The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1921-10-04
Frederick Haskln's Letter
A Model Fair.
tspecia, Correspondence Of The Argusl

Toronto, Can, Oct. 3.-This place
is appropriately named, for Toron-
to means place of meeting. me
Indians named it when they gain
cred here to trade furs with the
French. coming over Lake Ontario
in their canoes and trailing down
from the forests. Now, on the
same ground where the Indians
met, Canadians gather every fail
at what has become the biggest an
nual exposition held anywhere
the Canadian National Exhibition.
Exposidons and fairs are held all
over Canada, much like our own
state and local fairs. But the To-
ronto exhibition claims to hold the
record for eiaborateness, size and
popularity.
To Toronto. the exhibition is the
event of the year. It has been an
institution Tor 43 consecutive years.
All year round the 26f acres OF
Exhibition City on Lake Ontario
stand practically deserted. with
only caretakers to keep the build
ings. fountains. band stands, lawns
and flower beds in trim But all
the time the board of directors OF
the exhibition and their commit
tees are working The day AFTER
the exhibition closes the heads be-
gin considering improvements Tor
next year. To be on the board is
one of the most important honors
Toronto can confer upon her lead
ing citizens. The city is proud OF
the record tina. it has kept politics
out of its exhibition.
When the affair opens, visitors
pour into the city. They come not
only from all over Canada, but
from every state in the union. and
even a good many from South
America and other more distant
countries. for the Canadian Nation
al Exposition is famous for being
a model fair.
The fair grounds present the sort
of panorama of any big exposition.
There are long streets with more
than a hundred stands running
paddle wheels. ball tossing games
and other contests. Not one OF
the games is a gambling device,
you ars told. The board of direc-
tors is firm about that. And prices
are reasonable. The board makes
the contracts with the concession
holders, fixing fair prices. and a
close watch is kept to see that
there is no profteering.
Beyond the games and amuse-
ments. and the big white eating
tents. is the grandstand. When you
consider that there were 10000
children on this grandstand at
three performances on Young Can
ada Day-3o,000 at a time-you get
an idea of the scale on which the
Toronto exhibition has to be plan
ned
Community Singing.
This grandstand faces four cir
Gus rings. where vaudeville and
circus acts are shown followed by !
a pageant. community singing. and .
at night fireworks How to get an .
audience of some 10000 people to .
sing does not worry the exhibition
at all. Words are /
thrown on two big screens, one at
each end OF the 200-fOot stage. An .
ordinary megaphone or piano /
would scarcely carry to the front !
rows of so large an outdoor audi :
forum. But a rolling booth, open !,
On the side toward the people, is !
pulled to the center of the stage.
Of the apparatus only three horns
On top of the booths are noticeable.
A man sits inside the booth and
plays a xyiophone and sings in an
ordinary tone of voice, and every
word can be caught at the far cor !.
lers OF the stand.
Canada takes kindly to singing.
All sorts of well known songs are
quickly caught up and finished in
,limax of enthusiasm. Old songs
ike Tart -boom-de-ay," I'm
he Shade of the Old Apple Tree" &
md Garry Me Back to Old Vir-
sinny," are alternated with the
newer popular tunes. Sing loud
ike last year" the screen urges
,etw cen two numbers, and Canada
aughs and complies. {;
AS many entertainment features |!
IS there seem to be at the exhibit
ion, there are even more of an ed L
lcatiOnal character. The manage 4
nent prefers to stress this side of
he spectacle. Toronto insists that +,
stranger can learn more about
7anada in two hours at the exhibit
ion than in year of travel over /
he country. This is probably true !
Few Americans would credit Can |
.da with producing the varied as {
ortment of things that can be seen {
Il this all-Canadian display. Il
The manufacturers building. for {
Instance, has elaborate displays of |
ooms furnished in brocades, eX- :
furniture, and orn- l