Connecticut western news., 1897-06-24
GREATEST OF PAGEANTS.
The Queens Jubilee Procession uusur-
 passed In the Worlds History.

London. June 23.-The wonderful Vic torian jubilee procession of 1897, about which the whole world has been talk ing for many weeks past, is now only a memory, but memory that will never fade from the minds of the privileged thousands that witnessed it.
 No state function on such a scale has ever taken place before in any capital in the world; never has there been such a gathering of princes and envoys, rep resenting every state under the sum never before has a, living sovereign been the recipient of such unanimous and cordial expressions of good will
 It is estimated that 5.00O,0OO people witnessed the great pageant.
 The procession was a success in every way. Not single mishap or hitch oe- cured to impede the carrying out or the programme, and glorious weather prevailed.
 The start was made from BuckinE- ham palace at an early hour, and the queen was visible to her subjects along the entire route of eight miles. The chief stop was made at St. PauFs ca thedral where an impressive Te be um" service was performed by the arch bishop of Canterbury.
 The lord mayor. armed with Queen Elizabeth's famous sword, met her majesty at the city limits. and the lady mayoress, at the Mansion House, after presenting the queen with floral offer ing, was permitted to kiss the royal hand The lady mayoress, however, perturbed at the unwonted prominence of her situation took the proffered hand and shook 1t.
 Mir. whitelaw Reid, the United States Specia1 aprnv raeeived a most 1atter- ing reception from her majesty, and Mrs. Reid kissed the queens hand as greeting from across the Atlantic.
 All England Ablaze.
 With the coming of night the crowds which had filtered out of the process sional streets after the great show wedged back again to view London a-light. The sight was worth the trou- ble and risk. both considered. The ilIuminations were achieved more ar tistieally than the decora tions of the day. Those of the metropolis were, like everything that had previously trans pired during the morning hours, great CT and more resplendent than anything in her history. The symbols of loyalty and affection. of imperial grandeur and the growth of empire that had met the eye in painted and gilded notices. de- vices of paper and bunting and spangled cloth were now reflected for miles in lines of flaring gas. glowworm oil lamps, opal globes, paper lanterns and transparencies. incandescent lamps. celluloid flowers and hundreds of de- vices in thousands of colored crystals Everything was brilliancy, sparkle and color.
 With illuminations. which are uni- .st ,,1 ha,, lot of England. Wales and Scotland and in some parts of Ireland, with fireworks in countless places. with illuminations following the fall of night in every part of that empire where the queen has sway. there yet remains to be mention ed the final touch-the lighting of the empires torch, the ancient form of giv ing warning or sending joy-the beacon fires. As 10 o'clock struck at the Green wich observatory a tongue of flame shot upward from Great Malvern. the back bone of the Midlands." It was the jubi- lee beacon fire.
 Hardly had the spectator time to look on it before another fiared in the dis tance on the right, then again on the left, on the north, south, east and west. Peak answered to peak until from Der wick -on-Tweed to Rough Tor and Brown Willie in Cornwall, from the ca- thedral towers of Litchfield. Worcester. Ripon. Lincoln and Durham, from Skid daw to St. Heliers, from Hastings to Cader Iris and across the water to Donegal and Dublin a thousand beacon fires blazed up their message of loyalty to the sovereign. Half an hour later the lowlands, the highlands, the wild Hebrides. even to Ultima Thule. sent answering signals to the sky. And then slowly. as the light failed from day to evening. round the world the empires torch was lit. From St. Heliers the signal leaped to Gibraltar. to Malta, to Cyprus. to Ceylon. to India. where 1t blazed triumphant on the Himalayas: to China, to Australia, to Canada, to the West Indies-the empires torch shed its radiance over the universe.