St. Paul daily globe., 1884-07-24
A GLORIOUS DAY.
For Both Minneapolis and
the Grand Army of
the Republic.
The Grand. Parade in Column
Probably Over Five
Miles Long.
Immense Crowds of People Filling
the Streets Along the Line
of March.
One Hundred Thousand Persons Witness
ing Camp Beath Festivities
Last Evening.
ID D-.;,o-e HVaa&;na, fba EIa1nhaau
G. A. r. Business Meeting, the Flambeau
Corps PyrOtechnic Display Notes
of the Day, Etc

II is no eXaggeraIlOn 10 say tnaI SesIeiuay
was the grandest, the proudest day in the
history of the north star state 1t was further
more. day when Minneapolis showed to the
best possible advantage. The city was vast
panorama The decorations which COM
prised weeks labor by thousands of willing
and seemingly tirelcss hands, were com
plete Verify, it was blaze OF glory. 1t was
tie day of the encampment, the day OF the
week, and perhaps tie day in the history of
our hospitable and generous city.
1t was the occasion of the grand parade.
The streets were choked with people who had
congregated here, in addition to the mem
bers of the Grand Army, from every state,
every city, every township, ever corner in
this Union, to witness the pageantry. The
man who had business which called him to a
given point, and that point happened to be
in the heart of the city, was, indeed, luckless
if his time was valuable. There was really
only one way in which he could circumlo-
cute, and that was to take the middle of the
streets, which were kept open by dint OF
crowding horses into the very faces OF anX-
ious pedestrians.
September on the occasion of the Willard re-
ception we're prodigious but as compared to
the vast multitude of humanity which
crowded into our streets yesterday that con-
gregation of people was like the mist unto
hc rain. Where SO many souls came from
)r how they could be entertained in Mime
Ipolis is almost mystery. But they came
aud they found ample hospitality. The gen
erous hospitality of our citizens is almost in
comparable, and it was taxed to its utmost.
AS early as O'Clock in the morning the
streets were crowded, and by O'clock the
hour designated in the programme for the
starting of the grand parade, the crowd was
immeasurably great. All who could get car
riages availed themselves of that pleasure,
but the supply was not equal to the demand,
as matter of course. Every livery stable
was stormed by anxious patrons, and every
sort of conveyance for hire in the city was
out.
The sun shone hot and the mass Of hui
manity sweltered beneath its relentless and
unsufferable rays. That there were no cases
of sun stroke reported is u matter of sur
prise.
The country which surrounds the city had
also turned out en- masse, and their teams
aided in packing the streets with vehicles
''loaded to the guards" with humanity.
All along the line of march, which had
been mapped out in yesterdays GLOBE,
every window in each building was filed
with heads, and every house top was covered.
The people who were thus stationed mum
bered thousands, and thousands more were
in carriages, besides the incalculable number
of pedestrians.
Every one Of the thousands were in tht
best of spirits and when any one was
crowded or jamed by the crowds he was dis
posed to take it philosophically and no
grumble.
Business was entirely suspended, save the
prosecution of the sale of the beverages. Ii
this latter branch of trade hundreds of dol
lars-yes thousauds--were expended by the
thirsty people, who were driven from be
meath the cruel range of the sun to coo
niche. Every place of this character wa
lensely packed all day
The procession was advertised or com
manded to start at nine o'clock, but it wa
nearly midday before it was well under way
and for over two hours the swetting multi
tude waited and suffered as they waited.
On occasions ofthis kind, delays and exas
perating delays they generally are, seem t
be absolutely unavoidable.