The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1900-02-23

"pewey Day" has come and gone, and
although the weather was Of as poor Il
quality as the forecasters could possI-
bly have furnished, It can be said that
the occasion was the greatest and
grandest in the history Of the city OF
wheeling. It is estimated that be-
tween 10000 and 5000 strangers were in
the city. wednesday night fully 5000
had come, and the trains yesterday
morning brought thousands upon thou
sands more-they came from all parts
Of the ,tri-stats radius. on trains special
and regular. The electric roads were
unable to handle the ttaffic that was
offered them. and from the nearby
towns hundreds showed their patriot
ism by walking to town, while hun
dreds Of others from the countryside
drove in. And all Of this despite the
weather.
During the early hours Thursday
morning the rain continued to fall
heavily It continued through the
morning and. in the afternoon turned
to q wct snow that was as dIsagreeable
as the rain. The weather conditions
were n great disappointment to the
Dewey Day" committees, and to the
thousands who had assembled to do
honor to the Nations Hero, but the
situation was faced with the best grGce
that could be summoned, and the DEM
onst-ation that followed was one that
did credit to the city.
The opening function was the parade,
and it was certainly creditahle under
the circumstances. At noon an order
was issued. declaring this feature OF
the celebration of, but owing to the
demands from the out-of-town bodies
that had come especially for the street
demonstration, Grand Marshal White
was induced to rescind his order, and
issue another, calling the parade for
2:3O in the afternoon. OF course this
created considerable confusion, and
scores Of organizations that had enter
ed for the parade were not IN line.
Notwithstanding all this, $500 persons
were incline, and marched through a
binding snow storm, with Admiral
Dewey and Lleutenapts Doddridge and
Caldwell occupying carriages. Under
the circumstances, the Wheeling peo-
pie can congratulate themselves that
the admiral consented to face such
weather.
After the parade came the speTS;lng
In the Carroll Club auditorium, where u
crowd that filed the hall had assem-
bied. Admission, OF course, vas by
ticket, and not one-hftieth of the people
could witness the exercises. The enthu-
siasm manifested here was remarkable,
and appealed powerfully to the admir-
al and Lieutenant Doddridge, who were
It's recipients. The scene enacted when
Admiral Dewey handed the Intelligen-
Ger sword to the young lieutenant was
one that will be remembered by all
who were fortunate enough to be pres
ent.
After the speaking, Admiral Dewey
retired to his car, and. as events turn
ed out, this was his last public appear
ance In wheeling. He had accepted an
invitation to be the guest of honor.
with LIEUTENANT DoddrIdge. at the an
nual dinner of the Society of the Sons
OF the Revolution. of West Virginia,
but he declined to attend this function.
owing 70 the fatigue OF the day he had
gone through. He feared the crush he
would encounter in the journey to the
hotel and at the hotel, and at $3.50
o'clock he retired for the night.
In the morning the admiral visited
the Loan Exhibition, and OF course
there was a great crush. The visit of
the admiral is described In another coll
umn.
All the outgoing trains last night
were filled with departing dewey
Day" visitors, and although ali OF
them expressed their disappointment,
still It was conceded that Wheeling had
battled exceedingly well under very
trying circumstances. 1t was generally
agreed that. had the weather been
good, everything would. have come of
like cloek-work, and that the number
Of visitors would have been fully $4,000
instead Of $4,000. Many of the visitors
remained in town over night. and all
the hotels were packed.