The river press. [volume] (Fort Benton, Mont.) 1880-current, 1909-10-20

teen electric lamps Of sixteen candle
power each. Fifteen hundred lamps
will be used in the colonnade alone.
By day the city will be an entranc-
ing bower Of beauty. Thousands of
miles of bunting will be used in drap-
ing buildings, and hundreds of thou
sands OF Portola p%ennants and banners
will f1utter in the breeze.
Huge Bell Of Electric Lights.
At the junction Of Market, Kearny
and Third streets will be erected what
probably will be the largest piece Of
electrical display yer exhibited, in the
form of a huge bell, 12O feet in DIAM
eter, to be suspended by large steel
cables 125 feet in the air. Hundreds
Of lamps will be used in the construc-
ton of this bell. At the top Of the
bell twenty eight-foot carnival flags
and an immense United States flag
will form a circle. From this circle
loops Of red, white and blue lights
will extend to the lips Of the bell, A
few minutes before midnight all Of the
lights within a radius Of five blocks
Of Third and Market streets will be
extinguished, and only those in the
immense bell will burn. Along the
steel cables men in fantastic garments
glowing with electric lights will walk
and perform acrobatic feats.
Loops Of incandescent lamps at forty
foot intervals will be strung across
many streets, and arches and loops Of
flags will also decorate them. A bril-
liant p%yrotechnic display will be given
IN Union square during the evenings
OF Plortola week. These displays will
commence about II o'clock in the even
ing and will continue until after mid
night.
A 300 mile road race for automobiles
over the beautiful b%oulevards Of Ala
media county will be one of the fea-
lures of the festival. The race will
be the biggest affair Of its kind ever
held in the west and will be on a par
with the famous Vanderbilt cup races.
The athletic committee arranging the
elaborate program Of sport to be con-
Quoted during the Portola festival is
leaving no stone unturned in an effort
to make the carnival Of sports unusual
in the history Of athletics in San Fran
cisco. Boxing, wrestling, swimming,
rowing, association football, Rugby,
tennis and golf will be included in the
series Of events announced for that
week.
A flight of an %aeroplane across the
Golden Gate is one of the attractions
for the Portola festival. While the
distance is not great, ranging from
three to seven miles, according to the
course chosen, it would give every one
a chance to see the fight from start
to finish.
The fight of aeroplanes is but one of
the many novel features for the Porto
la festival. Balls and entertainments
of all kinds will be provided to de-
light and charm the visitor.
The much disputed pronunciation of
Portola has been settled. Don Gaspar
de Portola, first governor Of Califor-
MIA, wrote his signature with an ac-
cen mark on the last syllable-thus,
Porto-ld. This is shown by a photo
engraving Of an authentic signature of
the doughty old Spaniard In "The
March Of Portola,'' a book which has
been compiled and written by Zoeth
S. Eldredge and E. J. Molera. The
original document showing the sigma
ture of Don Gaspar de Portola is in
the possession Of Molera. 1t was re-
ceiyed by him from Puebla, Mexico,
where Portola was governor after leav-
ing California. The narrative Of Por-
tola's overland march to San Francis
has been drawn principally from
the diary Of Father Crespi, who was
one of the party.