Daily Kennebec journal., 1902-02-05
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Daily kennebec Joslrria
CROWDS THERE.
City Hall Was Filled With Peo-
pie, Last Evening.
Fair Of Canton Augusta Opens Under
Favorable Auspices.
Entertainment Was First Glass and
Audience Delighted.

! "N~iN thloNH ODtIl DIT % ClOCh anu III
people began arriving Immediately af
ter. At o'clock, when the stage per
formance began, there was hardly
vacant seat in the galleries and extr;
settees had to be brought into use
Many were present from HallOwell
Gardiner, Togus and other places. Den
mis- Orchestra discOursed eXcellen
music, as it always does. The stage
performance was good and was receiv
ed with applause from start to finish
| The number of performers was small
| but the vim, vigor and variety which
the actors put into their work brought
forth appreciative recognition from the
audience.
| Not for a long time has local So
ciety fair in this city opened under
| more favorable auspices than did Can
ton Augustus. last night. The Cheva-
| liers of the Canton were out in force
wearing fatigue uniforms, and were
everywhere present, attending to the
| thousand and one details necessary al
an affair of the kind. The Rebekahs
too, were present in large numbers and
presided at the various tables scattered
through the hall. And the friends OF
the order, those who have been buying
tickets for the past month! They, also
were in evidence and seemed to enjoy
every moment of their stay.
The fair is now well under way. To-
night and tomorrow night the fair will
continue. This evening the stage per-
formanCe will be different from that
given. last evening, but the same ac-
tors will appear. Then on Thursday
evening the presents will be disposed
of and the grand ball will take place.
Brigadier General Charles f. Weeks of
Rockland, commander-in-ch of the
Patrarchs Militant of Maine, accom-
panied by his official staff, will grace
the affair with his presence. Besides.
these will be many Patriarchs from
abroad in attendance.
Before the fair opened 1t was stated
that the chairman of the committee on
schemes. Levi NJ. Poor, had been rack
ing his brain to think up some new
idea in the guessing line. Well, he has
succeeded far beyond the expectation
of those who are conversant with his
versatile mind. He has secured two
roosters, each in a cage by himself,
and has decorated the cages in splendid
style. over one flies the Union Jack.
thus denoting the country from whence
originated the choice fowl. The scheme
is to guess the difference in the weight
of the two birds. and the small sum of
10 cents is charged for each guess.
There is no limitation to the number
of guesses each person can make, pro-
vided his dimes hold out. Ordinarily
,.nnciIar If inh
solve the problem here presented; but
when he looks at the roosters and no.
tees the wonderful discrepancy in the
size of each he feels that he has got to
get down to business if he wishes to
carry off the prize. In one of the cages
Mr.. Poor has a Brahma rooster of
ma mmoth size, one that would make a
Thanksgiving dinner for a family of 20.
and have enough left over to last
the rest of the week. In the
other cage he has dmin-
utive English Bantam rooster, no
bigger than your hand and as thin as a
postage stamp. The contrast between
the two birds in size and general appear
ance is very marked This novel scheme
is attracting no end of attention.
Mrs. George F. Andrews assists Mr.
Poor in disposing of guesses on the
ROSTERS Miss Stella Hart is selling tick
cts on the guess cake. beautiful Speci-
men of the bakers art. The person VINO
guesses its exact weight Is given an ele-
giant porcelain clock. and the second best
gucsser gets the cake. barrel of Hour
is being offered at 10 cents ticket.
| At the next table homemade candy of
every conceivable kind and beautiful cut
| flowers are sold by a bevy of ladies, in
Guiding Mrs. l.. L. Wellman. Mrs. Z. w
| Poor. Mrs F. H. Bridges. Miss Ada
Bridges and Miss Amy Douglass.
Mrs. Frank B. Smith and Mrs. George W.
Wadleigh. One of the handsomest artl-
cles exhibited here is the. gift of w. H.
Gannett. 1t is an azalea plant and Is GOV
cred with fragrant rose.coiored flowers.
1t Is most attractive. An elegant sofa
pillow, the gift of Mrs. II. M. Breen. also
attracts general attention. There are
other cushions, too, and doilies, dainty
| lace handkerchiefs. variety OF lace ana
| linen collars, pin cushions. aprons ana
many other useful and ornamental artl,
| cles. all of which are home made and
were presented to the fair for the benefit
lof Canton Augusta.
| The refreshment tables are in charge
of Mrs Charles NJ. Taber, Mrs, VIM. +,
l'raber and Mrs. II. NJ: Breen. The run
lpunch bowl rests in big cake of ice and
is cold as well as delicious.
| The contest for the gold-headed cane
for the most popular policeman IS golhE
merriIy on. The contestants are Officer!
George f. Fletcher and c. a. Miron. ant
friends of both are hustling to secure
votes for their favoriteS. The polls VII
lclose on Thursday night at o'clock. am
at this time it is impossible to name TN
winner.
While the contes. for the possession o
the most beautiful cane ever presented
at any fair in this city is going on, Ia
friends of the candidates for the soli'
gold watch to be given to the most popu
lar young lady in the city are strainin
Icvcry effort TO secure votes for their "a
vorites Miss Olive Carey and Miss Ma
bel Clough are the combatantS ana al
ready many votes have been cast for eic
lcandidates. This contest viii also clos
on Thursday evening. In the meantim
votes will be received for either youn
lady at any time by their represent ttive'
| In order to make certain as to the eN
act weight of the several articles to d
disposed of by weight the committee NJ
secured a perfect computing scale whic
will be placed in the hall. today IN
scale win weigh the roosters, the caK
land the other articles to a hair. and thei
need be no doubt to its accuracy. ]
is built on scientific principles and ma
be relied upon for its absolute correct
ness.
Taken all in. all. the fair is big SUI
Icess and people will do we'll to come earl
this evening if they desire to obtai
seats.