The San Francisco call., 1896-05-02
The Crowd Would Have Been
= Larger Had May Day
Been Less Stormy.
NATIONAL CIRCUIT OPENS.
The Burlingame Polo Players Ride a
= Steeplechase-Miss Anthony
DiSpleased.
!. OAKLAND OFFICE SAN Francisco CALI


-. 90S Broad way. May 1.
The Fabiola fete is over, and it was a
success. Society has paid its annual trib-
ute to the institution from which the
fiesta took its name, and if the result is
not so benehcent as was expected it m ust
be blamed to the lack of sunshine and not
to any diminution of interest in Fabiola.
All roads leG to the trotting park to-day.
From the outlying towns and cities and
from San Francisco large crowds directed
their efforts toward reaching Emeryville.
Nearly the whole of Oakland was at the
park. Had the sun shone out an hour
earlier the remaining portion of the city
would have gone out ana left the town a
prey toia few Wandering policemen who
were lett on their beats to listen for pos
sible alarm.
Dull and heavy was the dawn Of May
day. Dark masses of cloud few across the
: sky, and occasionally light shower fell,
and with each downpour the spirits and
hopes OF a county fell in proportion.
Commencing about o'clock the process
sion of humanity toward the park COM
menced. The school children led the way
They had their lunches in little boxes and
: were seen by hundreds walking along San
Pablo avenue. The car fare is only q
nickel, but there were thousands who wit
messed the parade to whom nickel is a
great consideration. These did not see the
grand parade from reserved seats on the
grand. stand. it's true, but they watched
from surrounding fences and barn roofs
And although the park was inclosed and
tall policemen kept watch over small
!: holes through which small boys could
creep, there was only one entrance, and all
the gorgeous equipages and finely dressed
ladies and their escorts had to pass through
1t: " While they were on the highway they
were common property, and this view was
considered recompense enough by many
for walking a few miles through occa-
.sional showers and dust.
%. Then there were the bicyclists. The
cycle races were in themselves great at
traction; but there is general desire
among Oaklanders to see and be seen at
: Fabiola fete, and this spirit seems to pre-
vail to a marked degree among the
bloomer girl. Never before in Alameda
County was there such gathering of the
lady cyclist in all her variety. Several
costumes worn to-day will undoubtedly
set the fashion in bIoomers for the coming
=, season.
=: Till long past noon the cyclists pedaled
. toward the park. More tandems were seen
. that it was thought could be found in all
the wheel stores IN the county. Not only
did the riders wear their nattiest costumes
" but flowers and bright ribbons adorned
every wheel. Many riders had rugged
canopies and arches over their heads and
rode to the fete under roof of flowers.
:" As the time for the parade approached
vehicles of all kinds headed Emeryville-
ward. Thousands of wistful eyes and
anxious minds tried to prophesy at noon
- just what the afternoon would be, bu!
failed. AS the clock struck the hour a
slight shower fell and all the gay occu-
pants of all manner of gay carriages SUBJ
stituted their umbrellas for parasoIs; but
itdid not last and although the uncer-
tainty continued more or less all through
the afternoon and although few sugges-
;tions of what the cloud contained fell on
the immense throng there was not enough
raid throughout the day to spoil bonner
or justify bad word on Mayday.
=, The local trains from San Francisco de-
:. posted gay. crowds at every trip and the
San Pablo cars did the best they could
but it was a very poor best The cars were
not able to handle one-fifth OF the passen-
gers that were anxious to patronize them,
and every drag, bus and vehicle in town
" was pressed into service, and when all
was done the means of transit to and from
the park was the most unsatisfactory fea-
. ture of the day.
Walter Hackett once more disappointed
the many who went to the track to see
him ride burro race. Last year Walter
backed ou: of the burro race, but this year
he'went.to Sausalito and has been train
ing mules for two weeks for the purpose of
providing a feature for to-day, but yester
day he notified the ladies in charge that
theeowner of the Marin County burros
died suddenly and would not keep his con-
tract. Whether this be so or not does not
interest the public, but the fact remains
that there was no burro race and the
crowds did not have the supreme pleasure
of seeing Walter rolled several times in
the dust.
" President Davis expected 10000 at the
fete and his figures would probably have
been correct but for the prevailing uncer-
tainty of the weather. Probably 10000
were on the ground during the day, and
although the floral parade was not so large
as that of last year, there was more origi-
nality shown in the designs and a more
liberal display of flowers.
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