The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1897-06-22
SOME HUMoRs OF THE OCCASION
The Lady Mayoress varies the Eth
quette of Hand Kfsstng-Ameri-
cans In the show.
TBy Cable to The Associated Press.1


LONDON June %, 1Ss7.-The last stroke
of twelve had not died away in the mid
night air when from hundred metro
politan steeples tumultuous peal of
bells announced Diamond Jubilee Day.
The vast crowd that filled the miles of
streets and squares answered with ringing
cheers and here and there the singing of
God Save the Queen
In many places the crowd was very
noisy, blowing horns and comets, play
ing mouth organs and concertinas and
altogether vociferous. At the music halls
every popular ditty was greeted with
shouts and cheers Everybody flung
about confections; everywhere hawkers
vended fruit and the street stalls where
coffee, hot potatoes and other edibles
were on sale, did roaring trade.
No drunkenness was observable and
very little bad temper Many of the
iiluminations remained lighted until the
small hours this morning and in this way
afforded light during the long interval of
watching.
The earliest active indication of the
great event-apart from the people await
ing twas shortly before six o'clock the
arrival of vestry carts to freshly gravel
the roadways. after the fashion which
prevailed in the good old days of Sam
Perys. Then little later. the Inevitable
precursor of any procession, the police,
began to arrive in great numbers, eight
thousand being distributed along the line
of route.
The streets ON the north side of the
Thames were closed to ordinary traffic at
7:30 A. NJ; on the south side at A. M.
London Bridge had been closed to all
traffic at midnight and Westminster
Bridge and other bridges between at five
o'clock this morning, at which hour all
persons were removed from Westminster
and London Bridges.
The first great difficulty of the police
was assisting owners of seats on stands
and houses to get to them, they being
permitted to drive to them up to ten
o'clock, for there was a vast interval
between title to a seat and actual pos
session The crowds on the sidewalks
were quite willing to give passage to the
favored mortals who owned seats but to
do so was difficult.
The difficulty was further Increased by
the arrival of the troops, after $50, tax
ing up their appointed places. The wise,
however, had reached their seats in
stands or obtained access to houses
where they had bought windows by
o'clock to 7:3O 1t was only the inevitable
late-comers who had to push and strug-
gle. in the case of ladies, much to the
damage of their toilettes. At length or
der was evolved out Of chaos-many OF
the extreme late-comers were peremp-
torily shut out and everybody settled
down to wait.
Decoration was universal and without
stint. Could the Queen have passed this
morning through some of the wretched
streets of her great London, some of those
narrow ill-favored alleys where pale faced
children come to believe the sky is only q
yard wide, where there is want and hun,
ger and disease the year round-she could
have found no more striking evidence Of
her abiding place in the hearts of her peo.
ple. The resplendent West End, with
It's crimson glory, great banners
triumphal arches, parterres of costly
blossoms meant no more, II half so much
as the tiny paper flag. the yard or SO o.
narrow red white and blue stretched
along window sill and round common
flower pot with its single rose. nodes
decorations. which formed today shrine.
for the children of the shadows in the
Wlitechapel Spitaifelds, Hoxton OF
Shoreditch alleyways.
1t Isl however,to the six and three-quar
ter miles of the professional route tha
one must turn for what are considered
the jubilee decorations. In describing
them it may be said at the outset th'
art of street decoration is not understood
III London While here and there muci
that is beautiful meets the eye, it is no
possible to escape the fact that the en-
semble has been ruined by lack Of con
certed effort. The means employed hav'
been as varied as the ends achieved
while there is plenty or red, white ant
niue. the greatest reliance has been placet
on royal crimson trimmed with gold
NOTICES are beautiful with scrolls ban
ners. fiaes, the Royal Arms. the Imperia