Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1905-12-01
IHE STATE FAIR
As An EDUCATOR
Secretary Simpson Thinks Iowa
People Do Not Realize Its
Advantages
POINTS OUT GREAT BENEFITS
Something More Than a Place to Have
Big Tme-some Figures to Show
the Importance of the Fair From an
Educational standpoint-The Rock
er Case.
Special to rtmes-Republlcan.

Special to Times Republican.
Des Moines, Dec. 1.--Secretary John
C. Simpson of the Iowa department of
agriculture believes that the educa-
tional advantages of the Iowa state
fair are not fully appreciated by the
citizens of the state to very large
extent. 1t might be said in passing
that the state fair is not a joke with
Mr.. Simpson. Not another official
about the state house who throws his
entire interest into his department or
is more wrapped UP in his work than
John G. Simpson. When he goes to
church he sees in the atmosphere
about the place where the preacher
ought to be- visions of perfected
adapted buildings, throngs of people
and big gate receipts at the Iowa state
fair along with enlarged possibilities
for the entire department of agricul-
ture. The Iowa department of agri-
culture is on his mind day and night
When once convinced that the fatT
needs any particular thing he goes af-
ter it. He keeps a most vigilant eye
on every department Of the state fair
| and there is no peace with the board
of directors till every department has
what 1t ought to have. The directors
have learned that his Judgment is
most unerring. For some time Mr..
Simpson has had the idea the the state
| at large was not thoroughly impressed
with what a tremendous educational
institution the state fair is. He says
! a large number of people are in the
habit OF considering it sort of side
show where people go for a sort of
I! iamboree and return the next year just
to keep up the habit.
For years Mr.. Simpson and the
board of directors have been enGeavor-
ing with considerable success to bring
the educational and beneficial features
of the state fair prominently to the
front. They pride themselves that the
state fair is something more than a
place to go each year. The best cat
tle horse, sheep, hog and corn judges
there are anywhere in the United
States are annually at the state fair
and the farmers, stock men and ex-
tlilbitors generally come in contact
with these men and thus get pointers
they never could get any other way.
| There are the contests in the judging of
stock and corn for the younger men
with a scholarship at Ames as the
prize. These are only a few of the edu-
| cational advantages of the fair as
pointed out by Mr.. Simpson who ar
| gues that the fair is now so thorough
ly organized that practically every
feature is educational But he brings
the extent of the educational advan-
tages OF the fair out in bold relief
with the figures of attendance in COM
parison with the attendance at COL
leges. There are in the neigh|borhood
of 100000 people in attendance annual
| ly at the state fair, and up to over
100000. A college student at Ames at
tends for thirty-six weeks in one year.
There are an average Of $4,000 or 40,-
900 persons at the state fair each of
the five days and the attendance is
thus equivalent to the attendance of
| over 1000 students at the State Agri-
cultural College for full year. That
is, $4,000 persons at the state fair for
one week is the equivalent of 1000
students attending for thirty-six
weeks.
Mr.. Simpson thinks it is entirely reas-
enable to suppose that the amount Of
knowledge secured by the 100000 peo-
pie in five days attendance is equal
to that of 1000 students attending COL
lege for thirty six weeks. Further
more he calls attention to the fact that
these 100000 people are largely peo-
pie who cannot go to college and fur
thermore they come from every quar-
ter of the state and return with in
formation which they impart to their
neighbors. The knowledge, too, is Of
the most practical kind that the farm
er begins to employ in his business.
There are of course people who attend
the state fair just to gawk about
but Mr.. Simpson comes back at that
with the argument that there are also
students who go to college and do
nothing but play foot ball or smoke
cigarets, and furthermore that while
there are some who gawk about the
fair grounds those who do go there to
attain knowledge attain it much more
rapidly and in much more strenuous
manner than student attending coll
lege for thirty-six weeks.
sss
The seemingly irresistible tendency
of city councils as boards of review
to get mixed up with street car COM
panies in politics is giving rise to the
idea among some of the municipal
reformers that the executive fix the
assessments of city street railways as
we'll as of interurbans and steam roads
1t is argued that under such an ar
rangement the matter would be away
| from political influence and the prop
critics would be assessed on the merits
of the proposition and with as great
success as railroads generally are at
this time.
| The last possible date on which ap-
pications for pardons from the thirty