The Hope pioneer. [volume] (Hope, N.D.) 1882-1964, 1914-07-09
iii FARMERS PICNIC

How the Affair Appeared
To a Representative
of The Pioneer.
The picnic held in Patients GROVE,
eight miles northeast of Hope, on the
Fourth, was one Of the most crafty
ing and successful attempts in this
line yer made by anyone anywhere,
and IL will be quoted for many years to
COME % the greatest rural gathering
ever witnessed In the county. II was
a Farmers picnic - conceived, ar
ranged and carried out by the enter.
prising agriculturists of the county,
and while the t%ownspeople backed up
the plans and gave 1t aid in various
ways and pstronized IL by their almost
unanimous presence, 1t never would
have been the success it proved to be
without the perseverance, push and
energy Of u "horny.handsd yeo-
men,"
The preparation for the event was a
great task, the clearing OF the grove
alone requiring tho hard labor OF
many men for many days, to say no.
thing of the hauling Of the material
and building OF the pavilion and the
hundreds Of tables, benches, etc.,
about the grounds. The various cor.
cesstons brought the management a
considerable fund, but 1t could hardly
have been more than was necessary to
meet the absolute cost.
Aside from the thirty OF forty from
Hope who were in attendance at the
Valley City ChautauQua, almost every
last man, woman and child Of the
place a 1T the picnic. Every store
and shop vas closed and looked at IL
o'clock in the morning and not opened
again during the day; indeed, they
could not DO opened, for the merchants
and clerks and their families had
joined the picnic procession and taken
their keys with them. The town was
deserted, and = handful OF l. w. VS.
or = fairly healthy IRE could have cap
tured the place without effective oppo.
sitioa. And 90 1t must have been in
nearly every other town Of the county
else where did the crowd ~ The grove,
which was %variously estimated
from $500 to 1000. come frem? We
happen to know that there we're sew
sral present from the county ON the
east, aud it 10 possible that adjoining
counties in other direstions each con-
tributed . few, and these may have
been sufficient to Offset the number
OF our W people who stayed at home.
Anyhow, the vast majority OF those
present wsrs residents OF Steele
county. 1t was = Steele county picnic
pure and simple; and it was . good
natursd, jolly crowd out for = good
time-and they had it. Every car.
was for the time being thrown to the
Winds and every q of the big crowd
gave him or herself up to the fullest
enjoyment OF the splendid program
which had been prepared. And there
was something suited to each individ.
usl taste. The nerry-go-round caught
the most of the kiddiss and q good
many others who had ceased to bs In
that category years and years ago,
and who claimed they were there just
Ito see that Maria Jane or Little john
Henry didn't fell of and get hurt
same old lie that has been told time
withoutnumbsr since merry-go-reunds
and ~sircusss were Invented. But thei,
subterfugs 10 pardonabls. There il
something about being whirled in
circle s-straddle = wooden horse t.
the rasping, whanging music" OF Z
hurdy.gurdy that is strangely seduc
tive, and it sometimes takes a strong
will to resist the temptation to "Ge
aboard" Then there was the RIM
fakir, whose sure ehsnse to get YOU
change and al the same time retsir
his worthless 'sticks" is as five one
Or you could knock over a "niggs'
baby" (possibly) and win 9 cigar b
whose righteousness you could b
trailsd from ''hell to breakfast
There was still another kind Of fakil
doing business for q tims-until hi!
methods had bsen brought to the at
tention of the states attorney-and h
made little p~rstense OF returning an!
valuable equivalent for the stream o
quarters and halves flowing over hi
counter: he just simply showed then
down into his jsans-and for q Will
1t kept him very busy. The write
was told that this tin-horner got in OF
false p%rstsusss.
A spacious canopied pavilion ha'
been erected fer the public spsakin
and other platform exercises Of til