The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1869-07-25
The Oakland Fsse.lFs

nave HAu HcaNly .un6 Week lug ctssIt. SuCh
graphic descriptions as they gavecould not
be excelIed, and anything less vivid at this
late date would be considered stale, fiat
and Improbable. who, for instance, in
describing a blindfold wheelbarrow. race
could hope TO Guido that affecting sketch
of heroic perseverance, which lands one of
the contestants with his wheel plump
against the middle of tree, and leaves
him at the end of the race still struggling
to force his barrow over the top of the nm
yielding abstraction 80 s,,i tes :. &. g.
We would yield the field entirely TO our
Contemporary at,tlis point, were it not for
the emission to notice the manifold services
of the ladies' ON that momentous occasion.
Not being. furnished with u complete list of
these fair coadjutors Of the Festival Assoc
ciatioh1 min this undertaking, we cannot risk
theseharge of Partially in nannfAg any of
the stands or booths, ,buts1 must merely
speak, of them in. q general way. We are
sure that much of the ipecaniary success
which was achieved resulted from the as
sistance of these good ladies. Of course
athletic contests were the exclusive pro-
vince of the sterner sex, but the dexterity
that presided over ice cream and soda.
champagne punch and lemonade, and lent
charm to those rude booths and rough
tables had to be feminine.
To-day all this is repeated, with good
many humorous additions. There is to be
q grand hurdle foot-raee, in which the hur-'
dies will be made SO many feet high as to
rule out all but the best leapers. There is
to be a contest for the possession of a duck,
not likely to be decided as long as the said
duck enjoys the usual elastic action of it's
neck. The sack race, the wheelbarrow
race, the celebrated lithic games, the mule
race, and other contests of speed, strength
and skill, will all be repeated, and probably
No doubt an immense crowd will this
time reward the enterprise of the noble
:" Festival Association" with their patron
age. Last Sunday the visitors, though not
so numerous as might have beep expected,
proved to be very liberal, and handsome
little srffn was realized for the building
fund of the new church. The same per-
sons will probably be there again to-day,
closing of tho Festival, In the anticipation
of the best programme being kept for the
last day. Others, who were then out of
the Gity, across the lake or on other ex-
cursions of pleasure, will help to swell the
coneourse and augment the " fund" ~
The very presence of such an assemblage
is productive of hilarity and enjoyment,
though there should be no prescribed
amusement of any merit whatever. We
shall not go into philosophical investiga-
ton of this social phenomenon, but do not
allreeogHize it as a fact In a concourse
of wellsbehaEed people, with time on their
hands for enjoyment, amusement is spon-
| taneous. There is q certain per centage of
humorists in all crowds, and they inevita-
bly, start some fun this is contagious, from
the fact that the next great pleasure to en-
joying ourselves is that of seeing others
pleased. --..-.-.. -
Then there is the very agreeable element
of meeting SO many of your friends in this
social Exchange" without the trouble of
hunting them up, and the additional salts
faction of knowing that even if you should
fail to get the worth of your money in
amusement, you will feel contented in hav-
ing done u good work. he church will
have to be built, SO folks might as well go
and enjoy themselves little while giving
what they would have to give any way.
One of the principal achievements from
which we anticipate the most unalloyed
delight is that of a grand contest which
has been brewing for more than a year. 1t
was on the bills for last July's festival at
the same grounds, but unforeseen events
withheld the champions from the hot en-
counter. Last Sunday some mischievous
chap nearly succeeded in getting the pro-
ject into action, hut fnnnd it almost as diff
fcult as forcing-a decisive battle when two
great armies are maneuverihg for the ad-
vantage of position. This mOmentous
affair is nothing less than foot race be-
tween some of the henvv wai0bts Many