The San Francisco call., 1908-09-05
GROWN UPS AND
BABIES CELEBRATE
All San Mateo and Burlingame
at the Fete of WOmen's
Club
Music and Flowers Vie With
Pretty Girls and Lovely
Matr0ns as Attractions
By Kathleen Thompson

With the stiff bows of their white
sunbonnets tickling their little chins,
the starch in their pique frocks scratch
ing their little legs and their spirits
keyed to the highest pitch of holiday
enthusiasm several hundred babies
were turned loose in the street fair
that was opened by the members of
terday.
Never have the youngsters OF San
Mateo had more untrammeled revel
that they enjoyed between O'Clock and
bedtime, for, although an occasional
distracted woman in white descended
upon them, singled her trio or quartet
out of<the roundup and issued an auto
matte order to Take that horrid thing
out of your mouth" or. Now, stop
teasing; you've eaten quite enough"
these Interruptions were rare, For the
most part, the big sisters and mothers
were too busy pouring coffee and serv-
ing ice cream, tacking up bunting and
massing ferns, stringfng lanterns and
counting change to worry about them.
For the street carnival from the very
first instant. was a decided success, ana
there was not moments halt for the
workers at the various booths between
o'clock and midnight. The weather.
after dubious. windy morning. sud
denly cleared at noon, and the poplar
lined avenue where the fair was held
was flooded with sunshine. White para
soils sprang up like mushrooms and,
with the lanterns and pennons, flags
and bunting and the gay gowns of the
women, made the place look like big
flower garden. Little Indians wandered
up and down the wide main aisles with
various wares; small Hawaiians, gay
in paper wreaths and beads, went about
with stuffed dates and bananas to sell;
there were Arab girls from the coffee
booth. with white scarves hiding their
mouths; Dutch girls in delft blue
gowns and tapping caps from The
Hague; japanese girls with tea bowls,
fiowered kimonos and fans; Spanish
senoritas in scarlet and gold. with head
dresses of black lace; gay little
caballos with wide hats, fringed
leather breeches and red sashes. and
stately, white haired colonial DANES.
AT o'clock all other business was
suspended for the engrossing feature
of the afternoon, when a score of
babies were entered for the baby show.
They were seated in several rows in
the high bandstand, where every one
could see the charms and advantages
of each. To Mrs. G.. III. Probasco, Mrs.
e. w. Merrill and Mrs. John Scott fell
the bewilderiug duty of deciding be-
tween flashing dark eyes ana sleepy
blue ones, downy little golden heads
and heads covered with fuzzy little
brown curls The first prize finally fell
to little Miss Ophelia Luddy, a weeks
old namesake of Mrs. Moses Gunst, who
played fairy godmother to the mite
when she was in need on a friend some
seven weeks ago. Ophelia, both of
whose parents are deaf and dumb, won
a handsome silver cup. The year old
who won first prize was Fernald
Rueker, and the prize for older chill
dren was given to Madeleine Cornell, a
year old beauty. A special prize was
given to Francis Raymond Nickerson,
who, at months, boasts an unrivaled
fatness and looks like a prosperous
pugilist. The contesting babies were: