.) 1877-1950, 1899-09-29

and others, now dead and gone, who
put their hands to the making of the
greatest fair in the new world.
BY this time George had me by the
button hole and his light blue eyes
engaged me. He fell to speaking Of
the evil effects of tobacco. AS l re-
| call the scene | think he hypnotized
| me. AS one under the influence of
an anaesthetic feels himself floating
with pleasing rhythmic sensations
away to the shock that bespeaks rude
awakening SO l dimly recall the friend
~, watchful eye, the Quickening dis
course, the frightened grip on my coat
lapel. 1t seems Wylie had used to-
DaccO for many years, until the doc
tors frightened him and the Kelley
cure had rid him of the hurtful habit.
He said he was doing what he could
in his modest way to save others. |
remember paying an unspoken tribute
TO the moral earneStneSS of the man.
The Powder Mine About to Explode.
YES" he continued, as his coils
frightened about me, now helpless to
resist, tobacco does more hurt than
rum Now there was a young man
who lived on the east end of our town
LILY, 1INSIS HILL I1S OI1Ohcu
too much, ten, twelve cigars a day.
Friends labored with him, all in vain.
He was found dead. The doctors cut
him open and he was full Of Of"
Wylie couldn't find the word and
naturally supplied it.
Nicotine" | said, shocked at the
terrible fate of his friend.
mo, wind; he was a politician from
Kansas"
When l came to, I was lost in be-
hind the tent of the Elgin candy max
er, hard by where the lady swallows
serpents. The look on Wylie's face
was still with me as his grip on my
coat lapel slackened and he registered
on his cane another notch. There was
no laugh, no noise. His form shook,
to be sure, for he had sold another
victim, but it was the triumphant gilt
ter in his eye-a nOiseless peon of
victory, an "Elkhorn forever!' look
that urged me to get out Of town as
soon as possible.
AS | came past the track l saw a
blue coated man veined with scarlet
ribbon on a hayrack of horse slowly
addressing the crowd on the grand
stand. He was starting some more
| carrier pigeons for Milwaukee.
The One Defeat in Wylie's History.
It is said in Elkhorn that only once
was Wylie ever himself taken in and
that required the raising of $25 for
expenses and a Racine mans time for
two days. A syndicate of travelling
men and others whose intellectual
acutenesS had been proven a vain
thing by Wylie, employed the man to
lay George low. The stranger regis
tered at the hotel, and hiring a team
drove all over the county looking at
properties for sale. He did not seek
nOtoriety but Elkhorn is not so big
that a stranger can tarry long without
everybody knowing his business. There
was a good deal of curiosity natural
ly, especially when the rumOr got
round that the J. l. Case Co. thought
some of moving it's plant to the town.
The second day the stranger was OBJ
served taking measurements on
principal street and jotting down notes
on slip of paper and a little later the
report got round that the stranger had
said something about accommodations
for 800 men.
The Penalty of Curiosity.
Wylie could stand the strain no
longer and stepping forward from the
knot of prominent citizens now eager
with excited curiosity, he asked the
mysterious visitor if he would kindly
tell him what sort of an industry he
contemplated establishing in ElkhOrn.
The man put his notes into his pocket
as if his work was accomplished and
told George the concern he represent
ed was engaged in making cheese
from second-growth Eastwood.
From that time to this Wylie makes
it a rule to ask no questions and that's
the reason he refused the job of tax
ing the census.
Social Features Strongly Developed.
The Elkhorn fair cleared $4,000 in
1898 and always makes money. 1t
is a great show of cattle, horses, sheep,
swine and crops, and there are all
sorts of attractions to enable the peO-
pie to have a good time. 1t is bet
ter show than the State Fair. 1t is
also a grand roundup for everybody
who comes from WalwOrth county OF
knows people who have. One reason
for it's success is the limited area of
the grounds. There are only twenty
three acres. If some one should offer
the Agricultural association forty
acres more and to make the half-mile
a full mile free of charge, the offer
would be declined. The effect of the
small area is to mass the people and
they 60 all over the state telling about
the crowd they saw. Sprinkled over
24O acres, the fair would seem to be
thinly attended. Yet they have 90
900 and more on the big days.
A second explanation of the success
of this fair is the fact that it is a
farmers show. The country people
are the whole thing. They feel that it
is theirs and they can enjoy them
selves without being embarrassed by
city people who think it trivial to ride
a merry -go-round or to have their tin
types taken. ..
No Great Fair Possible in Milwaukee.
1t is for this reason that a great
state fair can never be built up in
Milwaukee, Sprinkle 1000 finely
dressed fastidious city, ladies and gen.