The San Francisco call., 1896-10-05
How the Glory of the Bullshead
Has Departed With the
Old Missions.
DEMOCRACY UNDER THE VINE.
Tires Hundred Poop e, Sixteen Savory
Heads and Four Speeches Make
Things Pleasant.

The Iroquois Club held its annual bulls
head breakfast at San Leandro yesterday
afternoon, and it was one of the greatest
Iroquois Club events in all history; but
alas for the degeneracy OF bullshead
feasts!
Bullshead "breakfasts' are no longer
what they use % be. when in the good
old days of the Spanish dom inion we used
to gather from hundred miles about to
the silvery music OF saddle trappings, in
stead OF the whir-r-r and thump, thump
OF electric cars. and when bullshead
breakfast was no Shell Mound picnic.
This affair of yesterday was degen crate
with all lis glory, and SO are all the rest
OF the bullshead breakfasts of these parts
nowadays. There's more breakfast than
bullshead about them all. In the neigh
borhood of San Francisco they are peter
ing out at the rate of about four year,
and the Iroquois Club is helping reduce
them to the ignoble plane of six-bit
French dinners.
A bulls head is noble thing when its
MASSIVE form has teen slowly blackened
for a day and night by the buried bed of
fire and when il overlaps the edges of the
biggest platter in all the country with its
Juicy iowls awaiting tie carver's knife.
1t is more worthy of glorious hailing at
the feast than was ever boar's head in old
England.
They knew this a generation or two ago
In California, and when on the second
day the time for the feast had come, the
com pany would gather about the big hot
mound OF earth and the speaker OF the day
would pronounce glowing oration before
the steamlng earth was tremendously
removed. Then when the massive morsels
were exhumed. they became the feast, and
all else was trimmings. There was a
sturdy reality about bullshead breakfast
then.
They are too clean and finicky now, and
the builshead is one of the entrees. They
used to sew each big head in gunnysack
and when the great bed OF Goals was right
and the heads were laid thereon they
would honestly shovel the dirt on top of
them and heap the grave as for all time.
Then when the e1huming came in the
presence of the hungry and JOYFUL multi
tude the hot and heavy gunnysacks would
yield another load of eonfining clay with
each cleansing thump. and when they
were ripped open the sayory mother earth
would make sweeter smell and the pic
mic glory would be over it all
Well, they'll be cooking bulls heads in
French ranges next, like q mere roast of
beef. Down there at San Leandro Land
lord Godchsux went out near the
chicken-coop on Saturday and dug grave
with geomet-ical precision. bed of
Goals two feet deep was msde right and
sixteen unwrapped bulls.heads were laid
in q row therein, nose to horn.
Over the grave vas laid an iron roof and
the earth was heaped above. The heads
lay in an oven and alI was clean and like
a Frenchman's art. No Spanish don
could have cooked them better, but the
way and the glory of the old bullshead
breakfast seemed vanished with the mis-
sions.
Three hundred people enjoyed the affair
and it was all O complex delight. The
crowd was merry one ann half the peo-
pie were ladies. Few October Sabbaths
have been more delightfully."- warm and
lovely amid the orchards, gardens and
flowers of San Leandro and the crowded
electric cars gave q panorama OF beauty
between Oakland and this country town.
AT 80 P. NJ those who came to the feast
surrounded many long tables inyitingiy
spread IN an immense grape arbor In the
hotel gardens, and great purple clusters
helped the woven foliage shadow the
fruits, wines, napery and substantial good
things which crowded the ables.
The people seemed to appreciate all this
as an improvement on the old style bulls
head breakfast, and the pity OF the style
made no shadow on the feast. They ate
beans and then sliced tongue and things,
and then the u5llsheads meat came on in
platters sliced into generous bits. They
were JUICY and delicious morsels.
One should be worthy of such dish,
but none doubted themselves. Then
there was served lamb cooked on spits
and chicken cooked on stove, and there
were other things to eat at the good
dinner.
Just once was the real bullshead served
in all its glory. A perspiring waiter bore
one on great platter to the head OF
table where "Con' Sullivan sat. The
thing looked fierce and picturesque and
grand, and OH very good.
The blsckened ears crumpled little,
the stagginess was gone from the great
forehead, and the big quiet nostrils seemed
to disdsin the carver from the edge OF the
big platter. A bulls head On table is
ght worth seeing. "Con" wasn't born
in Sonora, but then.
The rest of the affair consisted of peo-
pie, sociaoiIity and politics. Charles Gil
dea. president of the Iroquois Club. ably
and tactfully bossed ii all In a general
way and presided at the formaities. He
was helped by the officers of the club.
who always run the club affairs.
Louis Metzger, chairman OF the board
of trustees. asked questions all the time.
DR.. w. ]. Bryan was so busy he didn't
eat. L. V. Merle seemed always busy,
and Secretary Dan Gordan, Larry ].
Welch, Harry Zemansky, Max Pepper
and others few around while Others
rested.
In the Democratic crowd were Peter
McGIade. W. II. Hinton, John P. Dunn,
August Keller, A B. Lennon, ]. ].
Flynn. John Mannix, ]. ]. Flood. Robert
Ferral. George H. Cabaniss, Reel B.
Terry. Samuel Stricken, A. D. Pratt.
Joseph B. Nongues. Daniel O'Callahan,
Matt o. Brien, II. L. Bienfield and the rest
of the Iroouo!s crowd.
]. franklin Brown was one of the few
Republicans who helped make up the tale.
When the tickets were counted they were
found to represent the biggest crowd that
ever attended one of the clubs annual
feasts, and all told that il was the most
delightful one.
W. II. Afford, chairman of the Demo.
cratic State Central Committee, Thomas
v. Gator. the Populist boss. and J. c. B.
Hebbard. the Non-Partisan candidate for
Superior Judge, were the notable guests.
The speech-making was comparatively
brief President Gildea said some nice
things Mt the rsvht tina snd shar uar~v