Semi-weekly herald., 1913-07-10
REVIEW OF FRAMINGTON ATH ....
OF JULY CELEBRATION

FARMINGTON. July s.-Ths 4th
of July celebration given In Farming
ton last Friday was one Of the best
and most successful attractions Of its
kind ever attempted in this part Of
the state.
From early morning until long after
midnight those who gathered in town
to celebrate were kept busy every
minute Of the time, as an extraordin-
arily good program had been arranged
and was carried out to the letter.
The morning Of the 4th was ushered
in by many noisy salutes, which made
sleep impossible after daylight. The
early morning hours were the scene
of much activity. as the good town
folk were busily preparing their pic
mic dinners, with the intention of
spending the greater portion of the
day at the fair grounds.
The first thing on the days pro-
gram was the ball game at the fair
grounds between Aztec and Fruitland,
which began about ten thirty. This
was a try-out game to determine
which team was to play the Farming
ton nine in the afternoon for the $50
purse that was offered. Aztec won
this game from the batters of the
lower San Juan.
BY the time this was ended, the
picnic grounds under the large cotton
woods was the next scene of opera
tions. The visitors from all parts of
the county had come in great numbers
to share the days entertainment with
the Farmingtonites, and all brought
their picnic dinners along. For an
hour or so the shady group was thick
with dining groups. who spread their
dinner out on the ground and had q
genuine old fashioned 4th of July
feast. Dinner over, the sports began
in earnest.
The grandstand which hold $50
people, was soon filled to its utmost
capacity, and both sides of the track
were lined for quite distance with
people and vehicles Of all kinds filled
with spectators, all eager to see the
promised fun.
Potato, pig and sack races
were features in the program in which
the juvenile folk figured. In the free
for all horse race and the chicken pull
ling contest Navajos contested with
their pale face brothers and won the
honors. In the last named sport
thirty took part. After a long series
Of rides, one Of the Indians pulled
the chicken out Of the ground and the
whole BUNCH pouncsd upon him. 1t
was rough and tumble scrap all the
way around the hak-mile course. In
the mixup one Of the Navajos was
thrown from his horse and badly in
jured the man with the Chicken"
succeeded in getting nearly around the
track when the whole bunch closed
around him. In the fray he was drag
ged from his horse, but crawled out
from under the steeds the others were
riding and finished the run on foot
before the riders were aware of what
he was doing.
The ball game was one Of the closest
witnessed on the Pennington diamond
for some time. Three times during
the game the score was tied, and in
the last half Of the TWELFTH inning,
when Aztec was two runs ahead and
Pennington was at the bat with two
outs and two strikes on the batter, it
looked very sorry indeed for Farm
ington. But the batter lined out q
two-bagger, and the next batter made
a safe hit, the third one bringing in
the two men on bases. Then the fun
was on, and Pennington brought in
another run, which won the game for
them.
The ball game ended the days
sports at the fair grounds, and the
almost endless procession Of automo-
biles, buggies, wagons saddle horses
and pedestrians, made their way 10
town, where supper was had amid
another noisy outburst Of patriotism
Aliens Grand opera house was the
next attraction. Two moving picture
shows were given, each Of which was
attended by all that could possibly
pack into the opera house. Four ex-
celent pictures for the occasion were
shown. One of the films, "How
Washington Crossed the Delaware
was especially fitting for the evening
Immediately after the picture shown
a dance was given in the plaza by ths
Navajos around the customary camp
fire. While the dance was in progres.
fireworks Of lurid and beautiful color
filled the night skies.
| The last thing on the program wa,
the "white mans Dance" which last
ed until little after one o'clock IL
the morning.
OF all the attractions gotten up her'
in Pennington, this 4th Of July cele
bration was by far the most success
sful. It was success from finan
ciaI standpoint. as all expenses wer,