Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-09-26
ANNUAL MELON DAY
Unique Celebration at Rocky
Ford, Colorado.
rHousAnDsasaEMBLED
FROM MILES AouaD PEOPLE
GATHERED oRHRoccAs1oN.
Numerous Other Holidays Observed by
the People Of the state-An
Eccentric Character.
BY WILLIAM F.. CURTIS.


Special Correspondence Of The Evening Star and
Chicago Record-Herald.
ROCKY FORD, Col, September 10. 1904.
Like the ancient Isfaelites, as the Scrip
lures tell us, the people of Colorado are
in the habit of celebrating the incoming
of their harvests by public feasts. placing
thank offerings before their neighbors
and friends with true oriental hospitality.
At Glenwood. Springs they have a
strawberry day each spring, when all
the world is asked to come, without
money and without price, and feed upon
the most luscious of fruit. 1t was Sydney
Smith who said, as you remember:
Doubtless God might have made a better
berry than the strawberry, but doubtless
God never did" and it Is asserted that the
best in all the world grow in that little
pocket among the mountains of Colorado.
At Longmont, in the northern part of
the state, where the bees fatten upon the
prairie flowers, honey day" is celebrated,
and tons of honey are eaten every year.
At Monument they have a pumpkin-pfe
day." at Lamar formerly they had rab-
his gun to assist in Kidding that pare of
the country of the rabbits that were a
pest to the farmers; at Fort Collins,
where is the biggest beet sugar mill in the
world, barbecues of spring lamb are held
every fall; at Greeley. the people have a
potato day." When hundreds Of bushels
of the finest potatoes that ever grew are
eaten in the open air. free of charge, with
other concomitants; the people of Grand
Junction have peach day at Canyon
City apple day" is celebrated annually;
at Rocky Ford melon day." and at Love-
land, at the northern end of the state,
there is an annual corn roast, attended by
10000 or 10000 people from all parts of
the state.
Annual Corn Roast
1t was held as usual on the 9Th of Sep
TENDER. Four tons of green corn were
roasted in long pits dug in the ground,
and filled with hot Goals and served on
tables erected in a grove, free to all COM
ers, with $1,000 sandwiches, 800 gallons
of coffee 80 barrels of cider and several
car loads of apples for dessert Almost
every city in northern Colorado was rep
resented in the crowd, men, women and
children coming from a Tadius of $50
miles by all kinds of conveyances.
People generally do not realize that Colo
RADIO is an agricultural state; that its In
hahitants gain more wealth: and profit by
the cultivation of the soil of the fertile
valleys and plains than they can dig out
of the rOck-ribbed mountains. Official stat
isticians estimate thauthe 5000 farms OF
the state will produce dhiss7ye ear SAG, o4oOO0
worth of grain fruit and vegetables, more
Mr.. Howe, pastor of a Methodist church
in Denver has proposed this Mobile toast
to that city, which graphically describes
the situation: ~
Queen City throned 'tSsixt peak and plain,
She gathers tribute of the best;
From out the East the, goldep grain:
And grains Of gold from out the West.
We stopped here, at Rocky Ford, on our
way to st, Louis. to witness the celebrati
of melon day" the oldest and one of the
greatest of the. annual Colorado feasts.
Rocky Ford is the center Of the. canteloupe
and water melon district of Colorado, and
ships about 1,550 car loads of those luscious
fruits to market every summer. The pio-
neer of the melon business the man who
discovered that the peculiar properties OF
this alkaii soil will produce the finest
melons that were ever tasted. and was the
founder of melon day." Is still living and
is the foremost citizen of this section of the
state
An Eccentric Character.
He is George w. Swink, an eccentric
character, but OF great ability and popu-
larity He has been a member OF the Colo
RADIO state senate for many years and has
a powerful tpulP' In politics. He is now in
st. Louis in charge of the agricultural ex-
hibit from this state, but came home to
celebrate "melon day with his neighbors,
reason.
Senator Swink is no dude. One Of his
is that he never wears a coat.
He always goes around in his shirt sleeves.
He never owned an overcoat in his life.
1t is the popular impression that he has no
coat at all. although he is a man Of con-
wealth. and owns several of the
finest farms In Colorado.
When the st. Louis fair opened an order
was issued requiring all officials and at
to dress with neatness and care,
and to look as well possible, but Senator
Swink paid no attention to it. and when the
chief of his department ordered him to
wear his coat he explained that he didn't
have one-that he had not brought a coat
with him from Colorado and didn't propose
to buy one in St Louis. He sits through
the sessions of the state senate In his shirt
sleeves. and declares that nobody thinks
the less of him for 1t. He has been there
SO long and Is so well known to every
body about the state that he no longer at
tracts attention.
Mr.. Swink Is the richest farmer in all
this country, and deserves all the good for
tune that can come to him, for tt is due to
his enterprise, industry and practical com
mon sense that the big fruit belt in Colo
RADIO has been developed. He came out
here in a prairie schooner, in the early six
ties. with his family from the village OF
Rushville. near Galesburg, ILL.,, ana TOOK up
a piece Of land, where he pastured cattfe
and did a little dry farming. When the
santa Fe railroad came through this way
he allowed the engineers to locate water
tank upon his farm. and agreed to atteno
TO IT. provided they would let MIN ndve tHo
overflow for Irrigation. And with that lin
tied supply Of water he made the finest gar
den and the finest orchard and raised Inc
best vegetables and fruit that had ever
been known in this part Of the world. HIS
farm proved to be a great advertisement
and his methods were. initiated by other
farmers who located In this heighborhood.
A State Holiday Instituted.
Seventeen years agodthiS month 1t oc-
CURED to him that 1t WOULD be a good idea
10 advertise the resources ard advantages
II the country by inviting al the world to
!. free melon feast. aud accordingly the
was pubaishedSfar and wide
[: is a busy time of tie year Such a fool
thing as giving away 1Melons to strangers
had never been heard ibf. and the people
that somebody was5u to trick;
hence only fifty or sixty had the courage TO
take the risk and go to Rocky Ford; but
The scheme was great sucEess and when
the invitation was repeated sthe next year
here was crowd of 500 strangers In town
hat day, many of thera coWing from fifty
,r sixty miles. and not only stuffed them
selves with melons, hui, were given, free of
cost. as many as theytl couId carry home.
And so the melon feast at Rocky Ford |
,radually became state holiday and every |
body who can command the time and the |
facilities for travel comes here and makes |
himself sick eating watermelons and can
eloupes on the 9Th of every September.
Last year there were more than 10000 |