NINTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART XI 577 
ment claims that the money is very much needed to defray expenses and 
for a surplus for less prosperous years. While this is all true, it it also 
true that the fair is an educational institution and not a money making 
affair. It is to be regretted that this one state institution must be 
singled out of all others and placed on the requirement that it be self- 
sustaining. The state should be liberal enough to arrange for all neces- 
sary buildings, and then the management could be more liberal in the 
dispensing of convenience to visitors 
(Note. — It probably never occurred to the writer of this article that it 
an admission fee had not been charged to the night show in the stock 
pavilion no show would have been held. Again, the management was 
aware when arragements were completed for this entertainment, of the 
fact that it was not possible for the receipts to more than cover the cost 
of production. In other words, the management merely advanced the 
money to provide the extra entertainment for those who desired it and 
were reimbursed for the expenditure during the fair, or nearly so, for in 
this instance, like other similar cases, some of those for whom the man- 
agement made the advancement failed to pay it back. — Editor.) 
There is some talk of making the Iowa State Fair a two weeks' exhibi- 
tion. This talk has been made before, but since Iowa is the first in the 
circuit of state fairs it is possible to increase the number of days to 
advantage. The two added days this year were noticeable in the distribu- 
tion of the crowds. Saturday was a day of large attendance. By having 
a ten days' or two weeks' fair it may be possible to get away from the 
"big days" and thus distribute the attendance all along through the whole 
time of the fair. 
This is the first year that our friends have come to see us on the fair 
grounds in their automobiles, but we were both surprised and pleased to 
notice how many of our good Iowa farmer readers took this easy method 
of seeing Iowa's greatest show. It was a common sight to see parties on 
the ground who have run in to the fair from a hundred miles away. 
Next year we expect to see many more farmers with good automobiles. 
We were surprised to hear some people in our building one day talking 
about the manner in which the state fair was managed. They had the 
Impression that it was a sort of private affair and that the earnings went 
to the individuals instead of the state. On making some inquiry we 
found there were a number of people who thought the same thing, so we 
took the occasion to explain the workings of the state fair management. 
It is not a private affair in any sense of the word and the board of direc- 
tors who manage it have no more financial interest in it than any other 
good citizen of the state. It belongs solely to the state of Iowa and all 
monies left over after all expenses are paid are put into new buildings 
and other improvements on the grounds. 
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