Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1913-11-05
PORTOLA IS PAU and Was
ONE LARGE Time ON COAST
By ERNEST N. SMITH
fSpecial Star Bulletin correspondencel

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 29-It's
over-the Portola celebrat.on-with
its riot of song and music and color.
Its huge parades its wonderful cleo
trio displays, its Mosques, its follies.
These are but a delightful memory,
but the whole event has been signifi-
cant for this: 1t made people for a
time forget the chase of the almighty
dcllar-and that is alway1 good
thing, when the chase has been par
t;cularly stern one. with results in
many instances not all that can be
desired
You can't really call San Francis
cans spendthrifts, but there are few
places in the country where person
is more willing to spend a dollar in
friTolity, and scarcely any place where
community can so intellectually
throw itself into time Of jollifica-
tion. ~. #.
During four days the city was prae-
tically en- fete from early morning to
the same time the next day, and on the
final Saturday evening over 100000
persons were on the streets to watch
the electrical parade. 49,.
The Portola was formally opened by
the arrival of Balboa, who came in
his official capacity to meet the city's
queen of carnival, and to issue COM
mands with her for reign of Joy.
1t needed no official proclamation,
howeyer-the reign" had started.
The military parade was followed
in the afternoon by daylight fireworks
and band concert for the children
in Union square, opposite the St.
Francis Here centered to a large
extent the city's festival activity.
Stands built over the surrounding
streets gave room for thousands to sit
and watch. Other thousands roamed
the square, where the band played in
a $4,000 boat erected by the Japanese,
where an electric water fountain glis-
tened by night, further embellished by
the shafts Of huge searchlights thrown
from the roofs of nearby buildings
Parade n Large One
The following day was the main
parade, taking four hours to pass, with
some $4,000 people in line, inndmer-
able bands and countless floats.
Strange as 1t may seem, the fraternal
organizations and semi-military groups
cutmarched the regulars, who seemed
to tramp along giving an impression
Of IAN old story, what's the differ
ence?" Perhaps, though, the city had
taxed the generosity of the army in
asking too much during the four days
in the way of assistance.
The Chinese and Japanese floats
were of unusual brilliancv, so much
so as to win prizes for their beauty
and originality. The Redmen, in In,
dian garb, rode bareback along the
line of the parade. or ran from float
to feat, occasionally 'daslIing into the
crowds of spectators to seize, some
struggling "paleface" and carry him
further along the line. Joys, and
"Glooms" chased one another to and
fro, while clowns of 81 varieties tan
COED and ragged and joshed their way
over the course of the parade,
The Elks and Masonic orders gave
some wonderfully effective drills. The
Commercial Travellers had float
significant Of their travelling troubles.
1t represented country hotel bed
room. with sheets too short, beds too
narrow. cracked chairs, at least doz-
en- rubber bugs and spiders bouncing
around on the quilt, while "a drum
mer." appropriately CARRIED for bed,
restlessly paced the floor, unable to
sleep, equally unable to sit down.
The California pioneers entered a
typical prairie schooner, drawn by
slow plodding horses. Just behind
came the pioneers themselves, riding
in high powered motor cars.
Floats significant of a nations prog
ress were shown in various ways too
numerous to mention. Queens in
chariots pleased the eye, music of
every description tjckled the ear "a
myriad color scheme confused the