New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-04-06
PRICE THREE CENTS.
EASTER DAY PARADE.
MEN AND WOMEN IN GLORIOUS ARRAY
THRONG THE AVENUE.


PLAY-HoTELs. CLUB WINDOWS AND
CHURCH STEPS FILLED WITH
PEoPLE-A FIELD DAY
FOR wHEELMEN
After forty days OF development presumably
by means OF pious meditation and self-sacrihce.
the chrysalis burst yesterday morning and the
Easter butterfly emerged as complete in all It's
beauty as Pallas Athene when she sprang full
armed from the heal oi Jove; and. having
emerged the butterfly. after habit that but
teraies have the world over. proceeded to dis
port itself with every manifestation Of Joyous
disposition. The weather was almost ideal for
butterfly birthday The sun never shone bright
er upon Manhattan Island since the day when
Hendrix Hudson sailed up the North River, and
the wind was little more than well-mannered
breeze 80 that the butterfly fitted lightly
through the streets with brilliant wings. from
which the down had no. been brushed. and the
freshness OF whose beauty was yet undimmed
OF course the butterfly went to church. Bat
terfiies, good bad and Indifferent. always d.
that on Easter Sunday. drawn thither by an
instinct as unerring as that which brings the
homing pigeon again to its cote from hundreds
cf miles away.
And to the churches went thousands Of other
butterflies. each with variously mottled wings.
for butterflies fond of beauty and fragrance;
and in the church towers the bells pealed glad
somely, and below the organs thundered ecstatic-
ally. the vested choirs sang Christ the Lord Is
Risen To-day" ard the air was full Of the
breath Of sweet flowers while the rustling OF
myriads OF butterfly wings formed an uEdertcne
that ran through all the symphony.
CRUSH GREAT AT THE CHURCHES
The crush was great at all the churches. ana
unusual preparations had been made for ac-
commodating the fashionable crowds. In several
Instances. tickets Of admission were required.
and those who did not have them were turned
away while the choir inside sang. I'm Glad
Salvaton's Free"
After the church services were over. the crowds
turned with one consent to Fffth-ave. for the
annual Easter promenade. From Ffty-nnth-st.
almost to Madison Square, between haf-past
twelve and o'clock the avenue was blocked
with gayly dressed women and their escorts.
Such continuous stream OF humanity is seen
In Ncw-Yorks most fashionable avenue on one
day OF the year only OF late years the ultra
fashionable women Of the city have not joined
the procession 10 large extent as formerly.
The clubs at Hampstead, Tuxedo. and other
suburban places have become possessed Of great
attractions for society on Easter Sunday OF late.
But despite the fact tha: The representatives Of
society were comparatively few. the Easter
parade remarkable exhibition Of beauty
and general joyousness. Parade Is just the
word to describe the movement OF the crowd.
Most Of the strollers acted as II fully aware that
they were on exhibition and were bound to
look their best.
The club windows all alorg the route wer.
crowded with fashionatiy dressed men. who
IN their interest In
the glittering pageant that passed before them.
Many windows In private houses. too. had
full quota Of delighted spectators. while those
windows that lacked people were often full OF
flowers
ON CHURCH STEPS.
To add to the spectacular effect Of the prone,
made several OF the church steps along the
avenue were crowded with people whose sole
purpose seemed to be to take in the pro-
cesslon while most Of the carriages In the
street were driven slowly that their occupants
might the better enjoy the sight.
OF course there were many addressed women
among the thousands. One woman walked from
Twenty -ninth-rt to Forty -second-st.. and the
colors she wore fought uprooriously all the way.
The waist which was pink. with baby blue
collarette the skirt which green and the
hat which was scarlet threw bricks at one
another so to speak, and shouted MURDER
in stentorian tones.
There were other costumes whose clamor dis
turbed the Sabbath serenity of the day. bur
all Of the offenders escaped arrest
On the other hand there were thousands OK
dresses that were dreams" waists that wer"
poems" and hats that were symphonies"
Beautiful shades Of green seemed much ir
favor fol skirts figured silks were popular In
waists, while the hats and oonnets were-well
they were beyond an attempt at description
but one awe-struck visitor from peacefuI PhiIa
delphia remarked that he never expected tc
see so many roof gardens In Fifth-ave.
The faces of the women were more interesting
than their clothes. Most Of tfem were beaucs-
full. and all were bright and intelligent anu
calculated TO give a foreigner good idea OF
the American girl Tennyson must have watched
an Easter promenade In Fffth-ave before NJ
wrote "A Dream Of Fair Women"
HOW THEIR ESCORTS WERE DRESSED.
The escorts Of the women were dressed for the
most part In those quiet and sober fabrics tina.
seem to have been imposed upon men for no
other purpose than that they may form m)re
effective background for their sisters and there
cousins and their aunts. The black frcck coa3
were of course in greatest evidence. Ir this gar
rent. rough goods still retain Their popuiar't?
while the attempt made in the last two years to
introduce lighter colors for these garments mas
apparently failed. Extremes OF all sorts were
noticeably infrequent In yesterdays procession
There were no excessi, ely bell shaped hats. no
"spats," no bustles, no hoops and no freak over
coats. while none OF the "chappies' turned their
trousers up
Suburbanites and visitors from a distance
WERE as usual. In attendance. Some OF them
came from Brooklyn, for they glanced furtively
about at every corner. looking for trolley-cars.
They came from all over New-Jersey, for there
was mud on their shoes They came from Philas
delphia, for they walked as IL asleep. and they
came from everywhere else. for they were all
there. AS one of contemporary literary
heroes WOULD say: Pchee. dey wuz holy
show"
NOT ONLY ON FIFTH-AvE.