The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1897-04-20
BOYS IN BLUE
DRAW A CROWD
Their Tourney at the Pre-
sidio Enjoyed by
Thousands.
Many Field Sports Were EXem.
plifed By the Athletic
Soldiers.
Som Military Novelties That Were
Shown to an Admi ring Multitude.
More Events To-Day.


attended this section of the military reser-
walton before. Three sides of The grounds
were marked by rope fence, within " hich
were none but the officers having charge
OF the grand military tournament and
those who were to lake part in the con-
tests. In the grand stand, on the bleach
ers at either end and outside of the ropes
there were not less than 1000 persons.
nearly one-haf of the number being
ladies-to say nothing OF children by the
hundreds
The grand stand was handsomely deco.
rated with American flags and the three
colors representing the three branches
OF the service-red for artillery, white
for infantry and yellow for cavalry.
The ground set apart for the contestants
was marked at the corners with small
American flags. Within the lines were
the many officers inter ested in the man.
agement of the tournament in their uni
forms, marked with the distinctive colors
that designate the branch OF the service to
which they belong, and along the lines
were soldiers on guard duty to prevent
any one not authorized to pass from going
through theIne-, Then there were gath
cred here and there groups of contestants
ready TO answer the summons to come to
the scratch. Inc crowds, the people in
the stands and the officers and men formed
magnificent picture.
The management of the grounds was
very creGltable and shows what the pres
ence of the military has 10 do with the
preservation OF perfect order.
Promptly at half-past one the First In
fantry band played an overture and as
the echoes OF the last notes were being
sent back from the hills on the south of
the grounds the men were called for the
first event, which was a 100-yard dash
with six entries-two of the participants
being Sergeant Pickett, 1.-The pride of
Company G, First Infantry, and Rames
OF Company E, Third Artillery, the two
best runners in the department. II was a
crouchlng start, and the men got off well
together. Pickett soon gained on all, but
before halt the distance was run Rames
got the lead and kept it to the nnish.
Time, 10 3-5 seconds; Pickett second. The
record for that distadce is g. SIS seconds
Throwing the 16-pound hammer fol-
lowed. There were FIVE participants.
There was much enthusiasm when Rol-
Inns OF Compan 6, First Infantry, scored
1929 feet. He was declared the winner,
was HikoI Of Company q, Third Artillery,
second, and Williams of Com pany G, First
Infantry. third. The worlds record for
this event is 1887.
Then there was bicy Gle race, $40 yards.
with i've starters. Roberts OF Battery E,
Third Artillery, who was a great favorite
with the people OF the posts, forged ahead
in the first twenty-five yards, and kept the
lead 20 the finish, making the distance in
3:oS 2-5. His performance was greeted
with wild applause. Fernandez of Com
pany 4, Fourth Cavalry, came in second,
and Newman OF Company F, Third Artil-
lery, third.
The next event was q cartridge race
Five men mounted stood at scratch,
placed their unloaded revolvers on the
ground, then rode to the farthest of e We
points, where each end man picked up a
cartridge, returned to the starting point,
dismounted,. placed the cartridge ID a
cham Der Of his revolver and then re-
turned after the fourth cartridge, and so
on until the five had been picked up.
Each fired one shot on remountlng. This
was good display OF horsemanship anu
required mounting and dismoul ling.
Miiner of Company B, Fourth Cavalry,
won in 2:24 1-5, Kelly of Company K,
Fourta Cavalry. second and. Fonshen of
Company F, Third Artillery, third.
In the 22O-yard race, which followed.
Pickett fell and was disa bed almost at
lhe Start. The winner was Rames. in
244-5 seconds, Woodruff of Company H.
First Infantry. second. The worlds rec
ORD Tor this event Is 81 1-5 seconds.
The running high jump was long and
tedious, and mum Der of men fell out
after four or i've trials. Roberts won with
n record OF 3 feet 2 inches, Harrison OF
Company l. Fourth Cavalry, second,
Denne third.
The ten-hurdle race, feet inches,
was an exciting event and well contested,
the partici pants displaying much agility.
In the first heat Cameron of Company D,
Third Artillery, won In 10 LIS seconds and
in the second Carter of Company D, First
Infantry, won in Is As seconds The final
heat will be run to-day.
La the eighth event. the spare-wheel
- 1OA
yards, there was but one contestant,
Mueller OF Company f, Thru Artillery.
He made poor start, but soon recovered
himself and covered the distance IN % 2-5.
The broadsword contest was very ex-
citing event The men were mounted and
used wooden swords. In the first heat
Haberkamm OF Company /, Fourth Cav
airy, and Souvleski or Company K, Fourth
Cavalry, were the contestants The last
named was the most expert, and scored
eight points 10 his opponents one. In the
second heat Ratchford of Company and
Weber of Company f, fourth Cavalry,
were the contestants. The last named
who displayed much skill in the use of
weapons, scored eight to one. The win
ners, Souvleski and Weber, will have 10
contest to-day with Davis of Company B.
The run, hop. step and jump was won
by Cameron OF Comp any d, Third Artil-
lery, 81 feet Kelly OF Com pany A, First
Infantry, was second, and Kramer OF Com
pany B, First Infantry, th I'd.
Burke OF Company A, First Infantry,
and Lang of Company ID. same regiment,
were the contestants in a contest called |
hasty entrenchmenI. The men equipped
Tor n archiDg we're given five minutes in
which to dig a trench and use the earth |
for protection from the enemy They |
dug the trenches in hard ground using |
their bayonets for that purpose, and with |
their tin plat-s threw up the earth. Both |
men worked hard, Lang with tho greater |
portion of his equipment on, while Burke |
removed ali OF his. The latter was de-
cIared the winner.
Then came the mounted gymnastics in |
which Fezsr of Company B, Harrison OF |
Com pany and Fernandez Of Company K |
Fourth Cavalry, took part The men, |
m mus coats and hats, rode bareback |
horses and performed a mum Der of evolu- |
tons which were equal TO any given by |
the most experienced riders in the circus |
ring. The horses well as the men were |
we'll trained and some of the feats were |
really wonderful. For instance, one rider |
led a horse and while they were going at |
lively gait one of the men ran alongside |
OF the led horse, leaped and landed on the |
other horse behind the rider on the ridden |
horse. The various feats were loudly and |
oeservedly applauded. Atone time Fer
nandez fell from mis- horse and under him.
Inc animal, with great care stepped over |