190 ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION 



True to its name it was a real dairy day with milking con- 

 tests, cow-judging contests, and a big parade of fine dairy cat- 

 tle including ten bulls donated by the Big Four Route for the 

 use of farmers in this section. 



Mounted on. a barrel in a section of the main street that had 

 been roped off for cattle, John M. Crebs, Chairman of the Dairy 

 and Agricultural Committees of the Illinois Bankers' Associa- 

 tion, called out the numbers of the high-grade cows purchased 

 by the four banks of Harrisburg to be allotted to the farmers of 

 this section on an easy payment plan to encourage them to begin 

 dairying. 



Report by Harrisburg Evening Chronicle of the Celebra- 

 tion : 



Bands and bulls, cows and crowds filled the streets of Har- 

 risburg today in one of the most successful ''Dairy Day" cele- 

 brations held in the state. Many distinguished visitors were 

 present and the speeches, contests and award of premiums and 

 prizes which followed the big parade kept the big crowd inter- 

 ested. 



Because of the rain the night before original plans for hold- 

 ing part of the program at the fair grounds was abandoned. The 

 court house square was selected instead and here the principal, 

 events of the day were staged. 



All in the business district and private homes on the street 

 up which the delegates marched from the railroad station were 

 specially decorated for the occasion. Official colors of purple 

 and white with the American flag interspersed, were stretched in 

 long festoons from the court house tower to the buildings across 

 the adjacent streets. 



The west side of the square had been roped off for the ex- 

 hibition of the registered bulls and dairy cows. This was the 

 section that held chief interest for hundreds of farmers andi 

 stockmen who lined up before the enclosed space and critically 

 examined the animals before the parade. 



Up to the time when Sheriff Geo. Russell, as marshal of the 

 day, blew his whistle for the marchers to fall in line, delegations 

 were arriving over the Big Four Route and interurban line. TliQ 

 scene about the Big Four Route station was a lively one. 



