EIGHTEENTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK — PART II 65 



WEATHER MAN WAS KIND. 



The weather was of the made-to-order brand, ideal for fair pur- 

 poses. Ten bright, late-snmmer days, neither too warm nor too 

 cool for pleasure seeking, characteristic of Iowa in the closing days 

 of August. Copious showers over central Iowa two or three days 

 before the fair opened furnished pastures and cornfields with much- 

 needed moisture, greatly mitigated the dust evil and made motor- 

 ing to the fair vastly more pleasant than it would otherwise have 

 been. 



NEW ATTENDANCE RECORD SET. 



All summer the fair management had been compelled to face 

 unusual conditions, and more than a few hindering circumstances. 

 Nevertheless, from the time the gates were thrown open it was evi- 

 dent that a new attendance record was likely to be established, 

 a forecast that grew plainer with every passing day until the final 

 count Friday evening showed a grand total of 349,298, a handsome 

 gain over the previous high mark in attendance, 291,972, the fig- 

 ures for 1916. 



A FAIR OF SYMMETRY AND PROPORTION. 



It has long been the aim and ambition of the state fair manage- 

 ment to preserve a happy balance between features and exhibits 

 of educational value and those of purely recreative complexion. 

 In other words, to keep the fair from growing lopsided. For the 

 fair, great or small, that runs to either extreme travels a speedy 

 way to unpopularity. To saMsfy the diversified tastes of 350,000 

 visitors in the brief space of ten days a fair must of necessity be 

 comprehensive in conception and liberal in execution, for it has to 

 cover a wide territory. 



From early morning until noon each day was devoted to stock 

 judging, lectures, educational demonirtrations of various character 

 and music. There was no lack of the last named. Go where he 

 would about the grounds the visitor was seldom out of hearing of 

 the harmonious strains of band or orchestra. The great stock 

 pavilion was packed to capacity day after doy with interested spec- 

 tators studying the fine animals and watching the distribution of 

 the ribbons. Steady streams of humanity flowed through the broad 

 aisles of the huge barns and pavilions that sheltered the choicest 

 specimens of live stock from all parts of the country. The College 

 Building and the Boys' and Girls' Club Building attracted those 

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