Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1874-07-05
The Formal Opening OF the Great
BrIdgs-The City Thzonged
with sight-seers.
A Procession In Sixteen Divisions The
Bridge ehristsaed BY Mrs.
j. L. Walsh.
Welcome Address by Mayor Brown, and
COngratuIatOry Speeches by the
Governors Of Missouri
Rnd Illinois.
The Night Display Immense, bsS so'
Up to ExpectatIons-Mueh
Enthusiasm, Etc.

ST.. LOUIS, July 4.--The formal open
ing Of the Illinois and st. Louis Dr1dge
was celebrated to-day with great pomp
and with more snowy and fne7 display
than ever before witnessed in this city.
By seven o'clock this morning all tne
main thoroughfares of the CITY Were
crowded with citizens and strangers
vending their way to catch view Of
the procession and examine the elab-
crate decorations along the liue OF
march. The procession was divided
into sixteen divisions and about twelve
miles long, started from Twenty-secOnd
street and Washington avenue at half
past nine O'Clock, and contained in its
ranks nearly ali the military and civic
societies and representatives in wagons
Of afalost every trade, business, and
industry in the city. This latter part OF
the line was without precedent in leBgth
and eIaborateness OF display. The pro-
cession was five solid hours in passing
the speakers stand at the western en-
trance of the bridge, and all Of it passed
over that structure and ccuntermarched
on the opposite side of the river. Hun
dreds Of Thousands 0fpeople thronged the
streets, filed the houses and stores and
crowded the balconies and roofs along
the line of march. The crowd cannot
be estimated in numbers, and no such
throng was ever gathered in the city be-
fore. When the head OF the procession
reached the bridge it halted, and Gen
eral ;. Allen, president OF the bridge
company, from a beautifully decorated
stand introduced Mrs. Julius L. Walsh,
daughter of Charles K Dickson, first
president OF the bridge company, who,
f1Ea q k,.-fsA
by pouring upon it water from the At
lantic and Pacific oceans, lake Michigan
and the gulf of Mexico, sent from BOs-
ton, San Francisco, Chicago and New
| Orleans by the pOstmasters in those cities
for the occasion. While the procession
was in motion train of fourteen Pull
man coaches, drawn by three locomo-
lives, laden with two Thousand prOmi-
neDt gentlemen and ladies from home
and abroad, passed over the bridge
through the entire tunnel, and emerged
near the siUs of the Grand Union depot
in process of OfeOnstructiOn on the line OF
the Atlantic and Pacific railroad. About
one o'clock the invited guests from
abroad, and several hundred leading cit
izens seated on an elevated platform
erected under a huge tent at the west
EAAA VI lAAG DAANS - SeAAACA " OANl- o--A-%
Mayor Brown delivered a brief well
coming address, which was followed by
cOngratulatOry speeches by Governor
Beveridge, of Illinois, and Governor
WOOdson, of Missouri. These were fol-
lowed by addresses by Ex-senator B.
Gratz Brown and Captain Jas. B. Eads,
chief engineer OF the bridge company.
These ceremonies being over, imprOmp-
tu speeches were made by Governor
Hendricks, of Indiana, and United States
Senator Ferry, of Michigan. All Of the
speeches were unusually eloquent, and
referred in glowing terms OF praise to
Captain Eads, his able assistants and all
Of the gentlemen whose energy, perse-
verance and wealth have contributed to-
ward the great enterprise and erowning
triumph. The greatest enthusiasm pre-
vailed, and most hearty cheers were re-
pestedly given in response to the elO-
quent remarks of the speakers. AmoUg
0thei distinguished persons present were
Maior Generals Hancock and Pope,
General Grierson, General Carr, and a
number of congressman from Missouri
and Illinois.
THE NIGHT DISPLAY.
TIE pyrotechnic display on the bridge