Arizona republican., 1909-10-20
MAD NIGHT AT FRISCO Scene of SpIendor Such as
 the Old Town Never Saw TIE FIRST P0RTOLA NIGHT
Merry Throngs Parade the Streets Under Canopy of Electric Lights and Out lined Waships of Many Nations Float in Bay.

San Francisco. oct. 19.-San Fran
 cisco is joy mad tonight. Its streets
 are damned with a shifting, changing
 horde of merrymakers. laughing, sing
 ing and cheering with all the glad abandon for which the city was famous
 in the days before the fire. Across
 Market street and the main cross thor oughfares of the city, a roof of electric lights has been drawn. From every building in the business section flags fly and long strings of glowing light bulbs swing. In the streets themselves ear traffic is almost at a standstill so thick are the merrymakers, and auto mobiles and buggies form lines of sev- eral blocks in length, waiting their chance to pass under the two-mile arch of light and color.
 In the bay ride ships of war painted in eolors Of fire. They represent six great world powers. each vessel out lined in electric lights with the flag of her nationality and a blaze of colored lamps at the stern. The greatest car nival crowd the city has ever known is parading the streets and the side walks are damned to overflowing and hit S-ltdn illlu lllt themselves. Tons of confetti litter the pavementsl with patches of brilliant color and are scattered over the hats and shoulders of the constantly moving crowds
 San Francisco has outdone itself on the first night of the PortOla celebra- ton. Never in the history of the old city, whose pleasure loving habits were by-word around the world. was a crowd of the size and spirit of the Portola merrymakers known.
 The festival commentaries the dis covery of the %onderful bay by which the city stands. but more than that 1t was planned to let the country know and the world know that san Francisco is rebuilt: that it has recovered from the fiery trial of 1906 and is ready to join in. fun and frolic with all its old abandon.
 There is not a heap of ruins to be seen. but for block after block a blaze of electric lights reveals the outlines of great buildings rising many stories into the air.
 Three years ago the section of the city that is tonight the scene of mirth was waste of ruins. It was with diff ficulty that. the street cars were op- erated between the solid walls of broken brick and twisted iron. so mar row was the passage way cleared for them. Tonight the street is broad and smooth. It has been repaved through out it's entire length and millions of electric light bulbs string across it high in the air
 In Union Square, on which the St Francis hotel fronts. was given a fire works display tonight. The center of festivities was at the hotel, where King Gaspar and Queen Virgilia held a royal reception to welcome the city's guests. The carnival will continue until Saturday night and to- night is but a foretaste to the days toe come. The weather cleared today after a gloomy morning and the great parade was held under skies as fair as those of Italy. Good weather is predicted for the remainder of the week. and if it remains fair, San Francisco will take advantage of every minute.