The San Francisco call., 1899-01-01
"HAT hilarious JOY which finds
vent only through the medium OF
a tin horn became epidemic in
L. 90 nix erhf and the

vent only through the medium OF
a tin horn became epidemic IN
i San Francisco last night. and the
result was that for six hours
thousands Of otherwise respectable
citizens of all ages, sexes and condl-
tions were seriously at work trying 10
convince themselves in particular and
the world in general that they We're
having a real good time.
In the early hours of the evening the
neripetatic vender of noise machines
held sway and was the sole peace uls-
turber, but gradually his persistent
blowing exercised a hypnotic control
over the pedestrians, and those VINO
had come downtown to see and hear re-
mained to pe seen and heard, and their
n,1mbers increased to such an extent
thar bv 10 o'clock Market street pre-
sented the appearance of being occu-
MED bv a cross between MonSolau
wedding and an Indian funeral.
Naw Years eve in San Francisco
o1airos 10 be UNIQUE, which distinction
&c arrived. at through the peculiar ana
varied noises with which the clllZehS
attest their fulsome gladness over the
expiration of another period Oh 800
days of doing something or soneoouy'
This New Years eve achieved the dis
tinction of having a new noise. our
closer relations Nth oriental countries
have evidently brought bizarre as
sortrnent of musical instruments OF the
five-keyed variety and these were
nrassed into service to enable cele-
brants TO maintain the city's reputation
in this particular.
The old tin horn-the Frisco horn
those that are purchasable on speclal
occasions for a nickel and cant De
tei,,.., away -, oEIeI t.ales, Nes'e tee
5reaouinant, pre-erninent and all-per-
vading noise producers Of the evening
b,lt when the wielders of these instru-
men+s of nerve torture slackened in
their enthusiasm the melody OF chi
nese flutes, gongs, cowbells, japanese
rattles drums-well. any old thing that
will produce sound-burst forth IN It's
full glory.
These variations in the symphony,
however. were few and far between, Tor
If there is any one thing which does not
fire the average San Franciscan on
New Years eve it is blowing a TIN
horn. 1t is his special vocation ana
he fills il in a manner that would De
perfectly satisfactory to the leader Oh
the orchestra in a Chinese theater. In
fact when it comes to proving the ex-
uberance of joyousness by making a
noise that contains no music all China
town must hang it's diminished head in
the presence of last nights New Year S
IF H.
cisco.
AS the evening waned and the new
year approached the fun became fast
and furious and the noise increased
proporticnately until it seemed as If
the whole city had resolved itself into
one vast voice that persisted in pro-
claiming to the world that something
was happening. There have been other
New Years eve in San Francisco
many of them celebrated just as was
this one. But it is the opinion of a
perfectly unbiased onlooker who has
reached the stage of life where all is
vanity and vexation of spirit that the
celebration last night outshone. b. sew
eral points, all preceding ones.
Up to 1870 the crowd was confined
TO the sidewalks and was distinguish
able from the ordinary Saturday night
crowd on the street by the volume of
sound which accompanied it. 1t rapid
" Increased, however, as the side
streets emptied themselves into the
main thoroughfare and the new asphalt
pavement was soon crowded to the car
tracks with the pushing, jostling,
struggling throng, all intent upon doing
something that would bring distinction
and consequent joy to the individual
Then to the din, which by this time had
reached a point that drove strong men
to the nearest saloons for nerve medi-
cine. was added the constant ringing
of the bells Of the cable cars, as the
grlpmen endeavored to force their way
through the needless mass of excite
ment-crazed human beings.
Up and down the street surged the
crowd, good humored and merry ex-
cept on rare OCCASIONS, when some gang
of hoodlums would overstep the bounds
of patience and receive merited punish
ment. Everybody was bent on having
fun at the expense of others only so far
as 1t meant the sudden blowing Of a
horn or shrilf shrek of a whistle in the
nearest ear. This sort Of amusement
was well received, but whenever over
exuberance induced one of the revelefs
to go beyond what was recognized as
legitimate fun the entire crowd hunted
out the misguided one and made him
sorry that he was alive.
On ordinary occasions boisterousness
is supposed to be the especial preroga-
tive of the male sex (but by long ac-
.cepted custom the hilarity of New
Years eve in San Francisco has been
about evenly divided between the en-
tire human family and last night was
no exception to the rule. Thousands OF
women and girls made up for the other
364 days when they have to keep silent
and gave full vent to their lungs
through tin. Staid matrons, who had
expected to remain coziIy in some con-