A GREAT FAIR
LARGEST CROWDS EVER KNOWN
ON THB GROUNDS.
Indianapolis Day   Thursday, Brought
Over 40,000 People.
The Board ls Clear of Debt!
It is hardly necessary for us to write
np the great State fair of last week, for it
seemed that a large proportion of the
people who read our paper must have
been there, at least the Indiana Fabmer
families were very largely represented.
We had several agents on the grounds
distributing papers and taking subscriptions, and their chief oomplaiut was that
most of the farmers solicited were already taking the paper.
Tuesday was Children's day and the
grounds swarmed with young folks, who
complained of the implement men and
other exhibitors because they didn't treat
them to picture cards. Wednesday was
a fairly good day, and but for the great
heat the crowd would have been much
larger. Thursday was Governor's day.
There were several attraction?, and the
attendance was good. The heat during
the forenoon was intense. It continued
until about half past one o'olook in the
afternoon, when a sudden and very heavy
wind and rain storm broke over the
grounds, and with-such violenoe that
scores of tents and sheds were blown
down upon their occupants; limbs were
torn from the trees in the west part of the
grounds, and hurled among tenls,wagons
and horse9, creating intense alarm and
doing considerable damage. One man
was pinned down by a heavy limb, and
so badly injured that he died next day
Several others were badly hurt; one
horse was killed and many eating stands
lost most or all their provisions, by the
drenohlng rain. It was an exciting and
fearful twenty minutes to all upon the
grounds, for fow of us had ever before
seen a wind blowing at the rate of a mile
a minute, as this one did, and the falling
of tents around us and limbs of trees flying by, at the speed of a lightning express train, were not calculated to make
us very secure about our own shelter.
Indeed but for the help of fifteen or
twenty brave and sturdy friends who
rushed in for shelter and took part in
holding down the posts and curtains our
tent would have been carried over our
heads and we have bsen left to take a
drenching. But the storm cooled the air
which had been almost at torrid heat,
and after it was over the people were
thankful. As one result it gave almost a
perfect day on the morrow, and thousands of people who had resolved not to
come on account of the hot weather
changed their minds Thursday evening,
and made ready to come on Friday, and
they came. They came by thousands and
by tens of thousands, by long train loads,
from all quarters of the State until Union
Station was crowded as never before, and
the street cars and the Monon railroad
trains were taxed their utmost to convey
them to the grounds. Owing to the rain
the previous day which prevented the
races on the program for that afternoon
a large part of Friday was given to them,
and the great Patohen-Pointer speed trial
•▼as delayed till after five o'olook, muoh
to the disappointment of the lovers of
the sport, who by the w.ay seemed to
form a large majority of the visitors that
day. The fastest pacers In the world, had
a wonderful attraction not only for the
oity people, for whose benefit they were
brought here, at large expense, but for
farmers as well. There is no doubt but
thousands of them were very anxious to
see these speedy goers ln action for they
missed their trains home to see the race,
which after all was not finished till next
Qay.  Many claim  that this delay was
planned for the purpose of holding the
orowd on Saturday, which otherwise
would have been a free day, but others
admit that the storm on Thursday was
sulli-ient cause for all the delay and disappointment.
The crowding to reach street cars and
trains after the raoe was terrific. Many
thousands failed to get to Union Station
until near midnight, when trains were
all gone and hotels nnd boarding houses
overcrowded, and the unfortunate strangers had nothing to do but spend the ui^ht
as best they could on the sidewalks and
on the grass plats ln front of the station.
Hundreds If not thousands were compelled to shiver through several cold
hours in this manner. Had the LEA
W. Co. run trains as the Monon Co. did,it
wonld have relieved the pressure materially. This arrangement should be made
another year. It in an impossibility for
the street cars to move 40.CCO people in the
short spaoe of one or two hours.
On Saturday 0,000 people gathered at
the grounds to see the finish of the great
race. Star P rinter having won a heat ou
Friday ln 2:01%, and Joe Patchen won In
2:03 Star Pointer won the last heat in
2:01, beating Joe Pdtohen three lengths.
Star Pointer now holds the world'.) race
reoord of 2:01, as well as that for a mile
against time, 1:59%.
NOTES.
As to the exhibits it 13 psrhaps sufficient to say that all departments were not
onlv filled, but well filled. The stalls and
pens were nearly all occupied by the most
perfect animals in all the breeds, allot
oourse in the most perfect condition. The
Implementdisplays were unusually numerous and fine.
It was a pleasure to see Patchen and
Pointer go In their raoe last Saturday.
They went easily and seemed to enjoy it,
and they were not cruelly over-checked
as many of the othor racers were. Another thing In favor of this race was that
as every one expeoted Pointer to come
out ahead there was but little or no betting on the result. Patohen's winning on
the second heat, Friday evening, was
necessary in order to have a continuation
of the raoe the next day, but no one had
any doubt about the final result, for
Pointer has already made his mile in
1:59% minutes running alone.
Lady Anderson, a Hancock county
mare, produced a sensation by pacing
alone and without rider or driver in
2:10)4 minutes.
Buggies, carriages and wagons were ln
very large display, probably never more
so. Manufacturers certainly expeoted the
farmers to use a good deal of their wheat
money in this direction. The agents reported much enquiry and many sales.
Implement men were present in great
numbers, and most of them are well
pleased with the prospect for better trade
next season.
The horticultural display was better
than in many previous years, but lacked
much of what our State ought to be able
to do. Johnson, Shelby and Marion
counties made very creditable displays.—
Johnson county's was particularly fine.
The apples were large and perfect, and
In large variety. The entries of all kinds
was 135 in this display.
The grains and vegetables In Agricultural building were tastefully arranged,
and in good variety; the display did not
exceed those made in several former
years, however.
Corn-shredders are getting popular,
evidently, for several new styles were
shown at the fair.
Two kinds of stone-orushers were exhibited, and they were a surprise to all
who had never seen such machines before. They chew up stones and boulders
in an astonishing way. Every township
onght to own one, and that it would be
an easy thing to keep the roads In order.
The receipts of the State Hoard at the
fair were not far from $10 000 The expenses were near $30 000, leaving a bal
anoe of about $10,000 After paying iff
ths indebtedness from last year there
will be a balance of perhaps $1,000. It
was the most successful fair ever held
here.
EXPERIENCE DEPARTMENT
1st Premium.—Our road supervisors
have us work out our road tax in the
fall by hauling gravel, which Is obtained
from gravel beds along the creek with no
more work than to shovel lt ln the wagon.
I am ln favor of covering the roads first
with rock, then a few inches of gravel on
top, but lt Beems aa though we have either too much road, or not enough people
to make suoh roads in this part of the
State.
It URnally costs from $1 to $150 per rod
to cover a single traok with gravel. Our
trustee got a rock crusher last year, and
many contend that lt co.ta as much to
run the machine and get the rook to and
from it a. it would oost to put the rock
on tho roads and have them beat up with
hammers.
It seems as though our editor must
have been asleep one day while at Nashville, as he haa 31 days in September this
year. I find that even the editor makes
mistakes sometimes. The Centennial
must be a good one. 1. B.
Cor} don.
21 Premium—Our road- are covered
with gravel taken from the gravel beds
along the creek and branches that wind
their way among our hills. Plenty of
oar farms are blessed with these gravel
beds, so the gravel can be gotten very
conveniently and all it costs is the hauling. The gravel never haa to be hauled
more than a mile or mile and a half;
sometimes not more than two or three
hundred yards, The road tax ls generally worked out in this way, the supervisor warns out as many at a time as he
thinks he can manage conveniently. A
man and his team and wagon are allowed
$2 50 per day. If any one would rather
not work in this way he can pay his road
tax when he pays the rest of his taxes,
and the supervisor can take that money
and hire some one to do the work on the
road. A. B C.
Harrison Co. _^_^^
3d Premium—Good, pure gravel is the
only available material for making coun.
try roads in this section. The time may
come when most prominent roads will be
paved with brick or stone, but not yet.
Gravel here sells at 10 oents a yard, the
owner keeping pit open. Where gravel
is abundant as it is here, it Is only a matter of a little while until all roads are
graveled. Our supervisor gets about 1200
loads a year on his roads. W.W. P.
Henry Co.      	
REVIEW.
A study of road material shows a great
surprise in that it is found in abundance
ln almost every county iu Indiana. Thia
includes gravel and boulders and quarry
stone.
I have investigated the oost of quarrying and crushing limestone, and find to
my surprise that one maobine will prepare 150 to 200 yards a day, and some of
the very large machines much more.
In an enterprising community whore
"nlggerheads" are a curs3 to farming
they throw up a grade in the spring with
a grsder, and the crusher is moved up
now and then along the road and boulders hauled from adjacent farms and
turned to a good purpose. I wish all
farmers so situated and not favored with
gravel would learn this fact and try the
plan. It means working out land tax
and donation perhap_,so as to turn a curse
into a blessing. A man onoe bought a
farm, and ln plowing a field broke his
share on a bonlder.   In digging lt out he
found two old  rusty broken  shares that
the former owner had broken.
I think our good friend Benj. William.,
of Corydon, must have seen their crusher
used under unfavorable circumstances.
You want to remember that the rooks
have to be gathered or quarried anyhow
If broken with hammers. Also that the
machine, If a good one, breaks them
more nearly Into cubes and; with less
chips and dust than the hammer Itis
proven to be cheaper and a better material after breaking by tho fact that our
street contractors In Indianapolis use
stono broken by machinery rather than
tbat by hammers. All their stone Is inspected by experts before using.
I am muoh Interested in this question
of roar] material, since ln riding over the
State I see so much of it waiting for intelligent handling, right beside the awful clay and sticky   black prairie   roads.
I on co rod o hor. ebaek to Illinois to establish a home, lt was early spring and
tbo roads wore Impassable. I left on
good pikes at Crawfordsville, audit was
such a contrast. Kl^ht through fertile,
black land, tho road was tramped up Into
a loblolly from side to side, and men
went to mill or to tho postoll'ue with a
sack of wheat on tho hounds of the front
part of the wagon and four horses. Horses even mired down and could with difficulty get up. 1 kicked on living ln such
a place, as It was evident to me tbat I
could get along where we had pikes*
They said frankly that thoy had no hope
of pikes; no sign of gravel, and couldn't
afford to break stone with hammers and
haul lt 100 miles.
A study of the situation under the new
Inventions proves that these very roots
are not often far away from limestone,
and that railroads are offering to haul
crushed stone at cost ot hauling. They
can afford to, because it pays them to
bring the producer and consumer oloser
together, and these roads act as feeders
to the railroads.
Theso stones are being used first in the
centers to build streets, and then reach-,
ing out lines of  pike  on  popular roads
and the whole country ls being gradually
invaded with the improvement.
What we need is for farmers to wake
up and use the means at hand, wo oould
not blame them when It was an impractical thing, but it is now practical.
Crushed stone can be had in unlimited
quantities at the quarries, whioh oan be
opened in any section of Indiana for 40 to
GO cents a yard f o. b oars, and in quarries worked by the county at cost, it can
be had for 20 to 30 cents a yard. Add
hauling and you find that a stone pike
can be built in very many large sections
of Indiana at only a little above the cost
of gravel, and will not cost so much to
keep in repair. Count grading and
bridges the same, lt required less stone
tban gravel per rod, and the cost being
but little more and repairs less it ls a
practical road to build.
They build a pike here now and then
where 75 cents a yard is allowed for hauling ; count gravel uncovered at 75 cents a
yard and you have 00 cents besides shov-
elers to pay.
Suppose any one reading this who feels
"snowed under" with mud should ask
his railroad what gravel or stone can be
hauled at. Also inquire Into the cost of
machinery to crush stone. Of coarse a
good threshing engine will furnish power, and the county ought to establish a
plant. Put three yards to the rod of
stone on a smooth, nice grade and see if
a mile of lt don't stir up publio sentiment
in a year or two.
No sandstone is fit. Limestone and
boulders are best.
NOTES.
I Just heard, Sept 1G, of the blow at the
fair ground, killing two men and doing
much damage, especially to the beautiful
C.ntinued am 13th mage.