The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1910-10-06
Down Midway They Go and
Through Exhibit Buildings
Having Big Time
INTERESTING TALKS
GIVEN BY JUDGES
Wives Swarm Into Woman De
partnlent Looking at Products
Of Hlousekeepers and Ask
Ing Questions.

Along the midway, crowded around
the race track. thronging the exhibit
buildings and side shows the farmers
from all over Virginia are in charge
Of the STATE. fair. They are there with
their MiNes and their children IheN
are there TO see everything and To have
a good time and they are doing both
with vim.
AS the iair represents the agrlcul-
tural interests OF the state equally
with the industriais and manuaac-
lures. the farmers and their wives
find much to interest them. There are
the horses and other livestock, the
extensive agricultural and farming
machinery displays, the household
products AS shown In the woman
building, while the many special tea =
lures OF amusement fill their hours
with Il never ending wonder.
The farmers are taking in every
show ON the midway. Long whiskered
sons of the soil accompanied by their
wives, generous of build and sympa~
thies the Young farmer with his
new wife spending n part of his honey
moon at the fair farmer lads with
their rosy check sweethearts: young
sprouts. Drowned by the san and
wind able To follow the pillow, handy
with the milking pail and strong With
the AK: little farmer girls, who can al
ready make the finest preserves and
pickles in the world. alive in the dairy
and helpful in housekeeping they are
all there. and they are all having one
big. tremendous time
Must See IL.
John. We haven't seen the snake
eater" says the wife pointing to a
gaudy and fearfully painted tent in
or irh "a St1iplpr PC ont
the strange gastronomic idiosinerasies
of the still stranger freak within.
Farmer John. determined to miss
nothing worth seeing-and everything
Is worth seeing-plunks down half a
dozen dimes, and with the wife and
four Youngsters enter One in sight
of the Australian wonder. they look
on with eyes wide In amazement, as
with grinding teeth the freak tears
apart venonous reptiles and eats them
with enjoyment.
Where the trick horse with the ma
thematical bent counts and adds and
tells the time Of day the farmes con-
gregate In astonishment. wondering
il such thing can really be true, but
going away finally fully satisfied and
perhaps little frightened that a
dumb beast" can do sums In arith-
metic over which they themselves
spent many weary hours in their child
hood days.
Next they must stop to buy potato
peeler. Really there never were quite
such peeiers and the wife, who
thought she knew something about
peeling potatoes. finds that she really
knew nothing at all, and SO must have
not only one of these astonishing In
strnments, but three. for there are her
two married daughters now at home
wasting their good potatoes because
they have not the right peelers.
Then. of course, Farmer John must
have one of those magnifying glasses.
which. besides revealing many OF the
most wonderful things Imaginable
disclose other things which never
were and never can be. but which
By reason OF their utter impossibility
are all the more interesting and anus
ing " Nf3
Biuslss. But Goes In.
At the dancing girls tent the wife
bushes at the gaudy display of pink
ness, but laughingH persuaded by her
husband. the whole family enters and
is carried away. Justify applauding the
wh1rling dancers AS they perform
their most difficult steps
But they are not quite so sure about
that seyep-legged horse. The horse
is there all right. and it has seven
legs fair enough. The legs are his
and are growing on the body Just
as any respectable legs would grow
Their eyes tell the farmers that there
are seven legs, but as such a thing
Is impossible. how can there be
seven legged horse, even II they are
looking directly at one