New-York tribune., 1900-12-26
A SOUTHERN COUNTY FAIR
HOW THE PEOPLE OF NORTH CAROLINA
ENJOY THEMSELVES AT
GREENSBORO.

Greensboro N C.. Dec. p CspeciaD.-About
millennium and half ago a Mikado. whose name
is not at the tip of ones took for his crest
the royal chrysanthemum the kiku- This still
mains the Imperial seal for public business and
even the little Drown men, fighting before Peling
bear it upon their cap fronts. all the world
knows. AS for the flower itself. il has improved in
size and variety under this Imperial favor. and
longer does It condne itself 70 those fairy dwarf
brilliant gardens OF the Mikado's Empire; II has
only been necessary for II to be seen 70 conquer
alike in the conservatory of the rich and the gro
Gerry box OF the poor wonders If il is trying to
rival the fame of those tulips the old Hollanders
brought from the Orient and priced II they were
pearls.
In any event the chrysanthemum displays itself
in shows from New-York to San Francisco But
nowhere is it finer than in North Carolina The
natives this is due the air Of velvet that
caresses the cheeks Of invalids no mora gently
than the leaves and petals Of flowers. and 70 the
SOIL which is supposed TO impregnate with It's gold
the glorious blooms Of chrysanthemums. that then
challenge the world At the shows these flowers
are unadorned; there are no satin ribbons, no
friled crepe papers, artistic blue and white pots
so essential in Japan. But all this Is made up FOR
in the blue ribbons, the premiums, that Haunt
themselves consciously in the face OF all creation
The man who covers himself with tgnominy by
frankly saying I'D just lief have a common
dahla" and inquiries for roses at the chrysanthe-
mum shows deserves to be summarily elected The
dahlia-DeriSh thought
Good Hope flower rivaling the glorious chrysanthe-
mum that lies upon emperors bosom!
MISSION OF THE CHRYSANTHEMUM.
Aside from the lust Of the eye to which these
roval blooms cater the chrysantheunum has in
rural America a distinct mission. mission that
the aristocratic hothouse rose has not even vent
ured upon superficial observation only is re-
duired to perceive this calling OF the flowers
Farms and hanlets compete with towns and cities
IN the aesthetic labor Of love in raising these
chrysanthenums. Mrs. Jones OF the mountain top
cannot take her plants to the fair az the county
seat hut she can carry bunch Of the cut blossoms
that will take the premiums wicker enair-over
the productions Of florists even The patient coun-
try seanstress snatches moment from the eternal
'song of the shirt and eerges from the fair with
the coveted blue ribbons and the glow OF near1 na1
comes OF successful competition-that glow which
burns hercer as the subject approaches the
spiritual
The fair at the county seat! How many years Is
It since you have been TO such a fair? The longer
the time the greater will be the appreciation or
snv one with an ounce Of sympathy In his make
up Away with the bore and the critic Go back
70 the days of your boyhood, when, Ike the vicar
Of WakefeId's Moses, your sisters adorned you lot
the fair No. there is no intimaton that a gross
Of green spectacles will be the sum total OF your
experiences
The Central Carolina Fair Association takes TINS
old institution the country fair and inocuates II
with the pushing advertising methods OF YANKEE
tba state sweep past the prairie schooners the OK
carts the buggtes, the pedestrians. the riding
horses the family carriages. the produce wagons
fitted up with chairs for the farmers family tne
bicycles. the mule teams and the clouds OF GUST
raised by these slow moving pilgrims TO the ralr.
and with shrieks Of triumph land thousands OF
village and town folk at the entrance OF the fair
grounds.
1t chances that the enterprising town OF Green's
boro with its ten thousand inhabitants. has per
he al "
is the central point IN the Piedmont section ana oy
pointing out Justly that II IS a manuracturans'
commercial and agricultural centre. For are tnere
not one hundred cotton mills within a radius or
hftv miles; two-thirds Of the leading furniture
factories Of the staefurniture that at the present
moment undersellng Michigan. that nnds its
way to the Klondfke. Seattle. the Far South and
even the overstocked North? Has it not the largest
terra Gotta works in the South extensive nurseries
and vineyards all the products Of the temperate
zone from wheat to tobacco. timber upon the bosom
Of its hills and all the and precious metals or
the mineral world cropping out In the very corn
fields? Has IT not also some OF the Leading educa-
tional colleges for white and colored IN the State
and is not the capital Of the North competing with
English money 20 develop its mines7
THE PEOPLE ONE SEES.
within the inclcsure OF the grounds there are
permanent buildings for the display OF exhibits, a
grandstand and excellent racetracl. not TO men
ton the tents, the booths the whtrly-go-roundS,
the newest agricultural machines. As for the peo-
ple they were all there-those types one has looked
for But before individualizing. the impression Of
size is overwhelmingly conveyed There is not
the dapper stunted New-Yorker. the clerk on for
a holiday; instead. these huge, tail men idly saun
tering by cause one to think Of Kentucky and her
sons. What torsos, what heads, what great hands
and what little feet! CThe people OF this State
uuire shoes made a smaller last than anywhere
else0 Then. the voices soft drawling, nothing
staccato; the glance is OF unabashed Gu
riosity; steady, stolid; the movements sedate;
the brains appear not to work quickly; the serious
ness OF Americans IN their pleasure taking even IS
nowhere self-evident, and. however surprised
or gratihed these farmers and mechanics may be,
there is no evidence OF II.
The well grooned denizens of the large towns
jostled by the and women OF the remotest
country districts. the tobacco splitting
matched by the snuff splitting women. and every
where are the children. carrying luncheon IN paper
parcels. and gazing in awestruck silence upon the