American citizen., 1880-08-28
TEMPLARISM.
The Trienrlal Gala Week mt Chicago
Crowds, Music, ProcessI0ns and Decora-
tiOns.

The TrienrIal Gala Week Mt Chicago
Crowds, Music, ProcessIons and Decora
| tiOns.
The triennial gala week was ushere,
in at Chicago on Sunday. August Is.
was the beginning of the twenty-frs
Triennial Conclave of Knights Templa
of the United States, and citizens an,
sojourning Knights honored it by appro
pirate services to the Great Master t,
whom the Order is dedicated. Their,
was divine service at Grace Episcopa
Church, at which Rev. Sir DIR. Clinton
Locke, the Grand Prelate of the Crane
Encampment, officiated, and which
was attended by the Knights of the Chi
cago Communicates and such Knights
as had reached Chicago from abroad il
advance of their several communicates
After service the day was devoted tt
sightseeing. visits to Chicago parks
and to social Intercourse.
The drums deep roll and the trum
pets warhke blast made Chicago's
| streets resonant on Monday. The red
cross multiplied itself by thousands or
warehouses. hotels. structures devoted
to commerce and private dwellings,
The city looked like bride decked Out
for her honey moon. All along the prin.
cipal thoroughfares, and particularly
along the proposed line of march for the
procession, flags and streamers bearing
| the well-known devices of the Order
were thrown to the breeze, the thou
sands of camps upon the Lake front
were pitched, and veritable can
vass city arose as if by magic. The
day was further devoted to sight-see-
ing and the reception of guests, and
the evening to visits to the theaters,
moonlight excursions, musical and gas
tronomic receptions and the like.
Every minute swelled the multitudes
on all the thoroughfares. 1t seemed as
if the city had become grand living
lake into which were poured continuous
streams of men, women and children.
Columns of gayly-decorated Knights,
everywhere, and radiated from the
Grand Headquarters like the spokes OF
wheel as they were escorted to their
resting places by detachments from
local organizations.
Tuesday was the day appointed for
the grand procession, which the mama
gers promised should eclipse everything
in the line of display ever attempted in
tainly was prodigious affair, and
if it did not equal the expec-
tations of its projectors, conso-
lation may be sought in the fact that
the ''best laid plans of mice and men
aft gang aglee," and that while the man.
agement of a large body of men on pa
per is easy enough, it is altogether diff
ferent when reduced to practice on a
crowded thoroughfare. The procession
was delayed in the starting, and delay.
ed by the failure of some of its COM
pCnent parts to connect at the proper
time, and further delayed by the gen.
eral stupidity and mismanagement of
the Triennial Committee who had
charge of it. 1t was a grand affair, not
outstanding, and was witnessed by
fully quarter of a million of people
who thronged the side walks and filled
the doorways and windows along the
route traversed, and even climbed tele-
graph and lamp-posts and seized every
coign of vantage whence the display
could be witnessed. The number of
Knights in Chicago was estimated to be
about 10000, and of these probably
not more than 10000 participated in
marched well and the procession kept
miles, the constituent parts thereof one
cagO Communicates, impefled thereto
by local pride, traversed the entire
route as originally laid out and pub
lished. The line of march covered
about seven miles, and the procession,
in consequence of the numerous neces-
sary and unnecessary delays, was near
ly four hours in passing given point.
The procession was composed of three
Grand Divisions, the First comprising
the first to the sixth divisions, the Sec
ond comprising the seventh to the
twelfth divisions, and the Third made
up of the thirteenth to the twentieth
divisions.
The First Grand Division comprised
eighty-four communicates, and was
by En-. Sir Henry Turner,
assisted by nine aids.
The Second Grand Division was COM
by Sir Fayette +. Fletcher, as
sisted by eight aids, and embraced sew
enty five Communicates.
The Third Grand Division was COM
p osed of ninety eight Communicates,
and was commanded by Sir Benjamin
F. Haller, assisted by eight aids. These
were followed by the Grand Encamp-
ments and distinguished Sir Knights in
carriages.
The procession over, the remainder
of the afternoon was devoted to the
task of recovery from the fatigue in
cidcnt to the march.
In the evening soiree musicale ct dam
sante was advertised to be given at the
buildings structure capa-
BILE of holding $4,000 persons with
For this something over
200, 600 tickets are reported to have
been issued. AS a consequence there
was a prodigious crush. very little
music and scarcely any attempt at dane
ing. The outs were consumed by an
insane desire to get in and the ins to
get out; and as the arrangements for
ngress and egress were totally made
4uate, when the two lines met and
strove to pass each other in the COM
narrow passages the con-
sequences were something fearful.
w omen tainted, and several were badly |
trampled upon and hurt. This ended |
he entertainment of Tuesday.
On Wednesday q monster concert |
vas advertised to be given at the |
Jockey Club track, in which several
performers would participate.
Dut, either because the weather was too
not or the musicians indisposed, the
concert did not materialize to any great
extent. There was little music, and
drill for prizes in which
Indianapolis was awarded the first
Irize, Louisville the second and Day
on, Ohio, the third. There were
many excursions on the lake in the
all the steamers in the
larbor not otherwise engaged being
pressed into service. In the evening
he Sir Knights literally patronized the
heaters and special concerts in McCor-