The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1901-09-06
GALA DAY AT SOUTHPORT
LABOR DAY WAS CELEBRATED IN A
GRAND WAY YESTERDAY.
lin Square-Athfetic Sports or vari-
'ous Kinds All Day and at Night-The
Affair a Big

Monday in September having been set
aside both by the National ard state
governments as a day which labor shall
enjoy in pleasure and recreation.
In Wilmington the observance was
not SO general. The postoGice. the
banks and the produce exchange were
closed and several of the business firms
allowed their employees leave.
AT Southport the day was a gaia day.
For weeks committees have been hard
at work getting everything in p-cpara-
ton for the day and their efforts were
entirely successful.
Great crowds Of Wilmington people
went down on every boat that left the
city. Besides these, the Naval Reserves
were already there, having gone 10
Southport on the Hornet last Saturday.
The local union of The Brotherhood.
Of Carpenters and JoIners of America
went down in a body on the steamer
ComptOn n most of them We're accom-
panied by their wives and families. on
arrival at Southport, the party was met
by a large copcourse of citizens, soldiers
from Fort Caswell, the Naval Reserves
and the Southport Cornet Band In
49, 49, " l. l.. ~ Olt-
venson, G. Ed. Taylor, Marshall Guth-
RE. j. a. DOsher, ElrIa Adkins. r. E.
l.. Llpsey. H. c.. Curtis and Henry DAN
lels, the procession was marched through
the town to beautiful Franklin
Square" which is a magnificent park of
live oaks.
For the celebration OF Labor day
stands in Franklin Square had been
erected and decorated with flags, bunt-
ing, and hundreds of lanterns.
Several hundred people were on the
ground when order was raped FOR and
the exercises opened with scripture
reading and prayer by the Rev. f. j.
Edwards.
Acting Mayor E.. n. Cranmer then
briefly extended a cordial welcome to
all the exercises and threw open the
gates of Southport to the visitors.
Mr.. Robert w. Davis. IN a beautiful
~ worded speech, in which several
tributes were paid to the orator, intro
duced the Hon. A. NJ. Waddeil. 'the sill
v~er-tongued orator of North Carolina"
Col. Waddell was received with great en-
thusiasm. and his address was q most
able one, showing thorough study and
great knowledge of the tendencies at
work in our American life today. Below
we publish a pretty full synopsis OF his
address, showing his thought an I
method of treatment:
COL. WADDELL'S ADDRESS.
my Friends:
MY presence here today, in compli-
ance with the invitation with which 1
was honored, is the best evidence l
could give of my regard for the people
of Brunswick county, and Of my graft
tude to them for the unvdrying and
generous friendship exhibited towards
me for many years Of my earlier life.
Time has wrought it's changes here as
elsewhere, and in looking over this au-
dience I miss many, very many, faces
Once familiar. and which. l trust. are
now radiant with a happiness unknown
to earth. 1 am profoundly grateful to
know that 1 still hold a place in the
hearts of their children and successors,
although they may not be called upon
to manifest it as their fathers did, and
am happy to render to them the small
service which they have requested of
me today. I ought, IN justice, to add
(and 1 do so with pardonable pTide) that
these relations with the people of
Brunswick country are not only per-
sonal but hereditary, for they existed
through three generations OF my fore
fathers on both sides for more than a
hundred years.
This day has been set apart by the
national and nearly all the state gov
ernments as a holiday in honor of labor
and 1T was most fitting that 1t should be
so. 1t is no part of my purpose to un-
dertake the task Of paying a tribute tc
labor. No man can do that subject JUS
tice. 1t would be like attempting to de-
scribe the universe. for the universe it.
self is the result of active forces set in
motion by the Creator.
There is not a particle OF matter
from the vast worlds tnat wheel
through space to the minutest atom ir
the most solid substance. which is al
rest. Work, ~unceasing work, is the law
But when we speak OF labor the
working man is usually meant, and he
is a sweet morsel under the tongue o.
the demagogue when political can,
paigns are pending. Fortunately fcI
himself and for the country, with the
spread of educational facilities the Ia
boring man becomes more and more
informed as to his rights and RESPONSE
bilities, and the influence of the mere
agitator is correSpondinsly diminished
The people of these Southern States
have cause for gratitude and self-gratu.
lation in the act that they have hereto.
fore been exempt from the conflicts that
have arisen between labor and capitol
in other parts of our country, and
which have recently been moe acute
| than ever before. God grant that we
may remain so exempt, and n a human
wisdom may find a preventive for what
now seems to be one Of the gTavest dap-
| gers to the peace and prosperity OF our
land. I say one of the gravest dangers,
for there are others which no intellt-
gent person who has read history Can
| fail to see. AND perhaps these others are
| even more serious than the conflict be-
tween capital and labor.
They affect not only the material
welfare of the people but the life of free
institutions on this continent. They
| rise afr above party politics and Should
be considered without regard 10 them,
but like every other question Of public
interest they have been utilized for
| party purposes, and have been degraded
to lower ends. 1t is. nevertheless, true
as a historical act that from the foun-
dalton of b government to this day
the tendencies which have eliminated
in the present condition of affairs have
been persistently opposed by one of the
great political parties Of the country.
and generally encouraged by the other
| and therefore these tendencies and their
final results, whether of blessing or dis
| aster, are i~nseparably connected with
| the history of these parties, the one or
the other of which will n a justifica-
4 RsaD fn~ sSc 1-,x@~oo 11o0~I-- A.,