Iowa state bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1894-1916, 1897-07-02
ushers in the eventful anniversary

ushers in the eventful anniversary,
and now,
''No sleep till morn,"
or thereafter! You begin to dream of
the olden time that tried souls" when
men started from their touches at the
roar Of a foreign lion; and there!-
crack!-near your window goes off a
gun, or something worse. You console
yourself, however, with the thought
this may be the first and the last salu-
tation SO near at hand: and with this
reflection you are falling into q deli
cious lapse, when, there!-another is
heard, nearer still. And such another!
You listen, and wonder whether the in
strument burst or not, almost hoping
it did, in order to terminate this seren-
ade of thunder. Well, you about con-
c!Cde an actual explosion took place,
and you begin to fear the juvenile Jul
piter has been kicked over and wound
cd in the cause of his country. In
your sympathy for the fallen patriot,
you listen anew, and are tempted to
turn out to his relief, when-by the
shadow of Pluto and all his subterran-
dow, bellows such another gunpowder
| Illumination as you never expect to
hear again. No matter, however, for
the occasion gives moment to the most
trifling circumstances, and you feel
reconciled with thoughts on the bless
| 80 >N~4x Vat wit J, aroy
! Of desperation, you wish all the sui
phur and saltpetre Of the under king
dom thrust into some piece of artillery,
like that which Milton ascribes to the
inventive genius Of Satan, and touched
off at once and forever.
But the sun is up, and the crock
ribbed hills" tremble at dawn with the
boom of a hundred cannonading
echoes. From yonder tall staff streams
the banner high and gay in the morn
ing light and breeze-a ribbon sail
strung out from the fleecy cloud on
which the angel of freedom rides in
the heavens over the nations of earth.
Angel of Columbia. weep not! for
though millions beneath thee groan,
yet little while longer, and the shout
that rings from Maine to Oregon shall
be the shout Of race redeemed from
the last bond. Now mellowly mingles
the sound of martial music with the
morning air Gay troops march, with
gay plumes and glistcning arms, along
the thoroughfare, as proud of them
selves as the boys are who march by
their side, in anarchial file, keeping
! time with fife and drum. Room, room,
now, for the land-sons of Neptune,
with coats of many hues and Joseph
shirts, dragging their tridents behind,
trimmed and trusty for the raging con-
Migration. And then comes Flora, with
her fairy band, decked in green and
blossom array, moving onward in gen.
! tie and smiling procession, like flow
stream, to the music Of nymphs and
the ripping of Eden waters. The bells
ring in Joyous peal, and each stroke Of
the metal thrills the tramping multi
tude with a shock Of inictinable enthu-
siasm. Great thoughts Of the glory
and greatness Of the country swell in
| many a bosom, wholly unused to any
| extraordinary emotions. With what
| profound awe and admiration does
| that youth stand yonder in the street,
now wildly gazing, with eyes and
| mouth wide open, first at the crowd,
and then at the banners strung from
chimney to chimney, and steeple to
| steeple! The town folks take him to
be an unripc vegetable, just because
he wears what he pleases-boots for
service. more than for squcaking--
coat, bob-skirted and gray, rather than
rudcly Haunting, and bell-crownel
hat capricious enough to hold all the
gingerbread he can afford to purchase.
Well, if he has no right to look as he
pleases, nor to thrust his hands deep
BAz.