From the Lawrence Daily World for Sept. 14, 1909: President Taft left his summer home today for Washington but his route is to be along the Pacific Coast, the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Coast, a distance of 12,729 miles. He is to visit 29 states, two territories, making 300 speeches and shaking hands with an estimated 100,000 people. He will be seen and heard by three millions and his trip will exceed the famous Theodore Roosevelt swing arund the circuit in 1903. . . . A large force of men has been cutting weeds and repairing fences at the fair grounds preparatory to the Great Douglas County Fair next week. A gang of men will be busy all this week getting things in shape. . . . Frank Davis, a farmer living north of town near Midland, was knocked unconscious in a heavy hailstorm yesterday and lay several minutes senseless on the ground. When he had recovered enough, he crawled under a bridge for protection until the storm ended. He had been working in the field and had unhitched his horses and was heading home when hit. The horses were not injured. Many farmers report serious losses from the fierce storm.