The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-07-05
AN OLD TIME
 CELEBRATION Independence Day 0b- servance Years Ago. GREAT TIME IN MONTGOMERY Big Dinner and Toasts by Early
 Settlers. speech-Malxing at Noon and Reading of the Declaration of Independ-
 ence Followed by Great
 Ball at Night.
GREAT TIME IN MONTGOMERY

The village of Montgomery in 1921 devoted more time. interest, and at- tention to the celebration of the Fourth of July than did the city of Mont gomery of 1907.
 The early settlers of Montgomery made it a great day. The whole peo- pie turned out and the leading men of the community were proud to take part in 1t. There was speech making at noon, the reading of the Declaration of Independence. a big dinner throughout the afternoon. where stately toasts were offered. and ball at night.
 Montgomery was then only four years old. The Montgomery Republi- can of July 9th, preserved in the early files of The Advertiser office, carries what must have been an excellent ac- count of the festivities of the day, ac- cording to the standards of the time. It Is a matter of record that Alabama was settled more rapidly when It's lands were first thrown open than any other State or Territory in the history of the Union. The settlers came from the older States of the South. and they were people of means as rule. Be- cause of which circumstance, the new State had, as it's first citizens, an ex- cellent class of settlers. On the Fourth of July. 1921, eighty-six years ago, the people of the city and of the surround ing country gathered in Montgomery for the observance of the day.
 N. J. Battelle was the editor of The Montgomery Republican, and no doubt he penned the account which was pub lished in his paper. It Is in excellent English. and the phrases are carefully turned. But, according to the stand ard of the day, he did not go in much for detail, and modern city editor would probably have killed" his story, notwithstanding the good English, be- cause 1t did not have all the news 1t should have carried.
 A modern city editor would have been subjected to brain storm" if he had come across this non-comnit- tai statement in a big news story: All terminated without any circumstances originating during the day to interrupt it's pleasing and harmonious enjoyment. save the accident causing a slight in- fury to the patriotic individual who acted as gunner.
 Because the editor failed to get the name of ''the patriotic individual who acted as gunner" he will have to go down to fame still unknown.
 An 0Id-Time Report.
 The account printed in The Mont gomery Republican under the Iltle or "Festivities" was as follows:
 "On Tuesday evening last ball was given at the Montgomery Hotel in honor of the birth of our independ- ence The hall was handsomely deco rated with ornaments of nature and art. exhibiting a display of females which would have done credit to an older country, notwithstanding the un- favourableness of the weather. The supper table was tastefully ornament ed and amply furnished with a neat variety of delicacies; indeed we have seldom witnessed a more fanciful treat. Pleasure beamed in every countenance and 1t was pleasing to reflect that no circumstance transpired to mar the. en- joyment of the evening. The whole passed off with manifestations of ra- tional enjoyment, such as the event celebrated was calculated to secure to It's authors and their descendants.
 "On the Fourth the rejoicing com menced with the roaring of the can mons, which was kept up periodically during the day. At 12 o'clock the cit- izens assembled at the Globe Tavern. where they were addressed by Dr. An drew in strains of pious patriotism. worthy of himself and the sacred oc- casion; and after the Tooth Psalm