Polk County observer. (Monmouth, Polk County, Or.) 1888-1927, 1908-10-02
MANY ATTEND BIG FAIR
Second Day of Industrial Exhibit
Proves Record Breaker in
Every Respect.

The second day and beyond doubt
the big day OF the Polk County School
Children's Industrial Fair closed last
evening with bigger record of sue
cess than has been attained by any
entertainment of its kind ever before
held in Polk county.
The Fair was not formally opened
until Wednesday afternoon. the fore
noon of that day having been occupied
in receiving, classifying and labelling
the exhibits and arranging them in
suitable displays, and the attendance
on the first day was consequently quite
light. Thursday dawned cloudy and
threatening and for time the outlook
for the attendances on the second day
was exceedingly dismal The sky
cleared, however, before the morning
was far advanced and by 10 O'Clock
visitors from all of the outlying school
districts began to throng into the city.
The II o'clock trains from Portland
and Falls City brought large delega-
tions and the noon motor with more
than 200 people from Monmouth and
independence, swelled the attendance
to an even greater figure than had
been anticipated by the management
of the Fair.
The great feature of the day was the
parade Of Polk county school children
at 2 80 o'clock, followed by a water
melon feast in the assembly room OF
the armory.
Headed by the Dallas band, the
long line of schoolchildren, marching
two abreast and their files extending
for more than three blocks, passed
northward up Main street between the
banked walls of applauding onlookers
crowded along the sidewalks on either
hand. swung eastward along Mill
street and thence southwark down
Jefferson to the hall where the Fair
was being held.
Here the watermelon feast was held
and 1t was conducted with a dispatch
and thoroughness that did the heart
good. The head Of the procession dis
appeared from sight in the left hand
entrance of the assembly hall only to
issue from the right hand door an
instant later, not in straight and we'll
ordered line as when it entered, but In
a flying disintegrated mass. They
entered as a procession; they re-
appeared as individuals with their
hands full of luscious, dripping slices
of watermelon which they gulped
down at random, TO their intense per-
sonal enjoyment and frequently to
the utter Generalization of white
waists, clean ties or dainty dresses.
While the run on the melon tables"
continued, the assembly hall pre-
sented the spectacle Of half dozen Of
the busiest people in Dallas (at that
time), dispensing slices of melon right
and left to surging and apparently
interminable mass Of young human
ity and saying insistently and with
the automatic twang OF a cuckoo
clock, "Pass on please as soon as you
are served Pass on and give the rest
a chancel" Altogether it was the live
liest and most enjoyable scene that
has been witnessed in this city for
many day. The committee in charge
of this feature certainly deserves great
credit for the speed and efficiency
shown in handling the crowd.
A dash of rain in the afternoon
started some of the visitors homeward
trife early, but the sky cleared once
more and when the sun came out
again the crowd was but little smaller
than it had been before. Throughout
the remainder Of the day interest CEN
tered around the main hall where the
exhibits, bigger, better and more var
led than ever before, were spread out
in tempting array.
The work Of judging was carried on
throughout the entire day and the
prizes will be awarded this morning.
The judging Of the agricultural ex-
hibits has been in the hands Of Pro-
fessor Arthur L. Peck, of o. A. c.,
and Miss H. d. Scudder, Of the Depart
ment of Domestic Science in the same
institution, has acted as Judge OF the