Connecticut western news., 1879-10-08
This is the way the Bridgeport Leader

This is the way the Bridgeport Leader enthuses over Merritt's reception:
 The great time is now over, and Bridgeport has settled back to it's normal condition. Sam Merritt has arrived home safely, his packer has returned to his beloved Brooklyn, and our staid and quiet citizens breathe easier It was big thing this second best business, and the gate money, and Judge Lockwood's speech and the four horses and the jam and motley assemblage ofthe boys, not to mention the general absence of the signers of the in- vigorating message. Bridgeport never saw the like before, and may she never see the like again. But it is all s.s>.s.....la we ait smile at this little foolish episode in the history of the place.
 On Wednesday morning delegation of the boys accompanied by the Howe Band, went to New York on the steamer Rosedale to es- cort the great second best to this city. Now this honor was not secured except through a httle fnanciering. Dan. Lucy, the great ex- eursion manager saw in the escorting business golden harvest to close up an otherwise un- profitable season. and he too was on hand with the steamer Grand Republic, ready and more than willing, as he was ready to pay a liberal sum if the great pedestrians and their friends would postpone the trip to the next day, so that he could advertise them and crowd the big steamer with all escorte from the puriues of the North river, the East river. Five Points aud other interesting quarters of the great metropolis. But the sum which Dan. would pay was no particular object. It would not accommodate the admirers of Sam They would be at work in the shops and fac tories and could not afford to lose their time, even to enthuse over the "Greatest American Walker" the world ever produced. And Dan with his Grand Republic and his excur- sion had to take back seat.
 When the delegation arrived at New York they formed into line, and with the band play ingtPinafore and other rare melodies, marched to4 the hotel where Sam was stopplng and found Sam and John Scannell in waiting for them ready to be escorted The president of the delegation. we are informed, bore in his hand a paper bearing the imprint of the great seal of the city of Bridgeport and it author iZed and empowered the bearer and his col. leagues to escort "lhe Great American Eagle to his home If this be so, it would have been more appropriate that the paper had borne the imprint of the seal of the "Southern Connecticut Poultry Assoclation," copy of which could have been secured as readily as that of the city. When this document was read and it's purport understood, Mir Scannell said they were ready to be escorted, and at 2 p. m. the band and the delegation escorted Mir. Seannell and Merritt and two other friends ill close carriage to the boat, amid the cheers ot brawny blacksmiths and gentle men with silk hats, who handled each other roughly to shake the Great American Eagles hand. An eagle with hand is something new in natural history, but we would not spoil the poetcal beauty of the expression for the sake of technical correctness
 The bard and delegation and the carriage reached the pier safely, and it's precious load was deposited on the deck of the Rosedale At six o'clock the crowd began to gather at the steamboat dock, and as the whistles and gongs blew tine hour of closing our great fac. tories, their countless hundreds hastened to the wharf to see the great show, and soon the docks and streets were jammed with a dense mass of struggling humanity waiting the ar- rival of the steamer. She came. The Great American Eagle, his packer and trainers, the orator Of the occasion were rushed into hacks and escorted by surging mass of boys were driven. up Fairfield avenue to Main street, to State, to Broad street, to St. Johns hall. where the interesting services were held
 Ex-Councilman Shannon presided and in- troduced Judge Lockwood as the orator of the evening, who was equal to the emergency He said Bridgeport could get up more walk. ing matches and furnish more murder trials than any other city in the United States The Judge didn't explain whether the two natural ly went together, but we presume that the two were connected in hls own mind, and be- ing criminal lawyer, he joined the "boom" with an eye to business. The Judge how ever made humorous speech, and said he was not ashamed to stand before such an audience, and in the face of critics to welcome the Great American Eagle.
 Merritt and John Ennis made a few re- marks, when great Scannell said he was will l.x,c k~s, ~l, C. EnnA --..L in the world in square heel and toe walk, or $10, 900 in a go-as-you-please match, which would be safe speculation with $7O, 600 gate receipts to be divided and back it. Other speeches were made by outsiders, and the "boom" was over. Merritt was taken home, and things settled rapidly to their nat nral level. 4