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1864. 



THE ILLINOIS FARMER. 



305 



State Fair. 



We propose to give the mere features of the 11- 

 linois State Fair from day to day. The notes were 

 taken at the time, and without any attempt at ar- 

 rangenient will be given as originiilly taken. We 

 arrived on the grounds on Saturday morning, the 

 lOtli, and remained until 6 p. m. of the last day 

 taking the last train that left the grounds. 



Decatur, Saturday, Sept. 10th, 1864. 



To day is to be seen the incipient stage of the 

 State Fair that is to be. The stream that is set" 

 ting in from the depot is small, but is constantly 

 gathering volume, and by night will have assumed 

 highly respectable proportions. A large part of 

 the arrivals so far are of stock, including sheep, 

 cattle, mules and horses. The sheep department 

 is likely to take the lead in the live stock depart- 

 ment. Sheep from Vermont, Ohio, Indiana, Wis- 

 consin and various parts of our own State offer un- 

 usuiil attraction. There will be no lack of entries 

 in the cattle and horse line, but swine will hardly 

 be heard of. 



THE GROUNDS. 



On entering the gate the Secretary's office will 

 be found on the right; next in order comes the 

 Sanitary Booth under charge of the ladies of Long 

 Creek, who have hot coffee, cake^, pies, oysters, 

 ice cream, new cider, etc. Next in order are the 

 grounds for agricultural implements, with "Fawkes' 

 Steam Plow Engine" for a setting of a center of 

 the picture. This engine will furnish the motive 

 power for the trial of machines, corn-grinders, and 

 the like. Farm Products Hall is on the rise of 

 ground just beyond and to the right of the Pres^i- 

 dent's office. In the narrow valley beyond is the 

 State Sanitary Bazaar — a large building in the 

 form of a Greek cross. In the front of this are 

 four refreshment booths similar to that of the 

 Long Creek booth. Two of these will be under 

 charge of the ladies from Champaign county, and 

 may be appropriately called '"Champaign booths," 

 with this slight difference : the cider sold will be 

 sold as cider, without giving it a fictitious name. 

 An old lady who was passing by, was tolJ that 

 these two booths were retained for "Champaign.'' 

 "La, me !" said she, "just to think : cider and la- 

 ger are bad enough ; but to have champagne is an 

 outrage ! Such drunkenness ! Well, I shani; 

 come to the Fair ; and, what's more, Eliza Jane 

 must stay at home. I will not trust her in such a 

 place !" The "Sanitary ladies" explained to her 

 and she is to assist iti attending one of these sol- 

 diers' saloons. 



The Vennillion county ladies will run one of the 

 other booths, and those from Centralia the other, 

 which ie to be called the "Egyptian." 



Moving farther on, we have "Fine Art Hall,' 

 and near it is a new fancy building, for the exclu- 

 sive use of the Wheeler & Wilson Sewing Ma- 

 chines. 



We have now reached the amphitheater, with 

 its tier of booths underneath. At the top of the 

 hill, to the right, is Fine Art Hall,! in the lower 

 part of which is the Fruit and Floral Department. 



Passing down the hill towards the spring, we 

 find a new structure — a "Dancing Floor." In this 

 the exhibitor pays and the crowd will look on with- 

 out charge. 



I should have said that the McLean county la 

 dies will have a booth near Art Hall. 



THE DINING HALL. 



A few steps brings us to the Dining Hall, in the 

 charge of the Sangamon ladies. This, of course, 

 will be the great center of attraction — about noon. 

 The bill of fare will be the most varied and gener- 

 ous ever presented at the State Fair. Lady mana- 

 gers and lady waiters, with Watson to superintend, 

 giva promise that the crowd of hungry patrons 

 will be pleased and the sick, soldier benefitted. 



On Tuesday, at 2 p. m., the Sanitary Bazaar will 

 be formally opened by Gov. Yates. The Fair will 

 not be in full blast until that time, as it will re- 

 quire all of Monday to get things to rights. 



The want of laborers is severely felt, and all de- 

 partments will be delayed more or less in conse- 

 quence. 



The officers are all working with a will to get 

 things into shape as fast as possible. The indica- 

 tions for a great crowd are highly flattering. 



The citizens of Decatur are active and determin- 

 ed to give satisfaction, and to this end will make 

 daily canvass of the city for accommodation, and 

 will have a committee at the Court House readv 

 to show strangers to lodgings. 



The Sanitary Department will need the help of 

 the farmer and gardener, and each one should 

 bring in something — a sack of potatoes, a barrel 

 of apples, onions, beets, etc. 



FIRST DAY. 



Dkcatub, Monday, Sept. 12, 1864. 

 Enthroned on the people's "Tripod," in the 

 building set apart and dedicated to the "Press," 

 we take our position, to note the doings of the 

 great industrial ingathering whose vanguard is 

 just beginning to enter the eastern gate of these 

 magnificent Fair Grounds. It is eight o'clock — 

 an early breakfast in the city, and an extra cap of 

 coffee with the ladies in the Sanitary Dining Hall, 

 and we are ready for work. 



The note of busy preparation is heard on every 

 hand, and at^this early hour the scene is one of 



