768 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



amined at leisure before the crowds from the city fill up the space, and 

 the tent is always there, offering a restful spot when tired of sight-seeing. 

 This year the camping ground was laid out in streets, and the tents num- 

 bered, making it possible to locate friends with the minimum of trouble. 

 The only trouble this year was a lack of tents to meet the demand. By 

 Tuesday morning, every available tent had been taken, and hundreds 

 were disappointed. 



For many years Iowa has enjoyed the distinction of having about the 

 cleanest state fair in the country. While there have always been shows 

 that we might better have done without, there has been an absence of 

 the most degrading sort, which are found on so many other state and 

 district fair grounds. This year the Iowa State Fair took a decidedly 

 backward step. A midway was established, lined on either side with 

 side-shows, and so-called "attractions" of all sorts. We presume some of 

 these were not particularly objectionable; for those who like that sort 

 of thing they were probably about the sort of a thing they would like; 

 but there were three or four, or possibly more, that had no business on 

 the Iowa State Fair grounds, or upon any other fair grounds frequented 

 by decent people. We do not know what sort of exhibitions were given 

 on the inside of these tents, but the samples exhibited on the outside, 

 and the leers and insulting remarks of dirty-mouthed barkers were suf- 

 ficient in themselves to justify ejection from the grounds forthwith. Sure- 

 ly the directors of the Iowa State Fair have misinterpreted the desires 

 of the people who attend it if they think they want any such shows. 

 The argument that such things are necessary to draw a crowd was long 

 since exploded in Iowa. The people who are attracted by that sort of 

 thing are not at all needed to insure the success of the Iowa State Fair. 

 The midway should be done away with, and the stream of filth which 

 flows from it should be dammed up once and for all. 



The Baby Health Contest inaugurated last year was one of the most 

 attractive features, and furnished any amount of entertainment for those 

 who could get near enough to see. Some hundreds of babies were en- 

 tered in this contest. They were taken into a tent and one at a time 

 subjected to the most searching examination by physicians and nurses. 

 Weighed, measured, tested for strength, punched, poked, and examined in 

 every way possible, while the anxious parents exhausted their efforts to 

 keep them looking cheerful and happy, and the interested spectators 

 roared with laughter as an occasional baby protested vigorously against 

 what he considered mishandling by cruel strangers. If this contest is 

 continued, it is perfectly evident that a very much larger tent or space 

 in one of the larger buildings will be needed another year. This feature 

 not only affords a vast amount of amusement and entertainment to the 

 spectators, but it teaches lessons which will contribute very largely to the 

 health and development of the babies in the future. 



