Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1883-11-27
EVACUATION DAYS POMP
ALL MANHATTAN UNITES IN THE
CELEBRATION.


which fell nearly all day. At sunrise the
forts and ships fired a salute of twenty
one guns, followed in half an hour with a
successful effort by all the steam whistles
in the bay and on the rivers to make the
most disagreeable noise imaginable, thus
emphasizing the wonderful difference be-
tween the navigation of 17S3 and 1888.
! The decorations on land and water
! were elaborate, though much be-
| draggled. The stars and stripes
predominated, but the flags of nearly all
the nations of the earth were to be seen at
intervals. Places of business were
closed and the entire populations of Man
haitian and Long Islands gave themselves
| up TO the enjoyment of the patriotic Oc-
caslOn Points of historic interest were
surrounded by crowds anxious to recall
the scenes of the day when the British
! withdrew from the American shores, and
independence was really made secure.
President Arthur and Governor Cleveland
and staff had their headquarters at the
Fifth Avenue Hotel. Other dignitaries
! from other States were also present. In
cluded among these were the Governors
of the original thirteen States. The dis
| play of the military was fine.
only the more courageous of the men
and women retained their places on the
| reviewing stands, and those who did re-
main stood upon seats, protecting them
| selves as well as they could from the rain
| by umbrellas. People on roofs, whence
they hoped to obtain good views of the
| parade as we'll on the sea and shore,
| quickly sought the shelter Of chimneys- or
! went below. The streets, however, con-
| tlnued crowded. Broadway was a sea of
| umbrellas. The bunting clung to the flag
statfs and walls of the houses, aud its
brightness of the morning had departed.
| The fog on the bay and rivers deprived
the flotilla of steam vessels of much of
! It's expected glory. 1t was novel parade
! to New York and it attracted great deal
of observation. The programme laid
| down for 1T by Admiral
John II. Starin was strictly adhered to.
| The boats, to the number of several hun
! dred, rendeZvoused in the bay, formed in
| divisions and steamed into the North
river and along the New Jersey shore till
| opposite SiXty-tifth street, New York,
then returning down the New York side
of the river, around the battery. and into
East river, steaming there as far as the
| navy yard, then returning along by the
| Brooklyn shore to the starting point at
Bay Ridge. AS the boat bearing the Ad-
miral of the fleet passed the Tennessee,
! the flagship of Admiral Cooper, several
ships of the United States fired a salute
and made other demonstrations
customary upon such occasions. At
noon every steam whistle in the city be-
gan salute, which was unbrOken for five
minutes, during which time it was to last.
Every where along the line of march of
the city procession the crowds were so
dense that progress in any direction was
almost an impOssibilitY. The police, of
whom there was large force on hand,
could do but little in keeping the throngs
of people in order and preserving the line
of the route clear. About Q O'Clock Pres
ident Arthur, accompanied by eX-Presi-
dent Grant and Gen. Narnum, left the
Fifth Avenue Hotel for the point
where the head of the column
was being formed. There they
took their places in line. 1t was nearly
10 O'Clock before the line was put IN
motion, and then the police had great
| difficulty in clearing paSSage-way. The
head of the column reached the Battery
at - 80 O'Clock. When President Arthur
reached the Battery stand he, with the
| Governors OF the States, reviewed the
procession. Later he was driven off 10
review the river parade of steamboats,,
after which he went to the sub-Treasury
to witness the unveiling of WashingtOn's
statue. The statue was placed on it's
| pedestal on the steps of the sub-Treasury
! building this morning, and concealed
from view by a drapery of flags. George
w. Lane, President of the Chamber of
| Commerce, was Master of Ceremonies
| here. After prayer by Rev. DR.. StOrrs,
Royal Phelps, on behalf of the Statue
! Committee of the Chamber of Commerce,
| presented his report. Gov. Cleveland un-
! yelled the statue. President Lane then
| rendered through President Arthur the
| custody of the statue to the United States.
| President Arthur's speech was brief and
/ Hrn1 fn Al Al
| statue. The Chairman then introduced
| George William Curtis as the orator of
| the day.
The following extracts are from the adj
! dress of George William Curtis at the un-
yelling of the statue of Washington, deliv-
! cred on the spot where he took the oath
as first President of the United States:
The great series of revolutionary centennial
| celebrations ends fifty upon this day and upon
| this spot. The mOmentOus events that mark
| ed the opening, the elimination. and the close
| Of the conflict, have been duly commemorate
| ed, and for eight years the full-stretched
| memory of the country, harp of a thousand
! strings swept by patriotic emotion, has re-
sounded with the heroic music of the revolu
! tonary story. To-day the revolutionary story
| ends At this hour. a hundred wears
ago, the last British sentry was with
| drawn. The imperial standard of Great
| Britain fell at the fort over which it
! had tlOated for hundred and twenty years,
| and in its place the stars ana stripes OF Ameri-
| can independence flashed in the sun Fleet
| and army, royal flag and scarlet uniform,
! coronet, and ribbon, every sign and symbol
| of foreign authority, which from Concord to
| Saratoga and from Saratoga tO3Y OrktOwn,
! had sought to subdue the colonies, vanished
| from these shores. Colonial and provincial
America had ended; national America had
| begun; and after the lapse of hundred years
the cradle song of the hope and promise of
our national nativity is still the p9an of our
mature power and assured prosperity; glory
to God in the highest, peace on earth, good
will to man!
With that manly humility and modest sim
pllclty which always invested his greatness,
ike the rosy hue that suffuses the awful sum-
NIT of Mont Blanc, Washington writes in his
diary on the 18th of April. 1889: About 10
O'Clock | bade adieu to Mount Vernon. to pri-
vate life, and to domestic felicity, and with a
mind oppressed with more anxious and pain
| full sensations than have words to express,
set out for New York, with the best disposition
to render service to my country in obedience
TO its call. but with less hope Of answering its
expectation" From State to State from town
to town, along that triumphal way from
Mount Vernon, the air murmured with bene-
dlctlOns as he passed. Under laureled arches
and walking upon flowers, amid the music of
bells, the thunder of cannon, the acclamations
of the people, the singing of hymns, and the
eloquence of vOtive addresses, Washington
came at last to New York, and landed at the
loot OF TINS street, amid such joyous eXulta-
tiOn as New York had never known. After a
week had passed, the great object of his com
ing was to be accomplished, and tine Both
of April, l7S9 the procession attending the
President moved from his house on Franklin
Square, through Pearl street to Broad and
through Broad street to the spot upon which
we are now assembled.
Here jefferson was selected by Congress as
Minister to France, and here Secretary jaw.
with the same equable mind and clear com
prehenson and unbending integrity that
afterwards illustrated the first exercise of
Judicial power of the Union, directed the for
elgn affairs of the Confederation. Here, also
when the confederation disappeared, the first
Congress Of the Union assembled Indeed
we are enyeloped by inspiring memories and
klndllng local associations. 1Onder. almost
ancient and famous inn where the Com
mander-in- Chief tenderly parted with his
officers, and there, over the way, where once
a modest mansion stood, the "Federalistr was
chiefly written. The very arr about this hal
lowed spot is the air of American patriotism.
The hope of success lay apparently in one
ever been. and upon the successful issue of the
trust to which he was here sOlemnly devoted
What scene in human history transcends the
grandeur and significance of that consecra-
tiony Gazing upon this sculptured form, and
remembering that this was the very hour and
this the place of the sublime event; that here
under the benignant arch of heaven, Wash
ingtOn appeared to take the oath of his. great
Othce-the air is hushed, even the ioyous tn
multi of this glad day is stiled. the familiar
scene fades from before our eyes, and our
awed hearts whisper within us: Put off thy
shoes from off thy feet, for tine place on which
thou standest is holy ground"
The streets. the windows, the roofs were
thrOnged with people, and, drowning nv fee
BILE voice, surely you can hear the vast and