TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART III 177 



One of the features which I believe you will find advisable in this de- 

 partment is the changing of your men in this department from one gate 

 to the other. These men are not under the captains at the outside gates 

 and must report to Mr. Whiting before they know where they are to 

 work. This does away with some of the possibility of telling a friend 

 to come to a certain gate and he will see that he gets by. 



I do not know just what can be said that will be of interest to you in 

 the handling of your amphitheater, as with the auto, conditions at your 

 different fairs will enter into this question very largely. The only sug- 

 gestion I would make, would be to avoid the sorting of your crowd as 

 much as possible in getting your crowds through your gates. Much con- 

 fusion was caused this year at Des Moines because we had a pass gate, 

 ticket gate, and cash turnstile. It is hard to get your crowd to under- 

 stand that the cash ticket is not a pass and it was almost impossible to 

 keep the people with the coins sorted from the ones that carried the 

 tickets. 



In summing up the Department as a whole, the things that are neces- 

 sary for a successful department are the selecting of your men and some 

 good system in handling them that you are sure you have them where 

 you want them at all times. Instruct them well as to what your tickets 

 mean and send them out with this one rule in mind. Everyone that 

 passes through the gates must have a ticket. This was the one rule 

 always used by Mr. Olson, who so successfully handled this department 

 until his death. Avoid, as much as possible, having people running back 

 and forth through your gates and showing no tickets; they may be all 

 right but it looks bad for your men in charge. In this matter I would not 

 except your Directors e ther. They make your rules to go by and should 

 be the last ones to try to break them. I know they are all busy men and 

 have a great deal to look after, but if they have so much business waiting 

 for them on the inside that they haven't time to stop and show a pass, 

 they should be on the inside looking after it. 



There is just one more thing I would like to speak of before I turn this 

 subject over for discussion and that is the matter of having men on your 

 gates from the time your fair opens until it closes. It has always been 

 the custom at the I. S. F. to never take the men off the gates. If you have 

 anything worth while going on at night you should make a charge for 

 going in. On the other hand, if there is nothing doing, you do not want 

 them on the grounds without. You will get plenty of the rough element 

 on your grounds without throwing your gates open and you should give 

 your exhibitors this protection in doing your best to protect them. By 

 keeping your men on duty all night you will have him there for the early 

 bird in the morning. I have, on a few occasions, attended County fairs 

 and found no one on the gates as late as eight o'clock in the morning. 

 Now you will find that a great many people will pass through your gates 

 early in the morning who have passes that you should get or should pay 

 to get in. Be on the job all the time and get everything for your fair that 

 is possible. 



Now I have gone over the subject very hurriedly and tried to give you 

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