Iowa state bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1894-1916, 1905-08-25
SPECIAL NEWS LETTER.

Des Moines, Iowa, Aug. IS 1905.
All arrangements tor the Iowa State
Fair for this year have been complete
ed and the prospect now Is for the
most successful exposition here be-
tween August 25th and September
LIST, ever seen in the west. Only fair
weather Is needed, and the Fair man
agement hopes to be lucky on that
score. 1t would be sad, indeed, were
the people of Iowa to be cheated out
# the great show which has been pro-
sided for them this year, by being
compelled to stay to home on ac-
count OF the weather.
But they need not even If 1t should
rain, for the Fair managers have sue.
ceeded in securing enough assistance
from the Legislature of the state dur.
ing the last few years to provide per-
manent buildings in which the people
can easily be housed at all times.
One Of these structures is the hand
some live stock pavilion in which can
be seen the finest horse and cattle
show ever offered to western people,
and in fact--to any people, for it Is
ont surpassed by any national or In
ternational exhibition.
Entries in the Cattle and Horse De-
partments, which closed August LIST,
have been counted, and show total
of IT'S head Of cattle and about three
hundred head of horses or total or
over one thousand head of the finest
cattle and horses on earth to be eS'
hibited at the coming fair.
The State Fair this year. in short,
will be combination of score OF
features any one Of which Is more
than worth the price of admission.
For instance, the amusement fea-
lures designed exclusively for the en-.
tertainment of the people will be so
many and varied that they will make
the Fair better than any circus ever
seen in Des Moines. What are these
amusement features: There will be
Liberattis band, musical organlza-
ton equal to Sousas, and the indian
pand which goes out under the aus
pieces of the United States govern.
ment, both of which bands will play
hours every day. There will be a
fire works spectacle twice as big and
splendid as any ever seen in the west,
depicting the siege and fall OF Port
Arthur, a timely spectacle. This dis
play will last two hours, every even.
ing. There will be acrobatic stunts
by the Nelson family, the flying
Moores, the Bedouin Arabs, and a
number of other organizations which
have no superior in this line in any
circus in the world; in fact those ia
miliar with the matter have taken the
pains to make comparisons between
the acts to be seen at the State Fair
this year and those offered by the
big circuses which have visited Des
Moines this summer and the compari.
son was to the good of the fair. There
will be a daily exhibition race be-
tween Jack and Jack, the worlds
champion fire department running
horses, and Black and Tan, who stand
a close second.
And each day on the grounds the
big teams of Pabst and Swift compan'
les, six horses each, the largest and
most nearly perfect draft horses in
the world and worth untold sums OF
money, will be seen in the finest OF
equipments. In addition the horse
races for purses amounting to $4,000
till be better and faster than ever
before And 500 Eleventh U. S. caval-
~ soldiers will be seen in daily pa
rade. This is the bare outline OF
programme of amusement and enter
tainment, alone, which costs the Fair
management an enormous sum.
When there is added to it the relay
racers, four young women from the
west, who ride astride, and change
horses each of the four miles they
run daily for five days the State Fair
of Iowa the last week in August will
offer the best entertainment ever seen
in this country.
That is only the amusement fea.
lure. The educational features OF the
Fair and those features designed to
show off the resources of the state
of Iowa are the chief ends of the ex'
position. They will be displayed in
abundance. ~
The cattle show has been mention
ed. 1t means the presence on the
Fair grounds OF at least S5OO,OOO
worth of cattle, in the first place;
there will be seen at the Fair the
finest herds of each breeu known to
the world; the biggest and best
known cattle men in the United
States will attend and be seen at the
Fair. And among them all the Iowa
cattle breeder will have a fair show
for competition for the $4,000 in
prizes offered. .!
The same thing may be said about
horses, for there will be among the
200 head here the best horses in the
United States, and the most valuable
With the liberal fnducement offered
by all railroads Of the state Of a one
half fare to Des Moines and return
during State Fair week it is expected
that many people will take advantage
of the opportunity to visit the CAPT
tai city Of the state, and the annual
exhibition of which all Iowa people
are justly proud. j..
It is said the Turks were the first
to bury their dead in cemeteries
adorned with ornamental headStOneS.