Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 19, Number 4, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 September 1897 — LABOR’S OWN DAY. [ARTICLE]

LABOR’S OWN DAY.

Workincmen In Many Cities Obnerra Their Annual holiday. Latest born of the anniversary days which in the United States are deemid worthy of special observance, Labor Day this year again proved good its claim to an endearing place in the calendar. Throughout the years of its existence its purpose and its significance have gained favor and appreciation more and more. In Chicago the public participated generously in the celebration. Members of workingmen’s organizations, for whom the occasion is the most momentous of the year, because it reflects their strength and their progress, forsodk the bench and forge and in peaceful mood checked for the day the industrial life of the city. When they gathered along the broad pavement in Michigan avenue to form the parade that was the main event of the day they made a pageant whose like has seldom been witnessed on the cofftinenL Thirty thousand bread winners were in line and thrice that number looked on and applauded. At Toronto the Labor Day procession combined to make the industrial exhibition the greatest success in its history A procession two miles long paraded the streets all morning, and in the afternoon the workingmen went to the show. T 1 * jubilee procession of Victorian era tableaux was witnessed by tens of thousands. The railroad traffic, owing to the great crowds attracted here by the fair, was the heaviest in the history of the railroads. The Labor Day demonstration In Springfield, 111, was the most pretentious for years. The number of workingmen In the procession was about 2,000. It was reviewed by the'Governor and State officials from a decorated stand. The tenth annual celebration of Labor Day in Dubuque was more generally observed than ever before. Addresses were delivered by Mayor Duffy and William E. Burns of Chicago. The feature of Labor Day celebration in St, Louis was an address by W. J. Bryan at Concordia Park. The biggest crowd ever seen in the park greeted the speaker. His speech throughout was enthusiastically applauded. Previous to the meeting' Mr. Bryan reviewed a parade of 15,000 laboring men. Ex-Gov. Altgeld of Illinois delivered an address at Philadelphia, where thousands of persons bad assembled to assist the United Labor League in the celebration of Labor Day. The noted jurist and politifrom the Prairie State was introduced to the large audience by President Ernest Kreft and received a flattering welcome. His speech was listened to with keen interest throughout and frequently provoked outbursts of enthusiastic demonstration.