Bluefield evening leader. [volume] (Bluefield, W. Va.) 1906-1911, 1906-05-13
Program of Centennial EX-
ercises Was An Interest
ing One.
Pearisburg and Community
Royalty Entertain An
Army of People.
(StaG Specially

Pcarishurg. Va. May i2.-From
every standpoint the. Centennial eel.
ebration held here today in gp,n
nemoration of the es,ablislnnert of
the county of Giles Was ,,t nd sue
cess
From every eorger taf ssh unity.
- well as some ,es the adjoining
counties. came people to participate
in the exerrises and by nine O'Clock
this morniHk Il was estimated that
there were Iat least six thousand Wis
itors In the.s.own of Pearisburg. The
streets presented gay sight and
the homes OF every inhabitant of the
town was thrown open for the ac-
commodat!on of the guests.
The weather was all that could
be desired, the day opening mp with
sunshine which continued throdgh-
out with nothing along this line tn
mar the pleasure of THE visitors.
Every vehicle obtainable was sent
TO the trains Ia bring the people 10
Harrisburg. and by the time the par
ade commence all who were to spend
the day were conveniently located.
The FIRST on the program for the
exercises OF the day was the grand
parade. which took place at 10
o'clock. IL was beautiful to behold
TO say the least Several enterpris-
ing citizens OF Pearisburg had ar
ranged floats which were decorated
In most artistic manner
Among those who had floats In
the parade. we noticed the First Ma
tional Bank of Pearisburg. =. L.
! Williams, of Pearisburg; j II. Wool
wine Hardware Company, OF Mar
rows; Farrier Brothers and Snidow
. of Penboke, who were represented b,
sixteen couples OF ladies and gentle
men each carrying n letter OF gilt
! making the name OF the firm com
, piete. Fhis s<'as one of -the. ppest. IA
tractive features of the parade anJ
caused much favorable comment up
on the enterprise of this popular com
pany. The Southern Bell Telephone
Company also had very attractive
| float. consisting of q mammoth bell
artistically arranged.
L. r. 81 Clair had charge OF the
| parade aS marshall. and had with
| him eight aides, among whom we no
| iced JOS. II. Hodge. of Bluefcld
Marshall 81 Clair headed the par
| adc and was followed by the Odd
| Fellows band, after which came the
! Confederate Veterans, followed by
the local lodge OF Odd Fellows The
judiciary. past and present, and the
county officials past and present
came next and were followed by the
lschool children all carrying stars and
lstripes
/ After parading the principal
streets the procession stopped IN
front Of the court house. where the
school children sang My Country
| 'Tis OF Thee Rev j. Tyler then
descended the platform, prepared foI
the speakers and press, and after
offcring prayer, welcomed the pco.
ipie 10 Pearisburg
| After short address q contibu-
lion was asked for the erection OF
o monument AZ Pearlsburg. which
Twas very literally responded 10.
| States Attorney w. Is. Snidow, who
acted as chairman Of the meeting
and with much credit to himself
then invited all visitors in the city
Ito partake Of lunch which had
been prepared by the ladies All
those who had not made arrange
ments Of the hotels partook Of the
lsplendid yiands and on every side
| could b" heard congrat ulatory re-
marks praising the ladies for the ex.
cellent spread.
| At 1880 the crowd once more as.
Jsembled IN the court square and AZ.
torncy Snidow introduce Hon. Jas
ID. Johnson. Of Roanoke" former
Giles County boy. who spoke for an
hour using the subject. we Re.
we're the Old. We Welcoma the New '
During the course OF his speech Nj
Johnston said This IS The proudesr
day In all the history Of Giles coun.
~ From all the walks of life. from
factory field and furnace. from
bench and bar and the sacred desk
the sons OF dear old Giles have gath
cred 20 pay a tribute OF affection "a
their beloved mother, 10 place upon
her brow the laurel wreath Of victory
and 10 lay at her feet whatever hon
ors they may have won or whatev.
OF treasures or trophies they ma,
possess
This meeting today between pat.
eut and child is 10 commemorate the
deepest affections. and rising abov,
every sordid and selfish ambition
here AT the altar OF our native coun
~. let as pledge our eternal love
70 her She has ben a tender mother
kind and true Nowhere else are
. skies so blue Nowhere else ar,