River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1897-05-20
TO WASHINGTON.
Philadelphia's Monument to tn
Grent American Unveiled


Philadelphia, May 17.-Here in the
city which first placed on his brow the
laurel crown of achievement, the mem
DRY of George Washington. the soldier,
the statesman and the man. was hon.
ored in monumental bronze Saturday.
The cord which released the saddling
flags from the figure of the first ruler
of the republic was drawn by its latest
ruler.
II was a notable gathering. and rep
resentative of the country. including
the president, the vice president and
the cabinet officers; its defenders in
the officers and privates of the army
and navy. and its best blood, in the di-
rect descendants of the molders and
makers of the nation. Mai. William
Wayne, president of the Cincinnati.
who formally presented the monument
to the city. traces his lineage straight to
Mad Anthony, and William w. Porter,
the orator of the day, is a grandson of
David Rittenhouse Porter, twice gov
ernor of Pennsylvania, and a great
grandson of Gen. Andrew Porter, who
was on Washington's staff in the rev.
olutIon. Thus, no historic interest was
wanting to stimulate enthusiasm.
The actual unwilling ceremony was
impressively simple. Bishop Whitaker
opened with prayer, and Mai. Wayne
followed with an appropriate address.
Then cam the unwilling by President
Mckinley and the resultant clamor
augmented by the national salute of
81 guns, by the artillery, and by the for
eign and American war vessels in the
Delaware. This concluded, President
Mckinley spoke briefly. The grafton
was then delivered by Mr. Porter. The
formal presentation of the memorial
by the society to the city was made by
Maj Wayne to Maj. Warwick. with
short addresses by both. and then the
mayor transferred il to the Paramount
park commission, which body exercises
jurisdiction over the great pleasure
ground.
President Mckinley and his distin-
guished companions viewed the mill
tary parade and the crowd, which,
while not looking at troops, reviewed
the president and his party. The night
was devoted to various phases of ceIe-
bration, apart from the dinner. The
wheelmen's parade, with nearly 10000
in line, was the principal feature. IL
Nominations from the monument, the
city hall, the Union League and other
points added to the brilliancy of the
jubilee, and closed the day in a verit-
able blaze of glory.
The parade was headed by provis-
ional brigade of United States troops,
under command of Col. S. S. Sumner,
Sixth cavalry. 1t included battalions
of the engineer corps, Thirteenth in
fantry, Fourteenth artillery and a
squadron of Sixth cavalry. The naval
section which followed, was under the
command of Capt. w. c. Wise. and IN
cluded sailors and marines from the
battleship Texas and monitor Terror,
marines from the navy yard, Capt. de
Saurne and crew of the French cruiser
Fulton. Then came the First regiment,
Delaware national guard, escorting
Gov. Ebe w. Tunnel and staff. Gov.
Hastings headed the west division.
which comprised almost the entire ma
tional guard of Pennsylvania. Gov.
Griggs followed with state troops from
New Jersey, ard the cadets from Girard
and Pennsylvania military colleges
closed the end of the line