The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-04-16
GAY SANTA BARBARA,
The Quaint Old City
Busting With New
Life.
A MENU OF DELIGHTS.
Prodigal in the Preparation for
the Entertainment of
Guests.
OF THE FESTIVAL.
Brilliant Receptions, Battles Of
Flowers and a Carnival Ball
Are Included.

z SANTA BARBARA, April 15.--Among
the legion of names of places characteris-
| tic of romantic California there is none
more picturesque than that which this
quaint old city bears. To many past Wis
itor the lingering syllables summon up
rare vision of tranquil beauty.
Lulled by the ripping music of the islet-
studded bay the town, as a rule, sleeps. Its
memory was a synonym for the indolently
charming, the slumberously restful. 1t
was Mecca of the gentle poet, the para
disc of the workworn, and it seemed al
most like desecration when the drowsy,
balmy air was broken by any sound
harsher than the chug-chug of the cigale
or the dreamy cadence of some mission
Angelus.
San Francisco's Half-million Club, Los
Angeles Fiesta, and above all, her own
forthcoming floral fete, have changed all
that. This dreaming Galatea of town
has been warmed into vivid life, her
Pygmalion being the new spirit of Califor-
MIA unity and progress. To-day she is
decking herself as for the coming of the
bridegroom, and guests are flocking to the
ceremony. This is a new Santa Barbara.
The old charms of the placid bay, the
! boulevards, the ideal villas and the almost
classic missions are indeed here. They are
as eternal as the encircling Santa Ynez
range or the hospitality of her people. But
it is new Santa Barbara, for all that.
! The officers of the Olympia, now lying in
| the bay, are all over the town, and give
fine naval dash to the dramaIis persona.
| The monotone of the cigale and the
| Angelus chime is drowned in the hustle of
arrivals, the rattle of vehicles and the hum
of talk. The magnetism of expectation
and preparation is at work. Enthusiasm
is in the air. The hotels report constant
engagements of accommodations, and sad
die horses and vehicles have been pre-
/ empted on all sides.
| On to-night's train arrived several we'll
| known people from neighboring cities.
| San Francisco contributes to the Arlington
alone: Mrs.John D. Tallant and Miss Elsie
Tallant, Mrs. E. A. McCarty, Miss Wagner,
DR.. and Mrs. w. ]. Young, Mr.. and Mrs.
Orrin Black, G. J. Paddock, Mrs. w. B.
Bourne, Miss Bourne, Miss Maud Bourne,
Mrs. George w. Bowers, Miss F. V. Smith,
Miss Nichols, Mrs. Edward c. Smith, Mrs.
C. C. McMahan, Miss Media Bowman, e.
c. Denegan. Captain S. f. Smith, Colonel
w. NJ. Shafter, Mrs. Shafter, N. G. Gum,
Mrs. Gum, Mrs. H. E. Wise, Miss Whit
temore Mrs. Chabot, Miss Chabot of Oak
land, Mrs. E. ]. Joseph, Miss Nellie
Joseph, Miss Ada Joseph, Mrs. w. II.
Bremer Mrs. Helen Bremen, Milton A.
Bremen, Chief Sullivan, Sam Rainey, Miss
Orena, Miss LataiIlade II. F. Miller of the
Royal English Artillery, Mr.. and Mrs. G.
w. Simpson, Mr.. and Mrs. J. F. Nolan,
Miss G. Nolan, L. X. Simpson, Edgar
Simpson, Edith Simpson, Harry Simpson,
Bertha S. Simpson, Jessie Simpson, Mrs.
|. B. L. Sperry, Miss Beans, Miss Rowena
Beans, w. F. Stafford, Austin Sperry and
S. C. Bigelow, president of the Savings
Union Bank.
And Santa Barbara feels that she can
afford to welcome her guests. She has in
store for them entertainment worthy of
her, and which is the outcome of no small
enterprise on the part of her citizens.
When the recent unfortunate fire obliter-
ated her pavilion, she might have been ex-
pected to accept the mishap and cut down
her programme of festivities. But Santa
Barbara is not built that way. Within
one-half hour of the catastrophe the wires
were red-hot with orders for new material,
and to-day new pavilion, presented pic
torially on Sunday in these columns, has
arisen anew from the ashes to demonstrate
Santa Barbara's grit and enterprise.
The same spirit of indomitable enthu-
siasm pervades the preparation of all the
details of the great fete. The programme,
roughly speaking, contemplates brilliant
reception tomorrow, at one of the embow-
IN irfa
evening meetings, a flower show on
Wednesday, the now historic battle of
flowers Thursday, and consummation
in the form of magnificent soiree dan
sante on Friday night. There is menu
of delights For the floral parade alone it
may be mentioned that there are over 100
entries-more than double the number at
this same time last year.
And the underlying motive of it all is
the flowers. What would be the force of
this superb climate, these varied outlines
of sheltering ranges and the floral wealth
around If it did not signify one point-that
California is the garden of the world, and
that the southern portion is a happy
specimen of what California can do in this
line.
Flowers? They are everywhere. The
air is perfumed with them. Nature has
apparently poured them on Santa Barbara
with absolute recklessness. You can ap-
parently pluck Niphetos roses or syringa on
every bush, or at least in every garden.
And the stately lily, the modest violet,
the madcap sweet pea, the simple mar
guerite, the golden pansy, the royal hello
trope and the myriad other beautiful, frail
children of the sun and soil seem to
spring up unbidden. Children go singing
along the streets with garlands that would
grace banquet of Lucullus. Florists for
bear to offer in their stores any but the
exotic varieties. Great branches of fruit
blossoms are dropped unconsciously along
the well-watered driveway.
Every Santa Barbara girl has her pet
posy; for it is great time for the Santa
ID ~ 80 Il a,,I l,ar dc fro,,, ohroo1