The San Francisco call., 1896-12-19
CHILDREN'S DAY
At FRESN0'S FAIR
Hundreds of Little Tets
Admitted to the Big
Pavilion.
Gaza in Awe at the Display and
Sample the Fruit On
Exhibition.
Dimeless Youngsters Allowed to Eater
While the Doorkeeper Is
Not Looking

and the parochial schools closed at noon,
and before o'clock children were f1ocklng
from every direction toward the pavilion.
Some of the little ones could not stay long
enough at home to eat their lunch.' lney
came to the main entrance eating preaa
and butter, with the butter side down,
chewing gingerbread and biting apples,
just like the most aged exhibitor al lhe
fair used to do long years ago.
A double force Of ticket sellers was on
duty. The children pianked down their
dimes and filed in in open-eyed wonder at
what they saw beyond the entrance. There
were quite number OF sad little boys and
girls outside who had no dime. Papa was
out of work or sick, or there was no fire In
the house.
1t is not very cold in the San Joaquin
Valley IN the winter, but little fire takes
the chill out OF the atmosphere and makes
q home more com forta BILE, and if during
the afternoon there was any picture that
the sight of the happy children inside and
the unhappy ones outside brought to the
minds of 'ye older folks" it was the pic
ture of John Howard Payne's Home,
Sweet Home" in all its color of recoilec-
tion and melody of domesticlty:
Backward turn backward. o Time in your fight
Make me child again, just for tonight,
Quoted fond father as he gazed at his
two happy and well-dressed little daugh-
ters.
One of the San Joaquin's greatest attrac-
tions is its homes-happy. prosperous and
decked with flowers. "Be it ever SO
humble" there are few homes in this
beautiful valley that have not at least
their flowers, even at Christmastide. Fire.
quentlv in the speeches made during the
fair the valley has been referred to as the
long-lost garden of Eden, now found. If
it is not quite Paradise it is a city of
homes.
The dimeless children outside did not
stand long in the shadow of disappoint-
ment. Doorkee pers Kite and Ewing
turned their backs and were deeply and
deity engaged in conversation. The dime
less children disappeared magically. In
few moments not one was to be seen. One
of the management, 1t is said, had beck
oned and pointed the way to the door. A
plack-robed sister of charity who stood by
wiped away tear and smiled.
There were not less than 1000 present
They simply took the fai by storm. They
captured the pand and the bandstand and
the management and everything else
almost. The unrelenting exhibitor with
his conspicuous sign, DO not handle the
exhibits melted before the children.
Many an orange and apple and almond
and walnut and raisin and prune, which
money could not tempt from its place of
exhibition before, went AS gilt into the
chubby fist OF Young America or between
the clinging fingers OF little Miss Column
bia. Not single thing was vulgarly
'swiped."
After they became tired of sightseeing,
the children played hide and seek among
the beautiful piles OF oranges and lemons
and flowers The band played several
selections pleasing to little ones.
The children of the Park-street School
sang America" and 1.-THE Battle Hymn
OF the Republic" and the children OF the
K-street School sang "Jingle Bells" and
"Colum bia, Gem OF the Ocean," There is
measles in the Orphan School so the little
orphans could not come. A jollier crowd
never attended the fair. Like Brownies
the children swarmed everywhere. Ex-
actly 1891 persons attended the fair to-
day.
1t has been decided to continus the fair
into next week. This is to give the pee
pie of San Francisco and the whole State
longer opportunity in which to see the
citrus wonders The. fair will be continued
through Monday and will close on Mon
Sunday. Excursions are coming on Sun
day from Stockton, Portervilie and other
towns of the valley. A very large num-
yer OF visitors is expected on that day.
The San Francisco excursionists arrived
tonight. They will be formally received
in the morning and tom orrow evening
there will be a public reception and
speeches at the pavilion. In the after
noon the visitors will be taken for drive
over the city. A. R. Biggs will deliver
the welcoming address ana Hugh Craig of
San Francisco will respond.
Saturday is farmers day and also Por-
terville day. The fruit-grower and farmer
from every place under the surrounding
horizon Is expected to drive in to-morrow
with his family and team.
The Stockton excursion train returned
to the Mill City this afternoon. Quite a
mum ber of Stocktonians remained over to
see the fair through.
Colonel Shaw has added to the San
Joaquin County exhibit Stockton scene,
showing water and railroads, ships, loco
motives and cars-"where the rails meet
the sails.
The exhibitors are puzzled. Not one
among.them has been informed of the name
of single Judge. This has been kept
secret by the management. The exhibitor
ieels himself lost. When a man who
appears to know fruit when he sees it
pauses before his exhibit he does not know
whether to smil look pleasant and give
him the ''glad hand under the suspicion
that he is Judge. or to assume the .glassy
eye' as he would before an ordinary
spectator.
Late tonight it leaked out among very
few that the judges on the quality of fruit
are Mr.. Woods of Whittier, Supervisor
Sayre of Fresno and Mr.. Hobbs of the
Hob bs- Parsons Company. Considerable
dissatisfaction is likely to arise over the
selection of these judges, as two of them
have fruit on exhibit.
Among those who are nursing a griev-
ance in regard to the method of awarding
prizes is .'Uncle Dan" Thomas, the
''widows' friend" of Visalia. How "Uncle
Dan" acquired the affixed title is legend
of this section of the valley. Some years
ago he had in his nursery a lot of fruit
trees which he could neither sell nor keep
until the following year, as they would
then be too large. He hao it circulated
throughout the valley that be would
give 135 trees, mbracing-which word
the narrators of the story say is a very
good one to use in connection
with item bracing every variety Of
fruit, to all the widows in the valley
who would apply for them. The result
was that "Uncle Dam gave away 1890
fruit trees to fifty-four San Joaouin