February 22.—At the hall all day. The fair opened at 2 p.m. We had quite a crowd in the evening and took in over three hundred dollars. Charlie Hills and Ellsworth Daggett stayed there all night to take care of the hall. We had a fish pond, a grab-bag and a post-office. Anna says they had all the smart people in the post-office to write the letters,—Mr. Morse, Miss Achert, Albert Granger and herself. Some one asked Albert Granger if his law business was good and he said one man thronged into his office one day.

February 23.—We took in two hundred dollars to-day at the fair. We wound up with an auction. We asked Mrs. George Willson if she could not write a poem expressing our thanks to Mr. Backus and she stepped aside for about five minutes and handed us the following lines which we sent to him. We think it is about the nicest thing in the whole fair.

“In ancient time the God of Wine They crowned with vintage of the vine, And sung his praise with song and glee And all their best of minstrelsy. The Backus whom we honor now Would scorn to wreathe his generous brow With heathen emblems—better he Will love our gratitude to see Expressed in all the happy faces Assembled in these pleasant places. May joy attend his footsteps here And crown him in a brighter sphere.”

February 24.—Susie Daggett and I went to the hall this morning to clean up. We sent back the dishes, not one broken, and disposed of everything but the tables and stoves, which were to be taken away this afternoon. We feel quite satisfied with the receipts so far, but the expenses will be considerable.

In Ontario County Times of the following week we find this card of thanks:

February 28.—The Fair for the benefit of the Freedmen, held in the Town Hall on Thursday and Friday of last week was eminently successful, and the young ladies take this method of returning their sincere thanks to the people of Canandaigua and vicinity for their generous contributions and liberal patronage. It being the first public enterprise in which the Society has ventured independently, the young ladies were somewhat fearful of the result, but having met with such generous responses from every quarter they feel assured that they need never again doubt of success in any similar attempt so long as Canandaigua contains so many large hearts and corresponding purses. But our village cannot have all the praise this time. The Society is particularly indebted to Mr. F. F. Thompson and Mr. S. D. Backus of New York City, for their very substantial aid, not only in gifts and unstinted patronage, but for their invaluable labor in the decoration of the hall and conduct of the Fair. But for them most of the manual labor would have fallen upon the ladies. The thanks of the Society are especially due, also, to those ladies who assisted personally with their superior knowledge and older experience. Also to Mr. W. P. Fiske for his valuable services as cashier, and to Messrs. Daggett, Chapin and Hills for services at the door; and to all the little boys and girls who helped in so many ways.

The receipts amounted to about $490, and thanks to our cashier, the money is all good, and will soon be on its way carrying substantial visions of something to eat and to wear to at least a few of the poor Freedmen of the South.

By order of Society,
Carrie C. Richards, Pres’t.
Emma H. Wheeler, Sec’y.

Mr. Editor—I expected to see an account of the Young Ladies’ Fair in your last number, but only saw a very handsome acknowledgment by the ladies to the citizens. Your “local” must have been absent; and I beg the privilege in behalf of myself and many others of doing tardy justice to the successful efforts of the Aid Society at their debut February 22nd.

Gotham furnished an artist and an architect, and the Society did the rest. The decorations were in excellent taste, and so were the young ladies. The eatables were very toothsome. The skating pond was never in better condition. On entering the hall I paused first before the table of toys, fancy work and perfumery. Here was the President, and I hope I shall be pardoned for saying that no President since the days of Washington can compare with the President of this Society. Then I visited a candy table, and hesitated a long time before deciding which I would rather eat, the delicacies that were sold, or the charming creatures who sold them. One delicious morsel, in a pink silk, was so tempting that I seriously contemplated eating her with a spoon—waterfall and all. [By the way, how do we know that the Romans wore waterfalls? Because Marc Antony, in his funeral oration on Mr. Cæsar, exclaimed, “O water fall was there, my countrymen!”] At this point my attention was attracted by a fish pond. I tried my luck, caught a whale, and seeing all my friends beginning to blubber, I determined to visit the old woman who lived in a shoe.—She was very glad to see me. I bought one of her children, which the Society can redeem for $1,000 in smoking caps.

The fried oysters were delicious; a great many of the bivalves got into a stew, and I helped several of them out. Delicate ice cream, nicely “baked in cowld ovens,” was destroyed in immense quantities. I scream when I remember the plates full I devoured, and the number of bright women to whom I paid my devours. Beautiful cigar girls sold fragrant Havanas, and bit off the ends at five cents apiece, extra. The fair post-mistress and her fair clerks, so fair that they were almost fairies, drove a very thriving business.

It was altogether a “great moral show.”—Let no man say hereafter that the young ladies of Canandaigua are uneducated in all that makes women lovely and useful. Anna Dickinson has no mission to this town. The members of this Society have won the admiration of all their friends, and especially of the most devoted of their servants,

Q. E. D.

By order of Society,
Carrie C. Richards, Pres’t.
Emma H. Wheeler, Sec’y.

If I had written that article, I should have given the praise to Susie Daggett, for it belongs to her.