Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1886-06-24
MICHIGAN'S JUBILEE.
Celebrating the Fiftieth Anniversary
of Her Admission Into
the Union.
The Splendid Record OF the State Since
Its Birth Entertainingly
Reviewed.

A correspondent at the State capita
furnishes the following account of tn,
semi-centennial exercises held there OF
the 10Th inst:
The boom of q cannon rang heavily
through the city at o'clock a. m. A bat
terry had been stationed in front of the
Capitol, and gun followed gun in rapid
succession until the national salute had
been fired. BY 8 o'clock the city was
packed with a rapidly increasing crowd,
and the streets leading into tile city were
blocked with farmers teams. There were
many prominent men mixed in with the
throng. AT $3.50 the handsomely uniformed
Cassopolis Band marched down the ave-
nue. and swung up toward the Capt.
tol. Ii was followed a few min
utes later by Spross' Knights OF Pythias
Band, and the crowd stampeded
for the Capitol in the wake Of the music.
The Cassopolis Band halted on the front
portico and played selections from the na-
tional melodies, while the chorus of one
hundred and thirty school children filed
down to their position on the steps below.
When Governor Alger stepped out on the
hrst landing as presiding officer of that
section of the three meetings that were to
be conducted simultaneously, the crowd
was solid mass extending from the lower
steps nearly across the entire front of the
Capitol lawn. At the end of the first num-
Der by the children prayer was offered by
the Rev. George Taylor, of Lansing and
the chorus followed with "The Red, White,
and Blue"
When the song had ended the children
retired and their place on the steps was
taken by the members Of the State Pioneer
Society, and Gov. Alger, who remained
with head uncovered despite the broiline
sun, stepped forward and read his welcom
ing address from manuscript. He well
coined the great throng gracefully and con-
graduated it on the present epoch in the
history OF the State. In fifty years the
commonwealth, he said, had grown from
It's infancy into the front rank in the States
OF the Union. Michigan could not be
otnerwise than great with her great men
and women and her grand institutions and
resources. There were now men and
women In our midst TO whose energy
and determination was owed in a
large measure that which was now en-
loyed, and to them was owed debt of
gratitude that could never be repaid. The
Governor spoke with intense feeling and ear
nestness OF the gallant Michigan soldiers
whose blood had stained every battlefield
of the war, and made a scathing allusion to
he recent triumphal TIP of jeff Davis
through the South. There was no place,
nc averred, in this country for the seces-
.,Snsa the nlhsH l1 sfs ~ d The Let
At the conclusion of the address the Hon.
Witter j. Baxter made brief address as
he representative of the Pioneer Society.
The Hon. G. T.. Grosvenor then related in
clear, concise manner the most interest
ng points in the financial history of the
State, which, although only fifty years n
State, is out of debt; has vast resources al
ready developed, and public buildings ade-
luate to the wants of many years to come.
His address was followed by one on the
mineral resources of the State, delivered by
Prof. Chas. ID. Lawton.
The second section of the meeting, held
IN Representative Hall, was presided over
by the Hon. Henry Chamberlain. The hall
was crowded long before the initial number
Of the programme--a selection from "Tro-
rendered by the Twenty third
Infantry Band. Michigan's semi centennial
hymn, written by ID. Bethune Duffield, of
Detroit, and set TO the music of Kellar's
American hymn, was given with superb
effect, followed by Judge Cooley's historical
address, which was made peculiarly inter-
esting by its reminiscent sketches of Michi-
gan men of great prominence.