Right Down the Line
That's the Way Missoula Went On the Joyous Fourth.
THE GREATEST OF ALL GREAT DAYS
The Occasion Was One of General Rejoicing Throughout the Entire City.
The Fourth of July, 1895, has come and gone. It is the day of all others, dearest to the hearts of the American people, and will remain so as long as the spark of patriotism burns within the breasts of our citizens. It is the anniversary of the most important day in the history of modern civilization for upon it were promulgated principles which have become the guides to liberty for not alone the great American people, but to the struggling masses of both the old and the new world. As such a day it should be celebrated. Missoula has reason to be proud of the manner in which her citizens observed the Fourth. An extensive program has been prepared by the various committees and each and every detail was fully and successfully carried out.
It has been observed that the tendency of recent years has been towards less noise and more in line with social and spectacular amusements for the day. While this city did not lack for noise from early morning till late at night, there was much to be seen and heard that did not depend on burning powder.
The game at the ball grounds in the morning between the Spokesman-Review team of Spokane and the home team was an event of considerable interest to the average Missoula citizen. The attendance was large and the game, though not quite clean of errors and as was expected, proved interesting enough to create much enthusiasm among the spectators. It filled the morning portion of the program in a very satisfactory manner. The crowd was satisfied that they received full value for the admission money they had paid.
The afternoon portion of the program commenced with the parade. This formed at the corner of Higgins avenue and Cedar street promptly at 1 p. m. Mr. Charles E. Beckwith, as marshal of the day, managed the arrangements of the various organizations taking part in it and the line of march in such a manner that everything went along with perfect smoothness. There was no clash or disorder and no unnecessary delay. The police headed the procession, immediately in front of the Garden City band. GOv. Rickards, with a number of prominent Missoula gentlemen, followed in carriages. The Bioda club, an organization of young ladies of Missoula, came next in Mr. E. L. Bonners' four-in-hand rig. The young ladies were dressed in light summer costumes and straw hats, and made a very attractive feature of the procession. The next organization in the line of march was the Mounted Knights. These were arrayed in medieval costumes of bright colors and presented a unique and novel appearance in the procession. Each knight was mounted on horse and bore in his hand a long lance. Next came twenty soldiers on bicycles. These rode their "bikes" and had their new army Jorgessen rifles slung on their backs. The Twenty-fifth infantry band followed up and furnished music for the rear end of the procession.
For an occasion of this kind the Grand Army of the Republic was very poorly represented in numbers, but very much so in point of enthusiasm. W. H. H. Dickinson and John L. Sloane represented the G. A. R., and marched in line. Had it not been for these gentlemen this organization of heroes of the late war would have gone unrepresented. There are quite a large number of G. A. R. men in Missoula and for the honor of the order it is to be regretted that more of them did not get into line.
The fire department and a number of citizens in carriages followed and brought up the rear end. The parade was a success in most respects. The sidewalks on each side of the line of march were lined with people. The town was full of people, many of whom came from the rural districts for many miles around.
At the European hotel the procession disbanded to give the people who wished to take the train to the fair grounds an opportunity of doing so. The wagon road between the city and the grounds was lined with vehicles of all descriptions. Many went out on bicycles and a large number took the train.
The crowd at the fair grounds was the largest that has ever been collected there and contained a very large proportion of ladies. The grand stand was crowded to its full seating capacity and there were many standing around every place where a view of what was going on could be obtained.
The first portion of the afternoon program at the track was the tournament of the knights. These on horseback passed in front of the judges stand and saluted the judges and then turned and saluted the people on the grand stand. They they turned and rode down the track about a quarter of a mile. Four posts, with cross arms reaching over the track, had been set up about fifty yards apart. From each of these cross arms were suspended a wire holding a ring about two inches in diameter. The rules of the tournament required that each knight should ride at full speed and endeavor to catch these rings on the front of his lance. Each one was to have four rides which gave the possibility of his getting sixteen rings. The tournament was a feature of entertainment that was new to ,any of those present and was watched with intense interest.
Mr. Fred Allison, knight of hope, was the first knight to ride. He succeeded in starting his horse in good shape and succeeded in securing one of the rings on the first trial. Andrew Beckwith, knight of Missoula, followed up and scored a blank. Kent Clark, knight of the red cross, followed with a blank. Fred Crain, knight of the Clover club, scored two. Then came dashed at full speed, picked each of the Frank Cronkrite, who as his little pony four rings from the wire on the point of his lance. At this performance the crowd on the grand stand cheered long and loud. As the sport progressed the interest in it grew more intense.
When at its close Thomas Landers was announced as the winner, there was continuous cheering and applause for several minutes. As a whole the performance was a very interesting one and much enjoyed by all. The score was as follows:
Fred Allison, Knight of Hope, 3; Andrew Beckwith, Knight of Missoula, 3; Kent Clark, Knight of the Red Cross, 1; Frank Cronkrite, Knight of the Plains, 9; Fred Crain, Knight of the Clover Club, 9; T. Hatheway, Knight of the Turf, 1; Harry Kelly, Knight of the White Metal, 7; E. Mix, Knight of the Double Eagle, 4; Lieut. Moss, Knight of the Biodas, 3; W. S. Settle, Knight of the Lone Star, 11; J. A. Walker, Knight of Dundee, 6; Thomas Landers, Knight of Oro Fino, 12; Geo. Ogden, Knight of the Round Talbe, was unable to get his horse to make the run.
This gave Mr. Landers the first prize, the privilege of naming and crowning the queen of beauty at the coronation ball in the evening. Mr. Settle took the second prize with eleven, which gave him the privilege of naming the first maid of honor to the queen. In his second run Mr. Settle was entitled to have claimed a second chance as his horse shied at some boys on the fence, but he failed to make the claim to the judges.
Mr. Crain and Mr. Cronkrite were tied for third prize with nine rings each. They were given another run and each tied again with two rings. The next run Mr. Crain won the third prize.
The next event was a boy's bicycle half mile race for a purse of $10 and $5. There were three entries: Wallace Mix, Edward Boos and Thomas Hatheway. A fair start was made from the half mile post. At the three eights post Boos and Mix were even and Hatheway considerably behind. Shortly the front wheel of the bike ridden by Boos buckled and he took an ugly header but, fortunately, was not badly injured. His machine was, however, badly broken. This gave the first money to Wallie Mix and second money to Tom Hatheway. It is probable that there will be another race at some time in the near future to settle which of the two, Mr. Boos or Mr. Mix, is the speediest rider.
The next attraction for the public gathered there was the bicycle drill by twenty soldiers of the Twenty-fifth infantry, commanded by Lieut. Moss. This was an entirely new feature to every one present and proved interesting and instructive. The soldiers carrying the new Jorgessen rifle slung on their backs, went through a number of military evolutions on their wheels with surprising skill and regularity. They turned, rode in line, formed squares and other figures in perfect order, mounted and dismounted in good time at the command of the officer. Although it had been announced that there would be dancing at the pavillion erected for the purpose there was so much interest manifested in the program that very few cared to take advantage of the opportunity offered. At the close of the drill Judge Francis introduced Gov. Rickards to the crowd and he delivered a short and appropriate address. When the governor ceased speaking many of those present went over to the other side of the race track where the second ball game of the day between the Missoula and Spokane teams was in progress. Others remained at the grand stand to witness the bicycle race by the soldiers. The Missoula team was defeated in this game by a score of 16 to 25. It was nearly 7 p. m. before the game was finished.
As a whole the day was a grand success. The managing committee had done their work well and there was no hitch and very little delay. Everyone in the immense throng gathered at the race track was good natured.
In the city everything was orderly and there was very little drunkenness. Although several extra police were appointed for the day there were no arrests made. The amount of fireworks discharged was perhaps less than on some other Fourths but there have been few, if any, that were more interesting or better enjoyed.
In the evening the elite of the city assembled in the K. of P. hall, the event being the coronation ball. About 10 o'clock Gov. Rickards was introduced with a few remarks by our own Colonel "Tom" Marshall in that pleasing manner of which he is past master.
The governor's coronation address was as follows:
We have today celebrated the birth of a republic in which all men are sovereigns and in which all women are -- and by right ought to be -- queens of the realm. We have called up from the past historic monuments, monuments to patriotism that made our nation a possibility, and which dedicated a century of liberty to the civilization of the world.
The freedom that we celebrate grows sweeter as we resurrect from the corridors of antiquity of the populace in which the tree of liberty first took root. To the heroic games of ancient Greece; to the pomp and pegeantry with which amusements were conducted in the long, long ago, we owe much of that chivalry of conduct that characterizes the modern gentleman.
Lovely women never dreamed of a sphere higher than some form of slavery to man until the natural gallantry of the heart took form in the chivalric days of old. In the customs of those times we find the first principles of the republic written in the growing deference and respect for the gentler sex. As the queenly attributes of man's helpmate became more influential in shaping the trend of his ambitions, and the home life was conducted on strictly --
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