Watertown weekly leader. [volume] (Watertown, Jefferson County, Wis.) 1906-1908, 1907-04-05
TWO APRIL DAYS IN
AMERICAN HISTORY
CLOSING DAYS OF CIVIL WAR
TOLD BY G.. T. WETTSTEIN.
How the News Was Received in
WdtertOWn in April lS65-TeIls
of Spirit Which Prevailed in the
NOrth-Mdin Street Gdily Dec
COrdted in Honor of Event.

lOer6 are Two udyS III my lie Whlcf
are deeper engraved upon my memory
OF have made deeper impression upon
me than anything have ever exper-
fenced outside the affairs of my private
life.
These are the tenth and the fifteenth
days of April, 1865.
In order that the younger readers
who were yet unborn AZ years age
could fully understandable spirit ano
the feelings which prevailed among
the people in the north on those mem
orable days, it would he proper to
give a short recap tuIation of the
events of the proceeding four years.
But lack of space prevents this.
THE TENTH OF APRIL, 1865.
1t was seven O'Clock on the morning
of the 10th of April. 1865, when ]
walked as usual to my place of bust
ness on Main street in which were
located practically all of the wholesale
houses IN those days. A poor man
could lot afford a daily newspaper
then at Is cents for six days, conse-
quently | was IN ignorance of what
had happened during the night
AS | turned the corner onto East
Water street | look up IN establishment
What is this? Windows are being
opened and men are busy decorating
the buildings with flags and red, white
and blue bunting And what does this
mean? Here, there and yonder are
groups of men Selling each others
hands, embracing and shaking each
other Historically, throwing their
hats in the air and knocking the hats
of others as fiat as pancakes. They
laugh, they weep, they yell and shout
at the top of their voices:
"Hurrah Peace! Peace! Lee has
surrendered ~
In the night the news had cume that
Gen. Lee had surrendered at Rich
mond And now begins one of those
scenes of which We say that nj pen
is powerful enough to describe lt-a
scene such as our country had
never seen before and never has again.
When the news of Dewey's victory
at Manila came there were spasmodic
bursts of enthusiasm here and there
throughout the country, but they were
as the noise of frecracker following
the laundering of a battery compared
to this universal demonstration of
sublime enthusiasm.
BY nine O'Clock the entire street was
decorated and everyone is outside
employers and employees, men,
women and children. All thought of
business is forgotten and as far as
can see the sidewalks are ore dense
mass of people, shouting, footing on
horns, or singing jubilantly 'tTne Star
Spangled Banner" and other national
hymns. Now the side street begins
begin to pour forth their delegations
Fastening to join the carnival-Uhe
grandest, the noblest and the mos.
refined carnival the world has ever
seen.
Here comes a man on horseback.
swinging a large cowbell. Another
has tied SIX tin cans to stick with
which he is making a terrible noise.
Then come the large wagons of the
express companies and the freight
trucks of the wholesale houses, filled
with men and boys, singing. shouting
footing tin hons, swinging cowbells
and raising an inspiring if somewhat
discordant chorus OF Jubilation and
thanksgiving. And here 80, /
though WOULD die as my little girl
would say-comes a sober-faced DON
key, astrlde on it's back is one of our
leading bankers, but he is not riding
in the conventional position with his
face to the front, no, he is mounted
backwards and, instead of holding the
reins, one hand grasps the tail of the
donkey and the other shakes a big
rattle high above his head. A wagon
from brass foundry bears load OF
men each hammering on large bell
as though his life depended on strik-
ing the hardest. On a large freight
truck drawn by SIX horses it is huge
boiler and mounted on the boiler are
ten or twelve men, banker, merchant,
clerk and porter among them, all
pounding away on the boiler, and
shouting or singing as loudly as lungs
and voices will permit.
Then again canes wagon in which
is fastened a skeleton bearing the
card "Jeff Da,is,' and on the next
wagon the enthusiasts have even hung
Cleft on a gallows. In omnibusos,
carriages, buggies, drays and express
wagons crowds of nen and boys are
singing "We'll hang Jeff DAVIS on a
sour apple tree and other popular
songs to the accompaniment OF tir
pans, cowbells and any other noise
producing instrument on which the
Joy -crazed crowd can lay its hands.
And all this not in an orderly pro-
cess1on, one behind the other. No,
everyone is his own marshal; all ride
and drive as suits them best, up ano
down the street, coming like a meteor
and vanishing again as fast as they
came, few minutes later dashlng