Exhibition of 1872. 
139 
course, depend in a great measure upon the weather for the degree 
of success they have. It is useless to expect the people to turn 
out and see the very finest exhibition in the world, if it rains or 
is cold and threatening, while if the weather is fine they will 
crowd to a fair that is only up to the standard of mediocrity. The 
people in the interior of the state are apt to get discouraged if the 
early days of the fair are unpleasant, and postpone their contem¬ 
plated tour to the city altogether. 
“The exhibition just closed was one of the finest, perhaps the 
very finest State Fair, ever held in Wisconsin. The entries were 
ahead of those of any former year, and the show in the various 
departments was unusually attractive and worthy of attention. 
So far, all was very well. But the weather interfered with the 
success of the exhibition. Monday should have seen the entries com¬ 
pleted and the work of arranging the articles designed for exhibi¬ 
tion fairly finished. The ram poured down in torrents on that day, 
and the result was that Tuesday was occupied in doing what should 
have been done on Monday. The delay was most noticeable in 
the department of fine arts. There was no small amount of com¬ 
plaint concerning the tardiness here. But when it is considered 
that the owners of fine paintings and pictures are perfectly justi¬ 
fied in objecting to expose their possessions in this line, to even 
the possibility of damage, and that no show can be made unless 
the wherewithal is provided, we think the matter will be satisfac¬ 
torily explained. 
‘‘ The attendance at the fair was far short of last year, owing to 
the causes already mentioned. On Thursday the grounds were 
tolerably well filled, but that was the only large day. The others 
ranged from bad to worse, according to the condition of the sky 
and the looks of the clouds. No part of the programme, how¬ 
ever, was neglected. 
“ The officers of the State Agricultural Society pursued the 
even tenor of their official way as unruffled as you please. The 
amount of labor performed by these gentlemen, and the constant 
annoyances of all descriptions to which they were subjected daily 
and hourly, and every day and every hour during the fair, exceeds 
belief. But they were always courteous and obliging and never 
failed to put themselves to any amount of personal inconvenience 
