Evening star., 1897-04-16
Bright Event in the Life of the COL
ored Race.
'HE PARADE and THE SPEECHES
Organizations in Line and the Way
They Marched.
NJ r. CHI A s SE'S ADDRESS


| of the year for the coored people OF Wash
| iEgton. it was with every promise Of a
| clear sky and balmy air. The promise
was kept TO the letter. and Emancipation
| day, 1897, passes into history as being the
sort of day when marching in uniform is
an unmixed delight, when marshals mount
ed on prancing steeds can carry nig hou-
| quets of flowers and bow to an admiring
multitude.
The principal features of the day were a
parade and an open-air meeting this after
noon, when oratory ran riot and speakers
rent the air with their eloquence But af-
| ter all there is nothing comparable TO AN
Emancipation day parade. II Is quite un-
| like anything else. 1t is different from the
inaugural parade or IA Fourth of July turn
| out. Usually the arrangements for an
Emancipation day celebration are torn and
shattered by dissensions among the lead
ers. but this year everything was done
with surprising unanimity. and there was a
noticeable lack of that friction which has AT
times prevented the full fruition of ire
| labors of the prime movers in the festival
prouder and more dgnified lot of men
never wore uniforms or walked In line than
paraded the streets of Washington totlav
The hour for the start of the procession
was hgh noon, but experience has shown
that parade of this sort never gels fairly
| ui'der way for al least an hour or Two af-
ter the appointed hour.
The parade was a varied one In line
4 were grizzled veterans who carried musk
cts in the late war. young men to whom
| the history of that great struggle that
| freed their race is but a story told or read.
| ana small boys who are just beginning 10
study their American history i'm the pub
| lie schools and have not yet reached IN.
narrative OF mat great event. The rogtI-
| lar coiored military organizations were
well represented. as were several indepsn-
| dent soldier compa MES campaicn clubs
social clubs, drill clubs ard brass bands
The Manhattan Pioneers. No. I. mere in
| line, as we're also the Sons of Freedom
Club No. i. of Hillsdale and the. Bloom
OF Youth Lodge. The Manhattan Pioneers.
NOS l. and 3, did not turn out for some
unknown reason.
Forming the Parade.
The procession formed i'm the neighbor-
hood of Dupont Circle and for a couple of
hours that aristocratic peighborhooi was
lively with the marching aud counter
marching of uniformed host AT p
/ o'clock there ives only one representative
OF the turnout TO be seen. He was an ell
derly colored man mounted on A larp.
| rangy bay horse. He wUre a cavalry uni
form that was n cross between that OF A
first sergeant and a major general but h.
| carried on the glory of his Office with more
oignity than was eyer aspired TO 10y a
major general, for he was the private or
derby to the major who was for the nobce
division marshal.
GERS, No. 4. hove in sight, and ti>e hearts
of few hundred young colored girls heat
faster at the sight the brave boys pre-
sented. The Pioneers were about twenty
strong They ranged in age from eight TO
eighteen years, and carried battle axes
The uniform consisted of white canton
| flannel shirt waists with a blue shield over
each bounding breast, a miscellaneous as
sortment of trousers with white stripes
down the seams and topped off with Yacht
ing caps For nearly a quarter of an hour
they regaled the audience with an exhibit
ton drill the evolutions of which were
different and entirely original
The next to put in an appearance were
the Butler Zouaves. The way was made
for them by the Young Eagle Drum Corps
1t was some time after | O'clock in fact
IL was near 2, when the parade got fairly
started. 1t was a long parade and COM
pared favorably with any in other years.
Order of Parade.
The official order or program for the pa
rade was follows:
Platoon of mounted police. First Nation
al Band, Chas Hamilton. director Chief
marshal, Capt. Benz. Young, staff and aids
G. d. Graham. chief of staff; Capt. Alex
ander Hawkins, right aid; VIM. H. Fergu-
sen, left aid: Andrew Hillman, aid: Robert
Garnet. Nelson Fisher, Geo. Tyler. Clarence
Byrd, rderlies; Henry Dade. trumpeter.
Maj F. c. Revell, division marshal, staT
ard aids. First Separate Battalion, D.C.N
G.-Company A, First Lieut. Ed. Webster,
commanding; Company b. Capt. p. B. Mer-
edith, commanding; Company c. Capt F.
7. Webster, commanding; Company ID,
Capt. j. H. Campbell. commanding; I'd Bat
TALON, Butler Zouaves.
Infantry Corps-Company A, Butler Zon-
aves. First Lieut.. Lewis Hill. commanding;
Company b, Capt. Fred. Brown, command
ing; No. 3, Capt Alex. Oglesby, Butler
Zouaves. Capital City Guard o. p. Nor
ton Post. No. 4, Department of the Poto-
mac, G. A. r., Jas. Wells. commander.
President George w. Stewart and suite in
carriages.
Second divsion-Knights of ST Augustine
Commandery, No. 1, Capt. Jos. Davis, COM
mander.
Eastern Starlight Club. Capt. H. Jackson,
commanding; Washington Star Pioneer.
Capt Curry, First Lieut.. Benz. Watkins,
son.
Bloom of Youth Social Club. Capt Jas.
Hill, commanding.
Mckinley Rifles, Capt. Jno. Baker, First
Lieut. Paul Cross. First Sergt II. Gillchrist.
Eleventh, seventeenth and eighteenth dis
tricts-A. F. Richmond, division marshal:
Jas. w. Hunter, right aid; Walter Gill
christ, left aid; w. T. Grantlin. chief OF
staff.
Nineteenth d!strict-F. W. Brown. district
marshal: Isaac Woodland. right aid; Robert
Smith, left aid; Lewis Davis. chief Of staff.
NJ. Haley, president; c. +. Lucas, vice
president; NJ. b. Crooso. secretary: Geo.
w. Stewart. chairman executive committee.
FIRST district clubs, mounted-Clem Smith.
district marshal; Capt. w. Is. Simins, SUns
of Liberty first division commander: Jas.
E. Coates right aid; Chas. Coates. left aid
Third division. consisting OF a chariot, q
ship and carriages. containing the officers
of the various clubs.
Line of March.
The line Of march was past the White
House, down the avenue and through
Louisiana avenue to the District build
ings where the Commissioners had prom
ised to review 1t. and so on to Lincoln
Park, where a platform had been erected
and q number Of addresses were made.
The opening address was made by George
w. Stewart, the president OF the day. W.
Calvin Chase was the orator of the day.
Magnus l. Robinson OF Virginia read the
emancipation edict. ai.d there were ad-
dresses by Professor Jesse Lawson, E.
n Hewlett, Richard Laws and others.
MR. Chase's Oratson.
In the course Of his remarks Mr. Chase
said: .'Our freedom IL made q mockery OF
by street parades. They show up the dis
graceful side OF the negro; he is presented
as he was. and not as he Ia, In some in.
stances. Instead OF q street parade, tn