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WISCONSIN STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
benefited, to have a day of recreation, relaxation from business, 
and were not to be turned aside by Old Probabilities, or any other 
prophet, and at eleven o’clock the grounds were well filled with 
visitors, who viewed the extensive and beautiful exhibits with 
pleasure, and many of them I doubt not with profit. The weath¬ 
er, which had been unpleasant throughout the forenoon, occasion¬ 
ally misting slightly, with a damp, cold, disagreeable wind, be¬ 
came early in the afternoon much more discouraging, and by one 
o’clock Old Probabilities had everything his own way, and rain it 
did in torrents the balance of the day, putting an effectual extin¬ 
guisher upon the pleasures of the day. 
A reporter for the Milwaukee News well described the weather 
and pictured the scene at the fair grounds as follows: 
“ Old Probabilities ” is a prophet of the first order of merit, as all who 
read in yesterday’s News what he had to Say about the weather of that day 
will testify. He said rain, and it rained, and although many are becoming 
so hardened to think he is in a measure responsible for the terrible weather 
that visits us occasionally, they have a great deal of respect for him and his 
predictions. Yesterday morning the sun was obscured by leaden clouds, and 
the wind, fresh from the southeast, w r as not a comforting assurance of a 
pleasant day. Thousands of people were in the city, and many more were 
coming on every train. All roads leading to and from the city were crowded 
wfitli wagons and carriages loaded dowm with merry groups of visitors to the 
Fair, and the prospects for an immense crowd were cheerful. Old heads 
gazed at the crowd long and earnestly, some prophesying rain, and others, 
without a proper regard for the veracity of the man at Washington, a general 
clearing up. The hour for exhibiting stock, as stated in the News of yester¬ 
day, had been fixed at 9:30 in the forenoon. Accordingly, at that time the 
great throng commenced their exodus from the city to the fair ground. 
Those who rode in open carriages were vexed occasionally by falling drops 
of rain, which served as delicate premonitions of what was to follow. Some 
of the men were dressed in summer clothing, and the ladies as a rule were 
arrayed in light fabrics of delicate colors. To these the prospect of a rain 
storm was something peculiarly interesting. They had no overcoats, no 
umbrellas, nor anything else by which to protect themselves from the in¬ 
clemency of the weather. They hoped for the best, however, and -would not 
believe in a storm until they felt its presence. The grounds were reached 
and the merry crowd dispersed in every direction to view the articles on ex¬ 
hibition. At about eleven o’clock, when the grounds were literally swarm¬ 
ing with people, and all seemed to be in the highth of their enjoyment, the 
clouds darkened, the atmosphere changed, and the rain began to fall. And 
how it did rain! Slowly at first came the drops, and the people, loth to leave 
the grounds, still tarried, hoping, after all, it would soon pass over. They 
