The San Francisco call., 1909-12-24
GREAT ARMY
OF BOOSTERS
BUYS BUTTONS
All San Francisco Gives Enthu=
SiaStiC Endorsement of City's
Great 1915 Project
Reorganization Fund Receives
Healthy Support From Le-
giOn of Loyal Citizens

I
II there was any one on the streets
Of San Francisco yesterday who failed
TO take notice of the fact that the Pan
anna Pacific international exposition is
to be held in this city in 1915 it wasn't
because of any scarcity of boosters
buttons announcing the coming event
The buttons were everywhere and a
coat lapel or gown without one looked
like an unfinished piece of work. They
began to blossom at early dawn and by
night they were being worn by thou
sands. There was no way of over
looking the boost or the army of
boosters, and so San Francisco gave the
Panama Pacific international exposition
its first general Endorsement and its
first individual exploitation.
The committee announced its inten-
ton of selling $4,000 buttons during
the day Just how near it came to
reaching that mark will not be known
until receipts are checked up the first
Of next week. Regardless of that
there were a good many thousands of
the emblems disposed of. Some boosters
didn't get them, but there are a few
buttons left and the price will be the
same until all are gone.
SALE STILL ON
Unfortunates who failed to provide
themselves with the official boosters
label yesterday viii find the sale still
on today in nearly all the stores where
the buttons were sold yesterday. 1t
isn't too late to become a booster or
TO help along the reorganization fund
of the exposition committee. All that
is necessary is to purchase a button,
so that the dime may be counted in the
final checking up next week.
Colonel Frank w. Marston won the
title yesterday of original booster for
the fair. He made up his mind to have
the first button actually sold at the ex-
position headquarters, and he got it,
though it was rumored at headquarters
that he spent the night in front of the
door in order to be first in line. He
was the first visitor when the office
opened in the morning, and he paid
SO for the honor of securing the first
Of the official preliminary emblems.
In the big and little stores, where the
buttons We're on sale, the rush at the
button counters began before other de-
partments had fairly awakened to the
business of the day. The heads of sew
eral department stores and business
firms provided every employe with
button al the beginning of the days
work. In the clubs, members found
them on their breakfast tables and in
the hotels guests found them selling
at the desks.
REINFORCEMENT NEEDED EARLY
Before the morning was half over
messengers were arriving at the COM
mittee headquarters and the distribu-
tion office with the requests for fresh
supplies. The Commercial Travellers
associa tion. which had taken an initial
5000, telephoned at 10 o'clock to have
the order duplicated. Stores in va
rious parts of the city sent word that
their supplies were exhausted and that
customers were demanding more.
Wherever possible the orders were
filed, but often the committee was at
a loss to get the number called for
President II. L. Judell of the Com
mercial Travellers congress became a
button salesman and notified the COM
mittee that he had disposed of 100 but
tons in 10 minutes by simply boarding
couple of streetcars and Offering
them for sale. Several well known So
ciety women also became enthusiastic
volunteer workers and disposed of
large numbers of the buttons in a
short time to the street crowds.
During the progress of the Christ
mas festivities in the merchants ex-
change in the afternoon the button
boosters could not keep a sufficient
supply on hand to fill the demand. The
buttons were disposed of faster than
they could be delivered and scores of
men left the building with the an
nounced intention of seeking out some
store where they could secure the
badges.
COMMITTEE MEETS
With the boosters button sale in full
swing throughout the city, the exposi-
tion committee met yesterday morning
and perfected some of its preliminary
plans. The special nominating commit
tee reported to the committee on pro-
motion the names of 207 of the most
prominent San Francisco citizens for
membership on the general committee
on ways and means and the report was
unanimously accepted and the 207
named voted to membership on the
general committee.
The personnel of the committee on
ways and means will be made public
next Monday and the first convention
of this committee win be held Wednes-
day afternoon December %, at $3.50
o'clock, in the chamber of commerce
assembly room. The session will be
executive and will be given over to
the naming of subcommittee and the
arranging of preliminary details of or
ganization. Pending the completion of
this step, the committee yesterday Sc
lected James Rolph Jr. as temporary
treasurer in charge of all exposition
funds, and NAMED Andrew NJ. Davis r.
B. Hale and Alfred !. Esberg as an
auditing committee.
The committee received letter from
the Lumbermen's club announcing that
a preliminary contribution of 81 900 for
reorganization expenses of the exposi-
tion had been voted by that body and
that the amount would be held subject
to the order of the exposition commit
tee. A communication was also re-
ceived from the Santa Clara County
promotion committee through its pres
ident, r. II. McKaig of Los Gatos, of
fering enthusiastic support to the COM
mittee and a pledge of-the full coop
Grafton OF the entire county.
AGED BOOSTER CALLS
An enthusiastic caller who visited
the exposition headquarters yesterday
was Moses Wasserman of 31SA Preside
avenue. Wasserman is so years old
and, according to his own statement, in
1872 raised with his own hands the
first American flag that ever flew over
the isthmus of Panama. It was his
one desire, he said, to live to see the
Panama Pacific international exposi-
ton a glorious reality.