The San Francisco call., 1909-10-27
NEW LIGHT ON
PORTOLA FETE
Society Begins to Gossip of
Possible Successor to
Queen Vergilia
By MARY AsHE MILLER

Af1EzAD1 the SHADOWS u hS~e
~ years Portola festival are begin
ming to fall, or should one say that
its light is even now becoming appar-
ent? In any case one hears the great
taikative. idly busy public beginning to
speculate. wonder. gossip. prognosticate
as to who will succeed Vergilia on her
scarlet and gold throne. Times Is
changed" says the dogs meat man, and
that obscure gentleman will find many
to agree with him. This year some de-
Icided shyness was. shown at the mere
mention of the honor. Even Queen
vergilia herself displayed a becoming
hesitation and coquetted with the idea
for time before she finally pledged
herself to undertake royal duties. Nor
can one blame her. The Portoia festi-
val was such very unknown quantity
lin fact, some doubted as to whether
II was going to be quantity at all
worthy OF consideration. Think OF be-
ing the queen OF failure. Horrible.
indeed!
But Miss Bogue was what is tech
nically known among the "madding
crowd" as q good sport" She declared
that she would be a queen and had
sufficient faith in the committeeman
and in that San Francisco spirit of de-
termination to believe that the festival
would be success. But this is ancient
history. We have forgotten that we
ever had any doubts and we know that
next year the festival is to> be even
better and bigger than ii was this
year. Now the matter of being the
queen in this new light Of cheering
public sentiment Is another question.
A realization has been forced upon
the scoffers of the dignities and perqui-
sites of the royal position and II will
be here as in other carnival cities
where the queen is an envfed person
age So, when She decision as to our
monarch of affairs frivolous is to be
made there will be less difficulty in Sc
curing the consent of those of social
prominence to come in and be merry.
There will be human nature and human
peculiarlties and eecentricities dis
played like the famous pickles, in "57
varieties at least.
The Portola committee are to a man
reign. Never. they declare with up
lifted hands, was there such another
queen. All the compliments that have
been showered upon Miss Bogue for
her beauty. dignity, royal reserve and
becoming yet modified hauteur. her
gowns and her indefatigability. they re-
peat with annotations and exclamation
points. and then they add another at
tribute which has caused them unlim-
tied joy and pride. Where. they cry
triumphantly, could you And another
queen who can condescend TO the
various national representatives in
their respective mother tongues?
From some years OF hard study and
residence abroad Queen vergilia has
acquired an easy aAd comfortable con-
versationsl ability in French, German,
italian and-in lesser degree-Spanish.
This has both pleased and astonished
the foreigners who came to do US honor
and has added another thorn to the
path of the would be queens of next
year.
The question arises, however, as to
whether Queen Vergilia will insist upon
making her abdication final Is she.
tired of being queen? Then there are
rumors that her father contempIates re-
turning to New York to live Would
the committee be able to induce the
queen to journey westward to reign for
so brief time?
Ny own ideas as to who should be
the queen next year are represented by
a large blanl< space-my positive ideas,
at least. 1 thought OF so many lovely
ladies that 1t was impossible for me to
concentrate my thoughts on one small
typewriter. So I sailed forth and
asked the wayfaring man. woman and
child.
Journalistic freedom is not suf-
ficiently established for me to tell the
public all of those who were suggested.
or those eligible no one has as yet
been approached for her consent, so
this is something like what the politi-
cal men call a s'straw ballot without
the permission or the candidates-wh0
may not be candidates either.
Most prominently one hears the name
Of Miss Enid Gregg mentioned, but
there are rumors that Miss Gregg was
approached and refused this year. and
it is feared that her refusal was very
positive. Miss Elyse Schultz has been
proposed. also handsome Miss Minna
Van Bergen. Miss Ethel Shorb, Miss
Mary Keeney; dainty little Miss Eliza
McMullin. who would be a sort OF a
fairy queen: Miss Kathleen Farrell and
Miss Anna Peters. Others who were
strongly In favor of choosing a young
matron for her added dignity and poise
suggested Mrs Charles Ellinwood. who
was formerly Miss Louise Stone; Mrs
Kathryn VOORHEES, Henry. Mrs. Clement