The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1912-12-24
BIG EXHIBIT FROM
CALIFORNIA HERE
THIS MORNING
Two Cars Full of Golden State
Products
COLLECTION OF CURIosIIlEs
Cars viii be Stationed in Local
Railroad Yard for Remainder Of
the Week.

The travelling exhibit from Calhor-
mia sent out by the combined boards
of trade of five counties lying north
of San Francisco bay and which has
been on the road during the past %
months, arrived at the Rutland rail-
road yard this morning. The colleL
ton, which is contained in two speci-
ally constructed cars and which was
primarily made to show what the soil
and climate conditions of California
will produce in the way of fruits and
other produce, will remain In Ben
nington during the next three days.
To any person who has never visit
ed California the exhibit will prove
interesting and to any one who has
thoughts of taking up a permanent
residence on the Pacific coast the con
tents OF the cars will be source of
education.
When plans were being made to
send out the exhibit the members of
the boards of trade in the five count
les were given the privilege of select
ing from the wonderful garden and
orchard of Luther Burbank the plant
wizard, the best of his specimens and
this portion of the collection alone is
well worth visit
The two cars are completely flied
with fruit, vegetables and countless
curiosities, the latter added by way
of special attraction. The cars have
been furnished by the North of the
Bay Counties Association, which in
cludes the Boards of Trade of those
counties and are sent about the coun-
try entirely at the expense of the as
sociation in order to advertise the
land north of the Bay of San Francis
co that for some unaccountable rea-
son has been overlooked by pioneers
of the past.
The first car, by which one eaters
the fair, is for the most part laden
with fruit and vegetables. Pears and
peaches OF most increditable sizes,
perfect in shape and without spot or
speck. Figs and dates that come to
us dried and boxed are shown in the
natural state and as perfect as when
first taken from the trees. 1t is said
by men who have seen these fruits
grow in their native land, that the
fruit of the north of the Bay count
les is even superior to that of the
warm Asiatic lands.
In order TO. further enlist the inter-
est of the sightseers of the cars, a
remarkable museum of oddities and
curios is shown in the second car.
Queer fish, shells of all descriptions,
skeletons of reptiles. live octopus,
afNff m rar1lN lrrnFn h. T-l.
live monkeys, and lazy. ugly and
disinterested alligator are shown in
lavish profusion, all of which are of
great educational interest to school
children in particular.
In huge case there is the head
and body of a mammoth shark. The
mouth is spread wide open and is of
such width that a good-sized child
might stand upright in it, The shark
when caught was 20 feet long. In
the same case are shown the ribs of
a whale, each easily five feet in length
while in still another part is shown
the vertebrae of the shark, of which
there were 80. II science is corret.
it. requires five years to develop one
OF these vertebrate; a simple multi
H'eAhS HiONtSN ItNtdlS tue startling
fact that this shark was about 400
years old when II was captured.
Whether or not an animal can live to
that remarkable age is open for dis
cussion. Science has proven even
more wonderful things than that,
therefore, We have every reason to be
lieve this instance possible.
Two rare mounted reptiles on exhi-
bition arfe a gila monster. one OF the
most deadly of crawling things to be
found in the United States, common
in Arizona, Texas and New Mexico,
and the weel preserved skeleton of a
mermaid. The latter is not the beau
tful creature of fable that lured men
to the seas bottom by its grace and
charm. Just a horrid little body re-
sembling that of a fish with a head
that is strangely human in Appearance