The sea coast echo. [volume] (Bay Saint Louis, Miss.) 1892-current, 1893-05-06

mechaniSms and the labyrinth of betting
and gearing which make up the ma
chinery of the Worlds Columbian exposi-
tion. At the same moment q national
salute belched forth from the guns of the An
drew johnson, lying off the exposition grounds
In Lake Michigan; 700 flags, released from
their stops" at a concerted signal, swung loose
and streamed out under the sky in scarlet, vel
low and blue; over in machinery hall great
roar arose, and the turrets of the building
NODDED as the wheels began to turn, and q
greater volume of sound arose from the throats
OF the great concourse of people, who thus ac-
claimed the opening of the grandest achieve
ment of American pluck, enterprise and gener-
oSity
There was no hitch in the programme as
finally arranged Sunday night. The distin-
guished descendant of the great admiral in
whose honor the days spectacle was inaugu-
rated was escorted from the Auditorium hotel
TO the Lexington, where President Cleveland
and his suite were in waiting and the two par
ties combined were taken in procession through
miles of streets lined with cheering thousands
to the grounds of the exposition. There the
formal exercises were gone through with.
The blind chaplain of the national congress
invoked the blessing Of God upon the under
taking about to be consummated; poem cele.
bratlng the voyage of Columbus was read in a
manner fitting the time and place. Director
General Davis, upon whose shoulders the atlas
like load of the enterprise had rested for
months, presented the completed work to the
president Of the United States and that officer,
representing the power and majesty of $4,000,
900 citizens after singularly happy speech,
declared the Worlds Columbian exposition
fully opened. Then the cannon doomed the
flags fiuttered in mid air, the fountains spouted.
and the people shouted.
The greeting to the president was hearty. 1t
came first when his genial face was seen above
NJ thn nj ,yI
on the grand stand. 1t was repeated when he
stepped forward to make his modest address,
and for the third time 1t rose when the signal
was sent and the great achievement of the CEN
tury was inaugurated.
But only part of this honor was Cleveland's, S,
the rest was in acknowledgment of the event
which that roar from machinery hall, that sud
den outflow of flags, as if rainbow had been
splintered above the buildings, that braying Of
cannon and that triumphal chorus signalized,
There was nothing inadequate about this The
head OF the nation received his due need of
honor, but the completed Worlds fair, the
triumph of new world industry and genius, was
the object upon which the multitude expended
its heartiest cheers and upon which it layished
its loudest acclaim
1t was unfortunate that this part of the days
proceedings should have been marred by what
might have been serious panic, but which
proved TO be only momentary surge of the
great sea of humanity which beat against the
platform in front of the administration build
ing. Always anxious to see and hear as all
crowds are, some of those in the rear began to
press forward in hopes of gaining advantageous
positions from which to witness the goings on
at the platform, The pressure was almost un-
noticed at first, but as those in front began to
feel 1t they in turn Swayed back to resist it,
Then began one of those peculiar pulse-like
movements never seen except in great crowds.
There was pendulum motion which attracted
the attention of those on the platform and or.
ders were given to the police to clear away the
jam that began to threaten the platform Or
fcers sprang into the crowd but it was some
minutes before their efforts were successful,
and when the dense mass of people had been
in some degree separated, twenty persons had
been taken out in fainting condition For
tunatey, however. no one was seriously hurt,
and great calamity was averted. y
or course it was big crowd to handle for
Director Of Works Burnham declared that
4i4,00O people had passed the gates since day
light, a number far in excess of the most san
guine expectation. To take care of such a
multitude with only one accident which could
be called serious-for all the other casualties
of the day were trival-was therefore, a matter
for graduation among the officers of the expo
sition
When the crowd that had choked up the en-.
frances to administration place had dispersed
after the ceremonies and there was more room to
move about with freedom, the president and
other distinguished guests entered the admin
istration building. The president himself
rested for while in the director generals Of
fee, while the foreign diplomats, the congress
men, the legislators and other notables of
more or less magnitude, gathered in the ro-
tunda and agreed that while it was all very fine
they were glad 1t was over.
Then every one began hunting somethinp tn