Omaha daily bee., 1896-07-05
OMAHA PEOPLE CELEBRATE
Many Visitors Come in from Surrounding
Towns To Assist Them.
CITY JEWELLERS TAKE TO THE COUNTRY
Evening witnessed Many Bcnutiful
Private Displays of Fireworks,
but None Of u Public Nature
Noise Enough for Year.

The 120th anniversary OF American inde-
pendence was celebrated very quietly in
Omaha yesterday. Early in the morning a
general exodus Of the citizens commenced,
and all OF the outgoing trains carried hum
dreds OF Omaha people en- route to visit
friends or relatives in the neighboring
towns, or simply on pleasure bent. The To-
cal depot officials reported that the travel
was heavier than IL has been on any pre-
vious Fourth of July within their recollec-
tion. Aside from the excursions of several
organizations destined for some particular
point there were small parties of families
or friends, many of them equipped with
capacious lunch baskets bound for some
shady nook in which to spend quiet day or
seek good fishing ground.
The balance was established however,
when the morning trains of the several rail-
roads commenced to arrive. Every train
was loaded to the guards with strangers who
had come to spend the day in Omaha There
were young men and madens, middle-aged
men and women, children and babies by the
scores. All were decked in holiday garb
and they lost no time in getting away from
the train and distributing themselves about
the streets Of the city. Many of them
quickly found their way to the houses of
friends where they spent the day; others
wandered about the streets inspecting the
which were open. Eventually a large num-
ber of the visitors found their woy to the
parks where celebrations were being held,
and by noon the streets bore a deserted look
Nearly every business house in the city
was closed all day, an dali of the public
officers were closed. From nearly all of the
large buildings fioated large flags in num-
ber CT oases attempts had been made at
decorating, but there was no general dis
play of bunting, and the streets wore their
Cav H..
ance that would naturally be expected.
The man who can give vent to his en-
thusiasm In no way except by making a
loud noise was present in large numbers,
and the sound of commanding was almost
continuous. This commenced Friday
Eight and was kept up without intermis-
sion, until after midnight of yesterday.
Cannon crackers were set off in the streets
and In every imaginable place, while the
omnipresent small boy with his small fire
crackers was In evidence every instant. AS
night approached the noise increased, and
when darkness fell upon the earth the
heavens wer bombarded with dynamite fire
crackers until there seemed to be danger
that the empyrean would be fractured and
come tumbling down upon the patriotic
celebrants.
When the mantle of night had been drawn
across the blue vault Of the heavens, rockets
and bombs were sent hcavenward as though
In united effort to burn a great hole in
that same mantle Money was burned at q
prodigious rate to satisfy the Unsuitable ap-
petite for novelty combined with noise.
From all sections of the city there shot IN
ward a host Of rockets, bombs, mines and
dozens of other devices, for displaying the
art of the pyrotechnist. While there was
no general public display, a number of pr-
vate displays were set off in different parts
of the city, and the sight presented from
the numerous elevations about town was a
very pretty one. The display commenced
before the last rays of the setting sun had
disappeared from the western sky and con
tinued until nearly midnight.