64 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



City, The first machine, piloted by Brigadier-General Lee, of the 

 British army, reached the fair grounds about 4 o'clock. He was 

 joined soon after by other flyers, eight machines altogether making 

 the fair grounds during the afternoon. At one time five of them 

 appeared together and went through various evolutions, singly 

 and in battle formation, all more or less puzzling, of course, to the 

 uninitiated but intensely interesting nevertheless. They presented 

 a thrilling spectacle sailing so swiftly about high overhead with 

 fdl the grace and ease and apparently with all the safety of huge 

 birds. One marvelled at the wonder of it, and the imagination 

 painted sensational pictures of fierce and deadly fighting between 

 men thousands of feet above the earth. The power and speed of 

 these great twelve-cylinder machines is quite beyond the compre- 

 hension of the mind untrained in such things. The trip from 

 Kansas City, 271 miles, 'cross lots, was made in a trifle under two 

 hours, approximately 140 miles an hour or very close to it. Truly 

 that is joy riding with a vengeance. 



Everybody enjoyed the amusement features in a thoroughly 

 whole-hearted manner. It has been an exceedingly busy and stren- 

 uous summer for lowans, especially for the farmers. The tension 

 has been extreme and when the time came for relaxation it was 

 accepted gratefully and made the most of, for it is characteristic 

 of Americans to play with the same earnestness and enthusiasm 

 that is put into their work. The Huns have discovered that they 

 fight the same way. 



State Fair visitors who enjoy hoi*se racing — and that seemed 

 to include pretty much everybody this year — were favored with 

 some of the most sensational speed exhibitions that have contri- 

 buted to the making of harness-horse history. 



The most notable event was when Ed Allen drove the gi'eat 

 pacer, Single G., 1:591/2, to a new world's record for a half-mile 

 track. That third heat of the free-for-all pace in 2:01 set a new 

 track record for Des Moines, a new record for the state, and a new 

 world 's record for that gait in a race. 



When the free-for-all pacers were called on Monday the big 

 crowd was just a little bit disappointed when only two horses, 

 Single G. and Lillian T., appeared to start. The day was superb, 

 the track in fine condition, and naturally everybody was antici- 

 pating a good field and a fast race. But if the field was small, 

 the extraordinary speed developed in the second and third heats 

 fully compensated for the lack of numbers. 



