The Great Event

From the Rock Island Argus, September 14, 1912.
By Duncan M. Smith.
 

 The county fair is now on tap
   And all the porkers proud
 Are showing off their very best
   Before the gaping crowd.
 The cattle in the narrow stalls,
   The horses on the track,
 Are showing, each and every one,
   How lofty they can stack.
 
 The barker at the circus tent
   Is tearing in the air
 Great jagged holes, that each and all
   May know that he is there.
 The peanut and the popcorn man
   Are chasing far and wide
 To see that every hungry child
   Is with lunch supplied.
 
 Up in the building on the hill,
   Where cabbage is displayed
 Beside the pumpkins and the corn
   And goose eggs, freshly laid,
 The folks who raised it stand around
   To hear its praises told,
 And each one swells and feels as gay
   As any two-year-old.
 
 The father and the mother come,
   And all the kids are there.
 The listen to the big brass band
   And at the players stare.
 They take in everything in sight
   That gives them thrills or mirth,
 And you can bet most anything
   They get their money’s worth.