is pageant of supposed western mining-camp
life should confront us in the streets of Alabama's capital, I made
inquiry of an amiable policeman who was on duty in the tent, and learned
that this was not a regular Montgomery institution, but one of the
attractions of a street fair which had invaded the city--the main body
of the fair being a block or two distant.

These fairs, he said, travel about the country much as circuses do,
making arrangements in advance with various organizations in different
places to stand sponsor for them.

Long after we were in our beds that night we were kept awake by the
sound of ragtime from the tent across the way. I arose next morning with
the feeling of one who has had insufficient sleep, and a glance at my
companion, who was already at table when I reached the hotel dining
room, informed me that he was suffering from a like complaint. I took my
seat opposite him in silence, and he acknowledged my presence with a nod
which he accomplished without looking up from his newspaper.

After breakfast there arrived a pleasant gentleman who announced himself
as secretary of one of the city's commercial organizations.

"We have a motor here," said the secretary, "and will show you points of
interest. Is there anything in particular you wish to see?"

"I think," said my companion, "that it would be a good thing to see the
street fair."

"Oh, no," said the secretary earnestly. "You don't want to see that.
There is nothing about it that is representative of Montgomery. It is
just a traveling show such as you might run into anywhere."

"Yes," I said, "but we never _have_ run into one before, and here it
is."

"I have said right along," declared the secretary, somberly, "that it
was a great mistake to bring this fair here at all. I don't think you
ought to pay any attention to it in your book. It will give people a
wrong impression of our city."

"Do you think it will, if I explain that it is just a traveling fair?"

"Yes. Wait until you see what we have to show you. We want you to
understand that Montgomery is a thriving metropolis, sir!"

"What is there to see?"

"Montgomery," he replied, "is known as 'The City of Sunshine.' It is
rich in history. It has superior hotels, picturesque highways, good
fishing and hunting, two golf courses, seven theaters, a number of
tennis courts, and unsurpassed artesian water. It has free factory
sites, the cheapest electric power rates in the United Sta