The San Francisco call., 1909-09-07
$4,000 SONS OF
Toll MARCH IN
GREAT PARADE
Union Hosts of City Unite in
Celebration of Lab0r's
Annual Holiday
Men Whose Hands Have Been
Lifting Power in Rebuilt
District HOnOred

I INIoN men marched through three
miles OF union built streets yes
terday in the largest Labor day
parade ever held here. For the first
time in eight years the building trades
and labor councils formed one line. In
these eight years not only has the
spirit Of unionism continued to spread,
but the number of workers have greatly
increased. The parade spoke for itself.
The men gathered early yesterday al
Fourteenth and Valencia streets. where
they fell in line at $50 o'clock Thence
they headed TO Market street to coun-
termarch in Van Ness avenue, reversing
at Eddy street The turn was there
made down Market street to the ferry.
At no time was the line out Of touch
with the rebuilt district-rebuilt under
union conditions within three and a
half years. That these were the men
whose hands had lifted the city from
her distress to complete rehabilitation
was recognized by countless thousands
who pressed against the wire barrier
placed along the curb. The sight seers
the two hours that the line exacted in
, passing a given point
Life and Color in Line
The parade OF the toilers was full OF
life and color. Every band and every
drum corps in the city was pressed into
service. Marshals and aides on horse
back. with gay sashes and batons, floats
that were more often emblematic of
labor than merely decorative, and not
least the toilers themselves wearing
distinctive dress or marks of their
trades gave the line variety and i'm
pressiveness.
The prizes distributed later in the
day indicated the the leading features
Of the parade. The cup for the hand
soonest float went to the sign and pic
toriaI painters. 1t was a PortoIa set
ting Don Gaspar with priests and
Spanish dragons in costume, not to
omit friendly Indians, were grouped in
front of magnificent painting of the
hay from the heights mounted by Don
Gaspar. On the reverse side of the
painting was a striking view of the
ne wcity
The beer bottlers and the plasterers
secured prizes on their general appear
ance. The horse shoers. in the dress
OF their trade, took the second award
for their float. on which a horse was
being shod with shoes forged on the
spot. The millmen's float, representing
2 shop in action. was declared the most
symbolic OF the trade union movement.
Miss Bertha Cooper and Miss Edith
lReynolds Of the mattresses divided the
SIS prize for the girl making the best
individual appearance.
Is, 900 in March
The parade was composed of 10
hdivisions. In all there were SO unions
represented. An actual count of their
numbers came to nearly $4,000. Popu-
liar estimates ran higher.
one union that turned out its full
membership was the PAYERS headed by
= President John Maher, Vice President
Michael Glynn and Secretaries ]. w.
l1eary and J. J. Murphy.
Preceding the order to march given
by Grand Marshal P. H. Mccarthy. the
!
Banner" during which all uncovered.
Members Of the guard of honor were
lon black mounts and wore gold sashes.
Next came the grand marshal and his
aids, then carriages containing Clar-
ence Darrow, the orator Of the day,
and other guests.
Among the first of the unions were
the BARRIERS with their barber pole en-
blems The glass bottle blowers car
ried glass canes and were followed by
glass furnace mounted on a truck,
with operators. The delivery drivers
decorated their wagons with flowers
and festoons OF bright paper. The
mattresses, in Immaculate white, rode
in a carryaH. while their business
agents had a carriage to themselves.
A pile driver. operated by a live dom
key engine, told to which union that
float belonged. The drum corps men,
bers Of Gabriel parlor of Native
Daughters made pretty feature at
this point in their white hussar cos
tunes.
Workers ExempIify Trades
The machinists apprentices were
husky lot of boys in new working
clothes. The electrical linemen strung
wires from telephone poles planted in
a truck bed and the stone cutters
hewed their blocks in view Of all The
brewers, in white with wreaths of
hops about their hats. and 10 beauti-
fully decorated wagons of the milk
wagon drivers were not the least fea-
lures of the provision trades council.
Before we won our six days but b