Louisiana capitolian. (Baton Rouge, La.) 1879-1881, 1881-02-24
NO 8

! ~AhesiAS ~ PPCUA VA ollNCl Auo SOAus 1Su
quets of camelias and laurel added Il
the beauty of the ''masheen." The com
pany is the light guard Of the brigade
for at the sound ofthe bell, at lightning
pace No. 2 comes to the rescue. A finel
or more reliable body of tiremen cannot
be found anywhere than these down
town darlings of the ladies, who, had il
not been for "Dandy Bill'' who drew
much Of their attention, would have
played the mischief with the dangerous
glances which they directed right at the
boys, just as if they'd never seen any
firemen before. "Dandy Bill' beauti.
full snowy white pony, stylishly attired
in fancy harness, on the saddle of which
was silver bell, pranced around with.
in the ropes to show his curled name
and tail to best advantage. The fol.
lowing are the present officers: NJ. Gran
AIRY, President; A. F. Bareyre, Vice
President l.. D. Beale, Foreman; l..
Kretz, First Assistant; f. Gibbons,
Second Assistant /; H. G. Gimler, Secre-
tary; G. W. Burgess, Financial Sec'y
Philip Bott, Treasurer; A. E. Finck,
Steward.
In honor ofthe day, many of the stores
were closed and flags, displayed nota-
bly, over the Sumter, where the German
and American ensigns faced the tri-color
ofFrance, at Vice Consul Machet's. The
French society had::their flags floating
in the breeze, as also, Messrs. Andrew
Jackson, John O'Connor, Hearsey,
Ramos and others. a.,
The bright uniforms of the men and
the machines fairly glistening in the
sunlight, the banners of the companies,
the well dressed and mounted Marshals
with their broad and snowy scarfs and
batons, all combined to make the pa
rade one of the prettiest that Baton
Rouge has ever seen.
During the march of the fire brigade,
the sidewalks and balconies were lined
with throngs of people of all sexes and
ages, whose ceuntenapces bespoke the
pleasure and the pride which they felt
upon seeing
THAT BODY OF RESOLUTE AND SELF.
SACRIFICING MEN.
Fearing bad weather the managers
had selected a short route, which soon
brought the paraders back to the Bou-
levard, where stand had been erected
for the orator of the day,
COL. X. A. CROSS.
who, in presence Of fully fifteen hundred
ladies and men delivered a most e}o-
quent and able address, which needs no
other commentator at our hands than
its reproduction, the perusal Of which
will doubtless cause great pleasure to
those who were not SO fortunate as to
be present. ......
After his introduction to the vast au-
dience, Col. Cross said:
Fellow Citizens, Ladies aRd Gentlemen,
and Honorable Members Of the Fire COM
panies Of Baton Rouge:-I take it, that
the selection Of the day you celebrate,
indicates an incidental intention, to
commemorate the great services of the
Father of his Country, and to pay hon.
age to name, which has been lifted by
the suffrage of mankind above any king
ly name in history. But there is fit
ness in the selection of this day by the
Fire Department, which you may not
have considered.
When he was at the summit of his
renown, Washington on one occasion
run with the machine, and distinguish
ed himselfin the ranks of the Fire Bri-
gade, as he had distinguished himself
among the heroes of great revolution.
He was in Alexandria one day when the
fire bells rang, and he showed himself
first in zeal and activity, as he was first
in war, first in peace, and first in the |
hearts of his countrymen.
But it is not so directly my purpose to-
day, to refer to the services of Washing
ton in extinguishing a fire, as to hold
up to your attention, his effective aid in |
lighting confagatiOn, which will new
er die out, while there is human wrong
to be redressed Or popular right to be |
vindicated.
Thomas Jefferson held the pen, which |
enunciated, and George Washington held |
the sword which defended, that central !
principle of democratic government,
that all men are created free and equal. |
We all know full well, that this grand
and startling declaration has been stig-
as a ''glittering generality" !
l affirm, that it is a sublime and practi- /
cal truth, and that this adverse criti- /
cism proceeds Oh meagre construction
and an inadequate conception of it's es-
sential meaning. If it were intended to .
imply that all men are equal in
mental development, equal in stat
ure or equal in avoirdupois, it would .
be nothing more than Il glittering
But it has All interior
it doe, mean that in the
scheme of Il benevolent Providence, in .
the distribution of maternal bpnefantionS