SIXTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK — PART I. 99 



of the rural districts, but from our cities and towns as well. I have in 

 my desk a clipping from a newspaper of a fii'e which destroyed a grand- 

 stand in an Ohio town last fall and many people were injured in the 

 panic, and this with only a few hundred people present. 



We wish to correct any erroneous ideas which you may have in that 

 the State Fair is not self supporting. The State Fair is now, and has 

 been for the last eight years, self supporting. During the past six- 

 years more money has been expended for improvements on the State 

 Fair grounds out of the receipts of the annual fairs, after paying all 

 expenses and premiums, than has been received by direct appropria- 

 tions for buildings. Can this be said of any other institution in 

 Iowa? Later on we will give some figures bearing out the above 

 assertion. 



The fifty-fii'st annual Iowa State Fair marked a new era in its 

 growth. Never was such an exhibition of live stock, or of farm impe- 

 ments and agricultural products gathered at a state fair. It was a 

 triumph of perfection as compared with preceding State Fairs. It has 

 grown into an annual exposition of the products of the State, the 

 greatness and number of which make it impossible to more than view 

 that part in which one is directly interested. It is not an uncommon 

 practice now for a visitor to devote his entire time to one of the 

 numerous departments. The fair was cleaner than ever before, and 

 every available foot of exhibition space was occupied. Indeed, the entries 

 were so numerous and the applications for stalls so great as to cause 

 the management quite a little concern how to provide for all. But even 

 in the midst of this worry we could find pleasure in the thought, that 

 more applications for stalls and pens would mean a greater show, and 

 a greater show would mean a larger attendance, thereby insuring a 

 greater success. 



The grounds were in the best of condition, never being more beauti- 

 ful than on the opening day. During the week the fair was held the 

 weather was perfect and the attendance greater than ever before by 

 many thousand. The total attendance for the week was something 

 over 162,000. 



In the line of amusements, the management provided the best that 

 money could obtain, and wei-e especially fortunate in being able to 

 secure the services of one of the most famous concert bands in the 

 country. The sacred concert rendered by Liberati's Band at the fair 

 grounds on Sunday afternoon will long be remembered by those who were 

 fortunate enough to be present on that occasion. 



A very pleasing feature of the stock exhibit this year was the large 

 increase in the number of entries made by Iowa stockmen. This was 

 especially noticeable in the horse department. Every stall was ts.Ken, 

 and not one of the large foreign horse companies that assisted in mak- 

 ing the record -breaking show of two years ago had entries. As it 

 was, the exhibit was very satisfactory in every way. The American 

 people are less versed in the scientific principles of breeding horses 



