The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1906-11-18

The evening before the race NJ
thinks of sleeping. The-streets OF .t-s
city are alive with people angina
joking, quarreling.
in honor of the Jockey who now res
ceives the secret instructions of the
.-contrada. For there are secret ms
structions TO be given and the Siena
patio" resembles in some respects at {
least our American horse race. The
jockey is bound to follow as closely as
possible the instructions of his con
trada."
Let US suppose. for instance. that the
Caterpillar and the Porcupines emostf of
the "conrade" arc named after. ami
mals) have been assigned poor horses
and have little chance Of winning, The
Tower and the Snail have better horses
than the Giraffe But the leading men
Of the Giraffe are determined to win at
all costs. They get together with the
leaders of the Caterpillar and the Por-
cupine and these latter consent to order
their jockeys to block the Tower and
the Snail. But even now the race is not
sure So the Giraffe comes to an agree
ment with the Tower. whereby neither
will fight the other. Then the Giraffe,
unknown to the Tower. makes a SINH
lar agreement with the Snail It looks
now as If the Giraffe were sure of vic
tory. But who can know how many
other agreements have been concluC I'd 2
Victory is always doubtful and acct
dents or the skill of the jockey may
land the poorest horse.
Great care is taken to prevent the
jockies from selling the race Some
times they have no personal interest in
the outcome. and would be willing to
trade the laurels of the victory for
the liras Of the opposing "contrade.'
As soon as jockey is chosen he is TAX
en- to the home of some reliable per-
son in the "contrada" and is never al
lowed to take a step without an escort
Of picked men. If there are half
dozen men competing for the honor OF
riding for a certain "contrada" and
they all seem likely candidates they
are all placed under surveillance.
At the Striking of the Campanone.
AL exactly ) o CLOCK on the Udy VI Inc
"palio," $4,000 Sienese and as many
strangers feel a thrill as they hear the
clang of the "campanone the huge
bell, rich in legends. which has fol
centuries given the signal for the first
movement in the festival.
Those who are to take part in the
procession form in front of the ward
home and march to the chapel. All
enter, including the horse, of course
The Jockey kneels at the altar with
his horse back of him. The chaplain
blesses man and horse and sends them
forth to battle for the honor of the
"contrada." For. as we shall see later,
this race partakes somewhat of the
nature of a battle, and when we re-
member that the ''palio'' and every
thing connected with it, is medieval
to the last detail, we cannot wonder at
this religious ceremony which, IL must
be confessed, is due. probably just as
much to the conservative as TO the
religious instinct. OF the Italian peo-
pie The church is crowded and the
conversation that one hears is not ex-
actly suited to the place.
A lunch follows in the sacristy. The
Jockey of course eats little. His turn
will come later. A girl of the CON
trada,D chosen, who knows how or
why, steps forward and hands him a
carnation which he receives gracefully
and Sticks INTO ms mouth, where II tIe-
mains during the entire procession until
he goes up to the starting post.
The lunch over. all file out, and at
the sound of the drum the .comparsa"
forms First are the two 1alfieri'' With
their gorgeous banners, which they
handle with marvellous dexterity. AR
expert ''alfeTe" has spent many weeks
in the study of his art. His banner is
about four feet square. attached to the
end OF light pole, which is loaded at
the bottom. During the procession the
--alheri" keep their banners. continually
in motion They wrap them about the
poles. hurl the whole into the air and
as the loaded end bears the pole down
ward the banner unfurls. Seventeen
-'comparse" in gay, medieval costumes.
with two 'alfieri at the head of each.
marching through the streets OF Sienai
IT IS a marvellous sight this resurrec-
tion of the glorious pageants of olden
times
After the "alferi" comes the cap
tain of the 'contrada." attended by his
pages and encased from head to toe IN
The armor which has. presumably,
fierce fights TO uphold the honor of the
city. Next comes the Jockey riding
not his racehorse, which is led by the
ward-groom, but q horse substituted
for 1t during the procession
The compares" is concluded by the
drummer and the page of the con
!. trada~" It is this page who represents
the contrada" on all other occasions
such as at the funeral of some Fpromi-
nent man of the "contrada." He is
chosen for his comeliness. and also be-
cause he fits his clothes In fact all
the men in the "comparsa" are chosen