The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1896-07-05
ST. MARKS PICNIC.
Five Thousand People Filled the
Big Grove.

Big Grove.
All the good people of ST. Marks
church and all of their friends attended
the picnic given for the benefit of the
church yesterday in the grove at Uni
yersity and Prior avenues. A conser-
vatiVe estimate Of the attendance is
placed at 5000 people, although some
Of the more enthusiastic ones declared
there were twice that number on the
ground during the day. But there was
d big crowd, sure enough. Many of
them came early and ate everything
the ladies of the church had prepared
for the dinner. Then the late corners,
who were hungry, were obliged to pat
ronize the ice cream stands, the candy
booths and other places in the grove
where edibles were dispensed and
cleaned them out Also The only per,
son on the ground who had goods to
sell, and who was not entirely sold
out, was the individual who gave away
bad cigars to the lucky person who
could knock over an effigy Of baby
with a soft ball that couldn't be
thrown straight by the most expert
ball player.
There was a band of course. Then
there was music by a male quartette.
who, were, called and recalled so often
that they were hoarse long before the
day was ended. These singers were
M. G. Heating, E. Burke, F. Wilson
and R. D. LaPine. When the singers
were not on, the platform the band was
playing, and then the young folks had
1mpromptu dances on the sward and
made merry generally, much to the
envy Of their elders. The dinner was
something to- be remembered. The
'viands were we'll cooked, admirably
served, and the variety was sufficient
to inspire wonder that so much could
he given at profit for so small a
sum. One feature, for the comfort OF
the crowd, and one that is often over
looked on such occasions. was an abun-
dance of fresh water that had been
hauled to the grove in a sprinkling
cart. The managers of the picnic want
ed to make as much as possible out of
the affair, but they were not so selfish
as to insist that all the thirst Quenchers
should be purchased. There were too
many little folks about to neglect their
comfort or the comfort Of their parents
in this respect.
An odd and noticeable feature was
the presence of so many baby carriages.
All the babies in the Interurban dis
trict were surely in the grove, and all
must have arrived in baby buggies One
couldn't go far without lodging them
And most of them were pretty babies,
too. Some were drcadfully tired and
hungry
and their mammals had forgotten their
wants in the plenitude of their owr
enjoyment, These little people made
their distress known in the manner
nature. provided and perhaps that is
the reason the younger people, who.
haven't amy babies, were annoyed and
moved into the quieter parts of the
grove and separating into couples en-
joyed the day in their own fashion All
the fathers and mothers, and grand
fathers and grandmothers Of the army
of babies were here too. The woods
were full Of old felix's and people of mid
die age. All Minneapolis and all st.
Paul must have contributed to crowd,
which as Father Casey said. was good
to look at. There We're little girls in
hammocks and little boys in every tree.
The irrepressible youth with revolver
was there 100. and he made existence
a burden for. some of the older people
with his noise and frightened the lit
tie people into tears at times. There
were lost babies in that big crowd at
times, and one could so almost in any
part OF the grove and hear some mother
making anxious search fer missing
child or hear the plant OF some lost
ycunster crying for mama.
The Only part of the programme that
was not carried out was the pony race
There were too may entries and the
ponies and their riders failed to get q
good start The crowd was SO large
that~the police stopped the races for
fear OF Danger to The children VINO could
not be kept off Prior avenue where the
race was 20 be Iun., Finally it was de-
cided to postpone this. event TO some
date, TO be announced in the near
future. A gold medal was offered for
this event 4ss7 ~
Following vere the winners O: the uaricus
events Of tho programmes:
1eo-yard desa tgirisll-MarY Jshnaen, st.
Ahthopy TarrK.
Sack ,Esza cs5. }s!!en.y o'Rrica. s.. AnsbrnY
Park. -StiA5o.A -
Fat r,en's raee--PairicE oswers. Prla- ave-
nusb ppsias station.
EscieaR sae G,9ssl-:IIsSry o'3iian.
Ciycls raSe tsTts)--Ssya Reed. ST. An::.cry
rark; second priae. Nellie Stursssans. Min
nSapo.is.