Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1877-07-05

Celebration on Ysstsrdsy-A Gen.
eral Suspension Of Business
Throughout the City.
Plcuics and Concerts Ia the Suburbs
Attract Thousands of Visitors.

celebrated by the people of Memphis Oh
yesterday. At six o'clock in the morn
ing Capt. Reudelhuber's artillery squad
fred q national salute, thirty-eight guns,
from the ~teu-pounder Parrot, on the bluff
This aroused even the soundest sleeper
within a radius Of five miles or less. The
SUI poured down its rays with an inten.
sity and power that oVercame swelter-
ing humanity. 1t was VIGOROUSLY the
very hottest day of the season, the
thermometer ranging high among the
nineties. There was hardly a breath Of
air stirring, and the gay bunting hung
listlessly on stats, while hundreds of
flags, both great and small, that adorned
buildings on Main and other streets
failed to move or show any sign of life.
Business was almost suspended, the gov
vernment Offices were closed and courts
adjourned for the day. 1t was a holiday
without fire. crackers or noise. By three
o'clock in the afternoon crowds com
menced vending their way to James
Park, where the St. Peters Church or.
phans' picnic was being held. At four
o clock the Christian Brothers College
band discoursed many national airs. An
orchestra furnished music for the
dancers, who whirled around in the
waltz just as if the thermometer indi
Gated a figure down among the seventies
instead of scoring up to near a hundred
degrees of heat.
At five o'clock Captain Ed Belcher
appeared on the music stand and an.
nounced to the large crowd which sur
rounded him that he had the pleasure
and honor Of introducing the orator o.
the day. America had given birth t.
two great takers. One OF them was nov
in Europe, discoursing to the people o.
England; the other was present, aud he
now introduced him. When he an
nouncsd Colonel Barnsy Hughes as thu
talker referred to, it created considOrabl,
applause, and from all parts of th.
grounds people came aud crowded
around the stand iu order to hear an,
absorb the scraps of wisdom, bits of blu
NOR, scintillations of wit asd quaint say
ings, delivered in a quaint manner
which made everybody laugh, while tn
speaker looked as grave and melanchol
as the noted Sphinx Of Greece. TIL
ancient Sphinx proposed a riddle t
everybody who passed by her dwelling
near Thebes, and killed all who coul
not solve it, but Professor Hughes pre-
posed conundrums worthy of a philost
pher, and those who failed to solve ther
we're not worth killing. He stood for
few seconds and gazed down on the Sc
Of upturned faces, then throwing cut b
left foot and extending his right han,
he spoke as follows in a pleasant an
sonorous tone Of voice:
LADIES, GENTLEMEN AND CHILDREN
Inspiration aud perspiration are insel
arabic from the glorioua Fourth of Jul
or a glass cf beer. This day the natio
rejoices and displays its recognition {
the priceless heritage transmitted b
those heroic ancestors who wrote the
names with a quill pen, those men VIII
dared to defy and died to declare, thos
men who refused ice tea on ccoun {
the tax on ice, which was then more tina
three iourths Of cent per pound. Ws
followed, and after many conflicts, man
sacrifices, the electoral college was estal
lished and voting commenced in tt
First ward.
We have progressed so rapidly an
wisely that many Of the old landmark
which governed the conduct of men i
76 have been wiped away. Limburge
cheese had not then been introduced
pedro was almost unknown, and lagC
beer was an inestimable luxury. Coul
terfeit bills we're never passed in bus
ness or in congress, neither was a goo
poker hand Men told the truth if the
cut an apple tree, but nowadays the
will cut poor relations aud swear the
would have been too glad to r~ecogniz
them. Men told the truth to their swee
hearts, and even TO their wives, but tbs
patent has expired. When they marie
they never answered the many appeal
Of an anxious wife by reminding her
the many saucers Of ice cream she ha
scooped up at his expense They sal
darling and meant it, now they sa
darling and you cant tell whether tn
expression has been used to somebod
else or not. Nicolson pavement, polio
fire and Memphis city scrip wei
at par. Blown aud red maOdamust
were not so often thrust into our lap
George Washington made an exceller
mayor and succeeded in reducing ou
municipal debt to q satisfactory basi
The Appeal and Avalanche would difft
at times about the policy to be pursue,
JUL lucy uou y w ~ huM. LUZ hhDGE
occasionally let loose a ~skyroeket (,
street car fares, but it does not do {
now The board of assessors won
sometimes have trouble, but Andre
Jackson, Thomas Jefferson, Pat Winter
and others would soon settle it. I'll
lunch-eater of 1876 had not the capaciI
Of a mammoth cotton-shed. Soothin
syrup was never administered exceI
when the head Of the family came in at
o'clock 10 the morning, Jsws could
entertained at a hotel just like any on
else. The brogue Of the Irishman an
the dialect of the German could lott,
around without being embraced by
politician Gutta. perch& chickens wei
not palmed off on the unsuspecting
amateur fowls. Butter Of high rank wi