The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-08-12

In the presence OF thousands or
people who thronged Bay street from
Drayton to Whitaker filed every
available place along Factors
Walk, sat in windows and
stood on balconies, crowded the
steps of the Custom House, and
craned their necks from the tops of
buildings al far away as the Ger
mania Bank, the corner stone of the
new City Hall was laid yesterday aft
ernoon with imposing ceremonies.
Not in a long while has such a
crowd assembled in Savannah and
the sight was one that will not be
forgotten in long while. There were
more than 10000 people in the imme-
diate neighborhood during the exer-
&;ses. Hundreds and hundreds of
people were unable to get within sew
eral blocks of the site. These I'M
fortunates contented themselves by
lining Bull street and waiting for the
disintegration of the military and civic
bodies. More than thousand people
We're seated within the space that had
been roped off for the invited guests
Within this enclosure hundreds of
ladies, without invitations or escorts,
were provided with seats. After the
invited guests had been provided with
places the police permitted as many
as could be accommodated TO enter
the enclosure. preference being given
the ladies. AS will be seen from the
accompanying photograph, taken es-
pecially for the Morning News, while
the exercises were in progress. every
niche in the vicinity of the site was
occupied, and standing room was at
a premium.
On Tops of Buildings.
From the tops of the tall buildings,
and from the hundreds of office Win
dows, men and women waved their
handkerchiefs and Justify cheered the
utterances of Senator Clay, the ora
tor of the day. The Custom House
steps and windows, the buildings
along the Bay and the roof of the
Germania Bank building two blocks
away were crowded with humanity.
The buildings on either side of the
street, and the bridges and walks
along the Bay formed an immense
ampitheater, with the platform and
the corner stone in the center. The
gently waving flags, the white dresses
of the ladies, the yellow uniforms of
the regulars, the blue and gray of
the other companies, the glitter of
sunshine on sword and saber and Ma
sonic emblems. all blended to make
an animated picture of remarkable
beauty and interest.
Thousands and Thousands.
There were thousands of people
present. The crowd was variously
estimated at from $1,000 to 20 900
people. Which of these figures is near
er correct, it would be impossible to
say.
Even as the parade was forming in
the Park Extension, and almost two
hours before the ceremonies were to
begin, the crowd began gathering about
the City Han. Before O'Clock the
platform had been filled, with the ex-
ception of the seats reserved for the
members of the League of Georgia
municipalities and the Masons.
With the arrival of the parade, the
visiting Mayors and other city officials
took their seats on the platform. The
United States band from Charleston
furnished music, until the arrival of
Jne AaSOIS. Inc members of the
Grand Lodge, headed by Grand Mas
ter Max Meyerhardt, of Rome, were
the last to march on the platform.
The Grand Lodge officers marched
to the northern end of the platform,
where the corner stone hung from an
immense derrick, directly over the spot
where it was to be laid. Acting Grand
Marshal w. S. Rockwell then mounted
the steps leading to the corner stone
and proclaimed silence in the name of
the grand master.
Ceremonies Were Impressive.
The ancient and impressive ceremo-
MES of the Masons were at once begun.
The request from the Mayor on behalf
of the city for the Grand Lodge to
lay the corner stone was read and the
usual ritual gone through with. The
acting grand chaplain, Rev. c. II.
StroL1M offered a prayer and "Ameri.
ca" was sung by the male quartette.
Acating Grand Architect II. w Wit
cover examined the stone and reported
to the grand master. Acting Grand
Treasurer 3. +. Finney placed in the
box the articles that had been selected
TO be put in the corner stone and with
the invocations of the grand master
that ages and ages might pass before
those articles would be again seen by
man, the box was sealed.
The box was then placed i'm the
stone and the stone slowly lowered into