The Portland daily press., 1891-12-15
THE GRAND ARMY FAIR.
Brilliantly Opened at City Hall Last
EVafing.
ADDRESS BY MAJOR W. HI. GREEN
AND POEM BIZ E. C. SWETT.

Be Voted For--Dresscd Dolls that VIII
Excite the Girls Envy ParIor Stoves
and Guess CalScs Every One VIII Want
Tho Military Drill and Individual
Drill.
The Grand Army fair opened at City
hall last evening most brilliantly. No
other result could have been expected
when three hundred women-the same
number rs the famous Spartan band that
defended Thermopylae-whoh had by their
energy secured the Soldiers Monument to
Portland, put their shoulders to the wheel
in behalf Of the suffering comrades of
Bosworth Pest. Over she grand staircase
were stretched festoons Of flags Of all icol-
ors and sizes. Tho City hall itself was not
deliberately. bat prettily decorated. The
rear OF the stage was curtained with flags,
and. In the centro wore the letters g. A. r
glftserinx with incandescent lights. Just
aseye were the words welcome Soap" in
great letters with two clasped hands be-
sUsen. asd = prine 10 given TO all those who
from stand erected at one side of the
flower booth can guess the size OF the
hands. Festoons Of bunting radiated to
all sides of the hall from the centre Of the
ceiling and the walls Of the hall and front
Of f'ths galleries were prettily draped with
the red, white and blue. The peaks of the
tonts-which formed the Notwithstanding
out in relief on the front of the gallery, were
OF different colors, thus adding to the gen
eral effect, while evergreen and Towering
shrubs woro so arranged as to give a soft
eninR and refining influence to the en-
csmpment. On the front Of each
badge designating 1t. The refreshment
room was pretttly festooned and decorated
with bunting, the windows handsomely
drAped and filed with Towering plants,
and the table adorned with flowers. While
the fair itself didn't open until o. NJ, an
excellent turkey dinner was provided by the
State street and West End churches. There
were one hundred and thirty people en-
joying the dinner. In the corridor, off the
main hall. six splendid parlor stoves are
on view, presented to the fair by different
firms, through Messrs. f. g G. b. Nash,
Nelson Tenny & Co.. and Hooper, Leigh
ton q Co., of this city. These stoves are
daisies, and fortunate will be the lucky
possessors of them.
In the school committee room the war
relics were all arranged. The Riggs relics,
which have been In the family for over an
hundred years. include:
A pair of scales, used by Anthony Morse,
who was tax collector in this district under
George III. The scales are enclosed In
wooden box, fashioned out Of solid block
tho initials A. M, and the date 1854. The
scales themselves are about five inches
long, used for weighing money and other
small articles. James Riggs's arithmetic,
This Is in Mr. Riggs's own handwriting,
and Is . book about 9x10 inches, with a
brown paper cover. A pair Of silver knee
buckles, worn by James Riggs, and which
have been in constant use in tho family for
over 100 years. latterly as suspender buck
les. A wooden sugar bowl, made from q
tree cat on the Riggs place In Deering
more than 100 years ago. An apron, which
belonged to Rebecca Morse, made by her
wedding quilt Of R.becca Morse, made by
her herself. She carded the wool, SPIN 1t,
wovs the cloth and did an immense amount
of stitching on 1t. The Quilt has been in
constant use for over 40 years. Two
chairs, brought from England, one 100 and
tho other 200 years old
Then there are the great collections of
war relics brought from Gettysburg and
presented TO the 9th Maine Association
by Colonel Shannon. A gentleman has
contributed three pieces of paper CONT
mental money; one three shilling bill
bearing the date 1903, and issued by New
jersey; another for one shilling. sixpence,
dated l776, slse issued by New Jersey; the
third fer I'VE shillings, bearing date It'll
and issued by Connecticut.
Mr.. ". V. Twitchell Of Gorham, N. H.,
sends the parchment deed of the land on
which the city Of Petersburg. Va, now
stands, picked up In the library of that
| city by Mr.. Twitchell after ii had been
/ ruined In the seige.
Then there is the Union flag made from
the undershirts Of the prisons at Salisbury.
The prisoners had set day upon which
they intended to rise and overpower the
guards. The flag was to be used as rally
ing signal. But before the day arrived on
which the persons intended to escape or
ders came for them to be exchanged. The
flag was brought home BY Lieut.. George B.
Remission of Boothbay, q member of the
9th Maine, whose property the flag now is.
| These are but = few Of the valuable
relics, and the others we shall refer to
from day to day.
Returning to the main hall let us take a
tour among the tents. On the left Of the
main entrance is the First Corps quarters,
Mrs. John Smith. chairman, handsomely
set up with the banners of the first divi-
sion. Then in order come the grocery
tent at which oil kinds of groceries will be
found at prices housekeepers will appre-
ciate. n. z, Fairbanks g Co. occupy the
next tent with their cottolsne. and visitors
have an opportunity to test this new SUBJ
stitute for butter which is capital health
food. Cottolene Is pale yellow material
Of the consistency and texture and sub
stance of lard. 1t approximates at times
to the color of natural butter. 1t is almost
without odor. and has neutral flavor to
the taste. 1t is packed like lard. In tin
pals Of different sizes. in twenty-pound
wooden buckets, In sixty-round painted
wooden tubs, and in regular tlerces.
Cottolene is simple preparation of cot
ton-seed oil and beef fat. 1t contains no
| ofhar rnatorial nop<ofuo pot -