The Billboard 1901-07-27: Vol 13 Iss 30 (1901-07-27)

Fair Department. A Warning. ——s letter from Hutebinson, Minn., under date of July %, without other comment than that a man should never make a contract without an honest intention to fulfill the same, to the nest of his ability. As Mr. Anderson writes, it creates not only a disappointment to the public, but makes employing mana vers uncertain in their advertising. To the Editor of “The Billboard: peor Sir—Among the’ evils that beset managers of fairs, there is nothing that eguses so much aunoyance as the breaking of engagements by people booked to appear. It puts the management at a disadvantage, maxes the advertising uncertain and dis appolnts the publie, | believe that when a manager of a fair vets “let down" by any of these people he oeoght to inform his fellow-managers, so that they may be on thelr guard and avoid engaging untrustworthy people. With this purpose In view | wish to warn fair man avers against a team of trick bieycle riders by the name of ~'. — and Ackerman, balling from Grand orks, N. bb. | en vaged them for the Fourth of July cele bration at Hutehinson, Minn., accepted their terms, and offered to deposit their salary and draw up a contract If they would post a forfelt to appear. They de clined, pleading poverty, but gave we posi tive assurance that they would appear. We advertised them as the leading feature of our program, but they falled to appear. | have since learned that they played an other town near by. Another team that failed to appear wa-< a team of acrobatic comedians, Savage and Beaver, who also played another town the same day. It is not with any malice that | write this letter, but simply to help fair managers avoid the annoyance that have been sub jected to. | hope that whenever falr man agers meet with the experience that | have they will publish the names of the people that fall to keep dates. SAM G. ANDERSON, JR. We publish the Fair Notes. “The Billboard” is the recognized author itv on fairs. There will be Conn., this fall. The fair at Wilmington, Kan., is to have uo Midway this year. “The Billboard’ is the agers paper in America. Subseribe for “The Billboard.” It Is a good investment for any fair assoctation to make, The Elks’ Carnival at Marietta, O., occurs the same week that the Washington County Fair is held there. $5,000 is a rather high price to pay for a cow, yet they have one on exhibition at the Delphi (Ind) Street Fair. At Worcester, Mass., the Fair Association has decided not to hold the fair, which had heen advertised for Sept. 3 to 5. At Mexico, Tex.. the annual festivities and carnival are to be held July 30 to Au gust 3. A gala time tis anticipated. Keep your secretary posted. Send him “The Billboard” for a year. You will find it a paying investment. You may subscribe now and pay for it after the fair. Av ad. in “The Billboard” will sell your privileges. It will also sell exhibit space ond space in your premium list. You may advertise now and pay for it after the fair. The big fair at Brandon, Manitoba, opened July 283 under most auspicious cir cumstances, The exhibits are darge, and in dications point te a very suecessful meeting. The traveling are forging to the front, and have Slready ratsed $6,000 toward their exhibit in the Cincinnati Fall Festival Flower Parade. They intend to raise at least $2,000 more. At Salina, Kan., because of the extreme drouth, no fair will be held this season, but should the weather be at all favorable there will be a race meeting and stock show. Mr. H. B. Watlace Is the secretary. “The Billboard’ will pay liberally in cash for articles on fair management from practical men. Contributions should be from S00) to 1.000 words In length. Mall them, with price expected, to The Billboard Pub lishing Co., 420 Elm street, Cincinnati, 0. At the Red Cloud (Neb.) Pair this fall the special cash premiums tnelnde speed ring purses which will aggregate $5,000, New and attractive features are being engaged, and D. J. Myers, secretary, writes that the prospects are for the largest attendance In years, A letter from Mr. T. M. Estes, at Leb nnon, Ky., brings the information that there will be no fair held there this year, on account of the burning of the grand stand. Mr. Estes bas bought the grounds and stables, however, and hopes to be in readiness for a big fair next year. The Michigan State Fair holds at Pontine, Sept. 28 to 27. The committee, in a splendidly gotten up premium list of 112 paces, advertise a splendid meeting. The fair will be held on the grounds of the Oukland County Agricultural Soctety, and is directly under the auspices of the Michi40 State Agricultural Society. no fajr held at Meriden, only fair man | October 1 to 4. A number of special attractions will be used, among them a band tournament. Elght thousand dollars will be hung up in purses in the speed ring. Mr. W. L. Wright is the Secretary. The New England Trotting Horse Breeders’ Association will hold its fifteenth au ual meeting at Reedsville (Mass.) Trot tung Park, Sept. 16 to 20. There will be $5,000 in purses in the 2:24 trotting class, $10,000 in the 2:10 trotting class, and $8,000 for three-year-old trotters, two-year-ola trotters and three-year-old pacers. ©. M. Jewett, Keadsville, Mass., is the secretary. The Owensboro Fair is scheduled for Aug. 12 to 17, and the program is a good one, with races for harness and running horses. The purses are for $200 for the hurness horses, and will be liberal for the runners. Entries will close on Monday, Aug. 12. Send for race program apd pre minum list to L. Preeman Little, Owensboru, Ky. Ld The Darke County Fair, which will be held at Greenville, O., Aug. 26 to W, has a splendid speed program. $3,000 in purses wit be paid to the winners. This fair is suid to be one of the best county fairs in the whole Miami Valley, with a great atteudance and splendid attractions. Speed programs, eutry blanks and apy otber information will be cheerfully furnished by the secretary, UO. E. Harrison, Greenville, toble At Red Cloud, Neb., Sept. 24 to 27, will be held che Nebraska Stace Fair. ‘This socuwty is a member of the American Running Association, and the speed contests will be gyveried vy the rules of those organiza she speed program and premium List golten out by the socjety reflects credit upou them, and the fact that the fair has aiWays teen a success is indicative of a large attendance, and the occusion promises to be, in spite of the drouth, a perfect success. ¢ At Bellefontaine, U., the fair association is building a $4 race baron, and making other umprovewments for their meeupg in the fall. 2.00 will be hung up io the speed ring, aud there are pow thirty horses ou the ground training. A list of fine attractions will be employed, and a splendid band will be in attendance. The buildings will all be painted white, and Mr. Ek. P. Chamberlain, the secretary, writes that the association Was hever in a@ Wore prosperous condition. ‘the tollowing is the speed program of the Cattaragus County Agricultural Society ut Little Valley, N. Y., viz.: Races, Sept. 4, 1901—240 pace, $300; 2:20 trot, $300; onehalf mile running race, catch weights, $100. Sept. 5, 1901--2:20 pace, $300; 2:40 trot, S300, 2-28 trot, $30U. Sept. 6, 1901—2:28 pace, $300; 2:13 trot and 2:15 pace, $300, one mile running race, catch weights, 3150. Member of the National Trotting ssocia tion. Race entries Close Aug. 31, 1901. J. H. Wilson is secretary. At Pontiac, Mich., the Michigan: State Fair will occupy the new grounds and buildings this fall. Pontiac is just 25 miles north of Detroit, and two lines of railroad from Detroit pass the gate. The main building will have 45,000) square feet of floor space, and the grand stand wifl seat 4,000 people. There are 400 stalls for cattle, 40U borse stalls, 100 sheep pens and 100 vox stalls for speed horses. There will be $4,400 hung up in cash purses in the speed ring, and cash premiums to the amount of $16,000. The Mineral Springs Park Association at Sterling, LL, has one of the prettiest natural locations of any fair in the State. The rounds are situated on the banks of Rock River. thickly studded with luxurious trees and a large lagoon for boating purposes. A large and artistic floral hall buliding bas just n completed and extensive additions made to the cattle and horse sheds. The association will have a number of feature attractions, among whieh will be balloonists, acrobats, animal shows, snake charmers and bicycle riders. $3,000 will ‘se hung up in purses in the speed departwent. The average attendance at this exhibition is nearly 50,000 people. A State Fair Circuit, composed of Callfornia, Oregon and Washington ts formed, und fairs will be held in each State so that exhibitors and horsemen can attend each. The crop prospect on the Pacific Coast was never better, which insures a large attendance at all of them. The fair grounds, situated at Salem, Ore, on, are verhaps the finest on the Coast. hey are In easy distance of Salem, the State Capital, with good street car service. There is about 200 acres of ground, with 40 or 50 acres In a fine oak grove, which affords a pleasant place for campers. The association is spending about $10,000 on improvements this pear in order to accommodate the many exhibitors that are now preparing to come. Never in the history of the State was there such a bright prospect for a big fair as this year. Northern New York and Northern Vermont are planning for two big business men’s earnivals, to be given under the direction of the well-known Vermont amusement managers, McMahon & Hays, who provide about all there is going on iu that section in the amusement line. The New York State Fair will be held in Plattsburgh, with over 200,000 people to draw from. The Vermont event will take place at the capital of the State, Mont pelier, with almost the same number of wople to draw from. The Burlington treet Fair of last year, held in Burlington, was the greatest outdoor event ever held in the northern section of New England, and was one of the best things that ever took place in the interest of the merchants and business men. A fair is being planned for Burlington later in the seasoa, under the same Management, eatelis THE BILLBOARD The Bancroft (Mich.) fair grounds are being put in good shape for their exhibition | The sixteenth annual fair of the Kewanee (Il) Fair Association holds from Sept. 9 to 13, and will be held in one of the thriftiest cities in Northern Illinois. Kewanee is located 130 miles southwest of Chicago, «on the main line of the C., B. & Q., and has a population of 10,000 people. Fifteen passenger trains pass daily, and the fair grounds are situated only one-half mile from the depot. Kewanee Fair has always been “4 success, and the committee has never failed to pay premiums and prizes in full. The program gotten out by the association Is very neat and indicative of energy and snap. ‘The races will be governed by the rules of the American Association. The amount hung up in prizes will be sufficient tu tempt the atendance of the best goers within a radius of 500 miles. : At Bangor, Me., the Eastern Maine State Fair Association will bold its annual exhibition, commencing Aug. 27, and running until the 30th, inclusive. The committee has gotten out a very handsome herald of four pages, which they have entitled ‘“The State Fair Journal,’ descriptive of the leading attractions of what promises to be one of the very best Eastern fairs of the season. Among the feature attractions will be a gorgeous display of fireworks, commencing with ‘““The Last Days of Pompeii.”’ Prof. Bristol's diving horses, ‘‘Rocket’’ and “Meteor,” have been secured, and the Moore Family, consisting of three ladies and three gentlemen, in their aerial acts, will be made features in front of the grand stand. The secretary writes that nothing has been left undone to make this exhibition of the Eastern Maine State Fair Association the most perfect success. “The Billboard’ is in receipt of a very handsome prize list, issued by the New York State Fair Association, which holds its annual meeting at Syracuse, Sept. 9 to 14, inclusive. The horse show prize list will be furnished to all who desire it on application to 8. C. Shaver, secretary, Albany, N. Y. During the fair, on the 13th, there will be a public sale of live stock, under the direction of Commissioner M. H. Olin, which will prove an attractive feature. All exhibitors will have freight charges on shipments from points in New York, over the New York Central, Lake Shore and D. L. & W. railroads, refunded at the close of the fair, provided the ownership has not changed. Liberal railroad rates have been provided for, and the unlonding facilities are claimed by the committee to be better than those of any other fair ground in America. The exposition feature of the Cincinnati Fall Festival will totally eclipse that of last year. The applications for space that have been received exceed those received up to the same date last year nearly 400 per cent. All those displays made last year that were uninteresting have been dropped in arranging for the exhibits of next September. On their recent visit to the Pan-American Exposition the Fall Festival Directors picke up many valuable ideas that will aid them in improving on last year’s show. Among the unique features of the coming festival will be an arrangement to show a model of a complete factory in operation. The interior will be lighted by electricity, and every machine will be shown in operation, as in the big plant, even to the switching of model trains of cars. It is expected that every foot of available space in Power Hall will be taken by Aug. 1. The Anamosa Fair will be held at Anamosa, In., Aug. 26 to 30. This is the greatest attraction fair in the United States. Over $2,000 is spent each year in special attractions. The fair has grown, and the attendance has increased so rapidly that the grounds have been enlar on tutes in the last three years. In addition to fine horse racing and ball gumes each day, about 50 ple will perform upon a 40-foot stage in front of the amphitheater. Among other special attractions will be the following: F. Kit-Amura’s Japanese Circus, consisting of 17 people; the Three Osnatos, Europe and America’s greatest sensational novelty, ““‘The Human Trapeze;"’ Mallory Brothers and Brooks, America’s greatest colored musicians, singers and buck and wing dancers; Emonds, Doyle and Emonds, champion acrobats; Corbin's Dog Show: Hacker and Lester, $10,000 bicycle act: Alenzo Brothers, barrel jumpers. Large erowds attend the Anamosa Fair from all of the surrounding cities within 70 miles of Anamosa, special trains being run on the railroads. The people attend the fair because they know that in addition to what is given at all agricultural fairs, attractions are presented equal to any circus in the United States. All for 25 cents. Laconia, N. H., is to have a big fair Sept. 3 to 6. This is the only city in the East to copy after the Western street fairs or midway. All of the citizens take hold of the matter with great interest, and it is said that their sreet fair was something grand two years ago, and it is the intention of the merchants to more than duplicate the snuecess of that year. The fair grounds are within about five minutes’ walk of the central part of the city. They have a large vaudeville attraction upon the grounds, with balloon ascensions, parachute jumps, horse trotting and all of the items of interest that go to make up a successful fair. For special attractions they have arranged their four days as follows: The first day is to be Children’s Day, with a bicycle parade; the second day is Grange Day, when very large premiums are offered for grange teams and exhibits; the third day is known as Ladies’ Day, and premiums are offered for the best decorated team driven by a lady; the last day is Firemen’s Day, the city fire department have their annual muster, and special premiums are offered, open to the world, for 9 tub contests. Take it all in, it is safe to say that Laconia wwill have one of the leading fairs in New England for 1901. The Louisville Interstate Fair, which is to be held in Louisville Sept. 23 to Oct. 5 next, under the auspices of the Louisville Merchants’ and Manufacturers’ Association, promises to be America’s grandest exhibit of live stock and farm products. The executive committee has decided that the fair shall take place on Churchill Downs, the spacious, thoroughly uipped and accessible grounds of the New Louisville Jockey Club, where thousands attended the successful race season just closed. The nominal admission charges, together with very low railroad and steamboat passenger rates, will certainly do much to increase the volume of attendance, while the offers of large premiums and cheap shipping rates will draw exhibitors in unprecedented numbers. The fair, generally, will be a “Simon Pure’’ old-fashioned country fair, with upto-date and novel attractions. While the exact features can not yet be announced, it my Ag said that among them will probably speed contests on an illuminated track, including bicycle, automobile, Roman chariot and standing races, as well as running, trotting and pacing exhibitions. There will be $2,500 given away in prizes Oct. 4 and 5 in the champion amateur athletic meet, in which America’s reatest athletes will compete. Transportation will be furnished qualifying athletes. STREET FAIRS AND CARNINIVALS. Cairo, tl., Carnival. To the Editor of “The Billboard:” Dear Sir—Well, Cairo, lll., was not a “bloomer,” with Fourth of July celebrations in every neighboring town within 50 miles, yet it was a success in many ways. All the boys got money, and rigged themselves up anew, a relief from the series of “bloomers’’ they had been making, with the thermometer hovering around the hundred mark; it kept the people away, but at nights the streets would be literally packed. The shows all got money. The features were the Educated Horse, ‘‘Wonderful Forest Tempest’’ and the “Big Eli’ Ferris Wheel, which is 45 feet high. This wheel is substantial in its construction, and as one Spestease expressed it, “looks more like the original Ferris Wheel at Chicago than any I have ever seen.” The feature of the week was the Flower Parade. Preparations are already being made for a Free Street Fair in the fall, at the time of the meeting of the National Waterways Convention at Cairo. This was only a Midsummer Carniva!, and met all ex tations. FRANK M. WHITE. A Series of Successes. L. Oppenheimer’s Midway Commgana, after closing at Denver, the week of June 24 to 30, furnished the Midway attractions at the Elks’ Street Fair at Laramie, Wyo., week of July 1 to 6, to big business; Cheyenne, July 9 to 11. Will open at ope Creek Col., week of July 15 to 20. . Closed for entire Midway attractions at Elks’ Street Fair and Quarto-Centennial at Colorado Springs, week of July 29 to Aug. 3. From there, will travel East through sas and Missouri in our special train of twelve cars. The attractions consist of Capt. Joe G. Ferari’s Anglo-American train wild animal exhibition; Delgarian and Rogers’ Street of Cairo, consisting of twenty Turks and two camels; H. G. Cooke’s mechanical City of Jerusalem; Pearson & Co.'s electric theater, with Aimee, the world’s renowned fire dancer; Prof. Reno’s gypsy camp; Bosco; R. H. Brainerd’s Electric Theater; Lo Rolla, the livig half lady; Lunette, the flying lady; R. H. Brainerd’s $10,000 prismatic electric fountain; Frankie Barry’s Dog and Pony Cirens, Patterson's Ferris Wheel and big steam swing, and the German Villa consisting of sixteen high-class vaudeville turns, headed by the Geissler-Hirschhorn troupe of Tyrolean Warblers. As a free Midway attraction, I use Lionel Le Gore, the phenomena! equilibrist, who gives his wonderful performance upon a fifty-foot spiral tower. Very truly yours. L. OPPENHEIMER. Comes Back.—Potter Talks by Note. Your last issue contained an article signed by Mr. White, whose personality is not known to me. [n .hat ‘etter the gentleman meanders ont of his way :0 ei Gugh to criticise a certain monster Midway company,” without mentioning names --a method usually adopted by a class of critics. He mentions, however, cities where, if een | counts for anything, everyone knows that the only exhibitions were made by the undersigned. 3 He makes this statement: a. can’t get endersements.”" This is not a fact, as we have received the most flattering endorsements from every city we have exhibited in for the past three years and have them bound in book form, and would be glad to furnnish Mr. White one on request. The amount of our business, while apparently a matter of worry to your correspondent, has been satisfactory to us, as our treasurer's books will show, and on the Southern trip we had a balance of $15,000 on the profit side of the ledger before we crossed the raging Ohio on our sue