532 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



Attendance at the fair any day was sufficient to convince the most 

 casual observer that the farmer is buying and running automobiles in 

 large numbers. One of the visitors took the trouble to count the number 

 of automobiles entering the fair grounds during one hour and found the 

 number to be 337. This observer estimated that fully two-thirds, and pos- 

 sibly three-fourths of this number were driven by farmers. Eighty-five 

 cars passed through one gate within ten minutes. The various roads in 

 the fair grounds were continuously lined with automobiles and it was 

 very noticeable that in a great majority of cases the drivers and a ma- 

 jority of the occupants were residents of the farm. 



Fair visitors were most enthusiastic over the work of the Scotch sheep 

 dogs. The tests fully proved the almost human intelligence of these 

 faithful brutes, but they were conducted under disadvantages which made 

 it impossible for them to display their herding ability to the utmost. The 

 tests were carried on by loosening four sheep on the track. The dogs 

 were stationed 2.50 yards distant and at the command of their master sped 

 up the track and began the task of driving the sheep to the pen 2.50 

 yards away. The task was made all the more difficult by reason of the 

 fact that none of the sheep had ever been driven by dogs before and in 

 their strenuous efforts to get away darted hither and thither through the 

 crowd of people who lined the track and the automobiles gathered in the 

 paddock. The dogs never failed to land the sheep in the pen, notwith- 

 standing these difficulties, and were usually given a hearty round of ap- 

 plause. Had it been possible to have the tests in the open, where the dogs 

 would not have been bothered by the people, they would have been more 

 interesting and valuable. The feature was a new one to state fair 

 visitors, however, and well worth the time devoted to it. 



It is regrettable,, after having conducted the sideshow attractions on a 

 high plane for several years past, that the management should have per- 

 mitted a concession known as The Streets of Cairo to have flaunted its 

 indecency in the face of the public throughout the entire week. Prior 

 to every performance some eight or ten girls were exhibited on a plat- 

 form and by muscular gyrations and surreptitious winks gave an idea 

 to the masculine portion of the spectators as to what might be expected 

 inside the tent. The main part of the performance was a commonplace 

 exhibition of dances of various Oriental countries given by alleged natives, 

 the performance culminating in an objectionable dance so nearly akin to 

 the tabooed hoochi koochi dance of a few years ago as to deserve no 

 place whatever in any exhibition open to the public under the manage- 

 ment and sanction of the great state of Iowa. The dance consisted of sug- 

 gestive and licentious gyrating and posturing, which was merely and 

 plainly an appeal to masculine passions. To make the exhibition all the 

 worse it invariably aroused comments from the masculine portion of the 

 audience. There were few times when the women who had entered the 

 tent, on the representation of the spieler outside that the show was a fit 

 one for women and children, were not obliged to leave because of out- 



