The daily banner. (Cambridge, Md.) 1897-2008, 1918-11-13
FLED WITH YOUTH
Advancing Years Destroyed IIIu-
sion of 0Id-Time Fair.
GiIded Caravans, With Their Wonder
full CorSents, Which Entertained
the People of English Villages,
Recalled to Memory.

The iair always appeared at the
same date and at the same place in
the particular town each year, in ODE
dience TO some mysterious calendar
that probably never got into print, but
that, nevertheless, was perfectly we'll
known to the show folk. No one
knew exactly. cT cared exactly.
whence these showmen and show
women came. They seemed to com.
prise u reritable pcripatetic army,
whose whole duty was to travel from
one end of Great Britain to the other
and entertain and instruct less fortu-
nate people. Judging from the glar-
ing posters on their wagons, but more
particularly from the huge paintings
which adorned their show fronts,
they had Travelled 10 the utterlnost
parts of the earth, in order to find
the subjects for their unique and re-
fined entertainments" and had been re-
warded by the patronage of most Of
the crowned heads of Europe and the
presidents of the American republics
They rode for the most part in Snowy
caravans, adorned with pictures and
neat little white curtains drawn
across little windows, and topped by
smoking chimneys. Or they drove
wagons piled with properties, or vans
the front ends OF which could be let
down and transformed into an impos-
ing show front, while the opposite
end could be mysteriously elongated,
and 10 I! there sprang into being, with
in the space of a few minutes, long,
tubular rifle gallery!
The news Of the arrival of the first
wagon, or the first gilded caravan, or
of the setting up of the first tent pole,
the sure sign and symbol of the COM
ing of the annual fair, was always a
source of intense interest and expec-
fancy to the young generation in the
town, Struggling attachments Of
boys and girls would soon be moving
toward the fair ground to get first i'm
pressions Of the pleasure to come.
And when the opening day of the
fair had actually arrived, or, better
still, when the day of days, which was
market day, had come, and the
grounds were packed with people, and
one had already done" the circus
twice, watched the gorgeous street
procession Of lords and ladies" and
hOwdahed elephants, and had almost
beggared oneself for the sake Of see
ing the greatest wild-beast show in
the world. with the only live gorilla
In captivity" at feeding time, which
of course was the most expensive
time, there was nothing to do but 70
go through the fair once more. The
last penny for that day had been
spent, 1t was true, but one might
have the good fortune to come across,
In some corner or byway of the fair,
the aweSome person who "ate fire"
or the wonderful man who lifted
heavy weights like tops, or "swal-
lowed swords"
Never, so it seemed. could there be
so much for one to do or to enjoy;
never could there be again, or any
where else, SO much delight as was
crowded into those avenues Of noise
by day and noise and flaming naphtha
lights by night, where a dozen brazen
bands played simultaneously, a dozen
organs screamed and trumpeted and
a dozen big drums banged from the
steps Of the shows; where hundreds
of rattleS ratified, and stentorian
voices beloved to the crowds to pat
rOniZe this and to look at that
That the old-time fair was always
sure to be much the same, year after
year, did not much detract from it's
gorgeOusness or fascination in the
eyes of those youthful patrons who
had been Saving up" for weeks 10
enjoy its prospective delights. Yet 1t
is true that, as time went past, some.
thing Of the charm Of the fair went
with 1t. The "kings" and queens"
seemed to be less royal, the gold more
tinsel, the colors more garish, the
noise more apparent, the music more
cacophonous and the show people less
interesting. Then it was that the
interest Jagged, disillusion crept In,
and at last the fair ceased to attract.
1t had. indeed, become a very ordi-
nary thing.