People's Pilot, Volume 3, Number 17, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 October 1893 — GLORY OF CHICAGO. [ARTICLE]

GLORY OF CHICAGO.

The World’s Fair City Celebrates the Anniversary of the Big Fire. Aided by Hundred* of Other Municipalities —A Mighty Host of 713,646 Person* Visit Jackson Park—Magnificent Pageant*. ’mid gorgeous scenes. Chicago, Oct. 11. —It was an ideal day for the observance of Chicago day at the world's fair grounds. From morning until night not a cloud appeared in the sky. The White City never was more beautiful, standing out in such delightful contrast against the blue of the sky, with the blue lake for its foreground, covered with streamers, steam yachts and sail vessels, each one of them black with its living freight. To the aspect of beauty which it always wears, be the weather what it may, was added a holiday aspect of gayety from the profusion of flags and banners which everywhere fluttered in the breeze. The Dark Side. A large number of disasters occurred during the day. Four men were killed and a score or more of persons were injured. The Crowd. It wm apparent at an early hour in the morning that the crowd would be the biggest ever seen on the grounds. Before 9 o'clock the Art gallery thoroughfare was packed from Stony Island avenue to the lake shore. The Midway Plaisance was black with thousands of artisans and working peopl» out for a day’s pleasuring. The Illinois building was the nucleus of another immense crowd. The Court of Honor and the Terminal plaza were filled with a sea of humanity, so densely packed that it was difficult to move about The interiors of the buildings were as crowded as the grounds, and the fact that immense numbers of working people were in attendance was emphasized by the way in which the Manufactures building and Machinery hall were crowded. A -Marvelous Record. By 10 o'clock in the forenoon it was apparent that the Fourth of July record had been broken, and by noon it was estimated that there w ere between 300,000 and 400,000 persons within the gates, and still the rush continued at the turnstiles. Every train was crowded. Hour after hour the continuous tide of humanity poured in. The expected half-million mark was reached and passed. The count of tickets was not completed until 1:45 this morning. It was then announced that the paid admissions numbered 713,646. This included 682.587 adults and 31,059 children. Add to this number a total of 37,380 admissions on passes, and the grand total of the attendance on Chicago day reached 751,026 The concessionaires’ record of admissions was a queer one in that some of the places on Midway did a phenomenal business while others had no more patronage than Saturday. The Ferris wheel led in the matter of attendance, having the enormous total of 40,000 people for the day, 15,000 more than were ever carried before. In the afternoon the wheel was carrying over 4,000 an hour. It ran over sixteen hours Monday. Hagenback’s menagerie reports over 25,000 admissions for the day; the Moorish palace over 20,000, and other places of amusement reported big crowds. The Transportation Companies. The Illinois Central railroad broke all records for handling passenger Trains were run one minute apart, and an average of 20,000 persons an hour were sent out from the 'Van Buren street station on the two tracks in use. For a part of the time they were handled at the rate of 1,000 perminute. The Chicago City Railway company, that is the south side cable, with its cross-town electric lines onThirty-flfth, Forty-seventh, Sixty-first and Sixtythird streets and its horse car lines, handled 700,000 passengers, according to the president of the company, Mr. Wheeler. The officials of the alley “L” road were swamped. The service was inadquate to meet the demand made upon it Literally no estimate has been made of the crowd handled by the “L” road. It is estimated that the lake steamers carried 140,000 passengers during the day. The Exercise*. Chicago, Oct 11. —The exercises of Chicago day at Jackson park began on the plaza west of the Administration building at 9 a. m. when Mayor Harrison was presented with the original deed to Chicago by Miss Emma Sickles. The deed was given to the government sixty years ago by the Pottawattamie tribe. It had been preserved all these years in the family of Pokagon, who was chief of the Pottawactomies, and who signed the deed. Simon Pokagon, his son, was on the grounds all day, and at 9a. m. rang the new liberty bell in honoz of the first owners of Chicago. A Great Event in Music. At 11:30 o’clock the men and women of the choir of 800 voices were ready for the first motion of Director Tomlins' baton. The band played the ‘‘Star Spangled Banner.” The first bars were drowned in mighty cheers. Director Tomlins flourished his baton and in a wave the music swept over the plaza. The patriotism of the mutitude boiled, and cheer after cheer arose when the last strains of the national anthem died away. Next the choir sung the “Marseillaise” and the barred banner of France snapped proudly from places of honor on the four sides of the court And the hymn of French liberty received its share of plaudits from an American throng. When the chorus sung “Die Wacht am Rhine” it was a hearty recognition the sons of the fatherland gave it. But all through the category of national anthems there was no song which seemed to evidence its hold on the affections of the people liki “Hom Sweet Homo ' They

stood silent while the song was being sung. The incessant hum of the thousands seemed, to subside, but when it was over there was a moment of quiet then the mighty cheer. When “America” was sung hats went flying into the air and over the heads of the multitude handkerchiefs fluttered. “John Brown’s Body” and “Marching Through Georgia” ended the programme. Exercl*M. About the Bell. At noon the crowd faced about All ‘ eyes turned to the liberty bell on the { opposite.side of the plaza. The people | only turned about in their places and ■ eould not move backward or forward. The new “international rope” for the bell had been attached to the ponderous clapper. The basis of the rope is a rawhide made in Chicago, and about it was a strip of flax woven by Queen Victoria, a rope made of the hair of forty Indian maidens of forty different American tribes and ropes contributed by sixty foreign nations. Chairman McDowell, of the Liberty Bell association, told the people something of the bell and its composition of historical relics. Then Mayor Harrison spoke a few words, and seizing the now historical rope gave a pull and the new bell pealed out thirteen times in honor of the original states of the union. School Children In Line.* When 1,500 school children appeared in the Court of Honor early in the afternoon the crowd made way without protest Chattering with the volubility of magpies, giving vent to shrill cries, laughing, talking and cheering, the little people pattered along as though they were following some pied piper. Their I procession represented the reunion of ' the states. Sixteen heralds, stalwart youths in the fancy dress of the medie- ! val age, came first Following marched 100 lads of the diocesan choir, led by Director F. A. Dunster, singing a processional. Thirty-four boys representing the thirty-four wards of Chicago followed, and then came the Ninth Presbyterian cadets in their natty sailor uniforms. With little Rhode Island in the lead, the original thirteen states ' were next in line, each personated by a pretty girl dressed in white, with i broad sashes of ribbon floating 1 from their shoulders. Their body | guard was a company of miniature continental soldiers, uniformed in , all the bravery of buff and blue and three-cornered hats with smart cock- ! ades. The main body of boys and girls ' followed. They were all Chicago public school children. Each state was known ' by the standard carried by a boy. The standard had the state shield on it, • with its motto and date of entry. Back of them marched six girls shoulder to ' shoulder, with shields on which were 1 the names of the principal cities of the state. Then came boys and girls ; representing the counties, the first row carrying corn, wheat, flowers, sugar cane, fruit, tobacco, cotton plants and something to designate the chief products of the state. Parade at Night. Down through a lane built up with people on either hand the night pageant wound its way around the. grounds. In the midst of the illumina- : tion of the Court of Honor a fan- 1 fare of trumpets, the reflection of calcium lights on the Transporta- I tion building and distant cheering told of the coming of the parade, j The plumes of the hussars marked either side of the avenue cutin the multitude. The troop of cavalry came on, 1 and close on the heels of the horses a ' cordon of police, followed by a band, j Then came the first of the floats which i were to depict the history and the growth and development of i Chicago. It was that of “The Genius of Music,” a chorus of fifty young women, led by Prof. Katzenberger. Then came the float which was to . typify Chicago. The coat of arms of the nation and the state were placed on the front of the wagon, over which hovered an eagle with wings outstretched. A large globe sur- [ mounted the whole, on the pe- ! destal of which were the grouped ' stands of the colors of the nation. A | series of panels bore the dates of the great events in the history of the ' city. On the pedestal in front and at I either hand of the figure “Chicago” stood the figures of love and liberty. “Chicago” was in an attitude of assent and gave the title of “I Will” to the float Outriders and gaily caparisoned horses and pages in Grecian costumes led the way. It was several minutes before the next float, “Chicago in 1812,” came . along with its representation of the bloody massacre. “Chicago in War,” with the figures of Abraham Lincoln, Stephen A. Douglas, Richard Yates, Grant Logan and Sheridan, was followed by “Chicago in Peace” and “Chicago Prostrate,” representing the city after the deluge of fire. An old-time fire engine of 1861, manned by a volunteer crew, brought up the rear of the first section of the parade. After this followed a large number of floats presented by societies of foreigners residing in the city. All were magnificent productions. Th* Firework*. The display of fireworks was perhaps the most magnificent ever witnessed. In addition to thousands of bombs and rockets fired from the lake shore in front of the Manufactures building there were cascades of fire in the grand basin, and a gorgeous representation of Niagara Falls from the Peristyle. Out in the lake a few hundred yards from the shore skirting Manufactures building were fired magnificent set pieces representing the “Burning of Chicago.” The crackling" lines of fire traced Chicago before the fire, with ships in the river, a bridge and Mrs. O’Leary’s cow. The crowd applauded in one mighty shout and then the cow kicked over the lamp. Flames burst from the buildings, explosions shattered the bridges and vessels and the Chicago fire burned itself out before several hundred thousand satisfied spectators. “Old Fort Dearborn,” the portrait of William B. Ogden, Chicago’s first mayor, and “Chicago Welcoming' the World" were subjects of other set pieces.