Ashtabula weekly telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1880-1886, 1880-08-27
TEMPLARISM.

The triennial gala week was ushered
mat Chicago on Sunday, August l5. 1t
was the beginning of the twenty-first
| Triennial Conclave of Knights Templar
| of the United States, and citizens and
sojourning Knights honored it by appro-
| pirate services to the Great Master to
whom the Order is dedicated. There
was divine service at Grace Episcopal
! Church, at which Rev. Sir DIR. Clinton
! Locke, the Grand Prelate of the Grand
Encampment, ofiiciated, and which
was attended by the Knights of the Chi
cago Communicates and such Knights
as had reached Chicago from abroad in
advance of their several Communicates.
After service the day was devoted to
sightseeing, visits to Chicago parks
and to social intercourse.
The drums deep roll and the trum-
| pets warlike blast made Chicago s
| streets resonant on Monday. The red
cross multiplied itself by thousands on
| warehouses, hotels, structures devoted
to commerce and private dwellings
| The city looked like bride decked out
| for her honeymoon. All along the prin-
cipal thoroughfares, and particularly
| along the proposed line of march for the
| procession, Gags and streamers bearing
the well-knOwn devices of the Order
we're thrown to the breeze, the thou
gands 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 ike.
Every minute swelled the multitudes
on all the thoroughfares. 1t seemed as
if the city had become a grand living
lake into which were poured continuous
| streams of men, women and children
Columns of gayly-deCOrated Knights,
| preceded by gorgeous bands, were
| everywhere, and radiated from the
Grand Headquarters like the spOkes of
a 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 mana
! gers promised should eclipse everything
in the line of display ever attempted in
this or any other country. 1t GER
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. II was a grand affair, not
! withstanding, 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
the display. At the beginning they
marched well and the procession kept
/
miles, the constituent parts thereof one
by one dropped out, and only the Chi
cago Communicates, impelled 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 a 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
commanded by En-. Sir Henry Turner,
assisted by nine aids.
The Second Grand Division was COM
manded by Sir Fayette f. Fletcher, as
sisted by eight aids, and embraced sew
enty five communicates.
The Third Grand Division was COM
posed 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
cident to the march.
In the evening a SOiree musicale ct dan
Sdnte was advertised to be given at the
/ EynAoitinfn kVillipnr gtV
BILE of holding $4,000 persons with
crOwding. For this something over
100000 tickets are reported to have
been issued. As consequence there
was 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
| ingress and egress were totally made.
quate, when the two lines met and
strove to pass each other in the COM
paratively narrow passages the con.
sequences were something fearful.
| Women tainted, and several were badly
trampled upon and hurt. This ended
the entertainment of Tuesday.
On Wednesday monster concert
was advertised to be given at the
Jockey Club track, in which several
thousand performers would participate,
but, either because the weather was tno
hot or the musicians indisposed, the
concert did not materialize to any great
extent. There was a little music, and a
competitive dri'l for prizes in which
indianapolis was awarded the first
prize, Louisville the second and Day
ton, Ohio, the third There were
many excursions on the lake in the