Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1908-09-17
BIG FAIR IS ON
At WATERFOWL
Exhibits of Hospital Products
Are Even More Extensive
Than Those Last Year.
TODAY WAS THE OPENING
Big Crowds Examine Displays-Addi-
ton of Industrial Department
Increases Their Scope.

town hospital opened today. The eX
hibits this year eclipse those of last
year in every department, and those of
the first fair a year ago were pro-
nounced wonderful by the thousands
of people who went from the tri-cities
to see them.
The hospital fair has been estab-
lished as an annual event, as the re-
suit of the great success of the three
May fair last year DIR. w. E. Taylor.
superintendent of the hospital, arrang-
ed the first fair as an experiment, with
a double purpose in mind The idea
was to furnish a novel entertainment
for the hundreds of patients at the
hospital, and at the same time afford
an opportunity to the general public
to become more familiar with the in
stitution and the work the patients
occupy their time with while confined
there. That it filled both purposes can
not be disputed, and accordingly the
fair has become a fixed annual event
in the life of the hospital.
Patients Enjoy 1t.
The fair is held in the big play
ground of II acres, back of the main
hospital grounds, and in the direction
of the Institutions farm. During the
summer the small buildings scattered
about the enclosure have been occu-
pied by 300 patients, who have en-
joyed summer of outdoor life not
unlike that of a camp.
During the fair each afternoon all
| of the 1900 patients of the hospital
who are able to be out are taken to
the grounds and allowed to examine
the various exhibits and enjoy the
many amusements provided. The hos
| pital band furnishes a concert every
AFTERNOON, there is daily balloon
ascension, and slide for life. In the
enclosure are located ''merry-go-
round baby rack" cigar stands
and a "topsy-turvy house" The
patients are allowed to enjoy these,
] free tickets being provided.
| Exhibits of All Kinds.
| But to the outsider the industrial ex-
hibits at the fair are the most inter
esting features, inasmuch as they
show how the inmates spend their
time, and show the broad scope of the
Hospitals industrial department.
i The exhibits a year ago were pro
nounced wonderful, but since the in
auguration of the industrial department
of the hospital in the last year. the
! lines of work have been broadened
and the exhibits are far more exten
sive and more interesting than those
of the first fair. There is everything
from live stock and farm products tt
the most artistic pen and ink sketches
the most beautiful needle work ant
embroidery.
Scientific Farming.
In the farm exhibits building arr
shown the results of scientific farming
Beets that would nearly fill a peel
measure, great red onions of the fines
quality, enormous sweet potatoes
broom, corn, kaffir corn, cucumbers
popcorn, carrots, Russian millet, oats
peppers, rhubarb, turnips, and othe
products too numerous to mention ar
all shown-and all are products of tn
. hospital farm, operated by the labor o
insane people. confined at the hospital
Onions Important Crop.
It might be said in passing that
large part of the food consumed in tn
I institution is raised on the hospita
! farm An attendant--the size of tn
Z onions being spoken of by a visitor
remarked: Eyes, we raise hundred
of bushels of them on the farm, an
they constitute an important part c
the annual harvest. They form an in
portant part, also, of the food of tn
hospital. They are healthy, and tn
patients all like them" OF the broor
corn he said: 1--WE have broom MAJ
lufacturing plant in the industrial d.
3 APARTMENT, and that broom corn is raj!
ed for the express purpose of provit
3 ing the material for making broom
and brushes needed in the hospita
q The finished brooms exhibited els
z where on the grounds are PRACTICAL
3 the entire product of the hospital
q The alfalfa exhibited is labele
@ alfalfa, third crop"
al Poultry and Live Stock.
Z In the same building is the poultI
8 Iexhibit, and birds of the highest SEQ
4 ing, of a dozen different breeds, al
q exhibited. DIR. Taylor is something
4 a fancier himself, and the poultry plal
:. has been made one of the farm SIP
cialties. In another part of the grount
lis the live stock exhibit, where aga
, are seen the results Of science. Flu
= blooded animals that could be countt
on to win ribbons in strong compe
.ftion are shown, and the visitors fro