Los Angeles herald., 1909-12-30
MANY GIFTS TO
CLUB MEMBERS
CITY ORGANIZATION HOLDS
CHRISTMAS inks
GOOD NATURED JOKES FEATURE
BIG LUNCHEON
Mayor Alexander and the Victorious
Champions of Civic Purity Pre-
scented with Trifles Apropos
of Occasion

Timely hits and good-natured
"ioshes" kept 400 members of the city
cinp IN a constant roar of laughter at
the annual Christmas links of the
club. held at Levy's yesterday
Frank Forbes acted as Santa Claus
and he handed out gifts to men promi-
nent in civic affairs. hitting their
weak spots unerringly, yet with such
good nature that not once did any OF
them take offense. One of the best
'take-offs" of the program was the
last. when Mayor Alexander was
called. Frank Henderson, secretary
TO the mayor and the City club, ana
DR.. Sherwood Gibbons rolled a Dig
pasteboard safe up to the speakers
table and without the least effort lift
ed the contrivance, that looked as II
II weighed tons. onto the table with
their little fingers.
Santa Claus Forbes called for the
mayor and when he stood in front OF
the safe Santa Claus explained that
two things were essential for a good
MAYOR. one was to have something IN
his head and the other something suit
able on his head. Santa Claus eX-
Dlained that nature had provided
plenty in the mayors head and that
his loving fellow citizens felt called
on to provide the head covering Un-
locking the safe with great solemnity
Santa Claus produced big Uncle
Sam hat and placed it on the mayor
head. Then he brought out an Uncle
Sam coat. much too small for the
broad shoulders of the mayor, and
when Alexander was fully rigged out
he was an excellent likeness of the
character used by cartoonists to rep
resent the United States.
The frolic began when Santa Claus
called for Supervisors Pridham ana
Manning. They are the two members
of the board that stand for what the
general public believes TO be rlsht IN
county government and are opposed
10 the other three members, who have
come to be known as the solid three
The gift for Pridham and Manning
was a large cube which bore the
legend. solid Two" 1t was painted
a gold color and Santa Claus explained
that It was large and firm and SOLID
and gold all through. Beside it was
cube only half as big, and this was
marked "Solid Three" This was
painted black and rang hollow when
struck. But the "solid three" super
visors were not present 20 receive their
gift.
Betkouski Refuses Issue
Santa Claus called for Martin Bet
kouski, but Betkouski didn't want to
and he hid behind a table. T. L.
O'Brien. another member of the new
council. was sighted and he was lcalled
10 take the gift that would have been
given to Betkouski. When Betkouskl
saw what it was he was sorry he had
not responded to the call, for 1t proved
to be a pair of pink silk socks of such
generous proportions that they might
easily have fitted him.
Marshall Stimson, the newly elected
president of the Good Government
organization, received a beautiful com
blnation hair brush and gavel Mr..
Stimson once called the organization
to order with hair brush, and II is
not likely he will ever hear the last
of il. Santa Claus told him that all
good citizens were expecting him to
with his hair brush gavel and strike
terror 10 the hearts Of those on the
wrong side.
A hobby horse that would have de-
lighted the heart of a little boy was
put on the table and Santa Claus
called for DR.. John r. Haynes. The
hobby was labeled Initiative" Ref
erendum," Recall" "Civil Service, "
and in front was a large yellow label
that read "Fenders."
James A. Anderson was remembered
by his friend Joseph Simons with bot
ties of olive oil, cod liver oil and malt
extract. with the advice to take it
regularly and he would probably grow
as fat as the donor.
H. j. Lelande, city clerk, received a
neatly engraved invitation from Wal
ter +. Parker to dine with him at the
Alexandra cafe and If Mr.. Lelande
felt inclined to stay all night Parker
offered to share his river bed with him.
Mr. Lelande was not present, but d.
M. Carroll minute clerk of the coun-
ell and Mr.. Lelande's deputy, received
the gift.
Major Burke, W. T. Harris, Judge
c. F. McNutt and Richmond Plant,
members of the Democratic league,
were called up in a body. Santa Claus
made some remarks about them being
the remnant of a once great party,
and pinned a pair of turkey wings on
Mr. Plants shoulders. He explained
that Mr. Plant would have to be the
dove of peace to hover over the tenn
pestuous new council and he wanted
him to look the part. Mr.. Harris
achieved his ambition when Santa
Claus pinned an immense star on him,
bearing the legend, Captain Of the
Royal Guards" Santa explained this
was equivalent to chief of police, and
Mr.. Harris was happy. A blue ribbon
sash with gold letters pToclaiming him
priVy counselor to the mayor, was the
gift to Major Burke He was eau
toned to see that the mayor did not
sign any ordinances until the privy
counselor had thoroughly gone over
them. A white sash proclaiming him
lord advocate to the mayor was pre-
sented to Judge McNutt A red sash
"a very large red sash-had been pro-
vided for Joe Simons, and it was to
have been his insignia as ambassador
to San Pedro but he was not present
TO receive it, NJ. G.. YOakum was APP
pointed keeper of the outer door and
M. Van Valkenburg as keeper of the
inner door to the mayors chambers.
Stanton Is Remembered
A little tin bucket of sand to keep
the ground from slipping under his
feet was prepared for Phil Stanton.
Stanton, in a speech in the assembly
anent q prospect ye war With Japan,
declared ne felt the ground slipping
from under his feet, and the city club
didn't want it to happen again
e. ]. Fleming lost the nomination
on the Republican ticket for district
attorney It was all made out for
him, but he was not at the luncheon
yesterday and as consequence his
political aspirations received setback.
A formidable looking box, tightly
padlocked and marked Secrets of the
Grand jury was given to Thomas il.
WoolWine. Mr.. WOolWine declared he
was glad Santa had given him a key
with the box, for there were some of
the secrets he wants to let out very
much.
With the remark that some Of his
friends and all his enemies considered