St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1902-07-09
BARNET.
Fourth of July Celebration.

The Fourth was celebrated in a way
which ref cted credit upon a town o.
this size and upon the various com
mittees who had the arrangements ia
charge. Shortly after the clock struck IL
Friday a. m. the church bell began to
ring and the sound of guns, cannon and
bigcrackers continued until the last piece
OF fireworks was sent up that night at
nearly ~. At 4 a. m. a sunrise salute OF
one hundred guns was given and the sun
rose bright and clear upon most beau
tiful day. The grand parade started
about 10 from the north end of the viii
lage, headed by Capt. Elmer Somers
and c. |. Smith chief marshal, on horse
back, a band of 40 pieces and a good
showing of cavalry, horribles, floats
and barges, people in carriages, on wheels
and on loot. Among the floats, that
representing the business of G. l. Bro wn
was notable, also large float like a
merry-go round, with W. H. Burbank at
its head very pretty one from Roy
neighborhood decorated with evergreen
and filled with girls, drawn by large
horses. The Passumpsic Flour Co. float
was notable and presented a very pretty
appearance. The most conspicuous and
perhaps the most attractive was large
float of W. H. Phelps Of McIndoes, hand
somely decorated with red, white and
blue, with 20 Mclndoes girls all IN white.
This float was drawn by six splendid
horses and driven by Perly Phelps, who
deserves honorable mention for his
horsemanship. 1t was long procession
and made very good showing. The
line of march was down Church street
up Anderson street to the wagon factory,
back to the square where they were re-
viewed.
After this the crowd started for the
picnic grounds south of the village when
an address of welcome was given by Rev.
c. X. D. Meacham of Passumpsic. Then
music followed by male quartette of
Passumpsic; then Rev. Joseph Boardman
offered prayer.
An Grafton was given by Hon. S. B.
Page, of Woodsville, N. H., which was
listened to by large crowd with much
interest, Both Mr.. Page and Rev. Mr..
Meacham paid a handsome tribute to
the early Scotch settlers OF Barnet. Mus
ic was then furnished by the band. AT
III LuC CdulC lHS SpOllS,
base ball, tug of war, three legged race,
chicken race, shoe race, orange race,
grain race, tack race, hoop race and foot
race. In the ball games Mclndoes beat
Barnet and in the game between the fat
men and lean the fat men beat. In the tug
of war the north end beat the south end
of the town. A large tent was pitched
in the school park where the play by
home talent was given in the evening,
which like all other features of
the day proved success. Barnet's
home talent in a dramatic line did
itself much credit. Proceeds from
the play amounted to more than
$125.00. The last but by no means the
least feature Of the celebration was the
fireworks which were displayed from
the hill opposite Burbank & Robes
store. These were varid and beautiful
and were thrown up in rapid succession
for nearly two hours. Notable among
other pieces was the fire balloon and the
good night piece, also the electrical fea-
lures were very handsome. Competent
Judges estimate the number of people in
the village that day as high as $500 and
more.