Bnlrust’l Societies. 
THE FORTY-FIFTH NEW YORK STATE 
FAIR. 
(EDITORIAL report.) 
To give a detailed description of the New- 
York State Fair, held at Albany, from the 
10th to the Kith of the present month, would 
be to write something so nearly like what has 
been so often written as to have but little in¬ 
terest to the constant readers of the Rural 
Nkw-Yorkkr. We will therefore notice only 
some of its more prominent i>oints. 
Among the implements which were repre¬ 
sented we notice a new ditching machine, 
which, while costing no more than one third 
or one-fourth as much as the cheapest one 
heretofore made, seemed strong and durable 
and very little likely to get out of order. It 
consists of a large cast-iron wheel, cast solid, 
hut. with a reeess, or chamber, next to its cir¬ 
cumference, into which the dirt cut np by a 
plow or cutting tool running a couple of inch¬ 
es below the level of the wheel and at its side, 
was thrown, and by this recess carried to its 
top, and then discharged to one side of the 
ditch. The ditch is excavated by tbemachine 
being drawn back and forth, increasing the 
depth about one-and one-half inch each time. 
It requires but oue man and two horses to 
work this machine, and it is capable of cut¬ 
ting a ditch three and one half feet deep and 
only nine inches wide, and from 50 to 70 rods 
iu length in a day. 
Our attention was also attracted by » new 
machine for sowing ashes, plaster or fertilizer 
of any bind, which was very simple, cheap, 
strong, and so positive in its action that what¬ 
ever was put into it bad to pass out, or he 
broken into bits so small that they might pass 
through. We also noticed a lumber wagon 
the forward part of which was very novel; 
each of the wheels was on an angled arm 
binged to the ends of the forward bolster and 
so arranged that if either forward wheel came 
in contact with any obstruction, there was no 
sidewise shock or stroke on the horses’ necks, 
but the wheel passed diiectly over the obstruc¬ 
tion. The Sherwood novelty harness for 
plowing in orchards and among trees and 
stumps was worthy of attention It eutirely 
does away with the use of whiflletrees and 
traces, using, iu place thereof, a contrivance 
suspended directly under the horses and be¬ 
hind their fore kgs. 
We also noticed the absence of many of the 
best and most extensive stock breeders of the 
State. Particularly uoticeable was the ab 
sence of Mr. F. C. Stevens, of Att'ca, aud 
Messrs. Smith, Pow< ll aud Lamb, of Syra¬ 
cuse, with their floe herds of Holland cattle. 
Mr. Stevens was in attendnee on the Western 
fairs, and Mr. Lamb, of the latter firm, said 
they preferred to leave their cattle in the 
past ures at Lake Side cropping the fresh,green 
grass aud makiug some very large records, to 
having them here for two weeks. 
By the way, we found exhibitors almost 
unanimously opposed to a continuance of the 
fair into the second week, some going so far 
as to assert that they would never again attend 
any fair so held. Would it not be a good plan 
to heed this feeling, and in some measure con¬ 
form to the wishes of exhibitors. 4 
A striking uovelty which we noticed was 
the admission into the halls of persons who 
were allowed to sell cheap goods of various 
kinds and novelties in wood manufacture.and 
bouquets made of dried grasses and everlast¬ 
ing flowers. This caused a blocking up of the 
way, and prevented the people from seeing 
mauy things on exhibition. We have always 
supposed it was the policy of this honorable 
old society to hold a fair, simply an exhibi¬ 
tion of articles competing for premiums or sent 
for exhibition only; and that no one was per¬ 
mitted to sell any article whatever in the way 
of merchandise, or to offer anything for sale, 
and we always regarded this as one of its 
strong points, and we were not only surprised 
but pained to seo the fair turued into a Clieap- 
John auction, We hope this is not the inau 
gurniion of a new era, but merely an accident 
neuer to bo repeated. 
Among the most striking features of the 
fair was tbo immense preponderance of town 
and city people among the great crowds on 
the fair grounds. From their appearance aud 
the thiugs which seemed to interest them most, 
we judged that more than three-fourths of 
those in attendance were of other classes than 
the owners and workers of tho soil. 
It seemed strange to us that at the annual 
fair of the State Agricultural Society in the 
groat State of Now York, so few farmers 
were iu attendance. We asked many for au 
explanation, and from their answers wo drew 
the conclusion that, for some reason, there is 
a lack of sympathy between the State Society 
and the mass of the New York State farmers. 
Whether with or without just ...cause, the 
farmers have the impression that the society is 
managed by a ring who care little for the 
farmers beyond inducing them to attend the 
fairs, and thus furnish the money to carry on 
the society and enable the officers to have a 
good time. They further claim that if they 
attend tbe’aunual meetings, they find a slate 
already made up, and they are entirely 
ignored, and that when they attend the fairs, 
they find the officers exclusive, unapproach¬ 
able, and that a common farmer can gain uo 
recognition at all. Now all these claims may 
be entirely unjust to the officers; but such is 
the feeling, and it is wide spread, and while 
we reluctantly do so, we feel it our duty to 
make it public, that it may be freely dis¬ 
cussed, and a better understanding established 
between the society and the farmers whose 
welfare it is its duty to advance. 
Then there is no denying the fact that the 
great mass of farmers, even where they are 
beer-drinkers themselves, are decidedly oppos¬ 
ed to the sale of beer on the fair ground, and 
while they do not claim that anything strong¬ 
er than beer was sold, they do claim that the 
beer would and did make men drunk, and 
they insist that it shall be entirely excluded 
from the exhibition, and many told us of 
neighbors who said they would have liked to 
have come to the fair with their families, but 
they would not take their children to a place 
where they were obliged to be in contact with 
beer sellers and beer drinkers. We firmly be¬ 
lieve that the paltry $1,475 received for the 
beer privilege, kept away enough people, who 
would otherwise have been in attendance, to 
have paid more than twice that amount in 
gate fees, and that the sale of beer did not in¬ 
duce a single person to attend. But no mat¬ 
ter whether the sale of the beer privilege adds 
to or detracts from the gross receipts, it is a 
disgrace upon the society and a blot upou the 
fair name of New York agriculture, aud 
should be henceforth and forever prohibited. 
It paius us to make public these criticisms on 
a society that is. iu the main, so well man¬ 
aged, and which has so few objectionable 
features; but we love this old society, for 
what it has been, and what it has done for the 
farmers, too well bo hold our peace and see it 
and the farmers drifting apart, or to see it fail 
to take the advanced position which it is en¬ 
titled to occupy, and which it is its duty to 
maintain. 
THE ILLINOIS STATE FAIR. 
(RURAL SPECIAL REPORT.) 
The Thirty-third annual Illinois State Fair 
is, without doubt, one of the greatest ever held 
in the great agricultural State whose terri¬ 
tory is laved by Lake Michigan aud the waters 
of the Mississippi and the Ohio, All depart¬ 
ments were filled to overflowing, and promi¬ 
nent men connected with the agriculture of 
their respective States, were present from 
more than 30 States of the Union. The scare, 
in this State, largely exaggerated no doubt, 
over contagious pleuro pneumonia, may be 
said to be fully quelled. There is, without 
doubt, no such disease nowexistiug in Illinois. 
The Jersey herd taking the first premium as 
a herd, wastbatof Mr. Seth Wadham, which 
came from the vicinity of the first reported 
outbreak. It uever has beeu eveu alleged 
to have been infected, never was quarantined, 
except by the owuer, who, from the first, al¬ 
lowed no communication between his own aud 
any other herd. It comprises comparatively 
few animals, but these are of the highest ex¬ 
cellence, having been bred by the owner solely 
as a recreation from business cares. 
The horse display was the greatest, proba¬ 
bly, ever seen on this or any other continent 
in the excellence of breeding, and contained 
superior sne imens of every known breed of 
national excellence in any part of the world. 
The same maybe said of cattle, though Short¬ 
horns were uot. out in such numbers as is 
usual iu this State. The show of sheep and 
hogs of all superior breeds, was immense and 
excellent. Trials of speed were a part of every 
day’s programme, and they were noticeable 
as simply tests of speed, without any of'the 
objectiouable features of the racing and trot¬ 
ting turf. The weather was all that could be 
desired. The immense throngs of visitors 
were orderly and intelligent, and the direc¬ 
tors may well pride themselves In having car¬ 
ried oue of the greatest fairs ever held in the 
State to a most successful conclusion. 
“ampere.’’ 
An old swindle has been extensively revived 
of late in numerous parts of the country, both 
in rural districts and in towns aud cities. The 
victims are usually people with relatives,.or 
friends in distant States or counties, or in 
some unknown location. The sharper, hav¬ 
ing previously learned this fact, calls on the 
intended victim, often in the guise of a law¬ 
yer or a lawyer’s agent in search of the heir 
to a fortune left by Mr. “So-and-so,” who 
lately died iu “Such-and sueh”a place, and. 
of course, the rogue has just discovered that 
the person upon whom he has called is the 
“lost heir.” The rascal is usually of a ro¬ 
mancing turn of mind, and baviug already 
prepared his tale, which will serve for a hun¬ 
dred cases, tells a plausible story—not a very 
difficult feat when talking to a man to whom 
one is bringing a fortune. It ends, of course, 
in a request for money for expenses incurred, 
or about to be incurred, on behalf of the lega¬ 
tee. There are men who make it a business 
to collect the names of people having relatives 
at a distance, or '‘lost,” for the purpose of 
swindling them in this way, or of getting 
others to do so “on shares." One of the fel¬ 
lows lately arrested for fraud of this sort, 
frankly confessed that a regular system of 
swindling in this way has been organized in 
Canada, with a couple of lawyers at the head 
of it, and that it has agents at work in all 
parts of the United States. 
■fWrscellatieous. 
TRANSCONTINENTAL LETTERS.—XL. 
ALASKA CRUISE. 
MARY WAGER-FISHER. 
The strongest desire that moved me to make 
the trip to Alaska was that of seeing some of 
the glaciers, although I well knew that no 
steamers ran as far north as Mt. St. Elias, 
the highest mountain in America, or to the 
great Yakutat glacier with its foot in the open 
sea and a width of eight miles. But to one 
who has seen uo glazier, large or small, those 
within the range of the Idaho’s cruise, will do 
very well. 8o it was with a feeling of the 
liveliest interest that from the deck of the 
ship on the sunuv afternoon of June 13, rang 
the cry, “The Glaciers!”—two rivers of ice 
(with a mountain between the two streams) 
joining below and extending down to the edge 
of the water of Wrangell Strait, in which we 
were steaming. We were perhaps from six to 
eight miles away, but the distance looked to 
be not over a mile. The effect was that of a 
river, half a mile in width perhaps, tumbling 
with tremendous force from the top of a 
mountain, filling its deep valley, and suddenly 
arrested by a blast of cold that froze it instan¬ 
taneously—the rush, foam and all as it rolled 
over the rocks, crystallized in a flash into the 
clearest, bluest. greenest, purpleat ice mortal 
eyes ever beheld—vanishing tints and lines 
that are only fully revealed when you ride iu 
amidst a fleet of icebergs, that have broken 
off the glacier’s feet. In Julr and August, 
this Strait, in the glacier neighborhood is full 
of ice, and there are already very sizable bergs 
floating about. Some one fired several shots 
into one of them, but with no further effect 
than detaching some bits of ice. This glacier 
is called the “Patterson," and no measurement 
has been taken of its length. It is thought 
that uear its source it is connected with the 
great Stiekeeu glacier which moves in an 
opposite direction down another mountain 
gorge. The depth of the “Patterson” 
Glacier is thought to be 700 feet, aud we were 
assured that the ridges and fissures which we 
discerned iu the ice, were hugh chasms from 
20 to 30 feet deep. Snow lay on portions of 
the surface, but we were too far away, even 
with long glasses, to note the sweep of mo¬ 
raine with the icy torrent. AU that after¬ 
noon. until late at night, we passed glaciers 
at intervals, limpid waterfalls leaping from 
the mountain sides as if ieo were unknown, 
and for all the time the most picturesque and 
unique mountain scenery that l have ever be¬ 
held. One peak, which is (5,000 feet high and 
rises straight up like a monument, is called, 
from its peculiar outline, the “Devil’s Thumb.” 
In this same range, and in line with it, are 
mountains that look like enormous pyramids 
and blocks of ice, aud ou the peaks and ridges 
are well defined houses aud bams, churches 
and castles, the effect being caused by the 
snow and the black of the wind-swept rocks. 
It was altogether wonderful, Snow lay on 
the mountains, in places, fully 30 feet deep, as 
could be seen on the edge of cliffs, and if you 
enu imagine, as far as the eye could reach, 
these tumultuous peaks, with rifts of snow, 
interspersed with huge, black spaces aud deep 
chasms, leaping cascades from the mountain 
tops, glaciers flowing down the mighty gorges 
in slow, but steady march, aud at 10 o’clock 
at night, hundreds of small icebergs in the 
water, and over all the sheen of the still glow¬ 
ing twilight, you have the picture we gazed 
upon. 
The next morning the steamer reached 
Juneau—formerly called Harrisburg—at two 
| o’clock, aud at au early hour oil were aatir 
to improve the time at command—until noon 
in that port. It was Sundav; hut I think 
everybody forgot it—so far as the usual ob¬ 
servance of the blessed day was concerned. 
Juneau is now a place of considerable business, 
owing to the placer mines, and the quartz 
mine on Douglass Island opposite. It is a 
great rendezvous also for Indians and traders, 
and so far as the Indians and human habita¬ 
tions are concerned, it is a disgusting place. 
Like all Alaskan towns it has the long, nar¬ 
row beach and the mountains lifting them¬ 
selves immediately In the rear—only at Juneau 
the mountains are steeper and higher, like a 
sky-high wall back of the towp. The tide 
rises and falls 25 feet; and piles under the 
pier; stones, shells, sea-weed.everything on the 
beach are covered completely with barnacles. 
The terredo works in these waters as well ns 
all along the cobs* and if a pier Is to last, the 
pileR must be sheathed with copper. 
I found the Indians encamped at, Jupeau— 
there are few. if anv. houses—altogether hor¬ 
rid. They daub their faces with a black 
mixture, possibly of charcoal and oil. put it 
all over or in patches—men. women and chil¬ 
dren. particularly women Most of the latter 
wear a lip ornament, and both men and wo¬ 
men wear ear-rings and nose-rings; the latter 
slender circlets of silver. The beginning of 
the lip ornamentation is a thing made of bone 
or silver, round, about as large as a medium 
knitting needle, an inch long, and with a head 
at one end like a nail. A hole is pierced 
straight through the lower lip and the pin 
stuck through from the inside, being held bv 
the head on the inn°r side. T nersuaded a wo¬ 
man to pull down her lip and let me see it. 
and she was ohliging enough to take it out 
and put it in again, to show me how it was 
done. Her teeth were stained with tobacco, a 
quid lav in her lower jaw—a month as filt.hv 
as that of any tobacco chewer. and the sight 
made me sick. Anaximander, however, 
bought one of these silver things, the woman 
taking it out of her Up. He paid her t.he 
price she asked—25 cents. Later, when I had 
an opportunity. I cleaned it with soap and 
ashes. From the small Din the Indian woman, 
as she increases in age and family cares, grad¬ 
ually inserts larger ornaments, until it is no 
uncommon thing to see an old woman with a 
bone thing put through her lip. that pearly 
covers the front of her chin. She is unable to 
shut hermouth or contain within it her saliva 
Of course she thinks it is flue. just, as some 
civilized women disarrange their internal or¬ 
gans in order to produce a small waist, or 
hang rings in the flesh of their ears. Surely, 
there is no accounting for “taste.” Various 
reasons are given for the blackening of their 
faces, the most reasonable being that it in a 
way protects the skin from the weather. 
A general name for all these Alaskan Coast 
Indians is Thlinket; but there are various 
sub tribes, and these at Juneau were called 
Takou. They are said to be good workers, 
but there is nothing for them to do. Juneau 
is quite a depot for skins and for Indian work, 
particularly baskets, of which the aborigines 
make many varied and beautiful sorts, getting 
their materials from grasses, and from the 
roots of trees. The women become very ex¬ 
pert in weaving, and will sell mats for 10 
cents, and large and exquisite baskets for 
$1.50, that illustrate patient aud pro¬ 
longed labor. They have skins also to sell, 
squares of squirrel skins sewed together, 
forming a rug^ayard and a-half square, offer¬ 
ing them sometimes for $1, but I saw none 
that I would take as a gift, after T bad smelt 
of them. Iu a trader’s shop, l saw fairly good 
skins of the red fox for $2, and of the silver 
fox from $40 up. But the general verdict is 
that because of the rivalry of traders, all 
Alaskan skins can be had cheaper in San 
Francisco than in Alaska. I met a woman 
along the beach who wore several silver 
bracelets, and invitiug her to a seat on a log. 
she took them off for me to look at them. I 
selected one about half an inch wide that had 
an eagle’s head carved in the middle, feathered 
arrow heads at the ends, and the intervening 
space filled with characteristic curves and 
lines and fine criss cross work. She seemed 
desirous to sell, and was satisfied with $1.25 
for her trinket. During the morning. I took 
a walk up a trail leading along the mountain 
side, finding a few new floral specimens, and 
was particularly charmed with a low growing 
plant with tiny pink and-white flowers that 
grew close together and covered the ground 
like a tiny tree with bright-green, notched, 
cordate leaves, and the winsome blossom at 
the top. 
After luucheon, we sailed across to Douglass 
Island, going ashore iu boats. We visited 
here a large quartz mill not yet iu operation 
—a San Francisco enterprise, I believe. It 
has 120 stamps, each of which is expected to 
crush two tons of quartz per 24 hours. We 
went into the mine, through a tunnel leading 
straight into the mountain, the sides of the 
tunnel gleaming with shining stuff, pyrites, 
