The San Francisco call., 1896-06-11
H. H. Becker's Score of 64 Heads
the List in Target
Shooting.
MERsHON, THE 1RREPREssIBLE.
Retail Grocers' Association Elated
Over the Large Attendance at
Their Outing,

1t was great day for the Retail Gro
GERS Association Yesterday. It was the
occasion of their twenty fifth annual out
ing at Schuetzen Park, and so gleefully
was the day celebrated that many of the
members averred with varying degrees of
solemnity that George Washington's
birthday wasn't in it.
The ferry boats took three loads of peo-
pie over in the morning and two in the
afternoon. And the boats we're crowded,
too, with just the jolliest lot of people that
ever gathered together.
Talk about the cosmopolitan character
of San Francisco! The skeptic should just
have cast his eagle eye over that assem-
blage at Schuetgen Park about the time of
the arrival of the second boat in the after
noon.
There were large men and small men,
distinguished-looking men and common
appearing ones, men with boards and
others minus these wind protectors,
humorous men and few crochety ones,
swells dressed after the mode laid down
for the season by the London tailors, and
others that didn't care anything about
their wearing apparel so long as they had
their fill of fun.
And then, there were the women. The
list would seem incomplete and preiudiced
without a mention of the ladies. The
naughty belle from Mob Hill reclined on
the cool grass under the same shade trees
as the maiden from Paradise Alley"
Baby buggies, decked out with gay ribbons,
were present in abundance.
For the day was warm, intensely warm,
and shade trees were in demand, as well
as those different drinks commonly sup
posed to conduce to mans happiness
~. Il IL Aolr1
ling round with the spots on his surface
and devotes the whole of his time to the
promulgation OF heat waves In the direc-
tion of our poor, little earth.
The fat ladies' race was feature of the
day that might well be called 'plcnic"
itself. There were good many entries,
and at the crack OF the pistol away they
went, amid the howls of the sightseers,
mopping their fevered brows while on the
jump. Mrs. Weiners came in first, mop
ping her brow with one hand and trying
to detaln wandering hairpin with the
other. She was closely followed by Mrs.
Reynolds second, and Mrs. Boitano third.
The fat mems race was just as funny.
With hats off, handkerchiefs bound
around their heads, and faces screwd up at
at an angle of 80 degrees to form groove
to keep the perspiration out of their eyes,
they stood f-etfully in position and impa-
tiently waited for the starter to fire his re-
volver.
Just as he was about to do this there
came a disturbance. ]. r. T. Mershon,
the genial drummer whom everybody
seemed to know, arrived on the scene and
promptly insisted that there was no use in
talking, he was going to get into that race.
OF course, being he, they waited for him
to shed his hat, coat and waistcoat and
get on the line. He did this with re-
markable alacrity.
As the pistol cracked off they went, big
'Fattie' Roesler in the lead. He kept it,
too. and distinguished himself by going
over the line with a great hop, skip and
jump. He afterward said he intended to
keep his prize, one case of Sauterne, to
cool himself off with when he ran again.
Messrs. Glynn and Smith were second
and third respectively. Mershon came in
last, vainly clinging to the coattails of the
man ahead of him. His method OF not
getting last evoked uproarious applause.
In the race of boys from 8 to u years of
age Kennedy came in first, Haups second,
Murphy third, Lehman fourth, Scbu-
macher fifth and Carroll sixth. Their
prizes varied all the way from hammock
to pair of suspenders.
In the boys race from IL to Is years
Weston won, Parker second, Maher third
and Kelly fourth Among the prizes re-
ceived were such articles as q football,
pocket-kniie and harmonica.
One of the prettiest scenes witnessed
during the day was the race OF little girls