The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1913-09-13
Leader and Lieutenants Car
ried Show to Success.
Even Larger Plans for Enter
tainment Next Year.
LAST DAY WAS A HUMMER
Large Crowd Saw Races and
Fireworks Spectacle.
DrOuth Does Not Affect Work
Conducted Here.

The 1918 State fair, Topeka, is n
thing of the past. It was a great show.
The attendance was cut down on two
of the best days. Wednesday and
Thursday bv the rain, to be sure. but
Friday was an ideal day and the crowd
was the largest on record for the last
day of the fair. On Wednesday and
Thursday the total rainfall was 3.13
inches, but the grounds dried rapidly
and were in excellent condition Friday.
The race track could not have been
faster.
The State fair mirrored the great ag-
ricultural and other resouces of Kan
sas. AS has been previously stated.
both exhibitors and visitors alike have
been strong in their praise of the big
show, great credit for which is due
H. L. Cook. the secretary. the board of
managers and the superintendents of
departments. The agricultural exhib-
it's served as an eye opener to the peo-
pie, who in the face of the worst per-
iod of drouth and heat that Kansas has
ever known did not dream that such a
creditable display of produce could be
brought together.
The merits of the livestock displays
have already been played up" but not
a shade too strongly. Every depart
ment showed up to advantage. and in
fact several departments outclassed
anything previously seen here. The
livestock men were successful in clos
ing manv sales.
Crowds Were in Order.
There was no rowdyism displayed on
the grounds. Charles Haynes, the su-
perntendent of the guards, said:
never saw a better behaved crowd.
thrown, but the funmakers did not
carry things too far. The force or
guards under Superintendent Haynes
ranged from so to so men and the Boy
Scouts were a great help. 16 of them
being on duty each day
The emergency hospital under Miss
Kate and Kilmaurs King was an inn
portant factor on the grounds. On
Friday 16 cases were handled, rang
ing from headaches to another case of
typhoid fever. One man was taken to
the hospital who had been thrown and
stepped upon by a bucking buffalo in
the wild west show. Another man had
sustained a scratch by a bear in the
animal show: he came within an ace
of losing an eye.
The fair grounds were kept in a
sanitary condition. The superintend-
ent of sanitation Hugh Benner. saw
to it that disinfectants were freely used
where needed. An average of 40 loads
of trash was carted from the grounds
each day.
There are "a thousand and one de-
tails that must be looked after at a
well regulated fair-and the 1913 state
fair at Topeka was better organized
than any previous fair ever held here,
according to Secretary Cook.
Big Crowd Friday.
There were a large number of
Santa F'e employees on the grounds
Friday afternoon, as the shops were
closed for the occasion and all gen.
eral office employees who wished to
attend the fair were given full per-
mission to do so. There were hun
1reds of farmers, too, a large per-
of whom had planned to
eome to Topeka on Thursday, but
we're kept away by the rain. The
hight entertainment-"OLd Mexico,
I847''-was we'll attended. 1t closed
1t o'clock, and as the Patterson
shows were pulling up stakes at that
ime there was a great rush for the
treet cars. No exhibits were per-
nitted to be taken from the grounds
before O'Clock in the afternoon.
Topeka Track Popular.
Three and thirteen
inches of rain in one night and day,
Ind racing on a perfect speedway the
ext afternoon-that is what happened
It the State fair, Topeka. Friday,
he last day of the fair and the racing,
vas the best attended of any, but the