The San Francisco call., 1899-09-05

~ ESIERDAE was LABOR Qay anu
NJ San Francisco's wheels Of industry
stood practically idle for brief
twenty-four hours while the men
whose labor is the foundation Of her
prosperity took their families out TO
Glen Park. snugly hidden away in the
hills back Of the city, TO enjoy themselves
in their own way. 1t was the one day in
the year that they could claim as their
own, and they made the most of it.
The celebration. which was arranged
under the joint auspices Of the
Labor Council and the Building Trades
Council Of San Francisco, was just such
q one as the occasion demanded and, as
if 10 give the affair its full appreciation,
the sun came out warm and smiling,
quickly dissipating the banks of haze and
fog that drifted down into the city during
the carly morning hours aud for while
threa tened to put a damper on the merry
making. OF a necessity some were unable
TO accept the gift of holiday made legal
by statutory enactment because of the
nature of their business, but they were
few when compared with the great army
of picnickers who arose with the sun to
make early preparations for the outing
TO which they had been looking forward
in pleasurable anticipation for months
past
The city itself enjoyed a late nap in
>
footing of the factory whistles calling the
workers to their days toll was not
heard, and the bells that are wont to
sound u warning to the tardy laborers at
the mill gates were silent. In the City
Hall. in the banks in the courts, and in
all institutions of a public or semi-public
character, the usual hOrdeS of clerks and
officials were absent. Downtown the
usual turmoil of business was suffering
with q severe case of cold feet Some Of
the stores in the retail district kept their
doors open during a portion of the day,
but in NEST instances the proprietorS gave
the clerks q half holiday or closed alto
The exodus from the city began long
before the noon hour and for hours the
electric cars on the San Francisco and
San Mateo Street Railway line We're taxed
far beyond their capacity. The families
OF the workers swarmed out to the park
like locusts, all anxious TO see everything
included in the celebration and deter
mined not to take any chances of miss
ing a single event 1t was jolly crowd
IN holiday garb and humOr; men and
women, boys and girls, old and young, all
bent on having q good time.
The event of the greatest interest was
the contest for the silver loving cup do
mated by the Mayor to be awarded to the
union making the most attractive display
on parade. Some of the contestants
marched to the cars in body with ban
attention all along the route. By noon
there were over thousand people in the
great park, not counting the myriads of
little folks who were having all kinds of
fun with the bear and monkeys and the
dwarf like donkeys. The latter had
hard day of it, but IL they felt like kick
ing they refrained and kept their griev-
ances to themselves The swings, climb
ing poles, teetering boards, etc, also came
IN for a large share of attention, the older
folks participating freely in the Juvenile
games and sports. The committeeman,
with their gorgeous badges of authority,
rushed hither and thither shouting direc-
tions and gathering the participants in the
various prize contests together for the
tests Of strength. agility and endurance,
but during all the excitement there was
not the slightest disturbance to mar the
occa sion. The afternoon was taken up
chiefly with open-alr exercises, but after
uightfall the big theater was the scene of
gayety. The older people. that Is, all
those big enough to dance, put in the
time until midnight tripping the light fan
tastic. while the rising generation capered
and shouted around huge bonfire in the
open which had been kindled for their es-
Dijeau's band of twenty-five pieces gave
a concert in the bandstand on the chill
dren's playground during the afternoon,
and in the evening furnished the music
for the dancing.
The celebration began with the parade
contest. The conditions were that each
union must march in review before the
Judges carrying its banner and the Amer
lean flag. In making the award, it was
announced that the judges would take
representing each union in the contest in
comparison with the membership of that
union, the marching of the men and their
general appearance. The parade presented
pretty spectacle.
Typographical Union No. q turned out
100 strong and made a splendid appear
ance with its handsome silk banner and
flag. The Carpenters and Joiners' Union
No. %, with l01 men in line, also made
a fine showing, but the prize was awarded
to the Cement Workers Union, which
came TO the front siXty-eight strong
which, however, was a remarkable feat
considering the fact that this is a com
paratively new union, a. fact that was
taken note of by the judges and had
largely to do with their decision The
other contestants included the Carpen-
ters' Union No. 4S3, represented by forty
one men; Metal Roofers' Union sixteen
men; Sailors Union, with thirty-seven,
and the Lathers' Union No. %, with eight
men. All made a very creditable show
ing and were applauded all along the line
But the decision of the judges was we'll
received and pronounced eminently Just
President Mccarthy, in announcing the
decision, informed the winners that ac-
cording TO the conditions attached 20 the
contest, the cup must be won three con-
secutive years before it became the prop
erty Of the union holding II, and he
warned the cement workers that If they
desired to hold on to the trophy thev
must not go to sleep, butSgo into training