The Press. (Stafford Springs, Conn.) 1883-1935, 1900-10-11
THE FAIR.

Once more the Stafford fair Is past his.
tory, and once more satisfied people
everywhere, who attended, are saying,
"You get your moneys worth at Stat
ford. A person who attended the
show this year and did not get his mon
ey's worth must be hard to suit. 1t Is
one of the best that the society has ever
presented, and that is saying good deal.
The management spared neither time nor
expense In securing the various attrac-
tions, and the people appreciated the re-
suit of their efforts.
The weather this year was favorable
all three days. 1t looked a little du-
bious one or two mornings, but it burned
off all right, and the sun shone on the
fair and the people who gathered to see
it. The attendance the first day was
about the same number as In former
years. The second day, Wednesday, was
the big day. It threatened rain In the
morning, but it cleared early In the FORE
noon, and during the middle of the day
the sun was uncomfortably warm. At 1
O'Clock In the afternoon the grand stand
was packed full, it was almost impossible
to move In the exhibition halls, the mid
way was q living stream of people, and
there were enough people left over to
make what the hoDey-hearted newspaper
correspondents Of Rockville call "a big
crowd" No official figures Of the second
day crowd are available as yet, but the
number of people present Is estimated
from 1O, 900 to ID, 900.
! 1t was an orderly, jolly crowd, out for
a good time, and they had 1t. In such a
jam of people the festive pickpocket had
a chance to work, and a number of cases
are reported where people lost from SO to
$35. There are probably many cases Of
those who were touched but will not mur-
muir.
The third day was perhaps the best to
see the fair. The weather was perfect,
and, while there was good-sized crowd
Of people In attendance, it was easier to
get around and see what there was to see
than the day before. The grand stand
was again filed but not crowded, and
those who were In 1t could take some
comfort. 1t was thought that the present
grand stand would accommodate the
crowd, but the indications are that one
twice as large would be well filled on the
big day, and would pay for itself In few
years. But there are other improvements
that should take the precedence of q
larger grand stand which the society has
under consideration. One of the first
things that will receive attention Is grad
ing. The plan is to grade down the
knolls 80 that the horses when racing
can be easily seen during the entire
course. Another thing that will receive
attention Is larger purses In the trotting
events. No pools can be sold here, and,
In order to get good horses to come, big
ger purses must be offered. 1t is proba-
BILE that II purses of $500 and 5000 were
offered the expense of this feature to the
society would be no larger than at pres
ent, as the amounts received in entrance
fees would be largely increased. There
is no one feature of the fair that Is more
generally popular than the trotting, and
good, liberal purses will get the fast ones
here.
Next to the racing, or perhaps equal to
It IN the amount of interest felt, Is the
platform or vaudeville show. The pro-
gram this year was corker, and was
well worth the price of admission, II there
was nothing else to be seen on the
grounds. The best thing in this line was
Madame Marzella and her birds. The
stage setting for this feature was quite
expensive and tasty. Marzella herself Is