Los Angeles herald., 1909-07-06
SCOTS STRIVE
IN BIG GAME
FEATS OF STRENGTH HELD
AT INDIAN VILLAGE
FIFTH ANNUAL PICNIC PROVES
HUGE SUCCESS
Lads and Lasses Dance to Strains OF
Bagplpes as Elders Hold
Games or Chat In
Shade

The Indian Crafts Exhibition park
was transformed yesterday into a
Caledonian colony. The sturdy sons
of Scotia, their wives, children and
sweethearts by the hundreds gathered
there to enjoy a festal day similar IN
many respects to the outings which
their forbears were wont to indulge
in their own native land.
1t was the occasion of the fifth an
nual picnic and games given by the
Caledonian club of Los Angeles. From
O o'clock in the morning until 7 o'clock
in the afternoon every minute was
burdened with it's quota OF pleasure
There was some form of diversion Tor
men, women and children, ana no one
spent a dull moment
The men indulged in athletic games,
matrons visited each other under the
shade of the trees, and lads and lassles
whirled gracefully in the dizzy waltz
while younger folk romped and gam
boiled on the greensward and through
the woods in true childish delight.
Do Feats of Strength
Probably more interest attached to
the athletic games, is many prizes
were hung up and the competition for
them was spirited. The Scots are
great athletes and pride themselves on
their achievements in feats requiring
strength and agility. The old-tashloneu
and distinctly Scotch game of tossing
the caber was one of the interesting
features on the program. Tossing
the caber requirese wonderful strength.
Few people who are not, by birth or
blood Scotch know what a caber is,
and only those who have tried to toss
1T can appreciate what such a contest
means in the way of strength.
A caber is a stick of wood seventeen
and a half feet long, eight inches in
diameter at the big end and four
inches in diameter at the smaller end.
The caber used yesterday weighed
about $50 pounds, being a green stick
of eucalyptus. The caber must be
held in an upright position by the con-
testant. who holds the small end in
his hands and arms not below the
waist line. The contestant runs 1oi-
ward with it and tosses it so that the
big end strikese the ground In such d
manner as to cause it to fall in a
straight position in the direction the
tosser is running. The caber, in other
words, must be thrown into the an
and turned completely over by the
time it falls, and the fall must be In
an opposite direction from the tosser
Only TWO Scored
Only two of the half dozen contest
ants in Yesterdays game were able to
toss the caber so as to score. They
were generously applauded. But Others
would have scored If the game had
been played early in the day, instead
of being the last number on the pro
gram. Many of the contestants We're
too much fatigued TO make good
showing in the caber game,
The other games included foot races
for both sexes, pitching quoits ham
1ner throwing, jumping and stone put
ting. Not the least interesting fea-
lures were the Highland dancing to
bagpipe music and the bagpipe compe-
tition.
The Navajo and Yaqui Indians i'm the
park We're greatly impressed with the
Scotch music, and some Italian girls.
when not too closely observed, exc
cuted some steps that We're exceeding
Iy ludlcrous to the Scots. The dane
ing Of the Highland fling by boys and
girls, attired in regulation Scotch cos
tunes, was greatly enjoyed by the
older people.
Mrs. Francis Ruddock Kent of PaSa-
dena recited a poem as tribute TO the
American flag, and as she concluded
It, singing the refrain to the Star