‘Haywood at Local New York’s Summer Picnic’ from the New York Socialist. Vol. 18 No. 10. June 6, 1908.

HAYWOOD IN TOWN. AN ENJOYABLE TIME FOR ALL.

A Large Ox to Be Roasted–Gymnastic Exhibitions by the Bohemian Red Turners–Music by the Letter Carriers’ Band, the Socialist Band and the Socialist Orchestra.

One of the most eventful days for Socialists and their friends will be next Sunday. when Local New York will hold its annual picnic at Sulzer’s Westchester Park. The picnics of Local New York are at all times pleasant affairs, but this one will be exceptionally good.

The program of the picnic this year will contain many new and entertaining features which will guarantee to all present a very enjoyable afternoon and evening. Comrade Wm. D. Haywood will be the principal speaker and will address the large gathering at 5 p.m. from the band stand. It is expected that a large number of comrades who did not have the opportunity of hearing Comrade Haywood at his former visit to this city will advertise this fact among their friends and shopmates, thus making possible even a larger attendance than we had last year.

The usual concert of the Letter Carriers Band will be given from 3 to 6 p.m., to be followed by the chorus of the various singing societies and gymnastic exhibitions by the Turn Vereins. The Bohemian Red Turners have promised their assistance and will compete with the other Turn Vereins at the gymnastic exhibitions. The Socialist Band will play after 5 p.m. and the Socialist Orchestra will furnish the dance music.

The regular barbecue which has become a feature of the picnics of Local New York will again be in evidence this year. A steer weighing about 1,200 pounds has been secured and no one will have occasion to complain that he cannot get enough to eat. The comrades of Butchers’ Union No. 174 are confident that the barbecue will be ready to be served at 3 pm. and expect to make sufficient sandwiches to satisfy all those who wish to get something which is not “jungle beef.”

Dancing will begin at 4 p.m. and the services of a well trained orchestra has been secured for this purpose. In the evening the park will be illuminated with red fire so that the comrades may enjoy themselves until at a late hour.

The bazaar promises to be a big affair, and will be in working order be- ginning with 2 p.m. The bazaar is expected to net a large amount of money for campaign ammunition. Members and sympathizers of the party are requested to add new presents to the large number of articles already on hand. Articles of all descriptions will be cheerfully accepted. Naturally, the ladies can make themselves very useful for this purpose and are invited to donate some handwork, their specialty, and which can easily be disposed of, and the cash realized will go to swell the campaign. fund of the local, enabling it to effectively fight the cause of the working class. Donations for the bazaar can be delivered at the Organizer’s office, 239 E. Eighty-fourth street, or on Sunday at the picnic grounds, The admission is only 10 cents when tickets are bought in advance and 15 cents when bought at the gate. Tickets may be bought in advance at all party headquarters, and at the office of the “Volkszeitung”, 15 Spruce street.

A new feature of the picnic will be a wine bazaar, for which thru the efforts of Comrade Stifter and Stelzer, more than 300 bottles of select imported wine and liquors were secured free of charge from various dealers. This wine will be distributed in the usual way, and considering the great demand at previous occasions it is expected that the wine booth will add an additional $300 to the surplus of the picnic.

Then there will be bowling and bird spearing and a number of other forms of amusement.

The work of all committees will require a larger force of volunteers than have already been heard from, and it is to be hoped that the comrades will give the necessary assistance. The picnic grounds will be opened at 11 a.m. and all comrades who have volunteered to act on the various committees are urged to be on hand by 10 a.m. to help in the erection and decoration of booths.

Let none of the comrades fall to be present at this great affair and bring his family, friends and sweethearts. There will be amusement galore for both old and young, and it will go for a good cause. For directions how to reach the park read the advertisement in this paper.

The Worker, and its predecessor The People, emerged from the 1899 split in the Socialist Labor Party of America led by Henry Slobodin and Morris Hillquit, who published their own edition of the SLP’s paper in Springfield, Massachusetts. Their ‘The People’ had the same banner, format, and numbering as their rival De Leon’s. The new group emerged as the Social Democratic Party and with a Chicago group of the same name these two Social Democratic Parties would become the Socialist Party of America at a 1901 conference. That same year the paper’s name was changed from The People to The Worker with publishing moved to New York City. The Worker continued as a weekly until December 1908 when it was folded into the socialist daily, The New York Call.

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