The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-09-05

Worcester total abstinence men held
a field day at Westfield yesterday. To
be sure, all there were not Worcester
men, but the Westfield young men who
attempted to conduct the event would
still be laundering along somewhere
back in the ruck had not the people
from this city taken hold and steered
everything along.
In some ways. the field day might
have been called a success, and in other
and a greater number of ways it would
be hard to discover anything like sue
cess with a magnifying glass.
In the matter of attendance of para
ders and sightseers from various parts
of the diocese, the field day could not
compare with what has been the rule
for the last dozen years. In the mat
ter Of taking care Of the crowd and of
furnishing amusement for a holiday
crowd, the field day was so far behind
the times nobody could see it. A
drawback which robbed the field day
of any interest which total abstinence
men might take in it, was the trip
from the railroad station to the
grounds. The distance was variously
estimated, the consensus of Westfeld
opinion placing it at about three miles,
but the poor old pioneers in the cause
in this section looked as if their faded
limbs had carried them 100 miles. and
when they reached the park, they could
regale themselves with questionable
ham and sandwiches, pie and a dirty
liquid which was sold for coffee. Had
they the same good fortune as guests,
they might have forgotten to com
PLAIN. The guests who rode to the
park on well-groomed horses or in COM
modious carriages were conducted to a
shaded tent and fed with roast turkey
and other good things.
Inc Westt1eld managers of the field
DAY furnished one really good thing: il
was superfine That was the weather
When the visitors reached the town. the
sun shone clear and bright, yet brac
ing breeze neither too warm nor foo
cool made everybody feel glad that
there are some things in life that no
trust can yet control
The town was early astir, and pre-
pared to give the visitors a roval vol
come, which it certainly did. West
:ilelo did itself proud. With bands NAV
ing and eolors streaming in the morn
ING breeze and residents with smiling
races extending welcoming greeting
no stranger within WestfeI1;s eates
colld but feel the warmth and SINGER
ny OF the greeting. AS far as the town
and the townfolk We're concerned ooth
ing more could be desired
1t was the management of +ba 6e1d
Jay tnat left much to be desired WitS
walk OF three country miles hefora
the paraders, the management took t,a
arflVlng companies over a half-p,iIe ~
an opposite direction to be formed into
line ana then steerad the line thronol
gross streets, making altogether As
q in &c
OF Westfeld would allow.
When the park was reached the West
neid men who should have done some
thlng TO get things under way could NOT
De round by bloodhounds. Several voune
men from Worcester, athleticallv M
ciiued, including newspaper men who
Were the life Of the movement, got
things going so'
The police Sorce of Westfeld was
tripled by the addition of 10 of1cars
from Springfield and from Holyoke
and they deserved all kinds of prizes for
Deing continually in evcrybody's wav
They handled the crowd adp1irah,v
allowing them to file out on the track
ike flock of frightened sheep through
a hedge fence
There was only one attraction worthy
OF ncnuon, the struggle of lightly clad
athletes. The various contests were in
teresting, despite the fact that the off,
Gals mad to handle the athletes. crowd
OOPS and Westfield men supposed to as
sist. If only the cops could have been
knocked in the head so they would NOT
be continually in the way, perhaps the
games might have been easily better.
mere were some redeeming features.
One was the truly excellent and Iabori-
Gus work which several young men did
In running off the athletic contests in
the face of almost insuperable OBJ
stacles. Another was the extraordinary
patience which the people on the
grounds showed
1t was essentially a Worcester day.
and whatever success there was belongs
almost entirely 70 Worcester, that is
in fhe field day itself. In the parade.
worcester was a small factor.
The line was an excellent one, and the
SAD mistake Of the management would
not spoil that. Westfield total abstain
enee men deserve no credit for the mag
niflcent line. Societies from other cities.
amolg which were noticeable Sacred
Heart OF Springfield. st. Joseph's of
North Brookfield and st. Jerome's of
Holyoke, made it a magnificent pageant.
Westfeld did turn out two floats, one
OF Nbich was pretty, to contribute
something.
There was a long list of athletic
sports, too long, in fact Worcester
MADE the sports. Out OF 1875 points to be
divided, 102 went to Worcester athletes.
Two Worcester ball teams played a
good game. two others played a game
In which general mlx-up of PLAYERS
occurred, then a row among spectators
and finally a rumpus between police
and spectators. The only other contest
OF any sort was a contest between drum
coros which was won by Sacred Heart
of Springfield, a nattily attircd corps
which ratified out quicksteps that would
make even Spaniards fighters
Ir the athletic contest, ST. Pauls was
easily in the lead, scoring nearly half
the neinfs. ST. Anns's was terribly
missed. That society did not send an