The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1897-07-08
VICTORIA CROWNED.
BaItimorean's RecolIections of the Ac-
cession of England's Queen.

cession of England's Queen.
Mr.. John Carpenter, who has lived
here since 1916, was present at the
browning of Victoria at Westmin-
ster. He talked about the event
without hesitating:
Victoria, he said, twas declared
the lawful heir on June 90, 1887,
but on account of her age-she was
not yet 18-the public coronation
did not take place until June %,
1888. It is a long while ago. The
pageant was magnificent one, how
long my memory does not serve
me, but it was gorgeous. / saw the
queen. She was a fresh looking
young thing with a happy, smiling
face, as innocent looking as she was.
There was not a care upon her
brow. It seemed as if no thought
of the stupendous responsibilities
which she was assuming had come
to her. She appeared utterly uncon-
scious Of self or the part she was
playing in that notable event.
"She did not appear frightened,
but to the plaudits of the multitude
she turned to the left and right,
bowling and smiling most gracious
ly. / had a good position on one of
the thoroughfares through which
the pageant passed and got good
look at her. OF course the trappings
of her horses and the chariot and
what not were most gorgeous.
And such cheering! Such crowds
People? There were people every
where. Strange as it may seem,
though the queen should have been
the central figure, think what i'm
pressed me most on that occasion
was the superb appearance of Mar
shall SOult, the French ambassador,
and his staff
Everything was gorgeous in the
pageant, but Soult was more than
gorgeous. I can see his trappings in
my minds eye at this minute. To
attempt to describe them would be
beyond my powers. Gorgeous is all
I can say for them, and he knew
they were gorgeous. While there
was no self consciousness about the
queen, there was plenty of it about
the French ambassador, and the peo-
pie fed his vanity, for cheer after
cheer rent the air as he passed by.
There were long lines of resplen-
dent soldiery. The brilliant uni
forms, the glittering gold lace, the
flashing of the arms in the sunlight,
the blare of the trumpets, the caval-
cades Of horsemen, carriages of state
everything went to make up such
a pageant as is seldom seen and can
hardly be eclipsed by anything at
the present time.
"Was the queen beautiful? can
hardly say that obtained any such
impression of her I think she was
pretty. Yes, I know she was. But it
was her youth and her freshness
that impressed me most She had
clear cut features, and her portraits
of this date show nothing of the
slender young girl with the grace
full carriage I remember seeing that
summer day SO long ago"
Mr.. Carpenter has in his posses
sion copy of The Sun, a paper pub
lished in London and probably the
only one to be found in this city, of
the date of the coronation. It was
printed at the time in gilt, all of
which has nearly worn away, but
the paper is in an excellent state of
preservation. On the front page is
vignette profile of the young
queen, which Mr.. Carpenter says
was an excellent likeness at the
time, and an editorial note pro-
nOunces it triumph of art.
The paper was printed on June
90, 1888, and the number in the
possession of Mr. Carpenter is the
twentieth edition. 1t contains a his
tory of former coronations, the
make up of the pageant and the po-
sitions of the various troops, ETC.,
in the coronation parade, sketch
of the young queen and every mat
ter pertaining to the event. There
is also a description of the crown
which was placed on the head of the
youthful daughter Of the Duke of
Kent. This crown was estimated to
be worth ELL, 900. - Baltimore
American.
A Short Cut.