Litchfield enquirer., 1867-10-24
A CHARACTERISTIC SCENE IN SAN
 saa .s* FRANCISCO. iazI5 o;t

The lively San Francisco corresponlen!
 Of the Chicago Tribune thus describes curious scene in that city, Immediately af
 ter the recent election. ,1a5f4 f3..-5
 Some day before the election, when sit ; was generally conceded that the State would
 go for Gorham, but the city would give the
 Democratic ticket small majority. Mir Hig.
 gins warm friend of MT. Gorham, bantereG
 Michael Hayes, an equal warm 1reind ol MT Halght,- for a bet in any shape on the result Hayes fought shy but finally said.
 I will bet you one hundred dollars that l
 will propose bet you will not accept. The
 bet was taken, and Hayes proposed to car
 ry hand-organ before all the banks and
 hotels, and solicit contributions for the or phans. the proceeds to be equally divided between the Protestant and Catholic asy- lums, if Haight did not carry the city by one thousand five hundred majority, and if he did not carry that number Higgins was to do the same thing. The bet was made and Higgins lost. Now mark the the re- suit. Anywhere outside of California the terms of the wages would have been carried out, attracting a big crowd an creating much talk for few days, but there it would have ended. Here, however, the people took the joke to heart and called on all the candidates, selected and defeated, to walk side by side in the procession, and assist in the collection Of the funds, and to their credit be 1t said, most of them-Gorham didsnot come up to the mark, however accepted the challenge and turned out. At 10 A. M. yesterday, rode through Mont gomery street, and found it packed from end to end, with men, women and children while every window was full and every bal cony was black with heads. At Il A. M. | the cortege turned into Montgomery:street and fifty policemen, on horseback and on foot commenced struggling with the heavy mass of humanity to clear the way for pas sage southwards. First came full brass band playing When Johny comes march ing home, Battle Cry of Freedom, March ing through Georgia etc. etc. ;. Then two collectors with huge buckskin bags to re- ceive the silver and gold which was rained down from roof, balcony and window, in showers, as the procession advanced. Then came large tin box, capable of holding thousands of dollars, which he expressed determination to fill before night. Next followed W. T. Higgins, who was fianked on either side by two friends, one carrying monkey and the other splendid floral ornament next appeared the two treasurers for the occasion, Messrs. My,es D. Swee- ney and J.sB. Badger, seated in a coach, from which each held suspended canvass bag as large as flour sack, labelled Re member the orphans After them follow ed several of the elected and defeated can- didates, and host of people. The first halt was made as soon as the organ grind crowd @eassed Jackson Street, when the music grinder power and he pf3afvHSi pf3f vHSi9oins' amid the babel of shouts, nGTflss95i nGtis lS9i but but laughter not note could be heard twenty l feet from him.
 For three mortal hours the police strug- | gled to clear the way and fought with the good humored crowd for the passage for the procession before it reached it's destin- ation, less than half mile from the start ing point. A thousand dollars were gath cred on the first block, and the start was hardly made. A long row of teams to carry provisions and clothing, anything for the benefit ofthe orphans, followed the perfor mers, and no less than ten wagon loads, worth some thousands of dollars were gath cred in this manner. Flour, bread confec- tionery, clothing, fruit, even huge packa- ges of tobacco and boxes of cigars, intend ed to be sold for the orphans benefit were tumbled into the wagons as they pas sed along. The scene fairly beggared de- scription doubt if its equal could be found anywhere out of California. It was a perfect carnival of reckless, extravagant prodigai alms-giving. As the procession struggled along, carriages were overturned, women upset, and men thrown down and trampled upon; but the utmost good will and hilarity everywhere prevailed. The Alta says:
 halt was ordered at California street, while the collectors visited the Board of Brokers, the several banks and insurance offices contigous to the Merchants -Ex- change, the receptacles of donations re-
 ceiving respectable additions at every place visited. ,.. .....e. ..-..,
 Resuming the march southwardly, halts were made before Odd Fellows Hall and Met Creary's buildings on Pine street, and finally drew up in front of the Russ House. On the opposite side of the street is Platt's Hall, in which the Mercantile Library is To- cated. As along the previous part of the route, the windows and balconies here were occupied by spectators, the majority being, ladies. At this point a shower of small coin was thankfully gathered while the contribution collected by the lady boarders 1 in the Russ House, amounted to . consid- erable sum. --s ''
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