The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1906-09-02

Wrestling with cumbersome machin-
cry. lacking signs and decorations and
unloading great drayloads of exhibits,
An army OF men strove NIGHTLY in
yesterday afternoons rain to give the
finishing touches to the exhibits on the
state fair grounds. Success attended
their. efforts and by nightfall all the
manned to do save to adjust some min.
or details and gather up the debris Of
packing cases, burlap and excelsior and
shove it decently out of sight. This
work was pushed thru by the itful
glare of gasolene torches, and today
dawned upon the state fair, bigger and
better than ever, in readiness for it's
npening tomorrow.
Feverish activity, the last frenzied
burst of speed at the end of the course,
marked yesterdays work. Silent men,
sns59sted b With the stains s5ao Of toll and 4P
activity of the week had permitted
seant leisure to seek the services of
the barber, worked unconscious of the
rain, which drenched their garments.
Ponderous machinery exhibits were la
boriously pried into position. Mon
way, slowly but inevitably, over the
muddy roads and the petulant pop of
the gasolene engine cut thru the rain
like an irregular pistol fusilade.
The Last Hard Work.
Silent men strained every muscle
and taxed every nerve to finish their
work before night. fell. Hurried, men,
too busy to swear, struggled with the
Irritating details of arrangement and
decoration. Tired men made weary
haste on .errands, needless of the rain.
which beat upon their unprotected
shoulders. Women whose locks Just
wouldn't stay in curl busted them
selves about the church refreshment
: booths or trailed their damp skirts
over the muddy crossings. Even few
babies were present, voicing a force,
full, tho inarticulate, protest against
the scheme of things, Everywhere the
energy and efficiency.
Complete, ordered and beautiful, the
state fair for the year 1905 slowly ma
terialized from this chaos of activity
and weather. Wonders were wrought
in an hours time. The great fair
grew before the eyes Of the oniooier
like a plant passing from seed to fruit
under the mystic passes Of an Indian
fakir.
A conservative estimate, made by one
Of the fair officials, placed the number
OF men employed putting in exhibits
5000 of these will be in attendance
hibits. To feed this army of men and
vast hordes Of visitors who will take
their meals on the grounds, there are
at least two score restaurants and re-
freshment stands scattered about the
grounds. 1t is safe to say that five out
of seven of these stands hae been set:
up by church organizations 1T will be
II. possible for people of. all shades of
religious belief to eat in a congenial
atmosphere.
The MACHINERY.
Machinery hall and the manufacture
ears building are packed with farm
implements of all sorts, ranging from
portable plant syrayers to ponderous
traction engines capable Of hauling
half train load of wheat over coun-
try roads. Meaningless machines all
calculated to aid in the business OF
agriculture but puzzles to the unini-
tiated, stand about on all sides. Demon
strators will be ready and anxious to
explain their mysteries tomorrow, but
the men who asked question of their
busy guardians yesterday would have
been decidedly tactless.
Horticultural hall has been filled
Of garden and orchard. Even the at
mosphere is crowded. An exhibit Of
onions occupying perhaps eight square
feet of floor space makes it's silent in
duence felt to the uttermost corners
Of the big building. :.
The horticultural Show.
Speaking of the exhibits in this col
lection, A ". Latham, the veteran
secretary of the Minnesota State Hor-
tieultural society, says:
"The great exhibit of orchard fruits
can fairly be taken as an indication
of the development of orcharding in
&o%n Oh
ly be larger than ever before, as the
space devoted to it is to be extended
to include that heretofore occupied
by the Beekeepers' association, so that
from four to five thousand plates of
apples, amounting to- hundreds 70. of
bushels, will be on exhibition in the
regular horticultural department at
titles Of fruit shown in the county and
farm displays and with the nursery
exhibits
Everything about the new live stock
amphltheater is in readiness for the ex
ercises which will mark its formal ded-
icatlon tomorrow morning. Delay in
the delivery Of the thing which is to
OF it bare, but the tarred paper which
underlies the thing will suffice to keep
out any rain which may fall, as was
evidenced yesterday afternoon.
James J. Hill to Speak.
The exercises which will mark at once
the dedication of the this building, the
largest of its kind in the country, and
the formal opening of the fair will be
noteworthy. At IL am. Monday, B. F.
Nelson Of Minneapolis, second vice
president Of the Minnesota State Agri.
cultural society, will deliver the adj
dress presenting the building to the
state. Governor John A., johnson will
make speech Of acceptance and intro
d dI!S; the speaker of the day, James j.
Mr.. Hill arrived from New York yes.
terday. When told Of the excellent
prospects for a successful fair he ex.
pressed gratif4at;on While the exacti
nature Of Mr.. Hill g address has not
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