The San Francisco call., 1896-04-22
Commercial Travellers Lead an
Assault on the Business
Houses.
CITIZENS ARE PUT TO ROUT.
La Fiesta Revelers Throng Streets
and Plazas-Her Majesty
Enthroned.

LOS ANGELES, CAL, April 21.-A man
with his arms full of rocks and with stones
bulging out of his pockets hurried around
the corner of Fourth and South Spring
streets. He came face to face with hide.
GUS looking object in human form and be.
gan to hurl the missiles at the absurd fell
low. The latter was one of the merry
maskers in the retinue of the Fiesta Queen
and the man of the rocks was one of the
citizens who attempted to resist the inva.
sion.
OF course the citizen was overpowered
and the merry carnival went on. The
rocks so fercely hurled caused no destruc-
ton, for they were made of paper. The
citizen was an individual in the organiza-
tion that made preIense of defending the
city; the man of the mask was merely a
member OF the Queens fantastic train.
The two represent the actual character of
the opening celebration.
There has been opposition on the part Of
the Los Angeles ministers to this sort of a
performance. Possibly it was thought
that the display would be little too spec
tacular, that the representation of the
earlier. ages when pirate kings had all the
glory of successful ward politicians of the
fuence on the advanced civilization of
this Western empire" Perhaps the Min
listers Association thought that the queens
merry maskers were 10 indulge in mas
querade ball that would end in the early
morning. But the truth is that the most
serious and injurious revelry of the street
masquerade was in the hurting of the pa
pier mache rocks at the imitation face,
/ e j
| shocked any minister, even if every pastor
IN the sunny southern land had Deen hit
by the unprecedented bowlders.
The fiesta began with this parade of the
masked revelers. ALI the bells in the CITY,
all the locomotive whistles, all the juve-
nile means of commoJion and thousands
of joyous voices joined in the inaugural
announcement at 80 o'clock. The din
was uproarious; the city seemed as if it
/ were in the tumult of Fourth of July
with a few college celebrations and
Cuban declaration of independence thrown
in. People shouted until the horses were
scared. When the noise subsidized and the
fiesta was begun in a manner worthy OF
its rollicking absurdity the parade of the
afternoon was begun.
Roncovieri's American Band headed the
ranks that began the work of destruction
and looting in which the fiesta officials
were engaged. The Jonathan Club, fifty
strong, came behind the band, clad in
brown duck coats and trousers, white
straw hats with white bands and white
carnations red and white streamers flying.
Tan shoes and kid gloves completed the
costume.
The Queens Merry Maskers, sixty strong,
came in grotesque attire. The yells and
discordant whistles were defeaning in the
flight through the streets. There were 200
commercial men, each attired according
to his own faucy. They were ludicrous in
appearance and their antics could not have
been initiated by men of any other calling.
Following these were 200 or more masked
and costumed men-clowns and kings,
beggars and priests, jockeys and dancers
but there was nothing in the ranks that
the ministers, who offered preliminary OBJ