The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1900-07-21
Fully One Hundred Thousand
Strangers Will Be Here.
Greatest Celebration
City Ever had.
The Morning Parade VIII in It.
self BE a Big Feature.

The Old Home Week committee now
seems to be getting down to a position
where they can see all of the details of
the big show on August working out
finely. Col, Boothby received telegram
yesterday from the Minneapolis agent Of
the 500 line stating that the road would
bring a large party to Maine for this
week and asking for information regard
ing what is to be done here.
Including the crowd which is to come
to Portland for the firemen's muster it
seems probable that fully 1OJ, 900 strangers
will be here for August z. The town Is
to be pretty we'll filled up by Sunday
night preceding the show on Tuesday and
it will he lucky man who will bs able
to secure, quarters here if he does not Sc
cure them before Tuesday. All OF the
hotels are booking rooms for this occasion
and many applications for rooms are be-
ing received by people in the city. The
secretary of the local association has sent
out up to this time 5000 of the Governor S
mutations and could send out as many
more if there were time to do so. Invita-
t1ons viii be sent up to the very last mo-
ment or as long as the stock on hand
holds out. The Indications are that from
the crowd to be expected Portland Will
have the biggest day she has known for
many years.
The committee has decided to decorate
city hall and Congress street quite extern
sively. By day the street from Congress
square to Franklin and possibly other
streets will be gay with bunting, while
nearly all the big buildings and some of
the smaller ones will be decorated, The
committee has also decided to placard all
the historic spots in the city and mark
them so that strangers Will have no diff
Guilty in finding them. This work will be
in the hands of Alderman Moulton and
Mr.. Nathan Goold win be asked to give
the committee the benefit of his knowl
edge in this matter.
BY night Congress street is to brilliant
ly Illuminated with yari colored electric
lights which are to be strung across the
street and the city building is also to be
handsomely decorated with festoons of
electric lights. These decorations are to
remain for the entire week.
At the meeting of the committee last
evening the gentlemen who are interested
in the yachting parade and races appeared
and presented their claims. They asked
for $500 but this amount the committee
did not feel willing to give. They did,
how ever, decide to give the yachtsmen
$500 and with this sum the gentlemen
who have the matter in charge promise
the best display of yachts the harbor has
seen ing years. 1t Fis expected q that
this feature Will be a very attractive and
Interesting one.
The route of the parade on August
has practically been decided upon 1t
will be down Pearl street to Cumberland,
to High, to Deering, to State, to Spring,
to High, to Congress and thence to City
hall where the procession win be re-
viewed. 1t is expected that fully 5000
men viii participate in this parade as
well as some Is fire engines from all parts
of New England and some 20 hand tubs.
This fireman's feature of the celebration
will be one of the best displays of the
kind ever seen in New England.
Inc COuInlOO6S utbS D66u INFORMED U0aG
Il of the 10 companies of the 1st regiment
of Names national guard viii come to
Portland for this parade. They will be
brought here on special trains on the
morning of August and viii be fed at
noon by the city at the auditorium.
The committee is very anxious to make
the civic division of the parade distinct
success and has invited all of the uni
formed civic bodies to take part in the
procession. Tt is the desire of the COM
mittee that this parade on the morning
OF August should equal anything of the
kind ever attempted before in Portland.
There is a chance waiting for some
bright man to bid for the privilege of
putting up a grand stand on the Eastern
Promenade which shall overlook the place
where the great exhibition of fireworks is
to take pla ,e. 1t is expected that the
crowd at this point on the evening OF Au-
gust will be the largest the eastern end
Of the city has ever known.