FOURTEENTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART IV. 297 



The farmers came. It is a farmers' fair. The city folk were much in 

 evidence, especially at the night shows, but it was essentially a gathering 

 of farmers' families. Up on the high knolls amid the oaks, were 2,000 

 tents filled with farmers for the week, scattered over the forty acres set 

 aside for this camp. This feature is proving increasingly popular. And 

 they came in motor cars from miles away. Only the extreme width of the 

 fair grounds streets saved the parking problem from becoming acute. An 

 80-foot street affords room for the parking of autos, backs to the curb, with. 

 a generous remaining passage way, but another year even the thousands of 

 feet of streets will not suffice for the storage of autos during the day, and 

 parking grounds must be provided. The automobile show under the grand- 

 stand was somewhat circumscribed this year by reason of a disagreement 

 between the fair managers and the Des Moines auto dealers' association, 

 but inasmuch as the number of autos on the grounds one day was esti- 

 mated at over 10,000 it was enough of a show. 



Street car traffic was as inefficient as usual, but the steam road hauled 

 its thousands at a time. A twenty-five-cent entrance fee is taken at night, 

 and the turnstiles show that approximately one-third of the total attend- 

 ance for the week passes through the gates for the night exhibitions. Ad- 

 ditional fees are required for seats in the stock pavilion and in the grand 

 stand, to witness the eight exhibitions, so that these shows are real reve- 

 nue-producers. 



Attractions are played to their limit. All work and no play is not the 

 motto of these fair managers. The airships and the parachute drop were 

 the "thrillers" this year, but time would fail to tell of the diversity of 

 amusement and entertainment features over the grounds and before the 

 grandstand at night. In the stock pavilion was staged a night horse show 

 of astonishing character. Entries were drawn from Iowa, Illinois, Wis- 

 consin, Missouri and Manitoba, thus lending international character to 

 the exhibit. Among the entries were horses that had won high honors at 

 the International of Olympia. The horseless age chatter would be stilled 

 in the presence of such a show. It was supplemented by parades of draft 

 horses and of the beef and dairy cattle, presenting an arena performance 

 that was of topnotch interest and educational value. 



Iowa does not educate its population solely in the practical. The high- 

 class band and opera music furnished by Liberati, Henry, Conway and 

 others, has been developed in the past years. This season's innovation con- 

 sisted in a recital program of the Des Moines Philharmonic Choir of 150 

 voices. The numbers partook of a religious nature, as they were pre- 

 sented Sunday evening, the famous oratorio choruses receiving capital ren- 

 dition. A large orchestra provided the foundation for the concert, and in- 

 strumental solos and orchestral ensembles were interspersed with the pro- 

 gram. That the fair crowds appreciated this delightful feature was at- 

 tested by the well-filled pavilion. Fully 7,000 people were in attendance. 



The midway shows were so hidden from public gaze that some of them 

 became overbold and required police interference. Iowa has this objection- 

 able feature so well pared down that it could now be completely elimi- 



